Farm Animals Gone Wild

I haven't written about Smokey lately because Oliver will not ride him anymore.  Oliver was riding Smokey a couple of months ago (with his helmet on) and Pumpkin started chasing Smokey and biting his legs.  Smokey bucked Oliver straight onto his forehead.  We though Oliver would eventually get over the trauma and get back on Smokey.  So far, it has not happened.  We had a horse professional come over to take care of Smokey's feet and he told us someone in the family should be riding Smokey.  Smokey can handle up to 230 pounds of weight.  This weekend we spent some time in the pasture trying to figure out who should ride Smokey.

Pearl was first.  She only lasted a couple of seconds before she threw in the towel.

Glenn was the next to ride Smokey.  Glenn can tell you it is really hard to ride a horse who is biting your feet while your wife is chanting, "Eight seconds! Eight seconds!"  

Sadly, he was no Luke Perry.

It was my turn to take on the tiny beast.  Things were going okay until Pumpkin started messing with Smokey.

My mom thought it may be easier to ride Smokey with a lead rope.  It was rocky from the start.  Smokey wanted me off in a bad way.  Finally he did a tricky maneuver and tossed me on my hip.  Evidently my near death-by-pony was funny to certain members of my family. 

Something was in the air that morning because all of the animals were feeling spry.  Lotta, Pumpkin, and Smokey had a great time chasing each other around the pasture.

Oliver and Pearl first checked Leche for signs of pregnancy, then retired to an oak tree to hide from the crazy animals.

Moments later, Leche decided to join the children in the tree.  It was ten seconds of sheer terror! 

After all of the ruckus, it was time to make amends and go back to peaceful pasture life.

The Birth of a Name: Giving Tree Family Farm

Oliver has been sick now for several weeks.  He has moments of feeling good, then the fever returns and he becomes a very different child.  Oli has been tested for everything and has been on a course of antibiotics for the past five days.  Nothing helps.  Oliver's symptoms are worse during meal times.

Flo and Harry have been invited to the table to make meals more enjoyable.

Oliver is tired of being away from his friends at school.  The only activities keeping him happy are spending time at his Grammy and Pop's house and being in our new apple orchard.  

Glenn has always dreamed of having an orchard.  My mom became friends with our retired neighbors who just happen to have an unkempt apple orchard.  My mom saw a match made in heaven and set us up.  Now we spend weekends at the orchard playing, pruning and relaxing.  Oliver and Pearl have been a big help to their dad.

When not helping Glenn prune, the kids enjoy the trees.  This morning I watched Oliver swing from the branches, throw apples, and climb.  I watched pearl dig in the dirt, put tiny apples in her pockets and eat every mushy apple she could find.  I became immensely grateful for the apple trees for bringing a smile back to Oliver's face.

Then it hit me.  This reminds me of "The Giving Tree," one of the best books of all time.  We have been searching for a name for our family farm for the past couple of months.  I ran over to Glenn and said, "What about 'The Giving Tree Farm'?"  We walked to my parents' house and shared the name.  We made a collective decision to name our farm "Giving Tree Family Farm."  So there you have it; the birth of our farm name.  Now if only I could solve this fever issue!  

A New January Tradition

We all have a nasty virus.  Oliver's fever has been as high as 104 twice today and Pearl is getting her molars (on top of having the bug).  Last January, I was feeling pretty stressed about Oliver's upcoming surgery.  He dragged Pearl and me to the beach and we ended up having a wonderful day.  A couple of weeks ago, Oliver asked if we could have another January day at the beach.  To keep myself in a happy mood, I have been editing those pictures.

Someday soon, I know we will again be dancing in the waves and eating banana ice cream.  From now on, we will start the year off with one perfect day in January.  For the kids it will be a day of carefree digging and running and for me it will be a day to reflect on the gift of motherhood.          

The Good and Gross of Goat Ownership

When people hear about our farm many people say, "I would love to have goats and make cheese and soap!"  And, yes, that part of it is really fun.  I want to ask, "Are you willing to put your entire arm into a goat's vagina at midnight or chase it around to gather its feces?  If so, you are ready to be a goat owner!"  This post will review the "work" and "play" aspects of goat ownership.

Work

My mom makes natural goat worming balls for our goats.  Since we are not treating them with chemicals, it is important we check their feces for worm eggs.  She purchased a microscope and we spent an afternoon searching for eggs.  First we had to collect fresh specimens from each goat.

Pearl must have thought we were crazy!

We asked Glenn to do the boys because they are more difficult.  In the picture below, Glenn is thinking how much easier his life would have been if he had married a city girl.

Once we collected samples from each goat, we brought the poop into the kitchen.  We mashed it up with sticks and added a salty solution to it.  It was then strained and put into test tubes.  We waited for 15 minutes for the worm eggs to float to the top of the tubes.

While we waited, Oliver's mind was being blown by frog blood and cheek cells.  

Finally, the slides were ready to view.  We found a few worm eggs on each slide.  We were very happy to find less than ten eggs each.  Our goats have healthy guts!

Play

My mom and I took a soap making class when I was pregnant with Pearl.  She has been reading everything she can gets her hands on about goat-milk soap.  Finally, she was ready to make her first batch.  We assembled a team to help with our first attempt at soap.

First my mom added all of the liquid oils to a pot.  She then added lye to our frozen goat milk.  Pop's job was to entertain Pearl during the lye process.

All of the ingredients (oils and goat milk/lye mixture) and essential oil (grapefruit, in our case) were mixed together until they were the consistency of pudding.

My mom carefully poured the mixture into molds.

The final product smells wonderful and makes an excellent lather in the shower!  Look for goat-milk soap in our shop soon!

  

The Mouse Saga: Part Two

After the death of Sophia, Oliver could not stop talking about being a mouse owner.  He even wrote a book about getting a mouse for Christmas.  I started doing some online research about being a responsible mouse owner.  Number one?  Never bring a wild mouse into your house to keep as a pet.  Whoopsie.  Number two?  Don't get your mouse from a pet store.  Whoopsie again.  Glenn and I figured if we were going to do the mouse thing again, we would do it right.  I stumbled across a mouse breeder in our town while searching online.  I called her and set up a time to meet her fancy mice.  The mice were unbelievably beautiful.  She had several different kinds: golden, seal point, cream and black and white.  I was transformed into a true mouse lover on the spot.  We celebrated Christmas early with my family because we were leaving for Seattle.  My mom and dad bought Oliver a fancy mouse pad for Christmas.  He was the happiest boy on Earth.

Oliver made sure to ask Santa for a mouse before we left for Seattle.  My mom went to pick up the mice (I thought two would be nicer than one) while we were gone.  Christmas morning came and Oliver anxiously opened each gift, hoping for a live mouse.  Finally he open his last gift.  The gift contained a mouse igloo with a tiny plastic black and white mouse.  Because Santa is so awesome, she wrote a poem for Oliver about his mouse.  This is the moment in the poem when Oliver realized he had a mouse in his habitat at home.

Then Pearl opened a similar box and learned she had a new mouse at home named Florence.  Flo and Harry have turned out to be great pets for Oliver and Pearl.  Pearl loves to watch them in their habitat and Oliver likes to hold them both at least once a day.  They have the most silky fur and are very sweet.  I'm starting to worry about the short life expectancy of a mouse.

Please meet Florence

  
and Harry!

I know what you are thinking.  Harry is neutered, so we won't have to worry about having oodles of mouse babies.  Thanks Santa, Grammy and Pop for our cute new pets and their cool house!