Goats!

Our little farm welcomed three dairy goats yesterday. Two alpine does, and one cross-breed buck. All three are very sweet. We started milking this morning. I have to say, I was a little nervous. But, they are terrific little does. We made breakfast rice with their milk this morning. Yum-Yum!


Check out our smooth transport system.

That's right. The same little trailer that got us here, slightly modified. I have to admit, it's pretty crazy, even for us.

Introducing!!

From left to right Betsy (black doe, named by Arella), Clairabelle (brown doe, named by Suvi), and Mr. Miggins (buck named by Tess).

They are all super friendly. The dogs love them. The goats are still afraid of the dogs. While they are not used to being hand-milked, they did great this morning. Once they figure out the routine, I think we'll get along great.

Oh and about the teaser....we do not have our cow yet. But we picked out our favorite, and are really looking forward to welcoming her home. Hopefully more updates on that soon.

Teaser

See if you can guess what else we did today....

Anyone have any name suggestions?

Chicken Slum Lord

We now have ten happy little hens. Well, there is some debate in the family about how happy they are. Apparently, chickens require space to sit, get comfortable, knit their egg warmers, lay an egg.

We built a fantastic coop. A coop to end all coops, (by my standard). It is a two story wonder, with room to grow. AND we didn't use any recycled materials. All new stuff! We didn't drag a single piece out of the rotting pile in the barn. I suggested rotting wood at every turn, but no, it's all new construction. Stick built, not a mobile home (more on that later). And yet, I've been labelled, a chicken slum lord.

Zy would like each chicken to have her own room. Every time he sees chickens on a cartoon, like Chicken Run, they each have their own little space. She should be able to move in, unpack her boxes, and put up a few pictures. Why should she feel like she's always in transit? With no permanent home? Squatting at her sister's house for a month? No. Not our chickens.

So I'm happy to report that our chickens are safely in their new home. Safe but not secure. We have plans, dear hens, to spruce up your home and give you the decency that you deserve. You'll have privacy, a view, lace curtains if that's your fondest desire.

In the meantime, this is what the coop looks like. And by the way....that monster is heavy. We strapped it to ourselves and hauled it up the hill to the barn. Let me reinforce this point. UP THE HILL to the barn. I don't know many slum lords who would go to that much trouble, take that Mr. Chicken-lib.

This is what the chickens were living in temporarily. Squatters.

And a sneak peak of our barn, with a lovely chicken condo inside.

And our lovely assistants, hauling hay. We could not have made it up the hill without those girls. They are powerful!

And here's more insight into the process.

 All of those boxes behind Zy are empty!!

This little camera-girl is about to get mowed over!

PS. We have officially moved in and settled. Everyone in our family has their own space, and there are pictures on the walls.

Saturday

We did a little of everything today.
We dug a fall veggie garden.

We moved rocks out of the fall veggie garden.

Arella was stung by a yellow jacket. It hurt like crazy, but she was mostly concerned that she had accidentally crushed its wings when she brushed it off. She's amazing. Love her! (she was also curious why I was taking a picture of it - "I'm documenting life's experiences")

I spy with my little eye......

Do you see Suvi and Tess coming back from a hike? They are tiny little spots in the path through the pasture.

And then....awesomeness supreme. We played in the creek. This time with a camera to prove how heavenly it is.

And I found a deep hole to jump in...with many a hoot and holler. Wow. It was cold!

We rounded off the day with a trip to the library, and appetizers at a delish Mexican restaurant. Awesomeness supreme, or supremo.

Just when we thought it couldn't get any better...

we found the creek. This creek is heaven on earth: shallow, lined with rocks, a daring fish here or there, banked on all sides by blackberry bushes. The rocks were just the right size for the kids to move and create waterfalls, and dams, and pools to catch water skeeters.

And the pools are perfect for toddler boys to throw rocks into. Some rocks splashed, some plunked, some narrowly missed me. But all those rocks made that boy laugh. Hard. Every single time.

We left soaking wet, tired from moving rocks, and excited to come back and explore around the bend. See? Heaven.

Also, we've been painting. 

We've been painting everything we can get our hands on. If the winters are going to be grey, we are going to be surrounded by color.

Welcome home

After an epic moving adventure involving:

• one and a half months,
• three thousand miles, 
• four kids, and 
• two dogs (sorry no chickens)

....we are home!

We've been moved in for almost a week, and the fun has already begun.

 Tessa discovered that this window doesn't have a screen. Perfect for princess play. I caught her offering a flower to one of her admirers.

We went to Agate Beach in Newport on Saturday to escape the heat. It was 55 degrees on the beach. Perfect for a marshmallow roast in bathing suits.

 

Kalani loves this dolphin. No tail, no problem. 

I dearly wish I had taken a picture of Tessa running through the pasture in her tutu. I'm sure to have another opportunity. 

The girls were so thrilled (seriously) when I asked them to fill a Rubbermaid tote with sheep poo. I wanted it for the garden, and we don't have any tools yet. Wow. Can those kids improvise!

We are trawling craigslist for cows and goats and chickens. I'm sure our posts are going to be more farm related soon.