Dancing, dancing, and more dancing!

"You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; You have loosed my sackcloth and girded me with gladness." Psalm 30:11
Even though the girls are gone now, this photo is perfect to describe how God is working throughout our move. Every time we come up against a dilemma, He gives us the kind of answer that takes our breath away! Solutions we would have never imagined come to fruition so quickly!!

I know I said I was going to share realtor-suggested changes, but phooey on that idea. You've all been through a move so there won't be any surprises. Instead, I'm going to share the incredible solutions God has brought our way.

One being the previous post. We knew the goats needed a new home, but really hadn't thought too much about it yet. Then, this man from Boeing needed a remedy for all the brambles on his property. God put the two of us together and - voile! A perfect match!! His children absolutely love playing with the goats and the goats are having the time of their lives. Now, who could have put that together so quickly? Only Him!!

Stay tuned for the next unimaginable solution!

Good Night, Ladies!

"And the man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field..." Genesis 2:20a

Alpha

Bravo

This afternoon we said good-bye to these sweet ladies. A man Eric worked with thought they could conquer 2 1/2 acres infested with brambles. Since the goats love berries, it was a perfect match. But what made it even better is that this man has two children (2 yrs & 4 yrs). How perfect is that? All four kids will have an excellent time!!

Note: As long as we've had these ladies, I've tried to get a good close-up. Wouldn't you know they'd wait until the day they leave to stand still. :-)

Count Your Blessing Monday

Another great start to a what's going to be a great week - thanks to Marci at Amazing Graze Farm. She started this concerted effort to be conscious of our blessings. Check out her website and see what other people are thankful for. You'll meet some great people!!


These two little ladies have become wonderful source of entertainment.

Bravo (black) loves affection and will usually let you walk right up to her then put her head under your hand and expect you to stop what you're doing to pet her.

On the other hand, Alpha (brown) will let you pet her only when she's good and ready. She's the vocalist of the two, also. If she has something to say, she'll let you hear it - loud & clear & as long as it takes!

The last section!!

"The enemy has come to an end in perpetual ruins, and Thou hast uprooted the cities; the very memory of them has perished."
Psalm 9:6
The enemy? All the tree roots and gravel from the previous owners' landscaping/circle drive. Thou? It actually means our LORD; however, today it means Eric.

We're getting started on the final level to our front patio!! See this post for the lay-out.
After Eric dug the trench for the timbers, we were able to get the walls built. Everything has been tied in with rebar. Next? Level the inside for layers of gravel and sand, then those enormous pieces of flagstone!

With Michael back in school, we're not sure how to move the flagstone unless we hire someone again. Maybe two someones!

(PS - We know we could break the stones to make them smaller, but both of us really enjoy the statement made by the huge pieces of stone. Too, it makes for a much safer place to put a chair!)


Just had to share this picture of the girls with you.

Aren't they cute?

Our new little babies

"And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name." Genesis 2:19
We now have our goats!! There's a Kinder breeder about an hour north which is very convenient. The little ladies spent most of the afternoon checking out their new surroundings. We let them lose in the front yard until they decided to go down to the hill. They would have had a grand old time in the timber, but we would have had a darned old time catching them!

This is the nice little goat house all ready for the babies. We have the straw on the floor for bedding. We attached the bale feeder (compliments of Petunia's Gardener). We have the alfalfa and goat chow ready. We even have the water which is situated on the ground to the left of the grain. Have we forgotten anything? Nope - every thing's ready.

Or so we thought!! In one breath, Alpha quickly learned that she could stand on the top of the bale. And in the next breath, she learned she could jump the pen! We caught her and threw her back in the pen hoping it was a fluke. It was not. She jumped again and the game was on! We knew we had to make a few adjustments to the goat house - ASAP!



Now our cute little goat house is not so cute anymore, but I think it did the trick. Alpha tried to jump a few more times - each time moving one or two steps farther back before taking off. Maybe she's really not trying to get out, but just likes to jump. And the only thing to jump on is the goat house.
With that in mind, we threw a few things into the middle of the pen - away from the goat house and away from the walls. It's really not very high, but maybe (maybe) it will do the trick.

And, yes, their names really are Alpha and Bravo. That idea was Eric's (you know, the military history buff).

Goat Houses

"Then the tabernacle was taken down; and the sons of Gershon and the sons of Merari, who were carrying the tabernacle, set out." Numbers 10:17

Far cry from the tabernacle.
And the sons of Gershon and Merari were nowhere to be found.
But the little goat houses are finished and Eric and Michael moved them into place! We're almost ready for the critters!!

If you check out my Scrap Lumber post, you'll see what we started with to build the goat shelters. Now you know why Eric wanted to use a pallet as the base!! Pretty ingenious, if you ask me.

Scrap Lumber

"Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood..." Genesis 6:14a

1. No, we're not building an ark.
2. I'm pretty sure it's not gopher wood.

We are, in fact, building shelters for the soon-to-be newest members of our family: goats! Eric has been researching different breeds and has decided on Kinders. They are good for meat and milk. For starters, we'll have one buck and two does. The kids will follow!

This photo shows a pallet from the flagstone and the pieces of an old play fort our neighbor disassembled. Stay tuned for photos of the finished product.