Weekend Meanderings

Our weekend began with a little sadness.
We said goodbye to one of the fainting goats...
Nettie B.


It's always hard to lose one of the animals,
but we find comfort in knowing that they live good lives-
and that their days are stress-free with the best possible
living conditions.
And though we wish that all of our animal friends would live much
longer lives,
we understand that this is life... it is a finite condition.
We are gifted this precious, limited time on this beautiful earth
and it is our task to make the most of our days.
To care for our animal friends is a happy privilege,
and we are grateful for that opportunity.

Our goat family has shrunk to just five-
Sally (with horns) and her Mom, O'Malley (without)...


Andy and Gracie...


And Sissy...


O'Malley is the last of our very first goats.
She came to the farm when she was just a few months old.
The other four were born here on the farm, as was Nettie.

We had a wonderful weekend at home, surrounded by nature.
Friday evening we took the dogs over to the Hundred Acre Wood.


It's probably their most favorite activity.


The evening was perfectly ripe for adventure,


with dramatic skies above as the sun began its descent to the horizon.


We went for a 20 mile bike ride early Saturday morning.


The fog was so thick, that our hair and clothes were wet after the first
ten miles.


One of the things that I love most about riding through the countryside
is the wildflowers along the roadsides.
Each week something new begins to blossom.
Black-eyed Susans are abundant now.


Common mullein:


Knapweed:


Butterfly weed:


Toadflax:


Sumac:


And now the wild blackberries have begun to ripen.


I picked both wild and domesticated blackberries this weekend
and froze a quart for winter use.
I'll be picking more as they ripen each day.


We harvested the onions and hung them in the cellar to dry.


I harvested zucchini,


and baked some chocolate chip zucchini bread.


Last night's supper was spaghetti sauce on spiralized zucchini (zoodles).

I've been picking the gomphrena (globe amaranth) that I planted from seed.
Each day I pick the longest stems and keep adding them to 
this scale in my kitchen to dry.


My pile gets lovelier by the day!


I also spent a bit of time sewing this weekend.
By Sunday afternoon I had finished 60 new face masks and listed
them on my Etsy shop.
They sell quickly... so I'll get back to work sometime again this week.


Sunday afternoon we had some great fun...
horsing around.
But that will have to wait for tomorrow's blog post.
Video included.


Comments

Anonymous said…
Looks like wonderful weekend!
Anonymous said…
Sorry for your loss, I just one of my three kitties a few days ago. I had two goats on my mini-farm (16 acres) so I should know this, but don’t. I never knew girl goats got horns until then. But why does Mom O’Malley not have horns like the others but her daughter does? Just curious. The wild flowers are beautiful.
Marcy from Atlanta
colleen said…
So sorry to hear about sweet-faced Nettie B. Yes she sure did have the best life while at BHA.
You sure can squeeze the most out of a weekend (or everyday) and as always I so much appreciate all that you share. Thanks for telling the names of all the wildflowers. I'm waiting anxiously for our zucchini to be ready. zucchini bread and zoodles are way past due. What will tomorrow's horsing around be about?...hmmm... xoxoxo
jaz@octoberfarm said…
such sad news about nettie. how did the other goats handle it. we are still killer hot here.
Marcia LaRue said…
So sorry about Nettie B. skittering across that Rainbow Bridge to join her other friends from BHA.
My Mom's mother, my Grandma, well, her name was Nettie Mary ... nice to remember!
Just went and bought 2 of your face masks ... got in there before they were all grabbed up again! I figure we'll be wearing these masks for a good long time ... thanks for making such nice one ... fitted and such pretty material!
Hilly Nicolay said…
Too bad to lose an animal.
You have beautiful onions and beets.

I love the mouth masks.
Beautiful images.
I only have black ones :(
This N That said…
So sorry about Nettie B..She had a long and peaceful life.Hard to believe that there are only five left..
Beautiful sky scenes.
Pretty wild flowers along the road..I never knew the names of some of those.
Lovely masks..Keep up the good work..They are needed..
Enjoy your week..Hope we get some rain..xxoo
Lynne said…
Sad to hear about Nettie . . .
Happy for her good life.
For all/each of yours.
They live a wonderful life with you and your hubs.

Love the ”bike ride by” flowers . . .
Nice view, nice thought.
Karen said…
I'm so happy that Nettie B. had such a wonderful life with you all - she will be SO missed! What a sweetheart . . .
Sorry about your Nettie. What a great life you gave her, though.
One of my favorite pictures today is the one of the fog and the tiny blue flowers by the road. Awesome. Reminds me of a place where we used to live.