The Reality of Homestead Life (The Good, The Bad & The Goats)

This past weekend was one of those weekends that perfectly sums up homestead life — a little bit of everything, a lot of chaos, and a whole lot of gratitude.

Saturday we spent the day at the West Oaks Market, and it was a very fulfilling day. After packing everything up, we headed straight to Apple Hill Farm to pick out our new male piggies for future breeding stock. While we were there, we also delivered some of our goat milk that will be used in their soaps, which is always a great feeling seeing something we produce here on the homestead being used by another local farm.

We made it home just in time to spend the evening celebrating our birthday girl. I made a non-dairy ice cream sandwich cake (I’ll be sharing the recipe on the blog soon because it was a hit).

Homestead life always gives us both the highs and the lows. Sadly, one of Aurora’s triplets did not make it. We found her curled up with her brother and sister. Losing an animal is never easy, but it is a reality of the life we chose to live. The rest of the babies are happy and healthy, and sometimes there’s just no rhyme or reason to these things — it’s just part of raising animals and doing the best we can for them every day.

We spent Easter Sunday trying to rest and recover from our very long Saturday, but as most homesteaders know, homestead life is never slow. At one point, I had our daughter set the ham on the stove so I could put it in the oven. I started cleaning up the kitchen and then suddenly I saw smoke. The ham had bumped into the burner dial and turned it on, and our giant cutting board stove cover was very close to catching fire. Thankfully we caught it in time. Our son ran over, grabbed the board, and got it outside while I opened windows and turned everything off. Everyone and everything is okay, but consider this a little public service announcement — stove covers are pretty, but not always a good idea.

Things finally settled down for the evening… and then the dogs started fussing at the back door after having just come inside. The kids thought they were whining at nothing, but I went to the window and saw ALL — and I mean all — of the animals loose in the backyard… which is where our fruit trees are planted. So out we went, kids and treats in hand, trying to lure everyone back into the pen. Easier said than done. Apparently the new quick-release latches we installed are indeed quick release, because the goats and donkeys have figured them out. So back to chains we go.

But this morning during barn checks, we were greeted with some happy news. Oreo had her baby. She usually gives us twins, but this time she gave us one gorgeous black and white boy — Cream on the left. If you still remember the Oreo commercials, you’ll understand the name.

It was a weekend full of life, loss, laughter, near disasters, and new beginnings — which pretty much sums up homestead life.

Never a dull moment around here.

— Harvest Hills Homestead