This "homestead life" has all been so good for all of us! It's really great to work for the animals that are working for us. It's giving us all a better appreciation for the food that finally makes it to our table. Hattie was helping clean the goat barn today and we were talking about how she's helping to get the milk she needs (eventually). She's lactose intolerant, so the goats mean healthy raw milk that will be good for her - something she doesn't have available to her now.
Her milk choices consist of pasteurised goat milk, powdered goat milk, or lactose free cow milk. By the time any of those products reach her glass, I don't believe they are "milk" any more. I'm not sure they have any benefits over not drinking milk at all. I can't wait to give her her first glass of fresh goat milk!
All this work for our heat (wood), meat, vegetables, eggs, and (hopefully by spring) milk, also keeps us healthy in other ways. We get exercise and fresh air doing the work. Of course, this makes us hungry so we enjoy our wholesome whole foods much more. It also makes us much more thankful for our comforts.
This lifestyle isn't for everyone. Not everyone can or wants to live like this. In fact, in all honesty there are days when I don't want to live like this. Thankfully most of the time I enjoy it.
I also enjoy having my computer and internet, watching an occasional movie and going out for dinner with my family. I'm glad there are folks who are in the business of providing these things. I'm thankful there are people trying to farm on a more intense level so others can get high quality foods as well. Hopefully soon our government will find ways to make that easier for all of us, and not harder. I'm thankful to live in a land where we have so many choices available to us.
Thank you, God, for the miracle of your creation. Thank you that I get to see it so up close and personal. I don't take it for granted.
Well, that was quite a rambling post!
Patty, have you tried the raw milk from our local dairy for Hattie? Often people lactose intolerant can handle raw milk.
ReplyDeleteOoops, I meant to say raw cow's milk . . . because that's what would be available at the dairy, of course.
ReplyDeleteVery well said! There are days (usually when it's 100 degrees or I'm exhausted) that I wish we lived in a little townhome with no yard LOL, but it quickly passes. I don't have to "make time" for exercise since I get plenty of it out in the fresh air. So happy for you that you will be enjoying the goat's milk this time next year, and oh, think of the yummy cheese you can make!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for this post. I really needed to hear your thankfulness for the life you live. I've been struggling with a few things here, and your post set me straight. So thank you!!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that your family will be able to enjoy fresh goat milk next spring! No better feeling than having REAL "convenience" food (like, right outside in the barn!) for the family.
ReplyDeleteI had one of those "WHY am I doing this???" moments just a bit ago while trying to wrestle baby goats into the kid pen and relocating three chickens that just don't get the idea of sleeping int he coop. But now I'm sipping a nice cold glass of goat milk and unwinding online. It IS worth it!
Mama Pea- Yep, we've tried that. We all drink the milk from the dairy now, except Hattie. She can have about half a cup of it and not every day, and not in combination with certain other foods. But half a cup once in a while is better than nothing. :)
ReplyDeleteCarolyn- Nice to "meet" a fellow goat owner! I can't wait to check out your blog further.
Erin- Isn't it great not having to "make time" for exercise? It's a good thing we're getting it this way since there is no extra time right now.
Mama Tea- I'm glad it helped! It actually helped me yesterday too as the afternoon I had nearly reduced me to tears. I had to keep thinking of what I'd written earlier in the day. Hopefully I'll post about it soon.
Beautifully said. I found you through Chicken Mama. I can SO relate to this post. I was in tears last week. It can be so overwhelming at times. But you know what- it's worth it and we wouldn't do it if we didn't love it.
ReplyDeleteJudy