A Fresh Perspective

As of my last post, life has been returning to normal. Thom returned home just a few hours later than scheduled. We are recovering from our illnesses. The weather is slowly warming up. We have all of the goats outside now. Much of the garden froze, but it looks like some of it may come back. We'll have to wait and see. If not, we'll just replant and try again. We also lost a lot of chicks. Out of 100 we lost somewhere between 20-25. I can only attribute it to a bout of pneumonia due to the cold weather. As soon as Thom got home he and the boys set to work building an insulated box for them. With that and a heat lamp in the garage we've been able to keep the temperature in the 90's. It has been about 24 hours since the last one died and the remainder are all looking strong and healthy.

At times like these last couple of weeks when times are hard I tend to get overwhelmed by the darkness. It seems that things will never get better. A major focus so far this year has been the renewing of my mind. We are doing a scheduled Bible-in-a-year reading. When I read I've always had a tendency to think of the accounts in human terms. "What happened to these people? Did they do what was right or wrong? What was the result?" Then I realized that I've been thinking of it all wrong. It's not about us and our deeds. It's about God. It's a difficult habit to break, but I've been trying to think about it this way. "What is this telling me about God? Who is He? What did He do in this situation?" The same pattern of thought applies to all of life. It's not about what I'm going through. It's not about how I feel or even about my happiness. It's about God. Am I bringing Him glory in this situation? Am I honoring Him by how I'm handling this? Life is full of challenges--illnesses, failures, temptations, tough marriages, tough kids, financial troubles, ... We all struggle, each in our own way. It all comes down to this--will I honor God even in this darkness?

As I lay in bed, tossing and turning with dreams, this passage came to mind. I hope you are as encouraged as I was:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with Elohim and the Word was Elohim. He was in the beginning with Elohim. Everything existed through His hands, and without him, not even one thing existed of the things, which have existed. In him was life, and the life was the light of men; and the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overtake it. John 1:1-5

God has given us the truth. He has shown us what the darkness looks like from His perspective. Do we believe Him?

Chicken in the Closet, Goats in the Garage

I know that in trying to be positive in my writing I often make life here sound unrealistically perfect, so today I thought I'd give a clearer picture of "real life".

Life here has been completely upside-down this week. It's 10 degrees outside in Central Texas and we are expecting snow tonight. Thom has been traveling this week. He is scheduled to be home tonight, if he can get a flight in. It's not looking likely.

I've had an upper respiratory infection since Saturday, as have 6 of the 7 kids. Theirs is about like a bad cold, but I've had to get on steroids and antibiotics just to get out of bed. School is on hold for now until we are feeling better. My priorities are to keep us fed and the house moderately clean. We are trying to stay on top of our daily Bible reading and do a little extra reading as able. Late this week we've been able to pick up our history again, with the kids doing all of the reading aloud. I hope next week to be back on a full schedule.

January is supposed to be the best time for a garden in this area. Harvester Ants ate all of the chard and the rest is covered to keep it from freezing. I don't have high hopes, as I know several plants have frozen already, but we'll just have to wait and see.

Right now an urgent priority is to keep the animals and pipes from freezing. We had one pipe in the wall freeze, but got it thawed out by turning up the heat and opening the cabinet door. Another outside is currently wrapped and frozen and we are hoping it doesn't burst. I have no idea how to repair it if it does.

The older boys put up a tarp tent shelter for the older goats to give them shelter, which rather than getting under, they jumped on top of and tore down. So far they haven't accepted any of the shelters we've built for them. Our two little orphaned baby goats we are keeping in a corner of the garage. This is working so far. It is easier for the kids to bottle-feed them twice a day there where it is closer and warmer and we don't have to worry about the goats freezing.

Yesterday we picked up 100 hatchling chicks that were ordered before the onset of cold weather. We're keeping them in the bedroom closet under a heat lamp until we can let out the baby goats and move them to the garage. One of them was weak and died by the time we got home and two more died overnight. I think they were trampled by the others. The rest of them seem to be doing well, although parts of the house are beginning to sound and smell like a barnyard...

Butchering

Saturday we went to a friend's home to help with butchering and to learn.

This rooster is awaiting judgement.

Matthew is teaching Thomas how to cut the jugular. This method is more humane for the chicken than decapitation and results in a more tender meat as the bird is more relaxed.

Next the bird is scalded in 150 degrees for 30 seconds to loosen the feathers.

The next step is to pluck the feathers. Zoe and I liked this part. The feathers were soft and came out easily.

Then the feet are cut off and the insides are removed. Lauren did a lot of this work. After this, it is cleaned and processed as desired.

Ducks are processed similarly, except that the feathers are plucked without scalding, then it is dunked in hot water with wax and the wax/feathers are peeled. In just a few hours we butchered 9 chickens, 4 ducks, and a rabbit.

Matthew is demonstrating how to butcher a rabbit (Thomas killed this one).  Butchering this guy only took a few minutes.

Saturday evening meal: Rabbit with a Tomato-Wine Sauce.

We learned so much that day and feel confident about butchering poultry. This rabbit dish looks good, but turned out to be overcooked and rubbery. We were warned that it cooks very quickly and overcooked it anyway. Oops. (That's OK, Thomas and Pierce ended up eating the whole thing anyway.)

Our Field Trip to a Local Mohair Ranch

Thursday morning I took the kids on a field trip. Every time someone in town learned that Lauren had Angora goats, the first thing they would say is something like, "Oh have you heard of Mrs. S... ? She raises and breeds prize Angora goats. She's a really nice lady. You need to meet her." So yesterday I finally got around to giving her a call. She is currently shearing and was happy to have us spend the morning with her. So off we went bright and early to Kai Ranch.

We had difficulty finding her place. the roads were not really marked, but we knew we were close when we ran out of pavement. I was half-way expecting a nice sign, fancy barn, etc. but it was just an ordinary field with hand-made fences and old barns. We were greeted with a smile while Mrs. S did her morning feeding and showed us around. While she trimmed hooves and sheared two of the goats, we had a chance to get to know each other, share goat stories and learn. She told us stories of getting started, of losing goats to predators, of Pyranees guard dogs, of keeping the fleece free of sand burrs and many other things. Then she took us to her studio to show us where she spins and dyes the fiber and creates her fiber art. A few of the things that she taught us are that it is easier to lead a goat by the hair on its neck than his horns, that it saves time to skirt (pick through) the fleece just before shearing rather than afterwards and that it is easier to first corrall the goats and then pull out the ones that are needed. We learned so much from her and are so thankful for her graciousness in having us.

Goats

It's been a long time since I've posted, so I'll try to catch you up on the goings on here in Texas.

I'll start with goats.

Thomas decided to follow Lauren's lead and try raising Angoras. He purchased a buck (Nico) and two does (Lorraine and Sally). Lorraine is black/silver. The other two are white. However, the male is a red-carrier, so the babies are usually red. Sally was already pregnant and her baby arrived last Saturday while we were in town. It was a girl, red with a silver face. Thomas named her Betty Silver Goat. She's so much fun to watch! She bounces around the field so playfully and is so friendly! She only nurses her mama on one side so far, so we have to milk Sally on the other side once a day. It's good practice for when we get dairy goats; it's not as easy as it looks! 

We suspect that Lorraine is pregnant too. She usually has red twins, so we're eager with anticipation.

Pierce purchased a Nubian/Boer buck named Brandon. He's a cutie! His markings make him look like he's wearing rollerblades and pads. He's also very noisy and stubborn--much stronger and more active than the Angoras. Hopefully we'll be getting a couple of Nubian does this weekend so we can milk in the Spring. Brandon is eager to do his part in this and is driving us all crazy. We have to build another pen this weekend to separate the bucks and does so we don't get a Nubian/Angora mix!

We finally built a shelter. The wooden version turned out to be way too expensive, so we came up with a design made like a greenhouse out of cattle panels and covered with a tarp. It doesn't look that beautiful, but it works well. (Somehow the girls always end up taking care of babies and cooking while the men get to build stuff!) We plan to use the same design for a chicken coop and a small greenhouse.

Goat Shearing

Shearing the goats ended up being quite hilarious! I wish we'd videotaped it. The very short story is that human clippers and even high quality dog clippers do not work on angora goats! Scissors will do the job, but with the side effect of very blistered hands and a very long day! Turns out sheep shearers are very ferocious-looking and very necessary tools. Still, we managed to yield 14 lbs of mohair that day.

Besides our pitifully inadequate skills, Jack was as obstinate as a two-year old. He protested the whole time. Shorn stood by and watched, then when it was his turn he was very patient and even seemed to enjoy the attention. Jack watched Shorn from a distance, then once they were both in their pen Jack began butting Shorn anytime he came near. Jack was clearly jealous for attention!

Although Jack hasn't butted Shorn since then, they both follow Lauren around like puppy dogs. They go through the fence and watch us through the windows when the lights are on at night. They never stray very far from the house and like to hang out in the shade on the back patio (snacking on the shrubbery meantime)! When we take them back to their pen, Shorn follows reluctantly, but obediently. Jack tries to wriggle away, then lies down on his side limply to be dragged the rest of the way. So stubborn! He's been doing better, but this week we hope to erect a training fence to teach them their boundaries nonetheless.

Shorn after his haircut.

I'm shocked at how much personality these goats have. I thought we were getting goats; I think we have rather large and naughty puppies!

Shorn and Jack's mohair.

Surprise!

Lauren and Lucas with Jack

Meet Jack and Shorn. Lauren's two year old Angora goats.

College is expensive. We can't pay for college for all seven kids, but we don't want them saddled with debt either. We've told the kids that we will make sure they are well prepared for college and given the skills they need to run a successful business, but they will have to either earn the scholarships or the money to pay for their own college tuition. It is our belief that given a solid education and proper motivation, they will rise to the challenge. Now only will they gain valuable experience in the process, they will also be more appreciative for the opportunity to attend college and make the most of it.

Lauren was looking for opportunities when she saw these guys and was immediately interested. She spoke to their owner and learned that there is a local mill that processes their wool. She and her Papa went to tour it and to learn how everything worked, did a lot of research on the costs and market prices for the yarn, then worked up a business plan. She thought she could make a go of it, so with her own money she purchased them. Thom and the boys generously contributed by putting up an electric fence around approximately an half acre. We're praying that her new enterprise is successful! For more insight into her new venture, check out Lauren's blog.

Tomorrow... she learns to shear!

*BTW,  in the process we made a friend as well. The owner saw a link to our blog, read it, and sent us a really nice e-mail. We have a lot in common. She is a homeschool mom as well with five children, the two youngest, about Lauren's age, still at home. We look forward to getting to know them better.

Shorn

Animals in Abundance

We have a lot of gophers here that will make a garden impossible if not managed, so Thom and Lauren brought home two kittens today. Lauren introduced them to the guineas and they were both afraid of the other!

We also started the process of adopting a Great Pyranees. I'm not sure how long that will take, but I'll keep you posted.

Lucas loves playing with the toads that are here in abundance and the lizards that we identified as Mediterranean Geckos. It's great fun to watch them catching insects-- especially on the dining room window during supper! Not so fun when they jump out at us in the house!

So in the last 3 weeks we've gone from no animals to 2 cats, 12 guineas, a potential dog, and numerous toads and geckos, if you count them. That doesn't include the hummingbirds, gophers, snakes, squirrels, deer, hawk, buzzard, and cranes or herons (they're too fast to identify well) that we see daily.

We'll have another animal surprise for you this weekend-- you'll never guess... keep watching!

A Clean Pool, A Clothes Line, And a Poultry Pen

We've been busy in our new home. We started school last week and it is going well. The biggest challenge is with discipline of the younger boys to be quiet when the older ones are studying. We have realized that we've been really lax in disciplining and need to do better.

This year we're studying ancient/Bible history and earth science/astronomy/physical science (except Lauren who is doing chemistry). We're also learning about raising goats and poultry, wood working, and electric fences in working on the farm.

I finally got the pool clean. Yahoo! I didn't think it would ever be clean! There is a great website called troublefreepool.com that was really helpful. We celebrated with a barbecue/pool party on Saturday night. It was really fun and a great relief to just play after all of the work moving, traveling, etc.





Thom and the boys built a clothesline for me so that I can get back to cloth diapers again (they just don't get white without the sun). It was their first woodworking project and I have to say that I think it is the most beautiful clothesline I've ever seen!




Their next project was a poultry pen. Our guineas were getting too crowded in their tank, but we couldn't set them free yet because of predators, so they built a movable pen that protects them, yet allows them to eat seeds and bugs and fertilize the land. The front comes off so that the kids can get in the pen to hold and feed them. It's worked great! (I'm sorry you can't see the guineas in the photo.)

It's hard to believe we only moved in two weeks ago. We've been so busy with minor repairs that we've felt like we'd never get to the fun stuff. Besides the pool, the mailbox was missing a flag. Do you know that we couldn't find a flag anywhere? So we had to install a new mailbox. Then the heat got up to 106 degrees and shorted out one of the AC units. Two of the thermostats quit working also. Fortunately we have a home warranty to cover the AC. On top of that one of the toilet handles broke. Thomas did a good job fixing that one. (I love having young men!) Did I mention that I learned how to repair a garage door?

Finally we were able to get started and it's just motivated us to do more. We just can't wait to start making this place productive! The next project is installing an electric fence for the goats and adopting a Great Pyranees to guard them. I can't believe I'm saying this. I have never ever wanted a dog, but when I was warned about the coyotes around here, then met a GP and saw what good dogs they are, I started looking into it and was convinced. Thom and the kids are really excited. They have wanted a dog for a while.

More later...

A Science Lesson

We were doing some research today on solutions for algae control in the pond and learned some interesting things.

The first thing we learned was that there are two plants often mistaken for pond algae. The first is water meal and the second is duckweed. The former looks like tiny green seeds; the later has tiny leaves with little root hairs. So we found a jar, took a sample and... Yes, it was duckweed after all!

The bad news about duckweed is that it is very hard to control. Koi will eat it if they are placed before it takes over, but once it takes over it is too late. Ducks love it (hence the name) but also can cause an algae problem. It can also inhibit photosynthesis.

But here's the good news! Duckweed is sometimes used in sewage treatment plants to clean the water. The plants are high in nitrogen and phosphorus. They can be skimmed off and used for fertilizer. Good news for our garden! And I'm glad I placed the compost heap near the pond!

Starting the Farm

We moved into our new home Thursday night. Thom had to leave for a trip to California, then Malaysia Friday morning. So the kids and I have been busy unpacking. It's going much quicker than expected. We've got almost everything except books unpacked and I may leave those in boxes until we get shelves built. Saturday we went into Austin to the farmer's market to pick up groceries and scout out holes that we may be able to fill later on. We had lots of fun, met some really nice people, and did find quite a few holes to fill.

On the way home, we stopped by a woman's house and bought a dozen guinea chicks. They're really cute! The kids are taming a few of them for pets and giving them names. Thom has always wanted guineas and in 6-8 weeks they we be old enough to help us with bug control. This is really good because there has been a huge increase in grasshoppers this year. Our land is covered in grasshoppers and crickets and other detrimental insects. I will also be ordering some beneficial insects this week.

We also have to get rid of the burrs. These are not soft little sticky burrs like we had in California. These things dig in the skin and feel like wasp stings! They usually have to be removed with tweezers. I've also had to make friends with the little lizards that live in the house with us. We've found 3 scorpions in the house too. I can't say that I'm making friends with them, but I'm no longer terrified of them. Thomas is enjoying adding to his entomology boxes.

We're also learning to get by without a telephone. Apparently we live in a service bubble. None of the prepaid cell phones have service here and Internet is difficult to come by. It works slowly most of the time, but not always. The iPhone with AT&T works, so we'll work that out when Thom gets back. Also, there are ways to work out the Internet; that will also get worked out when Thom returns. Fortunately, I do have emergency service if needed. I'm surprised how I've come to rely on technology, in the four years that we lived in the silicon valley.

As you can tell, we're all getting toughened up rather quickly and appreciating how easy we've always had it in the city and suburbs.