Kiddies and Them Thorns Do Hurt

Around noon time...
I fill a couple of buckets up with water and take them down to the goats

the kiddies are growing ever so fast

and soon we will come around to milking mama Snowflake

we have her and the kids by the cocoa orchard which is also above the big garden...

so we need to keep mama on a tether so we don't lose our crops

in spite of all the wild bush for them to eat...

goats will lunch voraciously on both cocoa leaves and anything in the gardens

as you can see, these twins enjoy being together

brother is the one on the right with the longer horns

sister enjoys using him for a pillow

*****

We have quite a few citrus trees on our homestead...

and all the ones we deliberately planted have no thorns...

as they were cultivated from grafted trees

but, there are a few that grew from seeds that were thrown down...

from fruit eaten and had grown on their own

these have thorns

there are two citrus trees with thorns that grow at the corners of the chicken coop...

and if I had it my way, they would be hacked down...

but, right now, the citrus trees are full of fruits

the two thorny trees are grapefruit and I'm itching to get my hands on the fruit...
just as soon as they are ripe enough

because they sit so close to the coop...

I must maneuver around them carefully

I didn't learn to do that well enough, until after a few scratches on my arms...

I finally one day bumped my head against the tip of one of those 2 inch thorns

that was several days ago and it still hurts

instead of taking the trees down while they fruit...

I took pruning clippers and snipped off the thorns on the trunks...

and wherever they were a danger...

and pruned off any thorny overhang at my head level

now, the trunks are smooth and bare of thorns...

and that has helped tremendously

the first thought that came to mind when that thorn met my head...

was to take a machete to the tree

the second thought was a crown of thorns of over two thousand years ago

one thorn was plenty hurtful...

a whole crown of thorns could only be torture

that crown of thorns from long ago was worn by the Savior who willingly...

wore it to set me free from sin, darkness and wrath

and as hateful men set that crown of thorns on the Lord Jesus...

I know that my Christ's loving thoughts were on me

But he was wounded for our transgressions,
he was bruised for our iniquities:
the chastisement of our peace was upon him;
and with his stripes we are healed.
Isaiah 53:5

May your day or night find grace in the Lord.

And Then, There Were Five

For the last couple of weeks, just about everyday...

we would think "today the does will have their kids"

and every day...

the kids weren't quite ready for their earthly debut

well, here they are

two on one day

mama Snowflake done us proud

and she is turning out to be a good mama to her babies

these will be her first kids

once she had done a good thorough job of cleaning the kids...

and they were nice and dry and had taken their first drink of mama's colostrum...

I gave her some ripe banana treats

and I couldn't help myself...

I must touch

must they be so cute?

and soft, and sweet, and so wee little?

then, the night fell...

and the rains came...

and frogs came out

and honestly...

I couldn't tell if there is a handsome prince inside somewhere...

or if this is just a big, fat toad with a pot belly

perhaps, just handsome in his own way

well, in any case...

we ran down the hill to mama Snowflake and kids with a basket to put the babies in...

and brought them up to stay under the cottage for the night...

where they would stay dry and warm

when I put the towels down to give them a more comfortable spot...

these little kids naturally chose the soft towels over the rocky ground

and the next day, it rained still more all day, in fact...

and my husband took the good opportunity while babies slept to give mama a nail clipping...

and she kept her eyes on her babies just to make sure they were still there 

a ram and a doe is what Snowflake gave us

and then, there were five

the next day, mama Queenie had her triplets

we knew there were going to be more than one by the size of her...

while she has been a mother a few times now...

this will be her first triplet set

all does

it looks like we will have some future milkers

we've got good mamas and these babies are being well cared for by them

while Snowflake is anxiously careful over her babies...

Queenie acts as an old pro with hers

she knows the scoop

over the last couple of years...

the Lord took and He has also given

so far, all is well and we thank the Lord for His gracious gifts

while we are thankful for God's gifts of the goats...

we are still more thankful for His gracious gift of faith

just as He says...

For by grace are ye saved through faith;

and that not of yourselves:

it is the gift of God:

not of works, lest any man should boast.

Ephesians 2:8,9

without this gift of faith, how could I have believed in Christ?

He alone has done all the work needed to save me from sin and wrath

May your day or night find the grace of God's gift of faith.

Snowflake...

Snowflake, our little doe, is barely a year old...

and was even younger when we found out she was pregnant

we weren't particularly happy as she is so young yet...
and just a wee thing...

but, the males from up yonder mountains who belong to others...

and were running wild, don't reason such matters

so, our little Snowflake, who wasn't any the wiser, carried a young one...

for a short few months

and almost a week ago...

she miscarried the kid

we were sad for the loss of the kid, which was a female...

but, we are happy Snowflake seems to be fine

we are taking advantage of her milk flow...

and she is giving us about 1 to 2 cups a day

not much, but she is very cooperative...

and is standing still for the milking all on her own

this little doe is showing promise of good, creamy milk

I kept her milk in the fridge for just one day

one day and...

knowing goat's milk is naturally homogenized for the most part...

I was pleasantly surprised...

to see a good half inch of cream sitting on top of the milk

I spooned it to see just how thick it was...

and it was thick

Snowflake, you cute doe, you...

you're a keeper

but, let's wait till you're a bit more grown-up to kid around, again, eh?

Who ever goes to war at his own expense?

Who plants a vineyard and does not eat of it's fruit?

Or who tends a flock and does not drink the milk of the flock?

Even so the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel

should live from the gospel.

1 Corinthians 9:7,14

May your day or night find blessing in the milk of God's grace.

Tids of Bits - Here and There...

Hello!

whether he was interested in me or the camera...

I couldn't say

but, Bibi was more interested in just hanging out with her doe kid...

side by side

Pippi followed me around checking out the goats

and if you know what roosters look like...

Pippi ought to be Pip

because you see...

this little Pippi (click name for the story)...

has grown into quite a nice looking roo

and just so nobody makes a mistake about it...

he now crows his little heart out a few times a day

he tries to fancy himself a ladies man...

but, the ladies don't seem to understand

give it time, Pip...

just give it time...

those lady hens will come around

in the meantime...

instead of throwing out the morning coffee grounds...

I prefer to mix them in with some oyster shell powder

the oyster shell pebbles are crushed into powder in a plastic bag and pound with a hammer...

(I highly advise against using your precious coffee or spice grinder for this)

and mixed in with the coffee grounds...

which gets sprinkled on my garden bed sowed with carrot seeds...

which makes a great organic fertilizer of nitrogen and calcium

this will help bring up those carrots with the nutrition they need...

to give us the nutrition we need

do you see the tiny carrot tops coming up through the soil?

and this is beside the point...

but do you think it's about time we get to trimming the ivy on the cottage?

I think so...

and was glad to hear my husband thinks so, too

he gets the job because ladders aren't exactly my thing

oh! yoo-hoo, Farina...!

are you ready for the milking fun?!

ah yes, this sweet doe has been giving us lots of good, fresh milk

she puts a lot of her own sweetness into it...

as long as we give her treats in a bucket while we milk her

and speaking of the joy of the Lord...

Thou wilt show me the path of life:

in Thy presence is fullness of joy;

at Thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.

Psalm 16:11

May your day or night be found in the joy of the Lord's grace.

Farm Newbies...

Mama Bibi...

"Shhh...listen kiddoes"

"someone is talking about us"

"Ma, what is it?"

"maybe if I close one eye and cover the other and raise my left ear higher, I can hear?"

"well...did it work?"

"naw...I was just trying to look cute for the picture"

Bibi, our milking goat, gave us two babies

and they look nothing like each other

the little doe on the right looks like mama Bibi

the little ram on the left looks like papa Curly

cute and interesting

Bibi is a first time mother and doing a fine job at it

as many times as my husband went to check on Bibi before their births...

she went and did it, after all, when he wasn't looking

makes me think of when the Lord said to Job...

Do you know the time when the wild mountain goats bear young?

or can you mark when the deer gives birth?

can you number the months that they fulfill?

or do you know the time when they bear young?

Job 39:1,2

what do we know?

Almighty God knows everything

even every thought in our hearts

May your day or night find blessing in God's grace.