Homemaking on the Homestead

I personally love the time change. I love having it stay light longer in the evening. It just says spring to me. I've had a whole lot of spring excitement on my homestead lately. One of the first signs of spring on my homestead is when the ducks start to come and visit our pond. They are coming home from the south and see our pond and stop by for a visit. I always know spring is here when the ducks start visiting our pond... Baby goats!! Spring is the time for baby animals. My mama goat had twin girls! It was so fun to walk in the barn that day and see my 2 new little goats! Two days later I had my grandchildren here for a visit to hug and hold those new baby goats. It was a wonderful day! And finally, my youngest son, Isaac, turned 18! I have raised all my kids to the age of 18 and beyond. But, it seems to happen very fast. My husband and I looked at each other and said... how did this happen so fast? In many ways we miss a house full of...

It has been very busy here in my home lately (hence my lack of blogging). This week we moved my 80 year old father in law into our home. It has been chaotic and we are currently all adjusting to new routines and getting him settled. Earlier in the month my son Isaac celebrated his 15th birthday. Hard to believe my 8th child (the baby :) is 15!! The years just fly by too quickly. We had a fun little birthday celebration…. Then we started in on packing all of my father in laws belongings up and moving all but what he essentially needed daily. My birthday was Monday and my sweet hubby whisked me off to the Oregon Coast for an overnight getaway. It was the “calm before the storm” ~smile~ We came home on Tuesday and officially moved Grandpa in on Wednesday. And as if Wednesday was not hectic enough for us my mama goat delivered her new little kid.. such a cutie!! A sweet little doe… still need to name her… Now my focus has turned to a family Easter Dinner cele...

We have added a new member to our family!! Our sweet Alpine doe, Bonnie, delivered a little baby boy yesterday!! And he is so cute! He looks more Nubian than Alpine as his daddy, Clyde,  is Nubian. His coloring looks just like mama. Since it was pretty cold out I pulled out one of my baby goat sweaters and put it on him to help keep him warm ( http://thefamilyhomestead.com/crochetgoatsweater.htm   ). By this morning he was all warmed up and walking around with mama dad… Mom & Dad January life on our homestead is pretty routine (other than the birth of a baby goat!). For Isaac and Sierra their daily focus is school and we are making good progress through the school year. At the beginning of the school year I shared that I was using Switched on Schoolhouse for my son Isaac. He is using it for English, science and history (we still use Saxon for math). After a half year of using the program I have to say I really like it!! It has saved me a lot of time i...

I bought a new goat for our homestead a couple of days ago. Her name is Bonnie… She is a little Alpine doe.. and so far is doing great at intermingling with the other two goats. My herd is a lot smaller than it use to be, and I am just fine with that. Goats tend to be one of those things that can get overwhelming in a short time.. so I had to downscale and get back to something I could easily handle in life!! ~smile~ So far Bonnie seems like a great addition..