Steph and Anne set off for their last day of Spanish school… at least for now. We tossed around the idea of planning to do this again next January as a refresher. We’ll see.
To celebrate the completion of their studies, they went to McDonald’s! There is a McDonald’s in Plaza de Armas, only a few blocks from Wiracocha. Steph was pleasantly surprised to discover that she was eligible for 20% off because she is a Peruvian resident.
Those of us who stayed home walked to market. It’s half a kilometer out to the road, and Lamar says it’s a kilometer to market from there. That’s a long way for Seth’s stout Matney legs to carry him.
I had been praying about God providing another doeling today, since I’m considering goats as a source of income. I already have a buckling, Merry, and a doeling, Christmas.
A few weeks back I nearly bought a milking doe for S/350 ($110), I think. I didn’t because she didn’t look that great, and I thought that seemed high. Behold, she was there today again, several weeks later, and was I ever glad I hadn’t bought her!
She was nothing but skin and bones, her udder shrunken away to nothing. And they wanted S/400 ($120) for her today! I walked around and found another beautiful milking doe, but they wanted S/550 for her.
Then I chanced upon a set of twins, a doeling and a buckling. They were asking S/250 for her. She’s bigger than Christmas, maybe six months old. She needs wormed. I walked around the rest of the market and saw nothing much else, except a llama baby that was very tempting at only S/100.
I came back and decided to take the doeling if they accepted S/200. I had been listening from across the way for about five to ten minutes and heard them quoting S/250 to all their potential customers. I haggled briefly and paid S/210.
Everyone was asking how much I’d paid for her, and without exception they all said I’d paid too much. I guess I’ll learn with time.
She’s pretty, but needs some love. She has a lovely deep belly and a wide enough rump that I’m excited about how many kids she’ll carry.
I don’t know how old my first goats are, but I’m pegging them as October births, putting them at four months old. The buckling has had no odor up to now, gratefully. Surprisingly, when he smelled the doeling, his lips did what only bucks can do. Now this afternoon he has a light but noticeable odor. Yay.
We caught a combi home, so we had to walk the doeling in only from the road. She’s quite calm and easily led. Seth had a nose bleed on the way home. I don’t know that he’s ever done that before. Maybe he walked too far.
After naps, the boys helped me muck out the pig pen. I took it slow, but I was sweating and puffing till it was done. Three big loads.
I washed up good, even bleaching my hands, and got to supper. I had put the chicken in a salt and vinegar brine just as the children finished napping. I mixed up a rub of seasonings and popped it into the oven.
After roasting it, I smothered it in my barbecue sauce that has been ripening since Wednesday. I can’t wait to eat this stuff. I keep thinking how good it would be coming off my brother-in-law’s grill.
We’re also having the cheese cubes on the side. I salted them and put a slight oregano and chicken seasoning on them. I’ll call them a success.
Tomorrow we rest and enjoy having Mama home again. Her lap will be very busy.
P.S. What should we name the doeling? I considered Navidad.
Juan David 