Thanksgiving

I've finally made it back to the blog again.  It generally seems to be a losing battle around here to use the computer without Liam breathing down your neck waiting to play Starcraft or some other battle game. 

We are expecting our first freeze on Thanksgiving day with lows in the low 20's.  I am hoping to take pics of the roses tomorrow before they become frozen.  If we're lucky, the cilantro will be protected by the heavy plastic I'm going to throw over it.  The jalapeno, bell and banana peppers will all have to come in tomorrow.  Also, the trombetta and spaghetti squash still out in the beds will need to be picked.  I'm actually ready for the freeze, so that I can clean up all the flower and garden beds afterwards.  I hate to pull up and cut back the plants while they're still alive and green.  It will take me most of December to dig the bermuda grass out of all the beds - at least, it took me that long last year!  It is worth it, though, to have clean flower beds come spring time.

Lacey was bred to a Nubian buck on November 13th, so we hope to expect babies around Liam's birthday at the beginning of April.  We had planned to have Alpine babies, but I was having some major trouble trying to figure out when Lacey was ready and the Nubian buck was closer!  Now, we just have to watch Daisy, so her babies won't be too far behind Lacey's in the spring.

Lacey is still producing milk very well.  She is about to be on her ninth month in milk and she is still giving around 10 cups a day - that's over half a gallon a day since we bought her at the end of May!  That's plenty for us, yet she actually dropped in production after we brought her home.  I'm not sure what we could have done with even more milk!  Even though Lacey is an Alpine, known for quantity rather than quality (high butterfat) milk, every quart forms a thick ring of cream on top.  I'll be interested to see how Daisy's milk compares, since she's a Nubian/Saanen cross known for higher butterfat.

We are heading south to Stephenville for Thanksgiving on Thursday evening.  We purchased a pasture raised turkey this year from a little farm - Prairie Oasis Farm - in Millsap near Mineral Wells.  I went to go pick it up on Sunday after church.  The owners, Allen and Kim Boone, were very nice and gave me some neat recipes to go with my turkey.  This year they have upgraded their facilities so they had some extra challenges for the holiday season (they process their chickens and turkeys on site).  If we can afford to, this spring we hope to try some of their chickens, as well.  I'm excited to try a real turkey this year and am planning never to go back to buying the cheap factory farmed birds in the stores.

I insulated our well house with fiberglass batting this week - if I had known insulation was so cheap, I think I would have done it a long time ago.  Not having to worry so much about pipes freezing and having a warmer building for our goats to take shelter by is definitely worth $30.  I'm very thankful for having a framed building to make putting it up so easy!