Typical Tuesday

This morning I milked Estrella to give Lamar’s a break. She’s been unpleasant for them. When I washed her down, she acted like she wanted to dance a bit, but I explained to her that a mother of her age and station should really be more reserved. Thankfully, she heeded my reprimand and stood chewing her cud demurely.

I was able to get around nine liters or two and a half gallons before my left arm gave up completely on milking further. I gave the calf his milk in a bucket, and he drank it all down without assistance. Yay!

Milking Agnes and Maude after Estrella was a breeze. They have more milk than usual this morning, about half a liter. I think they felt embarrassed to see me walk by with eight liters earlier. Getting a liter a day out of a goat is sad production, but I’m hoping Barbara does better. She’s filling out nicely and is far healthier than any of the goats were when I bought them.

When I turned the ducks eggs this morning, I noticed one had cracked open and was oozing. This is a bad sign. I took it out and cracked it open outside to inspect. It had died more than a week ago and smelled nothing like a duckling. We are down to eleven eggs.

With Dane, Shawn, and Seth attempting to help, I built a temporary nesting box for the chickens. Since we moved them into the chicken run, we’ve dropped from a dozen eggs a day to two. I think it may be related to not having sufficiently secret places to lay eggs. We’ll see how they like my improvements.

A few of the chickens refuse to stay in the pen. We found one place where the fence was high enough for them to press under. I made some stakes and used them to nail a board to. I hope this keeps them in.

My daily routine involves sitting with the boys while they fall asleep for naps. That takes a few minutes. While I’m upstairs, the oldest three clean up the kitchen after lunch. Then we meet half an hour later for Spanish class. With that over, the oldest three can take their nap.

This works out well for everyone. It gives Steph time for her nap, and it also gives her some time with everyone asleep once she gets up. After naps are over, it’s time for a snack and then school. So far I’m enjoying the new schedule.

Lately, it’s been sunny in the mornings and rainy in the afternoons, so that’s been working out for us, too. We had a pretty heavy thunderstorm this afternoon. I think the children rest better during storms than without.

Lamar hasn’t been called to the airport yet. He’s exercising patience while trying to learn from various reports what to expect. They’re ready to fly whenever they get the call. Keep praying for them.

Thanks again for those of you who’ve been sending messages. That’s an encouragement to us. We look forward to hearing from you.