Innocent Goats

Last night as I was bottle feeding our two new baby goats, the thought crossed my mind how wonderful it would be to be as innocent as these two.  They have no idea what is going on in the world around them.

Nor do they care if Trump is President and not Hillary.  I have two sisters who have stopped talking to me because I am one of the "Deplorables."  How sad!!  These two little ones know nothing about a shooter being so mad at the world that he takes his shot gun and opens fire on innocent people in a Florida airport.  Or about 4 Chicago teenagers that kidnap a disabled white teenager and torture him while streaming live on Facebook.

Their only concern is when will I show up with the next bottle.  Don't worry girls, I'm coming!!  I just wish our lives were that easy!

Resolutions?

Well, 2017 finally made it here.  And, of course, everyone makes these lofty resolutions.  My husband's niece wrote on Facebook the other day that she wants to lose 120 pounds by 2018 and she is going to live on water, fruit and vegetables for the next 365 days.  Can't wait to see how long that diet is going to last!!  Then in her next message . . . she posted that she is not sure she can give up soda pop.  The diet is DOOMED!!!  I give her half a day at most!!!

If you are going to make resolutions for the new year, at least, make realistic ones!!  I saw one on Facebook the other day that sound pretty neat.  It was a way to save money.  It said that every time you get a $5 bill, save it - use a baggie or something to save the $5 bills in.  Don't count it, just keep putting your $5 bills in.  Don't "borrow" from it.  And at the end of the year, you should have a nice little bit of "pocket" change!  I thought that was a great idea!!!

Anyway, my "resolutions" for this year are to try to get healthy again, to spend less money and to save money.

2016 was an eye opener for me healthwise.  I had several health issues that I wasn't quite expecting.  In August, a blood test revealed that I was "pre-diabetic" and was told to lose some weight, which I did.  A second blood test, showed that my A1C value inched closer to the "diabetic" range despite losing 21 pounds.   Another blood test showed that I have Celiac Disease - e.g. I need to go gluten free.  

A stress test revealed a possible blocked artery in my heart - I am off to see a cardiologist this month and will probably be having an angiogram.  A CT Scan showed my Bronchiectasis (damage to the airway tubes in your lungs) has gotten worse and there might be a lung infection - oh joy!! 
So there might be a visit to a pulmonary doctor in the near future.  

So other than that, I'm fine - LOL!!  Getting old is a bitch!!!

But, we are eating better.  When I was told to lose weight, the first place I headed was Amazon and I bought several Weight Watcher cookbooks.  Like Oprah has said recently, the recipes are excellent and you really don't know you are on a "diet."  My husband and son love the recipes and have said this is the best they have eaten in a long time (not sure if I should take that as a compliment or not!)

I think 2017 is going to be a good year.  I just have a good feeling about it.

2016 - What a year!!

As the new year approaches, everyone always likes to take a look at the year that was.  And what an eventful year it was.

It begun with my sailor finally coming home!!

And we got to spend every holiday and birthday together without him having to leave to go back to base the next day!!

It was a year where an invited guest moved in . . .

a  5 foot back snake moved in under my front porch.  That is him/her peeking out to make sure the "coast" is clear!!  The snake is literally a few feet from my front door!!!  My husband sealed up the "hole" making sure Mr/Ms Snake was not "in residence."  We are assuming Mr/Ms Snake moved elsewhere.

We decided it was time to move on from the Farmer's Market.   That was a very hard decision to make.  I love my customers and the vendors, but I'm tired.  And my insurance kept increasing by $100 each year and my license to sell eggs increased up to $268 a year.  It was getting to the point that it was hard to make a profit.  My last year's sales at the market was down, so it felt like a good time to call it quits.  I thought for sure that I had just killed my business, but God had other plans . . . because here I am a year later and my business is still going strong!  AND, we were just accredited by the Greater Cincinnati Better Business Bureau!!!

For the first time in a long time, my garden was WONDERFUL!!!  I had the most beautiful tomatoes!!  And we are now enjoying those tomatoes this winter!  I spend a lot of the summer canning up my produce.  I had so much fun!!  Without doing the farmer's market, I had more free time to do things like canning and working in my garden, so I thoroughly enjoyed the summer!!

It was a  year of surprises with my health.  I have always prided myself on how healthy I was for a 63 year old.  Well, I think it finally caught up with me.  Two years ago I was diagnosed with Chronic Kidney Disease Stage 2, which sounds worst than it is.  So this past August, a blood test (A1C) revealed that I was "pre-diabetic."  Hmmm, hadn't planned on that!!  Was told by the doctor that I needed to lose some weight, about 10 pounds.

My very first thought was, who is the expert on losing weight . . . WEIGHT WATCHERS!!  So off to Amazon I went and bought several of the Weight Watcher cookbooks.   I lost 15 pounds!!   Had another blood test done, this time my A1C rose to 5.9!! One more.1 and I would be diabetic.  Thank God for husbands!  He said this is not a death sentence.  We can deal with this.  The Doctor told me not to worry, sometimes it takes 6 months for these things to turn around.

I did lost a bunch of weight that I have been trying to lose for a long time.  And I think we are eating healthier than we have.  The Weight Watcher recipes are really good much to my surprise and my family (two males) are thoroughly enjoying the meals.  At least, there hasn't been any complaints (well, they weren't too thrilled with the turkey burgers!!!)

I will admit here!! I am a deplorable!!!

I was one from the start!  I voted for him in the primaries and I voted for him on November  8!  I am so thrilled about President-Elect Trump.  I am so tried of politicians and dealing with the government!!  I have had to fight with the City Health Dept, the County Health Dept, and the Ohio State Dept of Agriculture.  I am hoping that now we have a real businessman leading the country, he will turn this country around.  My two Democratic sisters won't have anything to do with me now.

To 2016, thank you!!  You have been interesting!  And to 2017,  I am putting you into God's Hands and I know He will lead me in the way He wants me to go.  God Bless you all!

Amazing!

Who would have thought I would still be up and running now?  I was so sure I killed by business when I decided to drop out the farmer's market scene.  But here I am busy as ever!!  All thanks to my many loyal customers!!  And I think God had a lot to do with this.  I constantly talk to Him asking Him to lead me in the way He wants me to go.  So far, He hasn't closed this door and, in fact, He has opened many new doors.

I had a call last week from the Cincinnati Better Business Bureau.  They want to accredit my business!!  And they only do this by invitation.  How on earth did they get the name of my little goat farm???

So I just want to thank all my loyal customers for hanging in there with me!!  God Bless you all!  I love you all!!  Looking forward to another great year in 2017!!!

Breeding Season

It is looking like we will be having late January/early February babies in 2017.  From what I can tell, I think everyone went into heat either last week or this week.  The girls sure kept that poor buck busy!!

Uh OH!!! It is THAT time of year!

Sigh!  It is THAT time of year when my buck (the first goat in the picture) starts peeing on himself.  I know that sounds gross AND it is!!!  He does this about 25 times a day (I am not exaggerating!!).  And this goes on until late November/early December.  By that time, he is REALLY "ripe."

He does that to "attract" the female goats.  Personally, flowers and dining at the fancy restaurant work for me!!

Babies!

Had 4 baby chicks hatch this weekend!  I let 3 of the hens in one of the chicken houses set on eggs.  Usually 75% of the eggs aren't any good.  I always pleasantly surprised when I find baby chicks.  This brings our total of baby chicks hatched this summer up to 8.