Embracing

My girls don't care about their hair. At 12 and almost 9 years, this separates them from many of their peers, and not in a good way. They really just can't be bothered to give a shit about it, which is both liberating and frustrating to me as their Mom.

It can be awkward, feeling like you have one foot in two worlds - simple, messy, homey farm life, and presentable, punctual, social "city life". I feel 100% comfortable wearing a tattered dress, muck boots and a sloppy pony tail in my front yard, but if I'm called suddenly to pick a sick kid up from school and have to venture out dressed in my farm shlubbery, I am beyond ashamed. I feel like I have to explain to every passerby that I don't really dress like this, but that I was just wrangling errant chickens back into their yard or turning a compost pile, all for the greater good of humanity. Why do I feel the need to explain myself? I know that the core choices in my life are right for me and mine, so why do I feel like I should apologize for not being what people have come to expect? Why can't I be more like my kids?

When I find myself worrying about how the girls are perceived by their classmates and friends, or by what passing strangers on the street may think of me and my parenting based upon my kids' funky attire and awkward yet bubbly social exchanges, I try to slow down and remind myself -

My kids climb trees.

My kids can milk a goat, catch a chicken and drive a nail.

My kids know that bacon was once a pig.

My kids can describe in graphic detail the complete life cycle of a chicken, rabbit or goat.

My kids catch salamanders and butterflies.

My kids would rather go to the County Fair than a Justin Bieber concert.

My kids get excited about rainbow colored carrots.

My kids love telling other kids about our animals.

My kids can drive a tractor!

My kids can identify birds by their calls and songs.

My kids don't know a thing about American Idol, the Twilight series or Jersey Shore.

My kids are proud of our life.

These girls are teaching me a lot about embracing what matters to you and satisfies your soul, and letting the rest of the world's BS fall away. I have a lot to learn from these monkeys.

And the winner is...

...the lovely and talented Megan (also known as commenter #1), at A Kitschy Kitchen! Congrats, lady!



Thanks again to the kind folks at Shabby Apple for sponsoring this giveaway. Enjoy your dress, Megan!

Our Swiss Misses

Our new girls, Sophie & Sydney, both bred Alpines.

These little gals joined our herd absolutely seamlessly, almost 2 weeks ago now. They are the sweetest little ladies!


Yo.

Being used to having Lamanchas here, it's kinda weird to have goats with ears, especially those ears. :)

S & S were bred to an Oberhasli buck (another variety of Alpine dairy goat) and are due to kid in May. We've never had three milkers at once, let alone full-sized milkers. We're looking down the barrel of a full-fledged dairypalooza over here.



And I could not be more excited!

Mope-fest #283

ARRRG, THE RAIN!

Well, I guess it's better than the snow that we've also had a few times this week, and that's as close to optimistic and chipper as you're probably going to get from me today. Nonstop rain, you are killing me softly.

This season of blah has lasted almost two seasons. I feel like it was September when I was last able to wear my beloved flip-flops. Giant yellow orb, why hast thou forsaken mine greater geographic area?!?

I grew up in this county, and am the 3rd generation in my family to do so. Soggy is in my DNA. But this, this weather has crossed a line.


Really? On my birthday?!? RUDE.

I'm attempting to deal with this gray and wet with humor, but seriously, this crap is breaking me down. Not only is it taxing my already heavily taxed sunny disposition, it has flared up both my allergies (molds & fungus plus some early pollen) and my arthritis with a vengeance. I can't taste, smell or for that matter, breathe through my nose right now, and I'm having trouble walking because my knee is so stiff, it keeps buckling and sending up stabbing pain at random intervals. I'm a chunky, wheezing, limpy mess with an increasingly poor attitude.



I need a tanning bed, a queen-sized Mai-Tai and a personal chocolate fountain to get me over this hump.

In the mean time, I'm going to go outside and throw rocks at the sky. Happy Thursday, everybody!

A Very Girly Giveaway

I love hosting giveaways, and this is a great one for all of my girly girls out there. :)

The folks at ShabbyApple.com have very generously sponsored this giveaway for a super cute little dress, "Ahoy!".



I selected this dress for the giveaway because the soft jade color has a breezy Caribbean vibe that I love. It wasn't an easy choice though! Shabby Apple offers a lot of really cute and sophisticated vintage style dresses for women and little girls. So much pretty!

The happy little frock featured in this giveaway is offered in sizes Small to X-Large, and can be yours with just a few clicks and a little bit of luck.

Enter to win by doing the following-

*"Like" Shabby Apple on Facebook, and leave a comment on this post letting me know that you liked them.

*For an additional entry, visit Shabby Apple and take a look through their collections of sweet and sexy dresses and accessories, and leave me a comment telling me which outfit/piece you fancy best.

This giveaway ends Sunday, March 18th at 11:59 pm, PDT.

Winners must have a US shipping address. There are no exchanges for the winning dress, so if Ahoy! isn't your cup of tea, go check out Shabby Apple for something else fabulous and use the coupon "girlgonegranola10off" to save 10% on your purchase.

Thanks for reading and entering!
Michelle

Easter Eggs Au Naturel

I saw this great little poster floating around on the interwebs, and it reminded me of making Easter eggs with my Grandma Gwen. By the time that my sister and I were born, Grandma was out of the farming trade, and no longer raised chickens of her own. She did, however have a good sized kitchen garden. While we didn't have the luxury of farm fresh eggs to work with, let alone multicolored eggs, we had Grandma's depression-era knowledge base and a bountiful garden to work with to make our Easter eggs pretty, and we did.

The tricks that I remember Grandma employing were using boiled onion skins to get a rich orange/brown color, boiled beets to make a happy pink egg, and rubber bands wrapped around eggs in crazy ways to make stripes. Grandma was definitely about using what you already had!

Little did we know that there were scores of spice and veggie colorants available to us beyond our orange and pink standbys than ran the gamut from red to violet. Then again, Grandma had likely never heard of pomegranates or turmeric, so it's probably just as well that we were happy enough with what we had.

But in this age of everything available everywhere anytime, at least a few of these natural dye-producers are likely to be found in your fridge or pantry right now! So if you're too far away to buy my purty-purty, naturally rainbow colored eggs, try out a few of these non-artificial, non-scary, food-based colorants on your eggs this year. ;)

From Better Homes & Gardens' website-

*Bluish-Gray
Mix 1 cup frozen blueberries with 1 cup water, bring to room temperature, and remove blueberries.

*Blue
Cut 1/4 head of red cabbage into chunks and add to 4 cups boiling water. Stir in 2 Tbsp. vinegar. Let cool to room temperature and remove cabbage with a slotted spoon.

*Jade Green
Peel the skin from 6 red onions and simmer in 2 cups water for 15 minutes; strain. Add 3 tsp. white vinegar.

*Faint Green-Yellow
Peel the skin from 6 yellow apples. Simmer in 1-1/2 cups water for 20 minutes; strain. Add 2 tsp. white vinegar. Simmer 4 oz. chopped fennel tops in 1-1/2 cups of water for 20 minutes; strain. Add 2 tsp. white vinegar.

*Orange
Take the skin of 6 yellow onions and simmer in 2 cups water for 15 minutes; strain. Add 3 tsp. white vinegar.

*Faint Red-Orange
Stir 2 Tbsp. paprika into 1 cup boiling water; add 2 tsp. white vinegar.

*Yellow
Rich yellow: Simmer 4 oz. chopped carrot tops in 1-1/2 cups water for 15 minutes; strain. Add 2 tsp. white vinegar.

*Various shades of Yellow: Steep 4 bags of chamomile or green tea in 1 cup boiling water for 5 minutes.

*Mustard-yellow: Stir 2 Tbsp. turmeric into 1 cup boiling water; add 2 tsp. white vinegar.

*Pale yellow: Chop 4 oz. goldenrod and simmer in 2 cups water for 20 minutes; strain. Add 2 tsp. white vinegar.

*Faint yellow: Simmer the peels of 6 oranges in 1-1/2 cups water for 20 minutes; strain. Add 2 tsp. vinegar.

*Brown-Gold: Simmer 2 Tbsp. dill seed in 1 cup water for 15 minutes; strain. Add 2 tsp. white vinegar.

*Brown: Add 1 tablespoon vinegar to 1 cup strong coffee. (Other suggestions - boiled Walnut shells, black tea)

*Faint pink: Chop 4 oz. amaranth flowers and simmer in 2 cups water; strain. Add 2 tsp. white vinegar. Simmer the skins from 6 avocados in 1-1/2 cup water for 20 minutes; strain. Add 2 tsp. white vinegar. Mix 1 cup pickled beet juice and 1 tablespoon vinegar.

*Dark pink: Cut 1 medium beet into chunks and add to 4 cups boiling water. Stir in 2 Tbsp. vinegar and let cool to room temperature; remove beets. (Other suggestions - pomegranate juice)

*Lavender: Mix 1 cup grape juice and 1 tablespoon vinegar. (Other suggestions - Red Zinger tea (hibiscus tea))

More Mamas on the Way

Through one of the most annoyingly persistent and bitterly cold Winters that we've had in a long time around here, my hard-working hubby finally finished fencing our back pasture. It was no small task! Being able to turn the goats out of their pens and into the larger pasture now means - less money spent on feed, the goaties get to frolic and exercise more than they did in their pens, and we're getting more goats!

As I've mentioned previously, my cousin is looking to get out of the goat raising business, and so is bringing her two favorite bred does to live with us for the foreseeable future. They are Alpines, which is a full sized breed, and are significantly bigger than the minis that we've cut our teeth on. This is the big leagues!

Alpines are French/Swiss in origin, and are one of the most popular dairy goats in the United States. They make great milk, and a LOT of it. They're also just great little critters all around, as I'm learning in my crash course on the Alpine breed. Dairy Goat Journal puts it nicely -

"Alpines are a versatile utility animal. Great milkers for both home and commercial dairies, Alpines produce a high volume of milk. They have the ability to produce over a period of one to three years between freshenings or milk through. This produces valuable year round milk and reduces cost by not breeding every year. Alpine milk has a high cheese yield because of good butterfat and protein content. They produce well on pasture or in dry-lotted hay fed conditions. They are known for being exceptionally hardy, curious, and friendly."

All good things! Our only concern is that they might be a little rough on our smaller goats, but we have the option of separating them if that is the case. No bullies allowed on this farm!

More goats, more babies, more milk = crazy exciting times in the Hollow. :)