253
Hi Everyone,
This week started out with us getting a chance to see life from a different point of view. Most of the year when we look out our kitchen window, or dining room windows, or some of the bedroom windows, we cannot see past the elephant grass in the back yard. It spans most of the backyard fence, and grows a good fourteen feet tall. It starts growing as soon as it gets warm outside, and grows until we get a good hard freeze. Then come January or February we cut it down to the ground. Monday was the day that Papa and Steve cut down the elephant grass, and now we can see all the way to the garden, forever across the neighbor’s fields, and we can watch the Jersey cows eating hay in the back pasture. We love the nice open look—especially when you need to call someone in from the garden and you want to see that they heard you. In the spring you can see out and around, come summer it has created a thick wall, and in the fall and early winter you can find birds hanging out in it eating all the grass seeds. When we planted it, we were told that it was not invasive---but let’s just say that it has crept forward a good four to five feet from where we planted it. Every year Mom says that we are going to get rid of it---but you cannot dig it up, for the roots grow just as deep as it grows tall. We were told by some missionaries to Africa (where it grows everywhere) that the only way to get rid of it is to keep it mowed down. I guess after a while it starves to death from lack of growth that would collect the sun rays in order to make its food. The problem is that something usually always comes up, and we just cannot keep it mowed---like a broken lawn mower, a stolen weed eater, lack of time, etc. Not to mention—this grass grows inches overnight, and a foot or more a week. Just maybe this will be the year that we get rid of it. If we fenced it in, and put some grazing animals in there, we might get rid of it for good. Where the cows have smashed down the fence in order to eat it---the grass has practically died out, but it didn’t give up, it just crept further south out of the cows reach in order to survive.
Tuesday found us doing a little of everything. Mom and I started the day off milking the cows with Moises help. Steve did his chores, and then started packaging eggs. When we were done milking, Steve helped me bottle the milk and the kefir. Then we all worked on packaging eggs. Before lunch I finished making the yogurt, and after lunch we packaged more eggs---it is spring and we are getting lots of them. Around 4:00 we stopped with the eggs, and headed to the garden to harvest veggies for the Jacksonville delivery and for dinner. I had thawed out some turkey thighs for dinner, so I baked them up with butter, salt, pepper, and marjoram. For the side dishes we had kale and a broccoli soufflé. For some reason only a few of our kale plants are doing good this year---the rest are short and yellow. I even planted them twice, and still had poor success. After dinner I worked on the orders and receipts for the Jacksonville delivery.
Thursday morning started out pretty cold, with a blanket of frost covering the ground everywhere. As I was setting up for milking, I remembered that the baby chicks had hatched on Tuesday and were in the mail heading our way. I got a little concerned with the cold weather, for we have lost shipments in the past due to cold temperatures---like snow storms up north. I prayed that God would allow our 50 little chicks to arrive healthy and alive. The Post Office didn’t call at 6:00, nor did it call at 9:00, but when we got in from milking, they had left us a message that the chicks had arrived----and I could hear them peeping in the background. Praise the Lord! As soon as Mom and I got the milk bottled we headed to town to get some groceries, go to the bank, and pick up those precious little broiler chicks. When we got home we ate lunch, fed the lambs and I got some ironing done.
Friday and Saturday we watched my niece and nephew as their parents worked at the local Olustee Festival. Makenna is almost six and she loves to help. Josiah is about 18 months and full of energy. Friday they arrived just before we finished milking. Makenna loves flowers and was having a blast picking our “weeds”. After lunch we fed the lambs and then we put Josiah down for a nap. Then I made kombucha. While Papa was eating lunch, he asked for a glass of fresh kombucha and wanted some ice in it. Makenna told us that she loved to eat ice and asked for some. So I gave her some ice---and shortly afterward she was all upset for it hurt her tooth, and it was bleeding. A couple of weeks ago when we were juicing lemons, Makenna was eating an apple and found out that she had a loose tooth. We encouraged her to wiggle it. Well, she wiggled it, and when she bit down on that ice it almost finished off the tooth. Grandma grabbed some dental floss, and with Makenna’s help they pulled it out. Makenna was so excited to have lost her first tooth. We put it in a bag and she carried it with her everywhere---till we were afraid that she was going to lose it. When Josiah got up from his nap we headed to town to run some errands, and then we walked around the festival looking at all the crafts---after we stopped by my sister’s concession trailer so that Makenna could show and tell them that she had lost her first tooth. We left around 6:00 and brought home Panera Bread for dinner---a grand ending to a long and busy day.
Saturday the children arrived while we were eating breakfast. After Makenna ate she came outside to help me set up for milking. You know those games where children have to match things---well we don’t need those games on the farm. The first job I gave Makenna was to put ten of the blue towels in each of the milking buckets----counting and matching. Then I had her help me fold the rest of the towels---I would fold, and she would smooth out. Next we had the equipment to put together. We have four milk tanks, and four of everything that goes on the milk tanks. One of the parts has a rubber star that fills a hole. I had Makenna find all the stars and put them in the holes. Then another part has a round donut that goes in a hole inside a square---so Makenna matched all of those. One of the milk can lids only fits on one tank—so I took a marker and drew a star on the lid and one on the tank. I told Makenna to match the lid to its tank. She was an excellent helper. Then she had to go help Grandma feed the bottle lambs, while I started milking. Once the lambs were fed, Mom headed inside to watch Josiah and Makenna came to the milking parlor to help me milk. The plan was for me to milk my half of the cows and then I would go watch Josiah while Mom milked her half. Makenna took the job of mixing the feed for the cows, and giving them extra scoops when they ran out. One cow (Gail) was very eager to get more food. When Makenna went to reach over the board to drop the feed into the trough, Gail reached down and licked the whole side of Makenna’s face. It made Makenna jump, but all she said was, “She made me drop the food”. I told her to get another scoop, and she did, and had no problem giving it to Gail. Moises politely grabbed the dust pan and cleaned up the spilt feed. Then there was Rosepetal. She is like a two year old---stand back, do not touch me; I can do this all by myself. She loves to come in to be milked, but do not touch her from her shoulders to her head. Well, Makenna had decided to feed Rosepetal one piece of feed at a time. Rosepetal didn’t quite know what to think of this little girl who was getting close to her face----but who was also dropping her little morsels of feed. Rosepetal didn’t know whether to sit on the rope holding her in as she tried to back out, or to eat the feed that Makenna was giving her. After Makenna stopped feeding her, and began mixing more feed in the feed room, Rosepetal stuck her head around the little wooden wall and was staring bug eyed at her. We were not sure if she was thinking, “Hey little girl, bring me some more food!” or if she was thinking, “Just what are you anyway?” I was about half way done milking when Mom came out to milk. Papa had to go get some hay, so Josiah went with him. The highlight of the whole milking time though was that Jamima was in labor. I was bound and determined that Makenna would get to see this calf born. Every so many minutes I would ask Moises, “Do you see any feet yet?” Then, when I was milking Bella, Moises was trying to get Rosepetal in---but she would not come in. He called and called---but she would not come. Then someone noticed that Jamima had feet hanging out. I thanked the Lord that the cow wasn’t coming, and told Moises I didn’t want her right now. I disconnected Bella, and grabbed Makenna’s hand and we took off. We sat down about fifteen feet away and watched the calf come out. When it was half way out, it got its head twisted underneath its back. So I ran over to untwist it. Shortly after Jamima stood up, and there I was holding the calf while it came out the rest of the way in hopes of preventing it from landing on its head. I found out that new born calves are very heavy, and while I might have broken the fall, I did not prevent it from landing in a twisted up heap. I quickly untangled it, and we checked to see if it was a girl or a boy. Little Jam is a beautiful brown Jersey heifer, and today I saw that she is full of spunk. Of course, that was definitely one of the stories Makenna was excited about telling her parents when they came to pick her up. After milking we bottled the milk and packed the order. Then we ate lunch and Papa headed for Gainesville to drop off the ordered goodies. I had to take Moises home, and Mom and Makenna had to feed the bottle lambs. When I got home the lambs were out running around in the yard eating weeds—and Makenna was the little shepherdess. While Makenna “baby sat” the lambs, Mom and I went and brought in the cows. When we got back, Makenna was not finished being a shepherdess and wanted to stay with the lambs. After a while, she came in and said that she was done babysitting, so Mom and she headed out to lock up the lambs. At first they couldn’t find them, then Makenna called them and they came running. After I took a nap, Makenna and I headed to the garden to plant some lettuce and harvest some lettuce for dinner. Makenna grazed on the broccoli, and even found a really nice big carrot to pull. She wanted to pull another one, and since she had found the big one, I thought she was safe, but the next handful was all baby carrots. I told her to wait for me--- and then we picked enough to cook for dinner and put in the salad.
We had a fun and busy week. Tomorrow, Lydia comes back to finish the last touches on the Little People Barn, and to spend some time just having fun together until Wednesday. I hope you have a great week.
Serving you with Gladness,
Tiare