Ending June-I’m Stinky!

The resolution to not be so busy this summer is still true, but maybe not as true as I would like. Granted, I’m taking on as much summer seasonal work as I can to help offset the reduced work during the winter months. Life has changed in the last 18 months. Being forced onto new paths has taken some time getting used to, but I feel I’m now better equipped for the new terrain.

My hands are at the stage of being calloused enough to get caught on fabric, and the rolling heat waves and wet weather has turned me into a slimy stink monster. Thank goodness for cool showers, pomace stones, and fans.

Goat kids make everything better after a long hard work day.

There is still one San Clemente Island goat doe left to kid, Yrsa. And two other does have given birth in the last few weeks. I’m keeping a sharp eye on everyone as this damp weather carries with it the threat of pneumonia and internal parasite loads. One new kid in particular has had his tail tucked for two days. This worried me, and he didn’t have a temperature but seemed not to be growing as fast as his brother. I started supplementing bottle feeding him, and I think his dam just isn’t producing enough milk for two. Even with an increase in grain and hay on top of the pasture. I think the heat stress is impacting her milk production. Not to worry, I still have around 10 gallons of frozen goat milk from last year, I can heat up and supplement this kid with.

June is coming to a close, which means we are almost halfway through the year, and there is a lot to reflect on. Just a few days ago, I deleted as much of my social media presence as I could, including my farm profiles. I’m still deleting old posts on my personal page. While I intended to create a dummy profile to still manage some social media groups. Facebook was not allowing me to do this, even when I created different email addresses and took “live selfies”.

Of course, I have been reflecting on how social media has impacted our lives. As well as thinking about “what I want to do with my life”. But really, I’m fairly content living, working jobs I enjoy doing, continuing to focus on my SCI goat herd and projects, enjoying my space, my shared space, working with others, and being creative. All of which is sprinkled with radical thoughts and ideas. While there are parts of me that are permanently hurt due to selfish dishonesty, I think I’m in a fairly contented place that allows me to have freedom and flexibility to be there for myself and others.