Hard Week

8 days ago we had 2 new baby goats born on our little farm.

4 days ago we noticed our little girl goat wasn't doing well with her mom.

3 days ago we pulled her inside to care for her 24/7.

1 day ago she passed away.

Photo Credit

She was just too sick and too weak to make it. We tried everything we could to save her and it just wasn't enough. This is one of the hard times on a farm, losing a life. It's not about the potential financial loss. That's not it at all. When you bring an animal into your home or separate it from it's mother/herd to care for it intensely, you grow attached to it. You are emotionally invested in it's livelihood. You are quietly rooting for it just a bit more than for the healthy animals that are out living as they should. And, when you have kids involved in that endeavor, oh, it's so much harder. Their little hearts break.

It's a lesson we all must learn, and we don't want to shelter our children from that. But, on the other hand, we wish we could. No one wants to see their child's heart hurt in such a way, not even for an animal.

So, we took the day off and spent time together as a family. We laughed more than we have in ages. We sang, talked, and just had a fun day. It was nice, even without the reason we chose to do it. We realized it was long overdue for our family.

Our other goats are doing well. Baby boy goat is thriving. He is a climbing little monkey. I am not sure he knows how to walk because he gallops everywhere he goes in sheer excitement. Ha ha.

Our two other does are growing bigger and closer to delivery each day. Our younger one is in the waddle stage, which is amusing to watch ... especially as a woman who has had babies herself and has been in that same waddle stage of pregnancy.

We went to a large farm store (we have nice ones 40 minutes from , but drove to this one to look around). I was able to find some seeds for this year's garden (though we won't be starting them yet). This spurred my excitement and I started garden planning. We will be moving our chicken coop to it's new location soon and that will be the area for my garden this year. We will be making it much bigger than the coop area, but I am betting my best produce will come from that coop location. It always does.

Take care of your families and yourself this week. Stop and see that little things going on around you. Laugh. Sing. Smile. It really is good food for the spirits.