Each day brings reminders that spring is soon to be here-although I admit not soon enough! With the warm (70+)weather we had over the weekend, it is hard to think about it only being about 40 by the end of the week. I've been hearing the tree frogs when I go out to do chorse of a morning and the song birds are busy letting us know they are back. Squirrels have been out in droves finding whatever they can and I saw a deer at the edge of the field the other evening looking for fresh grass. Soon the green will be more evident than the brown in the pasture and we can let the does out to start grazing. One of the most beautiful sites, for me at least, is seeing the goats out in the pasture, eating or laying in the sun. The pyrenees' lay where they can watch their "girls" and all seems right with the world (at least the goat world!)

While I'm looking forward to spring, it is also going to be an odd spring this year. The thought that Scott is getting married keeps running in and out of my thoughts. It doesn't seem like he should be this old-22 last week. It doesn't seem like he should be so independent. But then I remember all the times I wished for him to do more on his own-now he is. It's odd not talking to him or seeing him for days, or even a week or two, at a time. While I first worried about things when he moved out, I now find that I just wonder what he is doing, knowing he is probably handling things well. Maybe it will be different when Andy fully leaves, since we are getting use to his being off at school. Either way, it is a mix of feelings knowing that we are kind of "loosing" Scott in some ways, but it is so nice that we are gaining Christina and they family that they will build together. It will different this spring-but a nice different.

This time of year is always so busy-and tiring. With 21 kids born in the last 2 weeks and 13 of them on bottles, it is hard to get them all fed and keep to a good sleep schedule. Now that I have them on the "bucket" feeder, it only takes about 15 minutes to feed them, instead of 45. I got to sleep in till 5 a.m. this morning! I keep reminding myself why I do this-because I enjoy seeing what kind of doe kids we get from our breedings and the fun I have when it is show season! Seriously though, with both boys gone, I have to cut back. I keep looking at the does wondering which ones to sell, which ones to keep, which ones to give one more year, etc. I need to get rid of at least 3-4 milkers this year (13, not counting Jana since she is the old woman of the farm, doesn't milk if she doesn't want to and is too old to get rid of)as I can't keep that many and keep up. Three yearlings will have to go as well. I'm going to cull some of the boers and am debating if I keep any young ones or not. At least 2 of the boers have to go due to feet problems-I may only keep 1 kid. The alpine buck has to go and we may keep the nubian 1 more breeding season-then he too will go. That will mean I only have 2 bucks as I can "borrow" a nubian and an apline for what we need after this fall. That will help the space situation a lot.

But it is so hard to decide which ones stay and which ones go. They all have their own unique personality and good points-and some have their bad points too! Most likely I'll only keep a couple of Alpines since Scott really isn't that interested and isn't living at home now. The alpines keep milk production up, which is needed for the babies. As for the nubians, a lot will depend on where Andy goes after college. With any luck, in 3-4 years from now we'll have nice small Togg string and a nice group of boers and that is it! (Wishful thinking I'm sure!!)

I know I have to look at this from the production end. Which does are milking well and which does show well? I don't mind keeping a few for milk only, but it would be nice to have all the show string also be the big milkers (not likely for at least a few more years). If I can get my toggs to turn out like Rosie has this year, we might can get there in a couple more years. But doing that means Spice & Summer will have to go. They are sweethearts but their milking doesn't measure up and they aren't show quality. Most likely Spice will go this year now that I have Saffron out of her. I will probably keep Summer one more year-I'd love to get some doe kids out of her as nice as the bucks from this year.

Hopefully can find good homes for them with someone who will treat them well and in return the does can provide milk and weed control!

Obviously I have neglected this blog-over two years without a post! But, a new year and new priorities will hopefully keep me loyal to regular (though probably not daily) updates.

Now that we are "empty nesters" I tend to look at things differently. The thought of our oldest, Scott, getting married is both scary and exciting. It doesn't seem like 22 years have passed since he came into our home, but it has. And the thought of adding a "daughter" to our family is very exciting. Christina is the sweetest young woman, makes Scott happy and is therefore more than welcome in our family! With just a few months until the wedding, I know the time will fly. I am excited for them and hopeful their futures will be bright and full of dreams.

Andy being off at Purdue is also a change for us. I've known for years that once Andy left home he would be off and flying. He is hoping for an interesting internship this summer at MissionIndy and I hope he gets it. But he also has other ideas if he doesn't, one being staying at Purdue, working and taking some summer classes to get a leg up on his new major of Psychology. While I found it a bit startling when he first announced his change from Animal Science to Psychology, it seems like a good fit for him. He believes with all his heart this is where God is leading him, so he needs to follow that path, with all our blessings as well.

The goats have exploded in population, as the are want to do this time of year. 21 kids in two weeks with 13 on bottles. I am desperate for sleep and a big dose of patience as I try to get them on the bucket feeder over the next few days. Hopefully this will allow me some extra sleep in the mornings! The milking has begun again and with it the thoughts of goat shows. With a few first freshening does this year, the prospects look good at this time. It will be June before much showing can be done, given the wedding being in May, but with luck and God's blessings we can keep things looking good till then.

I am desperate to find a way to market my jewelry. While I haven't had much time of late to work on any pieces, I know once I get in my spring routine of milking and bottle feeding, I will be back at it. I would love to sell the pieces and make a little extra cash for Mike and I to use for some extras-like maybe a real vacation this summer! I am spending time trying to learn how to market my wares and hope that I can stick with it and put the information to use to make a go of it.

Stay tuned for more farm adventures. With all the kids yet to come it will be a busy, full, interesting, tiring and beautiful spring at our place!

The weather is becoming fall like. Cool evenings ( low of 48 this morning) are helping (I hope) bring does into heat. We were able to use Scott's new alpine buck, Zeus, this weekend with Jezebel. I think my yearling Togg might have been in heat this morning and we are taking the old Alpine doe, Ditty, to another breeder tonight as she should be in heat come Thursday. This will give us kids starting in late February, and I'd like to be done with kidding by mid to late April this year. I've started to milk Spice & Taffy just 1x a day and soon that will be every other day till they are dried off.

I was so thrilled at the Tennessee State Fair that Jewel, our 2yr old Nubian milker, took champion Nubian milker-our first doe to earn a milking leg! She did look good & is holding up well milking. We'll keep her milking thru NAILE in November & the November milk test, then start drying her off & getting her bred. I truly hope her udder holds well & she freshens even better next year. Cherry, bless her, will likely be sold in the spring. With the fluid build up in her knees, she doesn't do well showing and we just don't have room for a lot of does. We shouldn't have any problems selling her and my guess is she'll go to a 4H family where she'll get spoiled rotten!

We took Mike's cider press to New Point's little festival this past weekend. People enjoyed watching us make, and then drinking the cider. Mike enjoyed it to plus it was nice as it was something we could do together. And I didn't mind the fact that I didn't have to cook either!!!

I think I have finally recovered from my trip to the Tennessee State Fair. I couldn't believe how well Andy's nubians did-the judge didn't like my does at all, even little "CC" who won her class at Nationals got buried. But Jewel not only won her class but went on to went Champion Nubian milker! She is our first doe to have a milking leg. I wish she had a dry leg, but with any luck we'll get one or two more next year. With only one show left this season, and it being NAILE, I don't hold out any hopes for any more rosettes, but we'll see how they all do.

I'm hoping the cooler weather will help bring the does in heat. I placed Spice & Taffy with Duke last night, which he enjoyed until he realized they aren't going to be receptive to him yet. Hopefully once they are bred I can get Duke sold-we're running out of room and fast.

The weather lately has been wonderful-cool mornings & not too humid. But the heat & humidity are heading back, just in time for the weekend when I'll be traveling with the goats. Figures.

Got a call from the doctor yesterday. I have to go back in for diagnostic mammograms on both breasts next week. I had this happen on my left about 3-4 years ago. If they had told me that, I probably wouldn't have thought too much about it, but on both, that caught me off guard. I'm hoping it is just the weight loss has made some tissues look different, but I had lost 25-30 pounds last year before my mammogram, so who knows. I had a pity party for myself last night (I sat in the bathroom and thought of all the worse case scenarios & cried) and since then I haven't thought too much about it. Regardless of what it shows, at least I'll know more Tuesday. If it is anything but good, news, I won't tell Mike. I can see him canceling his trip and I don't want him to do that. Whatever it is can wait till he gets home.

Andy starts his part-time job at Arby's tonight. He has been called about 2 other interviews but turned them down, so I hope this works for him. Time will tell. At least he is working enough to buy his gas, which is all I wanted right now given his class load.

Put up more hay last night and more to go up tonight. We have so much, which is a good problem to have. I hope that maybe we can get some of it sold, that would make Mike feel better too.

Well, we delivered the emus to the Indy Zoo on Friday. What a great day we had! It was rainy off & on so we didn't get to see much of the Whitewater Gardens, but our time at the zoo was awesome! The gentleman we worked with on the emus spent 3 hours showing us around "behind the scenes" of the zoo. We got to go into the animals buildings where the staff only is allowed. I got to feed a giraffee his breakfast! It was so cool to be that close to such an amazing animal. We went into the elephant house and out in their yard. One of the females came up to about 12 feet away from us. Even though she was a "small" female, she was big to me!. We were also glad to see how excited everyone on the staff was that the emus were finally there. They will be in quarantine for 45 days before going into the exhibit. We hope they go thru quantine without any problems. We're planning on taking a weekend trip with the boys up to see them in their new home. I will be interested to see how they and the kangaroos get along!

Yesterday was spent shaving a couple of the doe kids for this weekend's show. I have 4 more of my togg does to do-2 absolutely have to be done, the others could wait if need be, but would have to be done before the Tennessee show. Mike is planning a little trip, which I am so glad of! He lets me go off to the goat shows & my girls trip every year with no complaints. I can never get him to take time off, so that part kind of got me, but I am happy he is doing this. He'll be leaving the 30th and be back on the 1st or 2nd. It will be interesting to hear how he enjoyed it when he gets back. He enjoys being by himself, much more than I do. I like having people around. I think he would be nervous if I went far by myself, he doesn't mind so much when I'm with the Smith's going to shows. If I decided to take off on my own to Tennessee or whereever, he wouldn't say anything, but I think he'd be hesitant. Still, he never complains about taking everything on when I'm gone. I'm especially glad he is doing this since I'm going on a cruise in November (helps me feel a little less guilty!)

Scott is heading back to school after work today. He'll only be gone 3 days a week, but he is already dreading it. I keep reminding him that he'll be done in February, but he gets so homesick, or rather he gets to missing Christina, so much. They are planning on waiting 3 yrs until she is done with school to get married-I hope that holds true so they can get some money saved up and be sure where they are with their careers.