Quasar, the Mama goat, gave birth to one big buckling and two doelings, one of them very, very, very tiny. I didn't know if she would survive, but it looks like she is doing fine. I have to help her nurse, and we even gave her a bottle to make sure she received colostrum right away.
Steve happened to be at home, so we were able to film the whole birth, while my six-year old Eva helped dry off babies, bottle feed, and lend emotional support to the mama (which mama, you ask: goat or human? Actually: both). Her running commentary and excitement about the process of birth helped me with this messy, adrenaline-and-wonder-inducing event.
My two sons weren't present for the birth because they slept over at a friend's house, but as soon as they got home, they raced to the barn, and all three kids proceeded to hold babies and argue about what to name them.
These goats... they tie us down, are a lot of work and a huge commitment, but how could you not want them around?
I wanted to film the birthing process because I'm putting together an online course to teach how to raise goats totally naturally: from birthing to trimming hooves to disbudding to milking... you name it, I'll film it and write about it so people can learn everything they need to know to get started with goats.
Other news of the week: the garden is thriving, the butterflies are going nuts with the lilacs, -------------------------------------------------
(Whew, you guys won't believe it. Just as I wrote this last sentence, my kids came inside, screaming and yelling, telling me about a Robin's nest that had fallen down from our Kiwi trellis. Two baby birds were dead, one still alive. I put it back in the nest and put it up in the Kiwis again. I don't know if it will make it...)
---------------------------------- the butterflies are going nuts with the lilacs, baby birds are falling out of their nests, and my roses are blooming.
We've been having bonfires and picnics, some of them in the tipi which will host June's summer weekend camp for kids. The picture below shows the Cabra Al Vino I made, which you can learn to do in my online cheesemaking course, and the bread is the most amazing fermented bread I teach how to make in my online fermentation course.
We also roasted sausages and ate watermelon at Diablo Lake, which is great for that sort of thing, plus kayaking on it.
I will leave you with an image of my friends and I singing A Cappella at our local radio station (KVSU, 90.1). We've been singing together for about seven years, and we are getting braver when it comes to putting ourselves out there. If you want to listen to a little impromptu singing, my husband took a short movie of us singing at the river. (Melody: Andrea, Alto: Linden, Soprano: me). You can see it and listen here.
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