It’s been one of those stretches where you blink and suddenly two weeks have gone by, and you’re trying to piece together everything that’s happened in between — and there’s a lot. Between work, animals, projects, and the usual day-to-day, it’s been a full couple of weeks in the best and most chaotic way.
Kidding season kept us on our toes, the weather finally started to shift (thankfully), and it feels like we’ve officially stepped into that busy spring rhythm again — the one where everything is happening all at once, and you’re just trying to keep up.
So, we’ll start on April 23rd… because of course, that’s when things really got interesting. I should have seen it coming. That morning, before work, I remember thinking to myself; “If Ally decides to have her babies today, it’s absolutely going to happen right in the middle of the meeting I have to be on camera for.”
And of course… I was right. Right in the middle of my work meeting, Ally had her babies! All alone like a champ. Twins. Happily, we got one little girl and one little boy. We’ve had really good boy-to-girl ratios this year, which I wasn’t expecting at all. The little girl is this gorgeous tan-brown colour with really pretty facial markings and her Mama’s floppy ears, and I decided to name her Hazel. The little boy is a very light creamy tan with dark markings on his face — almost like the little mask markings some of the other kids have had this year. His name is Finn.
By the time we got out there, everybody was cleaned up and doing pretty well. However every single kidding season, even once the babies are born healthy and nursing, I still have that little bit of anxiety overnight. I always celebrate once they’re born and eating, but part of my brain is still thinking:
“Okay… now let’s make it through the night.” Thankfully, they did. So everybody is doing really well so far, and we’ll keep watching them closely. For the first few days, Ally and the babies were set up together in their own stall with hay, water, and lots of bedding so they could have some quiet bonding time. Ally has been a good mom so far.
Friday morning started exactly like every other morning around here. Wake up. Put the coffee on. I let Bucky and Marigold outside to go pee, and I was standing on the front steps kind of half-awake, daydreaming, making sure Bucky didn’t decide to sprint off and start his day with chaos. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a rabbit hop out from near the trailer in front of our tarp shed. A pretty good-sized rabbit. I looked over and immediately noticed it was a “cow bunny” — what we call rabbits with broken black-and-white spotted markings. Then it clicked.
Wait a second… That’s Moe.
The brand-new buck rabbit that we literally just picked up the weekend before. At the exact same moment I spotted him, I also noticed Gizmo crouched nearby with his tail twitching. Gizmo had definitely spotted him too. So first things first — I grabbed Bucky and got him back inside the house because Bucky would not have helped this situation at all. He would have immediately gone over trying to sniff the rabbit and probably scared Moe into another postal code. Then I threw on my boots and headed outside to try to catch our completely unhandled, not-very-tame rabbit before he disappeared forever. Thankfully, Moe wasn’t totally terrified of people. He’s clearly been handled enough to tolerate humans, even if he’s not exactly a cuddly pet rabbit. After about five minutes of quietly talking to him and slowly following him around the yard, I somehow managed to grab him. It felt like a personal accomplishment because I am terrified of rabbits. Which is admittedly hilarious considering we own rabbits and are actively trying to breed them. But I’m really allergic to them, which triggers my asthma…. and that kind of freaks me out a little bit.
Still, I was way more worried about this poor rabbit being loose all night than I was about what my allergies were going to do to me. At first, I grabbed him kind of awkwardly under the armpits, which he absolutely hated. If you’ve never held a rabbit before, let me tell you — those back feet are incredibly powerful, and they come equipped with some pretty impressive claws. Once he calmed down a bit, I risked tucking him against my chest so I could hold him more securely. Thankfully, that worked much better. He still had a couple of little panic moments, but somehow I managed not to get scratched at all, which honestly feels miraculous. And I got him safely back into his cage. Turns out the cage itself was completely fine. No holes. No broken wire. Addy had simply forgotten to close the lid after giving everybody treats the evening before.
So Moe had apparently spent the entire night free-ranging around the property completely unharmed. It’s crazy he didn’t go too far and survived the night. That rabbit is very lucky!
Well… Addy did it again. No, no not let the rabbit out… new topic! He is very good at finding things on Facebook Marketplace. Now, to be fair, this one took the better part of a year to find exactly what we were looking for — but he found it. Well… mostly exactly what we were looking for. We’ve been on the hunt for a new fridge for inside the house, and I had a few specific things in mind. I wanted stainless steel, a bottom freezer, and originally I thought I wanted a single door on the top. What he found instead was a 25 cubic foot Maytag — stainless steel, French doors on top, freezer on the bottom! I’ve come to really like the French doors, so that worked out. And the price? Only $250… It’s not a perfect fridge; one of the shelves needs to be replaced, mostly for aesthetics. It functions just fine. Considering those fridges are around $2,000 brand new, it felt like a pretty incredible deal! It fit in the truck, no problem, and we brought it home.
Now… getting it into the house? That was a whole different story.
Things are a little chaotic right now because we had to remove the entire front door — and not just any door, but a big, heavy, solid wood door. That thing is not light. We also had to take the handles off the fridge because they stick out quite a bit, and all three of us had to work together to figure out how to maneuver this giant appliance through the doorway without damaging anything. But we did it. And now that it’s in place — even though it sticks out a little further than our old fridge — it’s the nicest fridge I’ve ever had. We are very happy with it. Now we just have a bit of a shuffle to do.
The fridge we’ve been using for the last couple of years — which is just a full fridge with no freezer — is going to move out to the sunroom to replace the older one we had out there. It’s currently in the kitchen… Which, of course, means that the older fridge now has to come out of the sunroom somehow. So there’s still a bit of fridge Tetris ahead of us. But once it’s all sorted, the setup is going to be perfect — the indoor fridge for daily use, and the sunroom fridge for milk, cheese, eggs, and all the farm overflow. So yes, very successful Marketplace find. Good job, Addy.
One of the bigger projects happening right now is the new stanchion area in the goat run. Addy has been building an 8×8 space that will essentially become our milking room. It’s going to have proper walls, a floor, a couple of doors, some windows, and eventually a tin roof. So far, it’s coming together really well. That said… working around goats while using power tools takes a surprising amount of patience. They are very involved in the process. I’ve got a couple of pictures where Ally looks like she’s supervising the entire build, just standing there making sure everything is being done correctly. The kids, of course, think it’s a playground. They’ve been jumping up and down on the platform, climbing around, and generally treating it like it was built specifically for their entertainment.
We’ve got most of the walls framed in now, and the roof supports are up — beams, I think that’s what they’re called — and now we’re working on getting the roof finished. Addy also has tongue-and-groove wood ready to go up as siding, so it’s really starting to look like something.
I’ve been going out after work to help where I can, so he’s not doing it all on his own — mostly handing tools and redirecting goats who feel the need to stand directly in the workspace. And Ally? She is completely fearless. Saw running, impact driver going, noise everywhere — she does not care. She will walk right up and try to stand practically on top of you like she’s part of the crew. I’m really looking forward to having this space finished. It’s going to be so nice to have a dry, enclosed area where we can actually stand up properly without hitting our heads and have a bit more control during milking. Addy’s planning to put shelves in there so I can keep my Jackery battery set up to run the milking machine, and a shop light! We’ll have a smaller tin garbage can to hold our grain mix for feeding the girls while they’re on the stand, and a place for the hoof trimming tools. Who knows, maybe with this room done, we can extend lactation into the winter for milk year-round. It’s one of those projects that’s a lot of work now… but is going to make life so much easier later. I’m really excited about it.
It’s been so nice to finally have the weather warming up. We’re waking up to temperatures around five degrees now — which, after months of minus 10, minus 20, feels absolutely amazing. Even two degrees in the morning? We’ll take it. It means we can hook up the hose again, fill the waterers easily, and keep everything topped up without hauling buckets from the house. The ducks get a fresh, clean pool — which, of course, stays clean for about ten seconds — but still, it’s a win. And one of the best parts? We’ve been spending time every morning and evening just sitting out in the goat area, on their little playground, hanging out with all seven baby goats. And we really, really enjoy it. Goat therapy!
I also cleaned off and fired up the barbecue for the first time this season and made some excellent pork chops. I’ve really missed barbecuing — there’s just something about cooking outside that makes everything taste better. We’ve been getting out for little walks too. Bucky and I like to wander through the property, checking on things, seeing what trees might have fallen over the winter, and taking note of where the forest is starting to creep back into our trails. It’s definitely time to bring out the bushwhacker and reclaim some of those paths. I also finally put the cushion back out on the swing in the side yard, and we’ve been able to sit out there with a glass of iced sweet tea, looking over at the chickens, ducks, and goats. And it just feels good.
The grass is starting to turn green again, the sun has some warmth to it, and everything feels like it’s waking up. We’ve even started to see the first signs of flowers coming back — I’ve got some little purple, lily-shaped flowers popping up (they kind of look like tiny irises, although I’m not totally sure what they are), and the daffodils are up and growing and should be blooming any day now. It’s very exciting. Of course, the warmer weather also means the mosquitoes are back, and soon black flies, so we’ve started remembering to put bug spray on again. It’s a give and take to live down a dirt road in the forest; warmer weather = bug season.
Lola, our tiny little calico girl, is now fully recovered from her spaying operation. So we’re not quite as worried about doors being open as we used to be, and she officially has the option to go outside if she wants to. The key words there being… if she wants to. Because Lola is still very much a scaredy cat. The other day, I noticed she had wandered out into the sunroom to check things out, and the wind actually shut the door behind her. So there she was — stuck with her only option being forward. And she did it. She made her way down the stairs, went outside, and even made it around to the deck. Which, for Lola, is a pretty big deal. Since then, she’s been slowly working up the courage to explore a little bit farther from the house each day. She does like going out onto the deck when I have the door open there, but she stays close, moves cautiously, and is very aware of everything around her.
Very timid. Very unsure.
Very Lola.
But she’s getting there. I’m hoping that eventually she’ll feel comfortable enough to just relax out there and maybe even lie in the sun, because I think that would be really good for her. For now, though, she’s taking it one tiny brave step at a time. And eventually, I think she’ll learn to enjoy the freedom of going outside — just like her brothers do.
This time of year always gets me thinking about our longer-term goals — specifically with the goat herd.
Even though kidding season isn’t technically over yet, I’m already looking ahead and asking myself: What is the goal for this herd? Who are we keeping? Who needs to move along? What are the plans for the next breeding season?
We potentially still have one more pregnant doe. She’s not very big, and she isn’t really developing an udder yet, so it’s still a bit of a question mark. I really hope she is, though, because she was in with Draco, our buck that we specifically got for the two juniors we kept. She was with him for three months, so if she took, she’s likely due mid-to-late June. If she is pregnant, I’m guessing she’ll only have one. So we’ll see — we still have time. But in the meantime, I’m trying to think through the herd plan.
Do I keep them all and end up with a herd of fifteen goats?
Do I sell most of the kids and just keep a couple of the new doelings?
Do I sell all this years’ kids?
No. That last one definitely isn’t happening. I already know we’re keeping Hazel, Ally’s daughter. She has those floppy ears, beautiful markings, and she’s just adorable. I haven’t kept one of Ally’s kids yet, and I’d really like to see how Hazel freshens with Bron’s genetics mixed in. So Hazel is staying! But who else? I feel like I should keep more than one, so Hazel has someone her age to grow up and play with. So that’s still something I’m thinking through.
Then there’s the buck situation. Draco was supposed to be a full Nigerian Dwarf buck, but he is so small that I really wonder if there are some pygmy genetics in there somewhere. Bron is also a Nigerian Dwarf, and he’s probably two and a half times Draco’s size. Draco isn’t a tiny baby anymore, either — he’s about a year old, and by that age, you expect them to be close to their mature size. He’s half the size of Cosmo. He’s tiny. He would still need a stool to breed most of our ladies.
My goal isn’t to breed teeny-tiny goats. I want mini goats, yes, but more the size of our current herd. Medium minis, not tiny minis. The smaller the goat, the smaller the teats, and the harder they are to milk — and since dairy is part of our goal, that matters. So I’m thinking Draco may not be the right long-term buck for us. I may see if I can trade him for a Nigerian Dwarf buckling or buck, or sell him and buy another one. I’d hate to send Draco to the butcher because, as I said, he’s really not very big, so that doesn’t feel especially worthwhile either. Poor Draco. But I do think I’m probably in the market for a new buckling.
I can’t keep any of our boys to replace him because they’re related to the herd, and the whole point would be to bring in better genetics — something new that improves what we already have. So yes… lots of thinking, planning, and overthinking happening over here.
Which, of course, is half the fun.
Okay, well — I actually do have a garden update for you this time. First off, Addy has been bringing home extras from the organic farm he works at, so we currently have a whole bunch of sweet pepper plants. They’re doing… okay-ish. They were started really early at the farm, which makes sense because they’ve got those big, beautiful greenhouses to move them into. But for us, trying to keep them going under artificial lights at home, you can definitely see a bit of stress on the plants. We’re doing our best with them and just hoping they hang on until it’s warm enough to get them outside. Addy also started our loofah seeds. So far, I don’t see any little sprouts yet, but they’re known to be slow germinators, so we’re just keeping the soil moist and being patient. Fingers crossed.
I finally got around to starting our tomatoes. This year, I planted three varieties:
- Chocolate cherry tomatoes
- Manitoba slicer tomatoes
- San Marzano paste tomatoes
Everything is planted from seed, and as of now, nothing has popped up yet — but it’s only been about a week, so I’m hoping we’ll start seeing some little green shoots in the next few days. Addy also brought home what he described as “a few” seedlings… Which turned out to be a huge amount of kale, plus parsley and a bunch of other greens.
The Saturday before this blog goes up was a really beautiful day, so we took full advantage of it and got some work done in the garden. We did a bunch of cleanup, pulling out all the leftover plant material from last year that we didn’t get around to in the fall. Addy also started building a couple of new garden beds out front, past the grape area. That’s where we’re planning to use some of the goat bedding we’ve been cleaning out — putting it in the bottom of the beds to help fill space and add nutrients, then topping it with soil. He’s also started to strengthen our fence by adding wood across the top. It’s looking pretty great.
I started weeding and was happy to see that a few things actually survived the winter. Both varieties of thyme are back, the lemon balm is coming in, and of course, the walking onions are already going crazy. Chives are popping up, and the rhubarb is coming back as well. Although the raised beds that were originally here are in rough shape, they will need a temporary fix.
One thing I was especially happy to discover while I was weeding… We actually have asparagus coming back. It’s technically year two for them, and while they’re still small — some very thin, others about the size of a pinky finger — they’re alive and growing. So maybe next year we’ll finally get a harvest!
And that’s really the highlight reel of what’s been going on over the last couple of weeks. Aside from that, it’s just been the usual day-to-day — trying to keep up with household chores, staying on top of laundry, and figuring out what we’re going to have for dinner every night. You know… the regular stuff, plus a mix of surprise baby goats, runaway rabbits, new building projects, and finally feeling like we’re coming out the other side of winter.
Between kidding season keeping us on our toes, Addy building out the new milking space, and all of us spending more time outside soaking up the warmer weather, it feels like things are shifting in a really good way. The garden is slowly coming back to life, the animals are settling into the season, and even the everyday routines — chores, meals, laundry — feel a little lighter with the sun sticking around longer.
There’s still a lot to figure out, especially with herd planning and everything that comes with that, but it’s exciting to be in this stage where things are growing, changing, and full of possibility. If you’ve made it all the way to the end, thank you so much for following along with our little corner of chaos — it really does mean a lot. And next time, we’ll have even more to share as the garden gets planted and things really start to take off. Until then! 🌱🐐
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I really enjoyed the choas! Great read!
Thank you! I’m so glad you enjoy the craziness. 🙂 lol