A long week

It has been a long week and a half, but I have emerged at last, grateful for the ability to somewhat breathe through my nose.  We have had a rough sick week, with no school.  I tried my best to keep us healthy, but sometimes it still gets you.  I think the timing was really bad.  We had warm days and cold days, which never helps.  I also was seriously lacking sleep, between feeding goat kids in the middle of the night and taking on a full milking schedule a little sooner than expected.  My children, believe it or not, spent two whole days on the couch, hardly eating and hardly moving.  You could tell they were sick lol.

But we were able to have a good school day today, and tomorrow I hope to have enough milk to make our first batch of cheese for this season.  We also had five lambs arrive this week, three of which arrived today.  They all seem to be doing well, with their mamas, praise Yah!  The does are doing pretty well with the milking.  I have two newbies that need a bit of training, but I think another week will have them decently workable.  I am getting about a quart and a half a day of milk, which is a decent rate for the time being.  I can't wait to get some cheese made up.  I hope to put up a decent amount of cheddar for this winter. 

I also hope to order my dehydrator next week.  Yah! We have stopped using the woodstove for the season, so I am anxious to still be able to dry food.  Poor Doug was not to sure about the onions I had spread out on a cookie sheet to dry.  They nearly drove him out of the living room.  I dehydrated some orange peel the other day, which made a wonderful citrus cake.  (whole wheat, by the way)

I am knitting the last two rows of the sleeves on Doug's hoodie as I am writing!  Then I just have to put the sleeves and the zipper in, and we are in business!  Good thing, too, because I have decided that I need a hoodie, too.  Mine will be purple, with a fuzzy alpaca hood.

I am trying to keep up with pictures of all the babies around here.  Sometimes they get ahead of me because they arrive so fast.  Keep an eye on my sidebar for totals and pics when I am able to take them.

I am doing research on some articles for the first issue of Torah Family e-magazine.  If you plan to contribute anything, be sure to start sending them in.  Remember that the first issue is due to arrive the beginning of May.  We are especially looking for children's artwork, teen contributions of any sort, and articles or thoughts on Shavuot.  Do you have something special you do for Shavuot?  This issue would be a great place to share it with others.  Thanks!

Shalom for now.  I am actually 31.5 weeks along now, and definitely need my sleep.