4:26 AM

That's the time as I begin this post. I've been up for over an hour with the beginning of allergy season being somewhat unkind to my nose. Most years, my nose turns into a freely flowing faucet, but this year, a slow drip (maybe because of the probiotics in my goat milk?) but annoying still.

Anyhow, I suppose it's as good a time as any to update with the week's activities. David has been sick sick sick all week. Last night, I could finally understand him without having to read his lips, but he's still far from well. The kids and I got sick, too, but David had it the worst. I think Shiloh is getting it again.

We've just been truckin' along with our little homeschool. Samuel and Shiphrah are getting excited about reading. Yippee!!! Just a few weeks ago, when Samuel would see the puzzle letters sheets (fit the letters together like pieces in a puzzle to blend the sounds...) he would say, "Oh no, not reading! That's hard!" Not anymore! He looks forward to those worksheets and zips through them with a smile on his face!

With all the illness, I got a lesson behind in math & Bible, but can make that up next week. We need to be more diligent about our music, too. The kids missed lessons yesterday for a variety of reasons. (Mom got home late from running errands, kids hadn't showered, just one of those days.)

I met some really nice goat folks yesterday, and they were a huge huge help to me! I was able to buy some goat supplies from them and learn how to administer the copper bolus to my goats. I'm still not certain I did it right, so we'll see... I can tell there is a copper deficiency because the hooves had been getting too soft, my little black doeling is fading to red on her hind legs, and my bucks are missing little patches of hair at their hips. One of my bucks is fading pretty badly, too. (hair color) Hopefully I did the boluses correctly. I should see some results in about a month if I did.

I finally got my herd share contract this week from the Farm to Consumer Legal Defense Fund. Man, what a bunch of legalese! I really hate that we have to jump through so many hoops in order to maintain our freedom in this country! I have to fine-tooth-comb the contract and get back to the attorney with questions and/or revisions. It would be so much easier to not do this the right way. You know us, though. Every "i" dotted, and every "t" crossed.

We also finally got our goat transportation from Idaho worked out. They'll be arriving mid-September now. We have a few little things to work out so that we can quarantine them upon arrival. They need an appropriate adjustment period for integrating them in the herd, and they may have some stress-related things to deal with from the move. So, those details are my next project.

It's time for me to go milk the goats now and get started with the day. Happy Lord's Day!