For all celebrating the resurrection of Jesus today, here is one of my favorite hymns. My grandmother told me once that when she was babysitting a 3-year-old Alison on Easter in Pennsylvania many years ago, she caught me sitting very close to the TV, intently watching a program that seemed intense for a child. She said, “Alison what are you watching?” Apparently I was watching an Easter history special. I turned to her with equal intensity and replied, “What’s the matter Granny? Haven’t you ever heard of the resurrection of Jesus Christ?!”
“I fear no foe, with Thee at hand to bless
Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness
Where is death's sting?
Where, grave, thy victory?
I triumph still, if Thou abide with me.”
—“Abide With Me” by Henry Francis Lyte
You think you have drastic hormonal swings? Meet Heidi, our first goat and Peter’s #1 lady. She is a total maniac every 3 weeks when she is ready to breed. Heidi is definitely the alpha female in the herd so she makes sure everyone knows she is in charge. This time she tried to show me that she is my boss and I’m hoping my NO was loud and clear.
Before I got dairy goats I assumed you could milk any female animal that had a baby. Which is sort of true - except I didn’t know that some animals only produce a little milk while others produce a lot, and some have major attitudes and don’t want to be milked at all! Our first goat, Heidi, was on our property when we bought it so she became our goat. I figured, let’s breed her and get milk! That’s how we got Peter. Heidi is not a dairy goat, and so I quickly learned that it was not worth the time and energy to milk her and get 3 ounces. Sundae, the goat in this video, is a mini Nubian, which is a dairy breed. At her peak she gives about 40 ounces of milk per day. However she likes to take PTO days unannounced and runs from the milking stand, forcing me to chase her down, put on the halter, and walk her back to work. I have learned my lesson about dairy animals. If you’re new to this, get one who has done the milking routine MANY times. Think “Ole Bessie.” She doesn’t ...
Hei Hei sneak attacked me today. Dude is living on borrowed time. He is one of 2 roosters we got assuming they were female chicks but turned out the feed store messed up. Our other rooster, Barred Rock, is such a gentleman but he runs Hei Hei around to make sure we all know he’s in charge. I think Hei Hei wants to dominate somebody so he takes it out on us. I tried taming him by pushing his face in the ground but I have only done it a couple times and I guess “training” a rooster takes consistency. Croc pot training is probably best.
https://open.substack.com/pub/brownstone/p/were-losing-the-human-touch-in-food?
Amen. Grateful for the lunatic farmer
