Everything is happening

Trust your intuition

So let’s begin with an update on the little baby Delaney, she is doing very well, smiling now and beginning to have a few things to say. At 3 months old, she is making very cute noises, excitedly smiling and kicking, as she tells me she loves me. We will reverse a moment to remember Iona, my two year old, she is in a phase of transition from doing whatever she wants to being expected to listen to directions. I thought she was going to be my last baby, so I was amused by her cute little responses and didn’t really correct any of her manners and, well…I created a monster. She is about 90% successfully potty trained and she does have a part of her spirit that wants to be nice and be praised, however, she is definitely still ego driven. “I need a snack!” has not yet transformed into, “May I have a snack, please?” Although, I am getting very good at reminding her of how to ask. Bruce William, my miniature me in boy form is becoming a young man. His muscles are stretching out as his appetite is growing and he loves humor just like me. He has a sweet heart and wants to do everything right but his mind is easily distracted with anything he might want, wonder, or hope for. Josie Marie is a strong tree whose roots grow deeper and wiser with every storm that comes her way. She is absolutely gorgeous and I need to tell her that someday instead of following my program of hoping she never finds out. My mom used to say, “don’t tell her she’s pretty, she’ll get a big head.” I want her to know, today, that she is amazing, beautiful, smart and kind, that fear of her becoming conceited is a lie! She inspires me, I love her so much and am learning that she is going to keep growing in spite of me.

Phew! Is this a memoir or a journal or what? Let’s get back to our growing farm and business. Back to business. (Wink)

Back on the farm

The goats could not be kept apart by a measly mesh wire fence. They laugh in the face of T-posts and wire. The does are in with little Bill. Baby goats due mid March. Testosterone has taken over my sweet boy, he’s gross now. Incase you are not aware -part of the mating ritual for goats is the male goats urinate on their own face to attract the ladies. So my handsome Little Bill has morphed from a distinguished Capricorn mascot, to a very stinky goat.

He’s a Maniac.

Furthermore, we have 12 hens and 6 mallard ducks in the fenced in barnyard. Our neighbor gave us 5 Isa brown hens, plus my 6 hired hens and the beautiful Sofia, and we’re collecting 3-4 eggs every day! They are olive green and brown eggs, and the hens have been coming back into the coop at dusk perfectly. The 2 roosters were fighting to the death, so I put one in a cage and my new friend Tiffany is going to come get him for her farm. She gave me the ducks and they are very fun to watch in the yard. We just have a baby pool for them now but we plan to have our pond dug and lined by spring so they should have baby ducklings this spring.

Better not count my ducklings before they hatch! Speaking of hatchlings we have 4 baby chicks we hatched in an incubator, one freedom ranger and three American Bresse. Our neighbor shot a deer near the back pasture and gave us a huge piece of deer thigh. I am going to cut some up for dinner tonight. We also have 3 meat rabbits ready to put in the freezer, well not quite ready, they are alive now. None of our rabbits have had bunnies, so we will keep trying, they’re all pretty young, about 8 months old. Repete our buck has repeatedly not completed the one job he has on the farm and we have 2 young boys who are almost ready, so rabbit and dumplings coming soon. I also had a rooster who was very mean to one of my new ducks, he was delicious.

Last but not least, I am so excited to be able to get back into making portraits and teaching yoga. I went back to the Deli last week and we decided it is too soon to take baby Delaney away from mama, so I am putting all my energy and extra time into starting our business. I am very excited to have a creative outlet plus an amazing space to teach yoga. This is a portrait I did in chalk pastels of Cheryl Hensley the gorgeous realtor who sold us this little piece of heaven. It is more abstract and creative but I plan to draw one with pencil that will be more accurate. She had posted a very unique profile pic, I asked her if I could draw it and she said yes!

I can’t wait to share the details as we continue to learn and create our dreams. God answered my prayers and brought my man back to me, he’s working here now, not 3 hours away. I better go start cutting some deer steaks.

Outdoor yoga here!?! God is so good.

Thanks for reading.

Donna Ervin