Misc Stuff

Here is the promised picture of Carli in her scrubs. Her belly is getting bigger so she doesn't look all slim and trim like she usually does. I don't know if it's on purpose or not, but her dad keeps telling her she needs to gain some weight. Her doctor says she's fine, but in some strange way that makes me feel a little better about myself.

Meanwhile, she continues to study hard and it shows. Two tests this week and she got a 96% and a 100%. Her brother teasingly texted her a message: "Overachiever!"

This weekend we are sadly neither going to Utah for the cow show or San Diego for the Bracco gathering. Instead we are pouring cement for the new and improved out back patio. I thought I had a plan for the tile layout but my honey bunny said he wouldn't mind having something kind of bright and colorful, a little different. Now I'm in a tizzy because I don't know what to do. Stick to my original plan, which was not "bright and colorful" but kind of bluish-gray with a few iridescent tiles here and there, or try and come up with something really "different" like a giant mosaic lizard or some such thing. Well, I still have some time for that and I will most definitely make it a subject of this blog at some point.

I checked my calendar and the soonest we could expect any lambs would be the end of October. (I'm not really sure about the dates because, for example, Ewenice had at least three good markings, but she looks more pregnant than any of the others right now.) That gives me two months to clean out the stalls in the barn and get things ready. Since I have more ewes this season I'm going to divide the two stalls in half (still plenty of room) so there will be at least four stalls available for the moms and new babies to bond before they are set out with the rest of the flock.

On the "Today" show this morning was a story, part of which was about a goat farmer/cheese maker that started 16 years ago with 6 goats. Today she has 200 goats! It made me think about where my cheesemaking sister and I would be in 16 years. Right now I have five ewes. I can only dream about the future at this point. I could totally see me running the animal part of the business and she would be in charge of the cheese production part. We could get my AZ sister involved some how, perhaps she could be in charge of research and development! My brother could be the company doctor, his wife our hair stylist (we all have to be well groomed!) and the rest of the clan could be farm helpers.

That was one of my mom's fantasies. To have a family "compound" and be as self sufficient as possible. Perhaps, one of these days.

But right now it's 10 pm and the cement is arriving at 6:30 am. Time for some shut eye!