Spinach and Noodle Casserole

One of my favorite comfort foods is my paternal grandmother's Spinach and Noodle Casserole. I'm actually trying to get away from using processed foods, but I can't deny myself this old favorite occasionally. I have tried making it with whole wheat noodles, and for many years, only used whole wheat noodles. But nothing can compare (at least for me) to using regular egg noodles.

Grandma's Spinach and Noodle Casserole

• 1 lb. extra-wide egg noodles
• 1 lb. package frozen spinach
• 8 ounces longhorn/mild cheddar cheese

White Sauce

• 4 cups milk
• 1 tablespoon butter (optional)
• 8 Tablespoons flour
• salt to taste
  

Start water boiling for the noodles. Put the spinach in a pan and heat according to directions. Pour the milk into a pan, and whisk the flour into the cold milk. Add salt to taste, and butter if desired. Bring to a boil, stirring continuously. After it comes to a rolling boil, it should be thick and creamy. Remove from heat. When the water for the noodles begins to boil, put in the noodles and cook for ten minutes. While the noodles are cooking, grate the cheese. Drain the liquid from the spinach when it is done cooking. When all ingredients are ready, butter a glass casserole dish. Ladle about one cup of white sauce into the bottom of the dish. Then layer in one-fourth of the noodles, one-fourth of the spinach and 2 ounces of the shredded cheese, then another cup of white sauce, continuing with the layers until all ingredients are used up - be sure to end with cheese on top. Turn the oven to 350°F (not necessary to preheat), cover the casserole dish with a lid, or aluminum foil and bake for 45-60 minutes. You can tell when the casserole is done when the cheese is melted and the sauce is bubbling.

If you are in a real hurry, you can toss the cooked noodles, cooked spinach, white sauce and cheese together and eat right away. But I really recommend trying it first baked in the oven.

Until next time.

Display Entire Post...

Back to Summary View...

Update on My Puppy

He's doing great! He appears to have completely recovered from his bout with Parvo... if it even WAS a bout with Parvo!!

The lady who I got him from told me since he'd had one set of vaccinations which included Parvo, he would show positive for it whether he had it or not. There was some question as to whether he'd had his first series of shots and he was due for his second set. My friend arranged his neuter surgery with her vet, and we never got it clear whether he had received shots or not. When I finally got to talk to her a few days after he was started on the strong antibiotics and other medications, she said he had had his shots when he was neutered.

He had been acting like he didn't feel well for a few days, so maybe he did have a very mild case of Parvo. Usually when puppies have Parvo they have trouble keeping on weight... not my LJ. He weighed 23.4# at his vet visit on Friday the 19th and today he weighs 31.4#. He was also dehydrated at the vet's office so once he was hydrated he probably weighed more.

He is doing very well, he LOVES boiled eggs. We got overloaded with eggs from our chickens and I decided to boil them all and crush them up and give them back to the chickens. As it turns out, the dogs all love boiled eggs. Usually they get a raw egg every day, but only eat the yolk and leave the white to soak into the ground. We hand them an egg, they drop it to break it. So I peeled eggs and gave them the egg and they dropped it to break it. :-)

LJ is doing very good with his training -- we dropped out of the weekly puppy training classes since the vet says he'll be "shedding Parvo" for 30 days. It has gotten too hot anyway. He sits on command without hesitation, he is doing good on "down" and I am teaching him to lay on his side also. I am teaching him hand commands, and he follows them for "sit" and "down". The laying on the side exercise is because I had an altercation with him the other morning where I wanted to rub his belly (a dominance thing -- he loves it and at the same time I am reinforcining my pack leader position to him) and he growled at me. So I am teaching him to lay on his side for treats. I am also teaching him a hand command to lie on his side, and eventually will teach him to lie on his right side or left side with the hand command.

A few days ago, I had a breakthrough on my worries about his becoming aggressive. I had a vague memory of a dog of ours becoming aggressive and we had to have him put to sleep. I finally asked my sister and my mother what had happened. Fritzi was a daschund. I remembered that he bit me one time on my pinky finger. He was trying to go under the house and I stopped him and he whirled and bit me. When I asked my sister, she said our stepfather had cornered him under a bed and was viciously jabbing a broom at Fritzi trying force him out. Fritzi ended up getting pieces of the broom bristles in his muzzle and got blood poisoning. My memories were so unclear that I realized it must have been very traumatic for me. Then I realized that Fritzi was the last dog I had truly loved. I've had dogs since then... but never really bonded with them. I realized I had closed my heart off to dogs, to prevent myself from being hurt like that ever again. When I talked to my mother, she confirmed my sister's story, and she also confessed that she used to antagonize Fritzi until he would growl and snap at her. She said she would never do that now, but back then thought it was funny. That was a long time ago... 33 years. But it was a very important piece of information, and I applaud her for being honest and sharing with me. Because it helps me understand that played a part in Fritzi's turning aggressive, as did my stepfather being vicious and abusive towards him.

I had been freaking out about LJ, like I tend to do... leaping from A to Z within moments... "Oh GOD, he growled, he's going to turn human aggressive, we're going to have to put him to sleep!" And then becoming depressed and sad, and confused about what to do. Do I correct the growling or not? The positive training people say NEVER correct your dog for growling because then you train them to not growl and that is why we end up with so many dogs biting without warning. But Cesar Millan issues a swift correction for growling. I tend to lean heavily to the "pack leader" theory of dog training. I can see some good in the "positive" training but some of their ideas are flawed in my opinion.

Back to the freaking out -- jumping to conclusions and the worst case scenario -- I have another area where I do this... with vehicles. When I was growing up, between the years of my father leaving (age 5) and my mother marrying my stepfather (age 9), we didn't really have a car. We had to make our way around on public transit, or rely on my grandmother to rescue us when we missed the last bus of the day. We had to walk to the store and carry the heavy bags of groceries home. We had two cars during that time, but when our sky blue Volkswagen broke down with a blown head gasket (costly repair), my mother just called someone to tow it away. Then my grandparents gave me us a car and that one broke, and then it was gone, too. Those four years impacted me to strongly that anytime my vehicle even gives the slightest hint of breaking down, I'm freaking out, gone from A to Z "Oh GOD, the car is breaking, we aren't going to have a car!!" So I have to keep reassuring myself, "When cars break, you get them FIXED. When cars break, you get them FIXED!"

So now that I realize my great fear and apprehension about LJ, when he growls, I reassure myself that he gets a correction and we go on. He isn't going to just turn aggressive. Unless my FEARS bring that about.

When I was growing up, I would repeat two scripture verses to myself to keep from being fearful. One was Job 3:25 "The thing which I greatly feared is come upon me..." that is the part I remember. The rest of it is, "...and that which I was afraid of is come unto me." The other verse was II Timothy 1:7 "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." I still repeat those two to myself, in times of fear. Thankfully, I don't have many fearful times as an adult. I feel pretty safe and secure most of the time.

Fear is not a good thing... and sometimes violent parents can instill great fears in their children. As I was working through my issues with aggressive dogs and violent stepfathers, I realized that my children don't even know the kind of fear I experienced as a child. The unfortunate thing is, because we weren't experiencing broken bones or worse, myself and my siblings didn't really think the abuse was that bad. Looking back on it, it's a wonder we made it out with our minds intact. sigh

Uh, that took a downward spiral... the good thing is, again, I don't experience that kind of fear, and neither have my children. And LJ is doing great and he's going to be a wonderful dog! I am envisioning him being like "Daddy" one of Cesar's dogs that he keeps in his pack sometimes.

Until next time.

Display Entire Post...

Back to Summary View...

Letdown

I was talking to one of my coworkers the other day about milking our goats and mentioned the word "letdown". He asked me what that meant. I explained that the goat has to let down her milk, and she can hold it back if she wants. He then asked if he was understanding me correctly that the goat has to willingly give her milk.

An uncooperative doe can be very difficult to milk. First, she will refuse to come to the milking stand. No amount of begging or cajoling or offers of delicious treats will make her come if she does not want to. If you are able to drag her to the stand, it will be difficult if not impossible to get her on the stand. If you have a strong helper and manage to drag her onto the stand, and lock her into the stanchion, and she is still not interested in being milked she will then proceed to other hijinks like using her back legs to kick at your hands on her udder, or sink her udder so low to the milking stand that she will smash your hands into the bucket. We have even had one doe that did a handstand. I have a friend who told me about one of her does that would jump off the milkstand, with it still attached around her neck and run around the yard.

If you get past all these issues, and the doe is scared or new to milking, or has new babies, she can hold back her milk. If she is very full, you will be able to get a portion, but if she does not relax you will not get much milk.

So the whole milking process should follow a similar daily routine to be sure the doe is relaxed and cooperative. It is common for does to prefer one person milking over another. Sometimes they get used to a man or woman milking, and then prefer that gender, making it difficult for a person of the opposite gender to milk. It is also customary to milk your herd queen first. If you insist on milking another doe in her place, you can facilitate the change of queen in your herd.

So, yes, milking does require that the doe cooperate and letdown her milk willingly.

Until next time.

Display Entire Post...

Back to Summary View...

Fresh Peach Popsicles

The most important item for making popsicles are the freezer pop molds. The ones in the picture are low quality. Try to find the kind that have a rectangular cup on the bottom with a spout to one side. The cup part holds the drips and you can use the straw to suck out the liquid that has dripped down. I couldn't find an online store that sells the kind of mold I'm talking about, but here is a picture. One page called them Back to Basics Freezer Pop Molds.

And now for my peach popsicle recipe:

• 6-8 ripe peaches
• sweetener, if needed
• cream or milk

Pit and peel the peaches. You can throw away the peels, or you can put the peels into the blender to add more fiber to the popsicles. Mash the peaches, leaving some pieces in small chunks. Take half of the peaches and place in the blender. Add about 1/2 cup of cream or milk. Blend until smooth. Now add the blender contents back in with the mashed peaches. Mix the peaches together. Add sweetener to taste, you probably won't need much. I used maple syrup. Spoon the peach mixture into the freezer pop molds and put into the freezer overnight. The easiest way to remove the popsicles is to run hot water over the mold until the popsicle starts to melt the tiniest bit and then you can easily pull out the popsicle without the stick breaking free.

Until next time.

Display Entire Post...

Back to Summary View...

Picking Peaches

One of my fondest memories as a child was picking peaches straight from the peach orchard. We only went one time that I'm aware of; I will never forget that experience. The fuzzy peaches were perfectly ripe. Sweet juice poured from them as you took a bite. Even slurping as you bit down didn't prevent the juice from dripping to your chin and all over your fingers.

When I saw it was peach picking time at a local U-Pick farm, I told a new friend of mine who has five children. Even though she tries to provide only organic foods for her family, she decided giving her children the memory of picking fresh peaches would be worth the risk. This was our first meeting in person, and I also brought kefir grains to share.

We picked about ten pounds and they left with about 65 pounds! I was a little envious in spite of myself... knowing that I would not be going home and wanting to process THAT many peaches! I ended up making peach popsicles with ours, and ds2 made a peach cobbler.

Until next time.

Display Entire Post...

Back to Summary View...

And Babies Make 7 and 8

Well, our last kids for the season are as they say, "on the ground." We now have eight baby goats in our yard. Nine total, but one went to her new home the day after she was born.

Miss M was bred to a buckling that a neighbor was leasing. M was not too keen on the idea of spending time with the young buck and made that clear by soundly headbutting the poor boy until he was hiding in a corner head first so she would stop beating him (after the fact, I was informed by a list member of another list I'm on that this behavior should not have been tolerated, duh! So now M will respond to mating with fighting with the buck, like her granddam does. Her granddam fought the buck three years in a row, finally at her fourth year of breeding, she cooperated). We left M with him for three days just to see if she would eventually cooperate. He apparently did the deed, because one of her babies looks exactly like his sire, and he was the only buck she was exposed to during the optimum time.

The birth was blessedly uneventful. I didn't even know she was in labor until my ds2 told me that dh just told him M was having her kids when he went out to milk. I rushed out and she was not actually having them, but waited about 15 minutes. Both babies are doing well, and so is the dam.

Until next time.

Display Entire Post...

Back to Summary View...

My Sick Puppy

My puppy started having a bellyache on Tuesday, throwing up and having diarrhea. He was acting listless and tired, not himself at all. Sleeping ALL night long in his crate, instead of waking me up to potty at regular intervals. We were planning to have him evaluated on Saturday and I was having a terrible time trying to decide if that was really the best thing to do. He wasn't really acting too sick. He was still going outside with the girls in the morning, running and playing hard with them. Then he would sleep the rest of the day, like the other dogs. He was preferring to stay outside, even though it was so hot out. But he was off his food, and not interested at all in the yummy snacks we use for his clicker training lessons. He was also keeping his ears down most of the time, and just didn't seem himself. We had puppy socialization class on Thursday night, but on the way home, my dh told me LJ wasn't feeling too good, that he was acting lethargic. I panicked a bit, called information and got the number for a veterinarian in the town where I live. I made an appointment for the next day. The lady who made the appointment said that he probably has Parvo.

I have never heard anything but bad about Parvo. About dogs that had Parvo as puppies and whose intestines never were the same all their lives. How debilitating it is and how they get so deathly sick and die. So naturally I was very upset and crying, worried about LJ. I called a friend who had dealt with Parvo before and she said since he was able to eat, drink and keep it down and was still playing, he almost certainly did not have Parvo.

We kept our appointment anyway, and in the vet's office waiting to see the vet, LJ was restless and anxious. I finally took a postcard, crumpled it up and made a little ball for him to play fetch with. He was pouncing on it, bringing it back to me and running after it when I'd throw it. Totally bored. So the vet came in and started asking a lot of questions. Finally she said even though he was acting like he felt so good, she wanted to rule out Parvo. The test would take ten minutes.

20 minutes later... she came back with the test triumphantly exclaiming that it was Parvo. She seemed fairly pleased with the proof in her hands. Anyway... I was very upset and crying again.

She said the prognosis was very good, but still guarded. The vet tech came in and told us that she had high hopes that he would make it, because usually the dogs that come in are so sick that they "stink like Parvo" they are listless and in terrible pain. They did a test on LJ's blood, to find out what the white blood count was. That came back very good. He was dehydrated, so they gave him a bottle of IV fluids under the skin. The vet called it a "gel pack". It was a HUGE lump on his back. It's a good thing he has lots of skin!

I had to call the dog training lady to let her know it was Parvo. The vet admonished us for even taking LJ off the property at such a young age with "high Parvo" season going on. She said he should not leave this property until he was at least 16 weeks of age. And here I have been stressing out and trying to go on these "scavenger hunts" that the dog training lady said we needed to go on. Find 10 things to do in the next week, she would say. One week I didn't follow through and she said, "So you say, 'I'll do better next week.'" So there I was trying to find places to take LJ, and exposing him unnecessarily to PARVO. DUH. I asked the vet, "Well, how am I supposed to socialize him?" She said, "At home, with your own dogs."

He is feeling much better. So much that he's becoming quite a handful to care for. Prior to contracting Parvo, we would just let him out the door when he had to go potty. Now we have to take him out on the leash. Yesterday evening, I swear he had to go out every fifteen minutes, and he peed every single time! This morning he woke me at 1:30am (haven't been back to sleep since, going to be a fun morning) and he had to pee 6 times.

We are having to give him antibiotics twice daily, in pill form, for five days. The vet said to buy human baby food meat for him. We bought four jars. He scarfed down one jar at the vet's office. The vet seemed surprised at how well he was doing, and was glad he had eaten already.

We are making him baby food meat by just blending the meat up in the food processor. The things we end up doing for these baby animals, that we never did for our own children! We never fed baby food to our sons. We just started them on table food when they started showing an interest in food.

A friend of mine cautioned me about having LJ evaluated... and now that he's come down with this very mild case of Parvo, I find myself feeling it was Divine Intervention. The things I was concerned about initially, I have found are almost certainly "puppy" issues.

At any rate, we can't take him anyplace for at least one month as the vet says he will be "shedding Parvo" for at least 30 days.

Until next time.

Display Entire Post...

Back to Summary View...

TYDSITC - Rattlesnake!

Yesterday my dh and I had a BIG MYSTERY. I was sleeping in, and he took the milking buckets, etc., out to get started on chores. I meandered out to help about 6:15. When I got outside, he had already milked L, Z and had just finished N. I looked at N's udder, felt it, and said to him, "She's not empty. Are you sure you milked her?" He said he had just gotten a pound, but his hand was cramping up, so he probably didn't get all her milk. So I said I would finish milking her. I milked and milked and milked -- this is the one with teeny, tiny teats and when I was finally done, we weighed it and there was an unbelievable THREE pounds in the bucket! She has rarely given us three pounds total in a day with two milkings!

So this morning... again, dh got started on the chores 'cause I was sleeping in late... I got out there at 6am (note that I'm usually up at 4:30am). As I walked up, he told me he hadn't milked N yet, he was waiting for me so we could see if she would give me 3 pounds again.

I began to milk N, and he went into the barn to milk L. He finished milking L, weighed her milk and was standing on the milking shed porch, by our old washing machine. L was finishing off her grain inside the milking shed, I was still milking N and we were still talking about the BIG MYSTERY. All of a sudden, we heard the warning rattles of a rattlesnake!! It was close and LOUD. My dh looked around and said, "OHMYGOSH, it's RIGHT THERE!"

He said to me, "Get N off the stand, move her out of here NOW!" At this point, I had not seen the snake, and did not know where it was. I reached up and unhooked the stanchion, pulled N with me off the stand and ran out of the area. L was still in the milking shed, on the milking stand, finishing off her grain!

Let me illustrate our positions with a photo. Where you see the letter "S" pointing down to the mustard bottle which is circled -- the snake was coiled there, ready to strike. My dh was standing to the right of that where the arrow is pointing at a can of Fight-Bac teat spray. He was maybe 3 feet from the snake. Back in the dark is the milking stand, that is where L was on the milk stand eating her grain. I was sitting on the right side of the metal milking stand to the front.

As I got up and moved N off the stand, I saw the snake. It was a big one, my thought was it was at least ten years old. They grow one rattle every year of their life. As we were deciding what to do next, my dh kept a close eye on the snake, because we needed to know where he went, so we could catch him and relocate him. He slithered into the shed, and soon L hopped off the stand and was not at all aware of what was going on.

In retrospect, I sure am grateful to God that we put up the milking area fence. We did it several months ago to keep the dogs out of the milking area, and to keep the does in the milking area. After they are done being milked, they sometimes decide to just take a walk or run away from us, instead of going back to their pen. This makes it a lot easier to keep them contained, plus today, it kept them out of the area.

My dh told me to get the gun, and the bullets and to get our ds2. I ran into the house, ran into ds2's bedroom and in a panic said, "Where are the bullets?!" He was up in a flash, running to them and I explained there was a rattlesnake in the shed.

The gun was only a secondary tool to use against the rattler. My dh devised a snake catcher when we first moved here. It is a long piece of PVC pipe with a piece of clothesline running through it to make a noose at one end. You dangle the noose over the rattler's head, then pull the noose taut. But if worst comes to worst, ds2 is standing by with the gun to pick off the thing.

Dh thought the snake was under the corner shelves, so he moved a board around underneath the shelves. Nothing, no rattling, nothing. We brought in a hose to try to "flush" him out. No response, nothing.

Ds2 decided to have a look in the chicken pen, which borders the backside of the shed. Perhaps the snake had gotten through a hole in the floorboards of the shed and escaped. A couple of minutes later, he yells to me, "Was the snake about eight inches long?" I couldn't believe he was joking at a time like this and thought maybe he really was seeing the rattlesnake, so went to have a look. He had found a tiny snake, about as big around as a pencil, with narrow yellow, red, white and black rings. He teased that maybe this was really the snake we saw, and the big bad rattlesnake was just a figment of our imaginations.

We made our way back to the milking shed, where dh was still trying to "flush" out the snake.

We decided to disassemble the shelves, because there was no way to see under them. Between the bright sunshine coming into the doorway, it really made the inside of the shed seem extra dark. So dh started taking things off the shelves and handing them to me, standing far back from the bottom of the shelves, in case the thing decided to strike. We got the top three shelves moved out, and the bottom shelf was left in place. Dh moved it carefully to one side, and ds2 peered carefully around the corner. He backed up instantly and said, "WHOA, he's still under there!"

Then the guy started rattling his tail... dh pried the shelf up even further, using a 2x4 from the end of the 8 feet length, and then pushed a 5 gallon bucket under the shelf to hold it up. Ds2 was positioned to shoot the snake, but dh decided he might be able to use the snake catcher. He was able to get the noose around the rattler and bring him out.

We counted his rattles on his tail... there were TEN rattles. I was right, he was a ten year old snake. Since there are still large open spaces out here, we are able to relocate snakes ourselves (as opposed to calling a "professional"). This is the 24th rattlesnake we have caught since we've lived out here.

Rattlesnakes are so damned scary. I am really glad that I was there to see this, because I have not been present for most of the other snakes, and I am lax about watching for them. I go out in the morning dawn to milk, and it is still dark and I just walk out to the milking shed without a flashlight and step onto the porch without a worry at all. Of course, all morning long I was walking hesitantly everywhere I went, peering carefully around everywhere to make sure there were no rattlesnakes coiled to strike!

Needless to say, we forgot all about the BIG MYSTERY. I didn't even finish milking N, spraying her teats, all thoughts of milk totally forgotten.

Until next time.

Display Entire Post...

Back to Summary View...

Kefir Pancakes and Crockpot Stuffed Bell Peppers

This morning's pancakes turned out very delicious. Apparently flour, especially whole wheat flour, needs to be soaked to neutralize the phytic acids. ["Phytic acid combines with key minerals, especially calcium, magnesium, copper, iron, and zinc and prevents their absorption in the intestinal tract. Soaking, fermenting, or sprouting the grain before cooking or baking will neutralize the phytic acid, releasing nutrients for absorption."] Anyway, it's a great way to use up extra kefir. And so simple!

Kefir Pancakes

• 2 cups freshly ground whole wheat flour
• 2 cups kefir (or you can use buttermilk or yogurt)
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 Tablespoons melted butter

Mix flour with kefir, mix well and soak overnight (12-24 hours). Stir in other ingredients and thin to desired consistency with water. Cook on a hot, oiled griddle or in a cast-iron skillet. Serve with maple syrup and lots of butter, mmmmmmmm!!

And for dinner, I'm making one of my favorites:

Crockpot Stuffed Bell Peppers

• 3 medium bell peppers, cored
• 2 cup white rice
• 2 - 16 oz can diced tomatoes
• 4 t. chili powder
• 2 t. onion powder
• 1 t. garlic powder
• 2 t. salt
• 2 pound regular ground beef
• 1/2 lb. butter (optional, if using lean ground beef)
• 1/2 cup water (optional, if using lean ground beef)
  
• Mix the ground beef, canned tomatoes, rice and seasonings together. Pour the mixture into the crockpot. Stuff the raw bell peppers with the raw mixture, place the pepper tops on each and press down into the mixture already in the crockpot. Cook for 12 hours on low.

Until next time.

Display Entire Post...

Back to Summary View...

Happy Mother's Day 2006

Tomorrow I plan to take it easy, relax, maybe knit a bit. I think I will make pancakes for breakfast so I will soak the flour overnight as per NT. Then we have organic Grade B maple syrup to pour over them, mmmm!! The only thing missing is some good sausage!

I hope all the mothers I know have a wonderful, blessed holiday surrounded by the children that love them.

Until next time.

Display Entire Post...

Back to Summary View...

TYDSITC - King of the Mountain

On the way to the grocery store, we go by two feedlots that can be seen from the highway. There are Holstein steers for as far as the eye can see. The feedlot must be at least a mile long and a mile wide. In this picture, the "mountain" that you see is manure. The ranchers bulldoze the manure into these mountains, and the steers seem to enjoy playing "King of the Mountain". The smell from these feedlots, where the steer spend most of their lives, varies from week to week. Sometimes it can be very strong and overpowering, and other days not. But most of the time it's pretty obnoxious. A housing development is being built right across the road from one of these feedlots. People expect to have meat in the case at the store, but they don't want to know about the smelly feedlots. Then they move out of the city, into the "country" and expect the feedlots to find someplace else to live.

It seems like the ranchers must have to feed antibiotic-laden feed, in order to keep these animals from dying from the living conditions. Indeed, today we saw two dead cows near the highway. Anyway, even though I know it is going to be difficult to actually follow through, it makes me feel a little bit better knowing we are raising our own beef.

Until next time.

Display Entire Post...

Back to Summary View...

Garlic Kefir

I'm not kefir's biggest fan, but I believe it is an important "superfood" which helps to populate the gut with lots of "good" bacteria. I've been trying to acquire a taste for kefir for over a year now. Kefir is one of the main reasons why I feel we are so blessed and fortunuate (no matter how much I detest hoof trims) to have a supply of fresh raw milk, because the kefir grains thrive in the raw milk. I have shared many heaping tablespoons of my kefir grains in the past year.

I have been told that kefir is the enemy of candida, and this is my main reason for trying to learn to like kefir.

I usually doctor it up in a smoothie, but this takes so much time.

A few weeks ago, on a list I'm on, someone mentioned garlic and kefir and said it was really delicious. At the time I didn't have any kefir as our milk supply was so low. But last weekend I started recovering my grains again and they are now making mild, creamy kefir again (only no matter how MILD it is, the "tart" of it still gets me).

I decided to try the garlic kefir this morning. I put 1/2 cup of kefir into a glass, and crushed a sliver of a garlic clove into the kefir, and added salt and pepper to taste. It actually tastes GOOD! I think I can get my kefir down in this way. It actually has a ranch dressing taste to it. The tartness is gone, wow!

The only thing is... I wouldn't advise it first thing in the morning when you have to go to work. Otherwise, your coworkers are going to think you ate a loaf of garlic bread for breakfast for the strong garlic smell. ;-)

Until next time.

Display Entire Post...

Back to Summary View...

Crying Over Spilled Milk

I think it's fun to learn the origin of certain sayings, and what is really interesting is to actually be in a position to totally and completely understand the saying.

"Crying over spilled milk" is an example. My take on it, all my life was... if your glass of milk spills on the table, don't cry over that. It's not that big of a deal.

But I'm sure the origin must come from the time when milkmaids did all the milking.

Sometimes when we milk, the does will kick the bucket and there goes the milk. When we milk in the milking "shed" (which hopefully someday will be a real milking PARLOR) it makes a horrific mess. The milkstand is wooden, and gets covered with milk which turns it into a slick surface. The milk runs off the stand, onto the wooden floor which is not sealed or protected against liquid. We clean up as well as we can, but then the flies come, anxious to clean up every little smidgen of milk they can find.

Then there's the issue of having lost that milk. How much milk did you lose? Was it a pound? Were you almost done milking that doe and she gives 3 pounds? Do you milk all the does into the same pail and you were on the last doe?

Milking outside of the shed, on the metal milking stand, is less tramatic. The milk spills onto the metal grates, down into the dirt below. But the flies still come.

I prefer to milk each doe's milk into an empty bucket. I bring a half gallon jar, two buckets and the bottles for the orphans. This way I can rotate the milk from the main bucket, into other containers.

Another thing that can happen is the doe might not kick... but she'll just raise her foot up and slam it into the milk bucket. Well, now all that milk is contaminated with goat foot germs.

I decided to time how long it takes to get the milk from each doe. I separated L from her kid last night for the first time, as he was 14 days old. So this is the morning's stats on milk:

L 3.0 pounds 2 minutes, 24 seconds
D 1.5 pounds 1 minute, 2 seconds
N 1.7 pounds 7 minutes, 51 seconds
Z 2.2 pounds 2 minutes, 41 seconds

These are exact times milking ONLY. There is a bit of time before milking when I wash the udder and teats, and strip the first few squirts of milk to eliminate any bacteria harbored at the orifice of the teat. Then after milking, I spray each teat with Fight-Bac teat spray.

I knew that N took a long time to milk. She has these tiny, teeny teats that I can barely grasp with my hand, and I had to learn to milk her with my fingers in order to get her milked.

This morning's milk yield was 8 and 4/10ths of a pound.

The total time spent on actual milking four does is 13 minutes, 58 seconds. Total chore time for the goats: 45 minutes.

Until next time.

Categories: goats

Display Entire Post...

Back to Summary View...

I Detest Hoof Trimming

Today's chores took a lot longer than usual, but I added in some extras. I decided that hoof trims were on the agenda. It is a very physical and stressful job for me. I don't do well on an empty stomach, so I decided to have breakfast first. I began that at 5:50am. I'm experimenting to see if having mostly protein for breakfast will help me get through my day better. Just for fun I weighed the chicken breast tenders, they were 9 ounces worth. I fried them in a tablespoon of butter and a tablespoon of coconut oil, with half of a sliced bell pepper and one zucchini squash sliced. I also took my cod liver oil (yummy!), my Super B-Complex vitamin and my calcium supplement. All this to give me the energy and strength for those hoof trims.

I was milking Z by about 6:20am. I decided since my dh says he has to give her two pounds of grain to keep her entertained long enough to him to milk her (he milks too slow) that I would give her her pound while I milked, then another pound while I did her hooves. I have to say that the new milking stand helped tremendously. There are removable metal rails on each side, so I ended up putting up both rails. When I did Z's right front and back hooves, she was fine. But when I moved to the left side, she began leaning on me with all her weight. So I put up the other rail and she could lean on that, and I could still get to her hooves. Z kidded on April 3rd, so it was high time her hooves were trimmed. They should have been done within days of kidding.

Next I brought L out to milk. She is our best milker. She has not wanted to get on the new metal milking stand. But I was able to encourage her to get up there without too much trouble. I locked her into the stanchion (this is a new experience for her, as the wooden stand we could not lock them in), milked her and proceeded to trim her hooves. So far so good. My back isn't screaming in protest and when it does start aching, I can put one leg up on the stand. I'm really liking this stand so far. I'm very nervous as I'm working though, because I've had some bad experiences with hoof trimmings in the past. I get triggered really easy. I can feel a drain of energy and get a nervous stomachache just contemplating hoof trims (I have never heard any other goat breeder fuss or complain so much about them, so it must just be me).

Next I got N on the stand. She is our newest doe, we bought her in January. Her feet are dainty and tiny. I didn't think she needed a trim, but I decided to take a look just in case. I milked her, and then checked her feet. She did need some trimming, but she wasn't too bad.

Next... the herd queen, D. She would NOT get on the new milking stand. I do not have the physical strength to put her up there. I tried and tried to coax her onto the stand. I took her into the milking shed and got her UP on the old milking stand, then took her back to the new stand. Three times. I tried until I was crying. D has given me a lot of trouble in the past with hoof trimming. My worst experience so far was the time I was working on her hooves and I had discovered if I push her back leg way back so she couldn't get any leverage, she couldn't kick (which wreaks havoc on my wrists and arms)! I was really pleased with my discovery. Soon D started leaning heavily on me. I pushed against her to get her to reposition her weight and she just kept getting heavier and her legs seemed to be buckling. I looked over at her, and her head was hanging straight down. I thought she was dead!! I immediately unlatched her collar as she collapsed and came to as soon as she dropped. She shook her head and was looking around dazedly. I was so scared that I had almost killed her. I ended up putting her into the goat pen and running into the house, threw myself onto my bed and was sobbing and crying. Plus, D usually kicks really hard when I do her back legs. I had even worse kicking experiences with the doe that passed away recently, B. She would jump and leap around, one day I called to my dh and told him if he did not come help me right away, I swore I was going to go into the house, bring out the .22 rifle and shoot her on the spot. He came and helped me.

What had happened is she was pushing against her collar really hard, and when I was pushing her back leg to prevent her from kicking, she just leaned even harder onto her collar. She cut off the circulation of blood to her brain and it caused her to lose momentarily lose consciousness.

Anyway... so I'm in tears, and cursing under my breath. Thankfully, D had been fighting with her son for the past 15 minutes, so she was already kind of worn down physically. Otherwise, she would have been even harder to handle. Finally remember that I did fix the old wooden milking stand so that I can lock them into the stanchion. I moved the stand into a position where I could manuveur behind it to get to the other side. Then I directed D into the milking shed. And of course, she wasn't about to get on the stand since it was cockeyed. I kept coaxing her, and finally got her up there. Then I locked her in. She has never been locked into the stand before, and my dh says he would not want to lock them in because he's afraid they might break their neck. So he puts up with them acting badly on the milking stand. First, by his own admission, he's a slow milker. Secondly, if they finish their grain before he's done milk, he pours them another pound's worth so he can finish. Thirdly, if they decide that he is done milking, he puts up with them backing up and moving forward and walking, stomping, etc., until he finally gives up.

I love the new stand, because I've gotten the new milkers accustomed to the idea that they are locked on the stand and they can't back up and move around. I usually don't have the backing up and moving around going on, probably because I milk more quickly and am done before they finish even their first pound of grain. When we first started milking N, she would put her head in and out, in and out of the stanchion. This means backing up and moving forward, backing up and moving forward. Also, she liked to crane her head toward the milk bucket, while she's hawking up a cud and so there's this terrible bad breath from her burping (right in MY face, mind you, peeeeeuuww) and then she's chewing the cud OVER the milk pail. I would try to move her out of my way with my head, but she wouldn't go for it. So I was very, very happy to get the new metal stand.

Back to D and her hoof trim. I have her locked onto the stand, but her head and neck is so big she barely fits in there. She's bug-eyed by this point. I pet her a bit to soothe her, but realize I don't have the milk bucket nor the chair to sit on. So I tell her to not break her neck and stay calm and get those things and I'm back. I milk her and I'm getting more and more apprehensive about the hoof trims. D kidded back in March, so her hoof trims are way, way, way overdue. My ds2 had agreed to take over hoof trims, but he has not kept his word. He did one hoof on D after she kidded and then he had to leave to go someplace. I'm getting more nervous and more apprehensive, because D isn't even eating her grain because she doesn't like being trapped there.

I'm also dripping sweat by now, with all the fighting and hauling and pleading and coaxing to try to get her on the other stand. And I'm crying, and talking to her out loud about how she better not give me problems. When I'm done milking, I grab the hoof trimmers. I start on her right front leg and she bears all her weight on that one leg and almost goes down, so I have to let her get her balance and try again. Okay, got that one done. Next, the back right leg. Usually she kicks very hard and I even ended up with a torn rotator cuff before Christmas that took over four months until I could use my arm normally again. I noticed right away, that because she's up on the stand, and not sure of her balance, I have the advantage and she does not kick!! Wow. I finish that foot and move to the left side and do the front foot, then the back foot. It wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be, but I'm still worn out from the physical labor of it all.

But I'm still wasn't done. I still have to feed and water everyone. I muddle my way through that, but there's still more to do.

I bring the milk and eggs inside, process the milk. Then I take the hair clippers outside with me, for it is high time that L's baby buckling's disbudding is done. This is another nervewracking, gut wrenching job. Someone has to do it... last year, dh and I tried to do it ourselves, but we wimped out. I had to take Z and M to a friend's house and she taught me how to do the deed. So I learned how, and have been doing all our kids this year. I shaved the buckling's head and put him into the disbudding box. Held him in position and burned off his hornbuds. The baby screams bloody murder and squirms around. You have to make sure you don't burn yourself or his head or long ears, etc.

After that was done I gave him back to his dam, who was very concerned about him and let him nurse right away. The little kids don't seem to mind the disbudding much, once it is over. It is much more humane to disbud than to try to remove the horns once they are growing.

I went back into the house. By now I'm actually shaking physically all over from the stress of it. But I still have to make dog food and make the dogs sit and wait for their breakfast. I'm tempted to just forget out it this morning, but I feel like I'm making good progress, and don't want to lose that momentum. As I make the dogs some eggs, my hands are shaking. I will calm down in a little bit, but it is just physically and emotionally draining - the hoof trims and disbudding. Thank God we only have to do disbudding one time. Too bad hoof trims are an every 4-6 week deal. I am sooooo tempted to hire the young woman that lives down the road from us next month. Now that I have them caught up, I think I will seriously consider that. She only charges $5 per goat. The last one I should have done is the herd sire. But I was not about to go there today. He's a big guy, very polite and easy to handle, and he is actually very good for hoof trims, but he'll just have to wait for another day.

I am washing my bedding right now. I wish it were already clean and ready to put back on the bed. I'm feeling exhausted. If I snuggle into bed I can sleep a couple of hours before it's time to do more chores (throwing hay for lunch, filling water buckets, feeding the orphans).

Until next time.
Categories: goats, nourishing-traditions, whining

Display Entire Post...

Back to Summary View...

No Obvious Focus

I don't know what my blog will focus on, if anything. I know that some having knitting blogs, but I can't seem to find enough time for knitting again, lately. So I write about whatever strikes my fancy. Dogs are a big part of my life lately. I am studying and learning all that I can, in order to have a successful group of dogs.

I am tired this morning. There is so much to do. I need to trim the goats' hooves. Four sets of feet need to be done. I just don't have the energy to do it. I went to sleep late last night, that was a mistake when I know I have to get up around 5am!

But I sat here to write about Daisy. She has been the most irritating of all our dogs. Today is the 5th or 6th day that I've made their breakfast, made them all sit and stay. Daisy has always been extremely evasive (almost typed invasive). She would do this really annoying thing of wagging her rear at me, while her face is twisted around looking at me, as if to say, "Kiss my butt, you can't catch me, you can't catch me." But today... for the first time, she actually came to me for breakfast. I was still looking for LJ, so all the dogs were present, but him, and so when I finally got him rounded up, she had walked away and was acting evasive again. I spoke to her gently but firmly, to come to me. She gets so afraid, she has to pee. She peed and walked to me. I am so proud of her. I did tie her so she couldn't leave.

Now usually, she won't eat her food until very last, and then finally starts eating. Today Tessa wouldn't eat. The rules are, "Sit and Stay" and "Eat your food now because I'm the pack leader." Well, Tessa just sat there looking submissive. She didn't take even one bite of food. So when everyone else was done, her food was taken away from her. It won't kill her to go without a meal, they have an evening meal, and tomorrow she will be more anxious to eat her food.

Dog Whisperer was on for five hours last night. I taped all the shows. Watched some of them.

I have a lot to do today. I am tired, WHINE! I haven't had breakfast yet. I was having trouble figuring out what to have. Now I think I know what I'll have. Some chicken tenders fried in coconut oil. Maybe that will help my energy level.

Until next time.

Display Entire Post...

Back to Summary View...

Sit and Stay for Breakfast

I decided today to see if I might chance trying to take a picture of all the good dogs, sitting and staying for breakfast. I was actually able to get several shots. They have a hard time concentrating on staying seated, but eventually the smell of the yummy breakfast makes its impact and they realize it isn't getting any closer to their mouths if they keep getting up and moving around. Good dogs!

Display Entire Post...

Back to Summary View...

Sunflowers in my Garden

That's about all that's in my garden nowadays. I gave up when the gophers took over last spring. Well, actually I think I tried again in September, but they demolished everything, so I gave up again. Now I have volunteer sunflowers coming up all over. In the back two beds, alfalfa is actually growing there. Sunflowers are really neat flowers. They seek out the sun... if the sun is rising, they all face toward the sun. If the sun is straight up, they are facing straight up. If the sun is falling, their heads are all facing the west.

Until next time.

Display Entire Post...

Back to Summary View...

Archiving Your Blog

A thought occurred to me a couple of days ago... what if Blogger lost my blog? Should I be backing up each month by saving the entire page? Should I print it out and place it safely in a notebook binder?

I would be really upset if Blogger lost my blog.

Until next time.

Display Entire Post...

Back to Summary View...

Z's One Month Fresh Udder

This is Z's udder. She was separated from her kids last night about 6pm and we milked her at 5am this morning. I did not take all her milk, only 2.6 pounds. I would say this amount was probably 1/2 or 2/3rds of the total. I have seen pictures of udders like this, on websites of people that show goats. It is a normal picture to see on a site like that. When I saw Z's udder on Monday, I wanted to take a picture, but didn't have the camera and I wanted to get her milked so I could get her in with her kids. I only take some of her milk, so her kids can have breakfast. Of course she produces milk all day long, and the kids spend the day with their dam and the rest of the herd. I am so curious to know how much milk Z is really producing. It is not too easy to tell when she's still feeding her kids. They can be weaned in one month, then we'll know. Z's dam produced 8 pounds a day at her peak. That is pretty good for a first time freshener. Hopefully Z is producing 8 pounds a day, too.

Until next time.

Display Entire Post...

Back to Summary View...

The New Back Porch Steps

Today my dh and ds2 made the new stairs. They are gorgeous and so sturdy!!!! I am so impressed! They are not totally finished, because they are going to be painted, and I want a rail on both sides and around the landing, too. But this is a start on them!

Click here if you missed "The Old Back Porch Steps".

Hi Fearful Penny! That's one of our dogs sitting right in front of me hoping for my attention as I was squatting to get a good picture of the steps. Good dog!

Display Entire Post...

Back to Summary View...

LJ visits the vet

LJ was neutered yesterday. It's a good thing. It was time, he was old enough.

Yesterday morning I was upset and crying over him again. It was a rough morning for us and for him, because he is used to a routine of being able to drink water, have something to eat once he gets up in the morning, and play outdoors with the big dogs. But since he had to have surgery, we couldn't let him go out, we had to keep his water up, he couldn't eat. He was pretty cranky, and I was feeling scared about handling him. Scared that I was going to make him do something that would cause him to growl at me...

I'm confused. I joined a list for dog training, and one lady told me that I should not be correcting him for growling, because that is how we end up with dogs that bite without issuing any warning. Then I read in Cesar's Way that we should make sure the dog does not growl at you when you get around his/her food. So what to do? The lady who told me not to correct him for growling is a Dog Whisperer follower.

I was feeling overwhelmed by the whole situation. I've mentioned a lot my lack of energy. And I wonder if we've made a mistake. I shared my concerns with my dh, and he assured me that I don't have to take this burden on all by myself. He said all the right things. It was incredible.

After I picked up LJ, I took him by my job. That was a real boost to my confidence level. Everyone that met him loved him, even my coworker who has complained the most loudly about what a mistake I'm making by choosing to keep the boy. She thought he was adorable and very well behaved. I even found out that one of my coworkers who I would NEVER have imagined would have a thing to do with pit bulls, says "they" have two pit bulls and they call them "pet" bulls. I think they belong to her daughter and her daughter's boyfriend.

LJ made a good impression on everyone, and he is welcome to come back. I was so relieved because there is a good mix of men and women and he can see lots of different people in one place.

Anyway... I just wanted to say that I am still having concerns, and hoping and praying we have made the right decision. I was wondering if that was part of my problem, that I really didn't pray about the right decision. But then I thought about how God usually sends things into our lives for a reason. We just don't know the reason yet. Who knows? Maybe I need this little puppy in my life because I will end up getting more exercise as a result? Maybe that will be an answer to my prayer to have more energy.

I ordered two puppy books today, and expedited the shipping. I hope they arrive soon. One more thing. The lady who said we should not correct LJ for growling... was concerned that he was growling. That really alarmed and scared me. She says we have to find a personal trainer immediately and gave me some names and numbers to call. I don't understand though, the dog is supposed to growl as a warning, but he's not supposed to growl or it indicates aggression towards humans? I have not begun the research for the right trainer yet. I think it might be a good idea to have some professional help. My coworker with the "pet" bulls? She also told me she cannot walk the male dog herself, because he is too strong. She said the dogs were aggressive and unpredictable. From what I understand, these dogs sound like they are the "pack leader" which does makes them dangerous.

Our goal is to make LJ a "responsible pit bull citizen". I go back and forth on this, debating in my head. It will be okay, it might not be okay. Another thing that had me upset yesterday morning was because I'd just read in Cesar's Way where he said you HAVE to take your dogs on walks every day. Like, hour and a half walks in the morning and half an hour at night!! He said it's not enough to just let them run loose on your property, no matter if it is several acres. I tried walking the four outdoor dogs on Monday. Like an idiot!!! I ended up having them getting into fights. The two girls that fight each other, they stand on their hind legs and spar each other. Whenever I order them to stop, they do. But it was really stupid of me. I am ashamed to admit the stupidity of that!!!

I am even tempted to delete this entry. I guess what I want my readers to know is that I am trying to consider every angle in this situation. The fact of the matter is, we live out in the country. Our other dogs NEVER leave our property. We rarely have company. When people do come over, we cage the dogs before visitors arrive. Our property is fenced. When people come to visit, they always make plans ahead of time because of the long distance.

I'm really not concerned about LJ hurting people. I was in the beginning, but I've learned that they are not human aggressive without reason. Cesar explains how it happens, dogs aren't born human aggressive. They are turned that way by humans.

So, it's not people I'm worried about. And it's not like we have any small children here anyway (this seems to be a great concern for most people - that pit bulls will attack young children). It's our other dogs that I care about, and don't want to see LJ turn on them and hurt them because of the way they act. I see that we have some issues, so we have to work on making change now, while he's young.

I didn't mean to go on this long. I am tired tonight, and just wanted to share that I am not just being an idiot "following my heart" and not thinking this through carefully.

Dang. What I really meant to sit here and type about was something altogether different. I will do that quickly in a new post.

Display Entire Post...

Back to Summary View...

Power Cocoa

I promised to share my Power Cocoa recipe, so here 'tis. This is an NT thang. Fat loading at breakfast to make one's food last longer.

1 cup raw milk
1 Tablespoon cocoa powder
1 Tablespoon honey or maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla

2 Tablespoons organic virgin coconut oil

2 egg yolks

Pour milk into a small saucepan, begin heating gently. Add cocoa, sweetener and vanilla. "Hit" with a stick blender for a few seconds. Allow to heat until a little hotter than lukewarm. Add coconut oil. Allow to melt. Blend. Add egg yolks, blend quickly. The point is to keep as many nutrients as possible by not heating the milk too much. Also, if the milk is too hot, the yolks will cook. Otherwise, you will not know the yolks are even there and they add protein and fat.

Enjoy! When I have my power cocoa for breakfast I am satisfied for a good four hours.

Until next time.

Display Entire Post...

Back to Summary View...