farmers, farmers, farmers

I did see the “farmer” commercial, and I liked it (as far as commercials go). I thought it was nice that it might plant a seed in someone’s head to think about the farmers who wake up at 4:30 in the morning to milk, care for their animals, and tend their crops no matter what the weather - from sub-zero ice breaking to scorching summer heat. Kinda nice to see a commercial have a secondary message that was something other than, women are objects, baby animals are cute, and MSG is the nectar of the gods.

 

When I heard the words in the commercial I thought of folks like Joel Salatin and Wendell Berry.

"We’re members of each other—all of us—everything. The difference is not whether you are or not, but whether you know you are or not. Because we’re all under each other’s influence. We’re all are affected by one another’s others lives and decisions. And there is no escape from this membership."

 

I understand there are a lot of people who have no idea what’s going on with their food, and, sadly, there’s a group of people who know about the damage factory farms are doing, but still throw all farmers into some paddock full of uneducated rednecks looking for a handout. This is proof that they’re doing nothing to back-up their complaints, because, if they had, they would have found a farmer’s market by now. Those guys with baskets of fresh eggs and winter greens can’t get those subsidies you’re talking about. Sorry my misinformed friend, but there are many people who care and sacrifice to keep ethical, time-honored traditions alive. These people deserve our respect.

 

Now, this second one is snarky, but hits at another truth – what have we let happen?! Maybe if we honored the farmers' work, the family farm wouldn’t have been decimated. Maybe a parent would pass on with pride that their child was apprenticing at a farm instead of going into computer programming. It is one of the hardest jobs there is and it’s a rare alignment of factors that could even allow for the chance that the farm could keep a family out of poverty. People who carry on despite the challenges are devoted to preserving this way of life for US. If you aren’t supporting family farms I don’t think you get the right to laugh at this parody.

 

Original:

 

 

 

Find link to the second here:

 

http://FunnyOrDie.com/m/7rpq

Onward ho!

I read this today:

“I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes.

Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You're doing things you've never done before, and more importantly, you're Doing Something.

So that's my wish for you, and all of us, and my wish for myself. Make New Mistakes. Make glorious, amazing mistakes. Make mistakes nobody's ever made before. Don't freeze, don't stop, don't worry that it isn't good enough, or it isn't perfect, whatever it is: art, or love, or work or family or life.

Whatever it is you're scared of doing, Do it.

Make your mistakes, next year and forever.”   

~Neil Gaiman


*deep exhale*

Let go of fear of failure.


Here's the first image I ever posted on the blog:

It was a time when ideas were becoming Truth:

There's no way of getting around change.
Life is either an adventure, or trying to hold back a wild horse. 
Success looks different than you thought it would.
Fear will be conquered.

As true then as it is today.

Still making mistakes? Always.

Onward ho!

welcome 2013

Happy New Year!

2012 was packed with new experiences. The sculptures had their first solo show, Tangelo Studio work beat me to countries on my bucket list (especially that Little White Horse - he gets around) and the farm began supplying families with food. The children were able to experience the full cycle of breeding, birthing, and milking the goats. Their experience went from farm animals as pets, to experiencing the full spectrum of farm life. We lost a couple prized animals, nursed wounds, carried water, walked a mile in the snow with feed bags, and chopped wood. In every difficult situation there was the knowledge that these domesticated animals depend on us. They have no choice but to do their job, and not following through on our commitment was never an option.

We were constantly searching out information, planning, and reconsidering between a dawn and evening milking. There were quite a few times when big A and I looked at each other a couple days after completing a project and realized we should have done it differently. Like I said, a year of learning.

Having dairy goats is a life altering experience. They will push you, even if you're tired. One of my biggest accomplishments of 2012 was milking those goats. For a girl who enjoys her sleep it was an exercise in surrender. I often thought as I sat down beside a doe and gently washed her udder, that every dairy goat deserves to be milked by someone who's had engorged breasts. I try to imagine what it must be like for dairy animals on one of the industrial-sized farms...so little time for care and observation.

The morning chores are complete, I'm waiting on a doe to kid, and there are still a couple human kids sleeping after their first year staying up to watch the ball drop. I've yet to grab my coffee because getting back to the blog is a resolution of mine, so I better grab this moment. For totally selfish reasons (that I hope you might enjoy if you check in) I need the daily writing. I like the way it gets my brain working and I enjoy the dialogue with people who share my interests. It's an interesting opportunity we have to be on a little mountain homestead and still connect with people around the world. It's yesterdays news, but it still blows my mind. It really changes who is able to do what...and what doesn't need a little shaking up?

Resolutions? I have a few.

Gratitude, it fills the holes with light.

Here's a little peek at 2012:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

May the New Year bring you and your loved ones peace, health, happiness, and prosperity!

kidding time

It has taken a while to get these up, but here's a look at our first kidding season. For us it was a little later than usual because our does were due in June. 

We watched for signs every day. As the doe gets close to kidding time, her body will start to adjust. Her pelvic bones begin to spread out. You can see the area around the back bone of the goat, where it connects to the tail area, begin to indent. You may, or may not, see a small amount of jell/mucus leaking from the vulva, this is called "loosing the plug". Later, an extension of this will be a steadier leak of fluid.

In our experience "strutting" happened 24hrs before kidding. When the bag is strutted, the skin is as tight as it can get. It will look shiny...it also looks very uncomfortable. I was tempted to relieve some pressure, but didn't want to milk-out colostrum. Read all about "Liquid Gold" here.

We put the pregnant does in a smaller pen at night so they would be easy to locate. There were many late night check-ins by flashlight. 

One night, around 11:45...

 

Gidget was the first to kid. She's the herd queen. Above you can see her tail raised as the ligaments loosen. Below, you can see the kid's head emerge. What you see is the ideal presentation - a diving position. At this point we wipe the nose clean and continue to encourage the doe with soothing words and steady hands.

Around 2:00 am we had our first kid.

As soon as we clear the airway, and towel-off, doe and kid bond. She starts trying to get him on his feet immediately.

We dip the cord and the hooves in iodine and place clean used feed bags under the kid.

In the morning we all get to know each other.

Two sets of twins soon follow.

Our approach to milking in a later post.

one new sculpture

at the table # 3

papier mâché

farm update - chicken sperm and goat teats

It's been very busy around here. I'm working on two sculptures that I hope to have finished in time to present to the curator of my upcoming show. We also added three pregnant goats to our herd in steps toward getting our creamery up and going. I'm still making cheese with purchased milk, but soon we should have plenty of our own. The local extension office has been helpful with legal information and in my free less busy moments (while filling a trough, or taking a pee) I'm reading in preparation for being a goat midwife next month. To catch you up on what's happening on the farm I took some pictures this evening...

The new girls are Saanens. Saanens are known for their large size, vitality, herd compatibility and their “eager to please” temperament, but the largest part of their popularity is their milking ability. They are known as the Queens of the Dairy Goats.

These girls are all pregnant and their udders are starting to grow

We are teaching the herd to goat pack. Evening walks are good training

leaks

lettuce

baby apples

figs

plenty of eggs

new additions to the egg laying team

a Show Girl for the fun of it

a beautiful new Cochin rooster for breeding. They have so many feathers that they can't breed naturally. The kids and I learned how to artificially inseminate on a 4-H field trip

My two older ones recently competed in the Virgina Poultry Federation's Poultry Judging Contest. Their teams did well in the state wide competition.

Hopefully my next post will include the finished sculptures!

new painting

Here's a detail of a 24" x 30" oil on canvas I've been working on. It's one of the paintings from Bears Den. Since I moved back to Virginia (about a year and a half ago) I've been painting at this spot along the Appalachian Trail and points west, including the Shenandoah River.

A few years ago I noticed that my landscapes were generally wide open spaces - pasture and rolling hills. Painting from inside the forest was a challenge to me. I hike often, and after some time on the trail I became aware of what you might call, walking meditation, perhaps a second wind. The body is in sync with the breath, the first thoughts to bombard your conscious in a quite moment have passed, and instead of looking AT things, I'm seeing a lot at once.  From the undergrowth and mess of trees an organization emerges. 

How to tackle the "busyness" and wild, without creating a complete mess, became my challenge. I've enjoyed the balancing act of the forestscapes and return to them to switch things up between sculptures.