Peaceful Day on the Farm

The animals are more quiet than usual today. The weather is perfect, not to hot but not at all cool and a thin, thin layer of clouds that lay more like a thin blanket in the sky than the cottonball formations, cumulus clouds, whatever you call them and now this is a terribly structured sentence.

Anyhow, it is peaceful, quiet and laid back here today. If I didn’t have to work I’d be laying in the sun on my zero-gravity chair, dozing in and out of the early stages of sleep. But I have to work.

It is so quiet today, in fact, that not even George, the donkey, has made a sound. He is not a fan of the heat or the bugs that bug him as long as the sun is out. Every hour or so I see him saunter out of his lean-to and walk his patrol – he really takes his job, as guardian, very seriously.

Louise and her kid bucks shift between fierce dining sessions and equally fierce naps. I envy them. Louise is eating her cud during her slumber (I am grateful I do not eat and cannot eat in my sleep). As ruminants, goats have four stomachs and it is best for them to lay and rechew their food for about four hours a day. I think she hit four hours of said activity by noon today!

Anyhow, this is what it’s all about. Embracing days like this, when I can say, write, feel and enjoy a peaceful day on the farm.

I Named my Goats Walker and Barrett

Just in case you did not know, I am telling the world right here on WordPress.com that I named my baby goats Walker and Barrett after the candidates in our Governor recall election here in Wisconsin. The goats are much cuter and not at all argumentative. They are so unlike their political counterparts, in fact, that they are sporting red and blue collars for their respective parties in order to provide a hint as to the source of their names. This is a historical election and still there are people who do not get the joke. Many even ask why I didn’t name them Walker and Texas Ranger. Really?

My visitors the other night (who helped me load up my goat) were Jim and Beth Rude. They are a creative, entrepreneurial, interesting, funny, and inquisitive couple. Beth is a master gardener and Jim is a food stylist. Together they created P. Dickey’s, a gourmet mushroom seasoning company based in our hometown, Janesville, WI. They brought me a farm warming gift, their Wild Shroom Seasoning. It’s made up of morel, porcini, and shiitake mushrooms, garlic, salt, spices, and more.

Which prompts me add why it is so great to be able to work from home now and again – I am able to make my lunch and eat it at pretty much the same time.

Anyhow, I cooked organic young chicken breast in a blend of oils with P. Dickey’s Wild Shroom Seasoning and some chicken broth yesterday. Having let it chill overnight, I cut it up and added some diced onions and baking raisins, never-too-much mayo, two tablespoons or raw, organic goat milk (fresh this morning), and warmed a piece or sprouted grains bread.

I ate it immediately. All of it. With a baby dill pickle. Delish.

Make that two baby dills.

Working From Home

My visitors the other night (who helped me load up my goat) were Jim and Beth Rude. They are a creative, entrepreneurial, interesting, funny, and inquisitive couple. Beth is a master gardener and Jim is a food stylist. Together they created P. Dickey’s, a gourmet mushroom seasoning company based in our hometown, Janesville, WI. They brought me a farm warming gift, their Wild Shroom Seasoning. It’s made up of morel, porcini, and shiitake mushrooms, garlic, salt, spices, and more.

Which prompts me add why it is so great to be able to work from home now and again – I am able to make my lunch and eat it at pretty much the same time.

Anyhow, I cooked organic young chicken breast in a blend of oils with P. Dickey’s Wild Shroom Seasoning and some chicken broth yesterday. Having let it chill overnight, I cut it up and added some diced onions and baking raisins, never-too-much mayo, two tablespoons or raw, organic goat milk (fresh this morning), and warmed a piece or sprouted grains bread.

I ate it immediately. All of it. With a baby dill pickle. Delish.

Make that two baby dills.

Opie’s Goats Moves to OC Acres in Beloit, Wisconsin!

I decided that starting a new blog was in order after moving the goats to their new farm in Beloit, WI. The whole process is full of stress and full of hope, angst and gallons of ideas. This first post will be brief, like my first visit to the farm after closing. I have a lot to learn, here and at OC Acres. I have found some “mentors” in the form of other bloggers who have also turned to a homestead style life; living close to and growing as much of my own food as I can while leaving as small a footprint as I can on the environment I will leave behind me when I go.

Maybe you will follow me along the way. Maybe you won’t. I just hope it’s because you are too busy digging in the dirt, brushing a horse, or milking a goat that keeps you away!