Finally! The Code of the Strain Express full movie!

New Arrivals in the goat herd!

We have two new arrivals in the goat herd!

Buttons is a Alpine / Nubian cross doe.  She is in milk and is now giving just a little under a gallon a day!  We got her milking stanchion with her so we didn't have to build one! :)  I really love milking goats - and I love the new milk!  She had been on the standard GMO feed before we got her - and her milk was pretty bad at first -  but now that she's on our good organic feed, the milk completely changed and you can't even tell that it's not cow's milk.

Then Snowy is Hannah's very own goat - she paid for her with her own money too.  She is only 2 months old and absolutely adorable!  She is a pure bred Nigerian Dwarf doe.  She wasn't handled very much before we got her - it took two people to catch her.  But HG had tamed her up so good that you can just go up and pet her or carry her around and she's fine with it!  Hannah was out there every day, all day long for about a week after we brought them home.  Trixie is in with her to keep her company because she's still to little to be in the big goat pasture or she'll get out of the stock panels.

Hannah, Trixie and Snowy

Then we had the other 3 goats tested for CAE and they are all negative!  So we can breed them later this month!  I'll post photos of the buck when we get him.

Zucchini Bread and Butter Pickles

We have been canning like crazy this past week!  We've made Garlic Dill, my great-grandmother's 7 day sweet pickles, and these zucchini bread and butter pickles.  I though I'd share this recipe with y'all since this is a little bit of a different way of making pickles - I had never heard of making them from zucchini before last year!  But these taste so great, so here we go! :)

This recipe makes about 5 pints.

14 to 16 small zucchinis, sliced
8 small onions, sliced
2 medium sweet green or red peppers, seeded and diced
1/3 cup canning salt
2 cups sugar
2 tablespoons mustard seed
1 tablespoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon celery seed
1 teaspoon peppercorns
3 cups vinegar

Combine zucchini, onions and peppers in a large bowl.

Sprinkle salt over vegetables and stir.  Cover with ice.  And let it stand for 1 1/2 hours.

Drain and rinse.

Combine remaining ingredients in a large saucepot.

And the vegetables.

Simmer for 10 minutes then pack the hot vegetables into hot pint jars, leaving 1/4 inch head-space.  Remove air bubbles.  Adjust two piece caps.  Process 10 minutes in a boiling water canner.

And there you have it!! :)  Delicious bread and butter pickles!

Trip to the Springer Cabin

We just got back from a trip up to the Springer's cabin!  It was SO much fun :)  We took the dogs and two of the horses along and they actually did better than I thought they would.  We brought the electric tape for the horses and set up paddocks in the meadow.  And we took them out almost every day riding and did a ton of loping.  Sometimes it seems like Quatahn doesn't have more than one brain cell - he is pretty weird.  The second day I rode him out and he was so freaked out about leaving his mare that he couldn't think about walking on the trail.  Then when I circled him around he bucked in a circle and then got mad and reared up :)  He doesn't do either one of those very well so it wasn't scary and I didn't fall off :) lol   Other than that, nothing unexpected happened.  We went hiking, played dominos, read out loud, shot guns and had a great time.  There was no running water or electricity in the cabin of course so we had to heat up our water for washing the dishes (what dishes we had) on the wood stove.  One of my favorite things about camping is sleeping in a sleeping bag :)  I don't know why, but I have always liked that.

The bedroom

Kitchen, living room

The cabin

We put the trailer in the horse's paddock and tied a tarp over it to two trees for a shelter

Cheyenne and Quatahn

Caleb and HG swinging

My horse is kind of discontent - she paces whenever we move her to a new pasture - she wore a path in the front yard :)

Mom glaring at Dad when he said not to get her face too close to the scope

She hit the cup! :)

 

Caleb and Brutus

Mom in the outhouse :)

Going on a hike

Mr. Army Man :)

Sadie May

Me and Quatahn

This is a photo that Caleb took - he is becoming a quite a good photographer!

Lessons from "Tangled"

I don't know how many of you saw the movie "Tangled"?  Our family just watched it and there are a couple things I'd like to say about it.

When will my life begin?

"Stuck in the same place I've always been

I just keep wanderin' and wanderin' and

wanderin' and wanderin' 

when will my life begin?"

-Tangled

A lot of girls these days when they get out of high school or college (if you go for that sort of thing - this is another topic altogether) and wonder 'when will my life begin?'  The thing they are missing is that their lives began at conception.  They don't have to wait for anything.  They should be focusing on the roll God called them to play at THIS moment in their lives.  Sometimes they think that it will begin when they get married or have kids - but if you are feeling like this now then when you get married you will feel the same way, and then when you have kids.  As a young lady in my father's house what I need to be focusing on now is learning from my wonderful mother how to keep a home and serve in the community.  She is a beautiful example of both of those things and I aspire to be just like her!  Even if I don't get married I still have an important roll God has called me to play in this world and I need stay busy in the things He has me doing now.

The mother - daughter relationship:

The other thing I noticed in the Tangled movie is the terrible mother-daughter relationship this portrays.  I know the witch is pretending to be her mother but it really makes it seem like it is O.K. to be rebellious to your authorities - which when you are in the home are your mother and father.  Colossians 3:20 ESV says "Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the LORD."  It pleases the LORD when we as children obey their parents.  Now, if you have a parent who is directly disobeying the commands of the LORD then there is a time to make an appeal.  But for the most part your parents are teaching you how to follow God in these years and you should have an open relationship with them - tell them all your worries and problems, and talk stuff over with them.  It is important to have a good relationship with your parents so that they can guide you.

Colossians 3:20-24 ESV says "Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. (21) Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged. (22) Slaves, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. (23) Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, (24) knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ."

Proverbs 30:17 ESV says "The eye that mocks a father and scorns to obey a mother will be picked out by the ravens of the valley and eaten by the vultures."

Proverbs 1:8-9 ESV says "Hear, my son, your father’s instruction, and forsake not your mother’s teaching, (9) for they are a graceful garland for your head and pendants for your neck."

I'm not saying that it is bad to watch movies like this - but you should watch them with a critic's mind.  You should think about what you watched and discuss it with your family.  Tangled was a cute movie that we did enjoy, but Hollywood likes to ingrain seeds of rebellion and discontent into their movies that slowly undermines the way you live.  It makes it seem ok to show contempt for parents when the Bible strictly warns you to honor your parents.  Now, what that means for me is when I see something in a movie that I think questionable I ask my parents and see for myself what the Bible says about it.  Usually my parents will see more than I do and ask me what I thought of the movie and then explain to us kids what was wrong with it.  I am so blessed to have wonderful parents that teach us the Scriptures and lead us to godliness so that we are 'prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks, to give the reason for the hope that we have.'