Another Week with Losses, Plus Some Harvesting

view from the school room

In the "barnyard...

The livestock deaths just keep coming, and somehow, Abba keeps me strong and I don't find myself angry or sad.  

In the last few days, we lost two kids, Hazzard and Song, and just now, Al drove to the "graveyard" with Amber. 

We bought Amber several years ago.  She was our oldest goat, turned nine in January.  Nine is certainly not too old to breed and provide milk, but this year proved to be difficult for her.  She didn't produce enough milk for me to milk her.  Then when parasites hit her, she simply could not recover no matter what.  She had been my trouble child, so-to-speak, for quite some time and I knew her inability fight parasites would essentially end her life.  

A few days ago, I told Al that it was time to put her down because she was not looking good at all.  Her condition was poor, her "saddlebags" had dropped even more than before, and she just could not get over the anemia.  

Al found her laying down on her back, bloated more than anything I have ever seen, and I quickly determined she was done for.  I helped load her up into the tractor so he could take her back to euthanize her, but she died on her own right there in the grapple.  

She will be missed. 

Al and I have been discussing some changes around the homestead and I will share them with you all soon.  

In the garden...

Meanwhile, the first planting of potatoes have been harvested.  The star performer being the red potatoes.  So from this year forward, we will plant red potatoes instead of yellow.  

I also harvested the Canada crookneck squash which I found hidden under some of the Tromboncino vines.  

I was able to harvest a single Tromboncino as a summer squash last night when it broke from a vine that was over the potato bed.  It was probably a five pound squash.  I only used the neck of the squash which was approximately 2 feet long.  

I have given up on my grow towers for now, but will work toward amending the soil for fall planting.  

Meanwhile, the tomatoes and pepper plants are loaded and promising a great harvest. 

In our homeschool...

Al and Andrew made the final trip to Dad and Mom's to get the last of the things we took off their hands.  Many of these items were for the purpose of organizing my schoolroom and the library.  

I was finally able to finish the school room and I absolutely love how it turned out, though the kids struggle with the concept of sitting at the table for work.  

A few weeks ago, I was able to lay out the next four years of school subjects for Alexandra, the next six for Abby, and the next year for Caleb.  You can see the new home school schedule in the home school page at the top of the blog. 

With the four bookshelves from my parents, I worked on alphabetizing all the books (except children's books, which are in Caleb's room).  After the books were all sorted, I labeled the edge of the shelf with the letters that begin the authors on that shelf.  Now it is like a little mini-library, complete with a "Dewey alphabet system" (no numbers here). 

And in other news...

I have also been organizing my room, which includes my craft table/shelf.  I am slowly working on getting all the sewing items to two cabinets downstairs.  I don't do enough sewing to warrant having the things in my room.  

Al and I finally got our Wills, Powers of Attorney, and like documents finalized and notorized.  This is also a huge load off of our backs. 

Well, dinner is on the stove simmering and I need to get it finished up...whatever it is.  Hah!