Monday, May 28, 2012

Kids' Toys

Tractors are the hot toys on Providence Farm.

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Mr. Fuzzy

This is Mr. Fuzzy. He has homes in all four corners of the girls' bedroom window. They first noticed this cute little spider with the eyes and the horns wandering around the room a few months ago. He's very docile and never bites humans, plus he provides excellent gnat and mosquito control. Oh, and I've just been informed that Mr. Fuzzy dances to music.

Monday, May 21, 2012

The Scoop

Although I didn't have the energy to shoot a picture I thought worthy of the blog because this was our first stop after a long day of soccer, I still wanted to boast about Charlotte County's excellent teenagers, so this is the best graphic you're going to get (till next ice cream run, anyway.) In the mirror behind the old-fashioned ice cream counter you can see Laura, Katie, and part of Becky's smile, but best of all, Miss Hannah making a homemade strawberry shake with locally picked berries. She's one of the three proprietors of "The Scoop," our brand new ice cream parlor. All three young ladies who run it are Becky's age and grade. Hannah had also been our referee at the soccer field that day, hence her sunburnt face. It makes me proud to know so many diligent young people in our community. This is going to be a good generation.

Later, Gator

After soccer on Saturday, we ate at Badeaux's Cajun Kitchen, the new restaurant in town. For an appetizer, pretty Danielle brought us a plate of... alligator. It was fried and served with "gator sauce" and it really did taste like chicken!

Cozy

Waking up to a sister and a book under a down comforter last winter.

Friday, May 18, 2012

Kids, Kids, and More Kids

Here's the whole spring kidding season saga all in one blog post. Noxa and Aurora are twin sisters who have just turned one year old. They were still with their half brother (who was a few months old) before he was sold about five months ago, but I had hoped that everyone involved was too young to procreate. Alas. The buck was half Saanen/Nubian and half Nigerian. The does are pure Nigerian. When it became evident that Noxa was indeed "making an udder," I began to worry about the impending delivery. Not only was she too young for a planned pregnancy, but she was also bred to a buck of a much larger breed. I figured if she had multiples, she'd have a slim chance of a healthy delivery, but if she had one big buck, she'd probably perish in the effort of delivering. She had twin girls without my intervention, and mom and daughters are thriving! The black and white goat is Noxa, and her twins (one like mom, and one like dad) are pictured together. Cuties. Unfortunately, Noxa's sister was also pregnant, and she delivered one big buck kid. I found her pushing for all she was worth after he had died in the birth canal, but I was able to reposition him and help her finish. She was sore, but I gave her Banamine (like Advil) for two days, then she was as good as new. Ah, youth! A few days ago, Katie ran into the house yelling that Tuscany had delivered a giant buck kid. It was true. Tuscany made her udder a day before her delivery so I never suspected a pregnancy, or at least not one so advanced. Tuscany is an older doe, who has plenty of bone, and experience, so I wasn't worried a bit for her safety. She delivered this whopper of a son without so much as a whimper. This is Tuscy cleaning her son who is less than an hour old. He's big, clumsy, and sleepy. The baby on Becky's back is Noxa's yellow daughter. In the picture with my kids' kids, Katie's in the middle holding the newly born buck. His half sisters on either side are already three weeks old. He's as big as they are. We went from three goats last month to nine goats now. Laura from Good Enough Farm brought two very accomplished young lady goats back home after five months and one day at finishing school. And we brought home Noxa's full sister from a different friend. Goats truly are like potato chips: you can't have just three!

I'm Still Outside

Snowflake. Testing the boundaries. Cutely.

Monday, May 14, 2012

Injuries

Katie hurt her back at the soccer games. Not by playing soccer, but by picking up younger children. Here, diagnostic tests are being performed by radiologist Sirius Black. He's doing a cat scan and a pet scan. Based on the results, he's recommended complete bed rest.

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Candid Summer Shots

Laura and Katie shucking corn for a delicious after-soccer dinner. Laura and Becky, having a tete-a-tete under the oak. I thought both scenes were charming. What I don't find charming is going so long between blog posts that Blogger changes the format completely and having no control over the appearance of my under picture blurb.

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Katie's 11!

Katie turned 11 and her soccer friends came to celebrate with us by eating cupcakes and catching amphibians. It was a fun night for the kids and the parents. I thought it would be nice to post a happy family event after the last post about my Dad passing. That, and I haven't photographed anything to post about the farm.