It was goat day on the farm!

Isn't it funny how well thought out plans totally change without much warning?  Chris and I have wanted goats for awhile now.  We were totally decided on Nigerian Dwarf's.  In fact, we only wanted Nigerian Dwarf's.  "We don't want no big goats" was a common statement (ok, may be we worded it a little different, it just typed out much more fun sounding this way!).  We talked about goats often, how they would fit in, what we would use them for, where we would put them, you know, all the things you talk about when making a big, educated decision.  Well, after much talk we decided that we would put off getting goats until next year.  Or so we planned.  Then came the phone call on Friday morning.  Our friend Vanessa called and said she had 2 milking goats, a mama/daughter team that they just don't have time for, do we want them?  And without much thought we quickly said YES!  So here it is, Monday and they came home today and we are in love! 

 Check out these faces!

Mama Bluebelle

And sweet Clover

They are as sweet as can be.  I am very happy with how well they are adjusting here.  And I especially love when they hear us coming down the hill they run over to the fence to greet us.  Gives me the warm fuzzies.  

So, some of you may be asking (especially the ones who know us) "what do you know about goats?"  Well, that's they funny thing.  We know absolutely NOTHING about goats!  But we are learning.  A crash course if there ever was one.  I have been doing tons of reading and learning from the good folks at Backyard Herds have been so helpful and kind.  I found Backyard Herds back when we joined Backyard Chickens a couple years ago.  Both of these sites are GREAT sources of information.  I feel really blessed to have them at my fingertips!

So the immediate plan is to get these girls eating well and used to their surroundings.  Then around August during a heat cycle we will send them off to a breeder.  Hopefully we will get some babies because besides having great pets, we are dying for some good down home milk!  

Now that we have goats we are officially feeling like a farm.  With the dogs, cats, rabbits, chickens, bees, garden and goats, I think that does make us a farm.  We have been trying to think of a name.  Trying to name your farm is as hard as naming a baby!  We seem to like Whispering Creek Farm.  But not totally sure yet.  I liked the idea of calling it TICA Farm.  Which would stand for "Things I can't afford" which is funny, but sadly true!  lol  

If anyone has suggestions, please feel free to shoot them in a comment.  I would LOVE to hear them!  

It's been a long day on the homestead and I am tired.  Good night all!  I hope you had a wonderful 4th of July, for those of you in the USA!

On my mind.......

I've been gone, but now I am back! For good this time!  I am trying to get back into the swing of blogging again.  There has been so much going on in the last few months, hopefully I can get caught up with some pictures and posts next week.  Lot's of fun, new exciting things going on around our little homestead!

For today I am going to be joining in on Rhonda's post at down--to--earth.  Every Friday she posts a lovely picture with a bit of explanation about it.  I figure this will help ease my way back into blogging!

So, this lovely lasagna I made last night is on my mind.  I followed a recipe from Rhonda's blog and was very, very pleased.  Slightly different than how I normally make lasagna, but I think that's why I liked it.  It was fun knowing that I made the pasta for it, I picked veggies from my garden and my family loved it.  A big win all the way around!!  We had 2 small pieces left over and my mouth is watering to eat one of them for lunch!

One other thing that is on my mind, I need a blog makeover.  Big time.  The focus of my blog was primarily homeschooling, but as life changes and evolves my blog is turning into a blog about simple living.  So, even though I am dreading trying to do a blog makeover on dial up, I need to do something, soon!  So keep an eye out for some changes.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

                                                                          Bobbi

Wordless Wednesday

In the Garden

The garden is coming along quite nicely!  I have been so pleasantly surprised with how everything is coming around.  We are getting closer to harvesting some things.  Potatoes, onions and strawberries are on the list of firsts.  Speaking of strawberries, I have my first ripe berry!  It's from a bare-root plant that we got from a friend at school.  She gave me 30-40 bare-root plants awhile ago.  I was so excited to add then to the already existing strawberry patches!  We are gonna have a ton of berries!  I am so proud of my tiny little ruby, here is a picture of it!

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I know it sounds a bit funny, but looking at my chives makes me very happy.  I love the little purple flowers.  They are just so pretty.  

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Potatoes, oh how I love thee!  These guys are growing so incredibly fast.  I can't wait until they are ready.  Hmmmm,  a potatoes and chives dish is in our future?

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I planted a ton of jewel colored nasturtiums in the garden.  Flowers and leaves will go nicely in a garden salad.

Hopefully there will be some left.  Maggie is enjoying the leaves already.  I'm looking forward to more color in the garden!

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Here is an overview shot of the front part of the garden.  It's hard to tell, but there is bok choi, hot and sweet peppers, lettuce, chard, cucumbers, tomatoes and a bunch of other things planted here.  Can't wait to see this spot full of big overflowing plants!

Chris and I were standing out looking over the garden last night and laughing that something in this garden is gonna HAVE to give us food!  We planted way more than we needed worried that plants wouldn't survive.  So far it looks like we are going to get something from everything we planted!  Hopefully we have enough family and friends who will want fresh produce!

Colored Chalkboard Paint

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I have always loved the idea of chalkboard paint.  I remember being very excited when I found a can of  Chalkboard Spray.  I once made Maggie a magnetic chalkboard but was very disappointed how it turned out.  Sigh.  This left me still wanting to make her a board, but I never tried again because of the first failed attempt and I didn't want a big black wall in her room.  Over the years I have thought about how great it would be to make colored chalkboard paint.  Well, guess what you can!  And I did!  And so can you!  It is so unbelievably EASY!

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Here is what you do:

Start with a flat finish latex paint in any color (make sure you start with a clean, primed surface).  I used Pale Sea Mist by Benjamin Moore.  It's a nice soft green color.  I only bought a quart since I was (a) trying out a new idea and (b) I was only painting the door panels on the inside of her bedroom door.  Which, by the way only took 1 cup of paint to do, so I still have left over for future projects!

Pour 1 cup of paint into a container.  I just used my paint pan so I wouldn't have a lot of extra things to clean up.  I then added 2 Tablespoons of unsanded tiled grout (make sure you use unsanded so it will smooth when you finish).  Mix carefully making sure to break up any clumps. 

I then took a small sponge brush and painted the corners of the panels and then used a small roller to paint the rest of the surface with.  Using a roller made the surface smoother.  A brush would have left stroke marks, didn't want that!  I painted 3 coats mainly so I could achieve the color on the paint chip sample.  I am pretty sure two coats would have been just fine.  I let each coat dry in between painting.

After my paint dried I then took some 150-grit sandpaper and gently smoothed the area.  Then wiped off the dust.  

Before turning Maggie loose with her new chalk, I rubbed a side of piece of chalk all over the entire area and then wiped away the residue with a very lightly wet cloth.  

It turned out so awesome that I am now planning to make a bigger board (in another color) for her room and possibly a chalkboard magnetic wall for our kitchen.

I wish I had taken a true "before" picture.  The door was actually painted yellow with pink panels.  It hadn't been painted in some time and really needed some love.  It's getting lots of love now!  Maggie is having an absolute great time with it! 

Now off to find the perfect door knob!