Reflection Time

It's been a pretty difficult year, 2011. I'm pretty happy to see it be done and over with. There's plenty to look back to and reflect on. I started last year with the coal mine holiday party and that nasty food that gave me the 3 day migraine headache. But, the morning after that party is when we got Lucky goat!

January of 2011 was bitter sweet, with Lucky coming into our lives, the deep financial hole we suffered in, the crappy weather(plenty of snow and cold) and plenty of good food.

February came along with more snow and cold, kittens, seed starting, Polar Bear attacking Lucky goat, more financial troubles and canning experiments.

March came in "like a lion" with more nasty weather, the arrival of Daisy calf, lots of seed sprouting, the dehydrating experiments, plenty of good food, more financial troubles and the "super moon".

April was a rough month for the farm. Polar Bear killed all of the kittens, attacked Lucky goat a few times, the cold weather, the pouring rain, the seedlings all over the kitchen, the storm blowing part of the old barn roof off, the start of the flooding and my old girl Dusty dying on me.

May started with the box of dead stevia plants that arrived from Maryland via Alaska (good job USPS!) The garden tilled but the weather not allowing it to be planted, the daughter graduating college tons of baby bunnies and that sneaky rat snake sucking eggs!

Then came June and the beginning of the really rough living. Hubsters illness, the constant breakdowns of the haying equipment, the garden planted and growing, the surprise 7" of rain that drown the potato crop and of course, more financial problems that haven't gone away but instead, gotten worse.

July rolled in on me like a mack truck. Spud arrived, more equipment breakdowns, more financial troubles that really hammered us, more hubsters illness, weeds growing like crazy in the garden, horrible heat and humidity and my stressed out-got too hot episode.

August came with lots of canning work, dehydrating, the truck wreck, the goats wiping out a large chunk of the garden, the goat-napping, Steve arrived here to learn about farming, the lightning that ruined the tree, more equipment failures, more financial troubles and more snakes!

September rolled in with me realizing inviting Steve was a huge mistake. Lucky goats silly antics with the corn stalks, more doctors appointments, more financial troubles, the pitiful peanut harvest, the truck problems, and lots of good food.

October started slow with me trying to shape Steve into something useful(didn't work out at all (he was asked to leave) finding out Steve was even more messed up and more false than originally thought, lots of good food, getting some straw sold from a craigslist ad, the goat auction, Coley sent me blackberry clipping, the huge argonaut squash, tons of veges to can up and dehydrate, the farm expo and making new friends and lots of cheese making.

November started out with a severe emotional event. My neighbor had that horrible wreck, the oven element fried, plenty of cheese making, some cold and sloppy, muddy weather and a horrible start to deer season.

December came and went almost like slow motion. The weather wasn't really nice, the mud was constant. At least the critters were all healthy. had some tooth and gum problems, some surprise financial troubles, some nice snow and lots of good food.

So, in review, the high spots of the year were the critters and the produce with the low side being equipment failures compounded by constant financial troubles, hubsters 6 month illness and inviting Steve to help around the farm. Now, let's look forward to this new year being so much better.

Happy New year!