Ball of Kids!

Can you count the kids in this picture? We had 2 sets of triplets in a single day!

Here they are in birth order......First is Dinky. She is Angel's baby and weighed only 4# at birth.

Next is Dipper, Angel's second..a boy that weighed 5 lbs 8 oz....

And third of the set is the flashy boy, Dancer. He was the largest, at 6 pounds 6 oz!

Within hours Legacy went into labor. Her first was Duckie, weighing 4 pounds 13 oz.Next in line was the boy, a long legged big boy weighing 6 pounds 13 oz...Donkey.
And our last baby of the kidding season...and the flashiest baby we've ever had...6 pounds 6 oz of spotted beauty!!.....Dottie

Blog Award!!

My friend Sharon presented me with this award which, I'm told, is for "excellence in blogcasting". Sharon will go down in my memoirs as the 1st person to award me anything! Thanks you! I'm also told that there are a few rules: 1) Post the award on my blog; 2) Pass it on to some friends, up to 15; and 3) I have to let them know they've received the award. So, here's some of the people I enjoy associating with and this award is now theirs to pass on.

1). My cousin Michelle - http://buildingmyark.blogspot.com/ - She has a fantastic emergency prep blog that everyone should read every day.

2). Mel at Foxtail Farm - http://foxtailfarm.blogspot.com/ - A great homesteading blog.

They've got names

After studying them for a bit, I have finally decided what Faith's new kids names are.....

The boy is "Dub" - Queenacres Double Deuce

The girl is "Diva" - Queenacres Duplicate Diva

I really want to keep the girl simply because she looks so much like Faith...but I know I shouldn't. The boy will be wethered and put to work.

New Goat Babies and an Alien!!

Tuesday evening, a very dear friend of mine was in a serious car accident. She has multiple broken bones and is still hospitalized. Last night her husband arrived home from work to find that one of their llamas had given birth, and then died shortly thereafter. The cria (baby llama) was alive. She called me to see if I would go see what I could do. So Stephanie and I drove over to find that the mother llama had lived long enough to nurse the baby (that colostrum saved the baby's life). So we packed the cria up and brought her home....we'll be bottle raising her until my friend is well enough to take over her care. We're doing everything we can to keep this girl alive and thriving.

So far we are keeping her in the kid pen. Mostly because my goats believe that I have brought home a totally freakazoid space alien. They don't know what the heck that thing is, but they are pretty sure it's not from around here! We are calling the llama Annie....since she is an orphan. So far so good, she gained .9 # in the one day that we've had her. Once we got over the excitement of the morning getting things done...I was really wishing that I had some goat colostrum to get into Annie. My dear beloved goat Faith obliged and gave birth on her actual due date! We have been giving the pregnant does raspberry tea leaf to aid the uterus for birthing and it must have done some good....she delivered 2 kids and both placentas in about 2 hours total. We have been praying for easy births...this was an answer to prayer in a number of ways! We were able to get 4 oz of colostrum into Annie....and freeze an additional 12 oz. Plus Faith has plenty for her 2 new kids. That's the boy on the left and the girl on the right. The girl looks just like Faith, but has a spot on her leg and one above her tail. No names yet.
And here's my dear girl Faith after a hard mornings' work...snuggled with her new baby.

Canned Butter Update

Okay, today we cracked open the first jar of canned butter and wow is it ever good! The flavor and aroma are wonderful....the canning process intensifies both! Yep, we'll be doing more of this!

Canning butter

This is something that I have been curious about...but somewhere inside the USDA approved canner in me has just never allowed me to cross that line and do it.

Last year I crossed that line and canned our excess goat milk. It has been a lifesaver this year with us taking in 2 very large hungry buck kids. I canned 30-40 jars of milk last year...and not one went bad. I used both BWB and PC techniques, and the BWB worked fine for this purpose without carmelizing the milk too much.

So I took the plunge....

Our local grocer has butter on sale for $2/pound. I bought 5 pounds today and this is how I'm canning it. I'll crack open a jar tomorrow and see if it is worth going back for more to do. There are a number of websites that give similar instructions...this is what I did today...

First, scrub your jars (I did a dozen half-pint jars for 5# of butter). Then place them in a roasting pan with rack into a 250ºF oven. Bring a pan of water to boil on the stove, reduce heat to a simmer and add the jar lids.

Then, with 5# of butter, place it into a pan and very slowly bring it up to a boil...stirring frequently; be sure that it does not scorch! Once it has boiled, stir and simmer it for at least 10 minutes. The butter will go through changes, from watery and greasy, and filmy.....back to creamy after a nice long simmer.

Ladle the butter into your hot jars...they will sizzle when you first add the butter.....
Fill the jars to about 3/4" head space....top them off until you are just past the thick line on the neck of the jar.....

Cap the jars and allow them to begin cooling on a rack.... Once they begin to "ping"....gently shake them. The point here is to keep the butter an even consistency, without breaking the seal.. Which I did...the unmistaken sound of a seal giving way as the boiling contents leak throuh...not a pretty sound...

So gently shake them every 10 mins or so to allow the butter to set up evenly.

Once the jars are barely warm, place in the refrigerator and allow to cool for 5 minutes. Shake, and then set the timer for another 5 minutes. Continue for about an hour....so the instructions say. I will admit that my #2 fridge is much colder than the average fridge..and it only took 4 shakes...aka 20 minutes. I am leaving the jars in there for good measure...but there is no shaking a solid.

I will try to update tomorrow with the results...so far so good!