Not perfect at all... but then again, pretty perfect

Although you, dear reader, might get the impression from this blog that I am a perfect mother, since I raise my kids in such a beautiful place, and since I offer them plenty of adventures, let me tell you: I am NOT a perfect mother.  Not at all.  In fact, most days I wish I had more patience, were more emotionally balanced, and paid more attention to my kids, which is probably how every mother feels some of the time, if she's honest with herself.

However, there was one day last week when I felt like a perfect mother for about five seconds.  Lukas had a stomach ache all day and didn't act like himself.  So I made him chicken noodle soup with a chicken I had raised (and Luke had slaughtered many months ago), with carrots, onions and garlic I had grown in the garden (and Luke had weeded many months ago), and with herbs and spices I had grown and dried.

I also made him freshly pressed juice from beets, carrots, celery, cucumbers and apples to boost his immunity with vitamins and minerals so his white blood cells could kick better butt.  As I sat rubbing his tummy, smelling chicken soup on the stove, sipping veggie juice, I thought, "Wow, I actually feel like I am doing the exact right thing here."

It's a good sensation to feel like you are the perfect mother, even if it only lasts for five seconds.

Talking of offering my kids adventure: The other day, I took them up the hill behind our house, which is actually more like a mountain bordering on wilderness all the way up to Canada.  Luke carried his bow in case he came upon a grouse, and Kai, Eva and I lumbered behind him trying not to make too much noise.

30 minutes after leaving our house, we reached one of my favorite spots: the fairy pools.

It's a powerful place, with massive moss-covered boulders, a wild creek carving its way through a steep valley, tumbling and falling along the way and making a heck of a racket.  Eva was scared of the loud, raw energy of this spot and kept requesting to go home so she could "hug the house".  The boys bribed her into hanging out there a little longer with hot chocolate and marshmallows later.  On the way back, we felt like fairies, stomping through moss and ferns, and finding more beautiful spots by the creek.

Since I'm showing off nature pictures:  Here are some more, from our fishing adventure at the local fishing hole.  The creeks are all so low that no new salmon are coming up.  The only thing we catch are bear tracks, and Eva.

Oooops.  Eva got caught in the fishing net.

Other news of the week: my goat ladies got a new boyfriend.  His name is Cowboy, and he is a dashing and not too stinky Boer buck.  We hope that he will do his job and breed the girls, so we can have cute baby goats and fresh milk in the spring.  The ladies didn't know what to think of him at first.  They butted heads and sniffed each other a lot.  If you want to read more about the hilarious courtship of goats, you can read my earlier blog post about that here.

This view from the back affords a great view of his... ahhhh, assets, shall we say...

And since I'm mentioning milk, I thought I should show you a picture of my friend, neighbor and student Cindy Lou, who took my online cheese making class in June and came by to cut into her first-ever wheel of Gouda.  She used pasteurized, store-bought cow milk, and the cheese tasted absolutely fantastic!  I'm so proud of her!!!  I will teach more of my online cheese making classes next year.

I will leave you with a couple of domestic scenes of pumpkin carving and a home-brewed kombucha drink.