Born During the Polar Vortex

Delta goat is a good Momma.  9 kids from 5 births in 4 years.  She is Luckys Momma and Sissys Auntie.  A Kinder goat born on the farm.  An obvious choice for a “keeper goat” when I chose to severely downsize this past fall.  Hard to catch and not a friendly goat, she’s still the best choice I could have made.

It was 55F yesterday, sunny but windy.  This morning, it was 9F.  This is some crazy winter weather, even for southern Illinois.

The “holding pattern” here makes me a little depressed.  Not much I can do as far as getting the farm in shape when everything is frozen.  Still too cold to start seeds.  The lack of water in the house makes me not want to get much done either.  Come on spring, get here already!

I’ve got a list of little projects that are still sitting on hold.  A few for the new kitchen, a few for the new farmers market and a few to make my life a little easier.  Eh, the truck breaking down really put a hurt on the general well being of the farm.  With the weather as nasty as it is, it will be a while before I can climb out of this hole.  Providing nothing else flys apart on me.  I haven’t paid a few bills so I can keep enough fuel in the truck so it won’t gel on me.  The 370K miles are starting to show.  It’s been quite a while since my creativity couldn’t get me out of a tight spot so I’m squirming just a little more than normal trying to keep the water flowing and the lights on.  Spring needs to hurry up and get here already.

The 9 chicks I hatched out are doing great, eating and drinking well.  Now they need to hurry up and grow!  LOL  I haven’t had a fresh egg since the middle of December and the 2 girls that are left here aren’t showing any egg laying interest yet.  Can’t really blame em, I wouldn’t want to lay an egg in this nasty weather either!  I’m hoping to be out of this “hole” by the time the chicks are big enough to be out of the brooder.  I will need to have a new coop built (the hoop house one I want to build) so they can be protected from the dogs, the coons, the foxes and what ever else seems to get them around here.  Hard to have eggs/chicken to sustain my food supply when my chickens keep getting eaten by something other than me!

ARG, off to bucket water to do the dishes….