We have finally been getting the rain that we needed. I think in Wyoming it should be changed from May showers bring June flowers instead of April showers bring May flowers. The grass is growing, everything just seems to be jumping and coming alive. This week has been one of those weeks when on the homestead everything seems to be running smoothly, and then little things just start picking away at the smoothness. We've had a few problems here on the homestead, not major. It's just little bumps in the road. Let's get to them.

On the homestead, the first thing we had to deal with was weaning the triplets before I wanted to. Few weeks ago I told you that Ebony was dealing with some cuts on her teats from the over-aggressive kids. The first thing we did was we pulled one and we got her on the bottle. She's doing great on the bottles. This was a great choice for her because I think she wasn't getting all the milk she could have. But then I noticed that her wounds were still not healing and her bag was becoming lopsided. I am thinking she was not letting the babies nurse on that one side. So I had to make the decision to pull both the babies. They're both past weaning age which is about two months so it's not going to be any harm to the babies. They're just not going to get all that extra milk that Mom could have given them. We are bottle feeding the other one and the third one decided she didn't like the bottle and she's growing so well. I'm not going to push it. So we are now milking Ebony in the morning and at night and her milk goes to her babies. So like I said small hiccups. Then on Wednesday we noticed an enlargement of Loretta Lynn’s thyroid gland. This means iodine deficiency. We're treating the whole herd. This isn't a huge thing. My philosophy is to prevent or treat the best I can naturally. So we are painting all their tails morning and night with 7% Iodine solution. We are putting a small amount of iodine in their water. So why are we dealing with this situation? I have three different salt blocks one even has iodine in it. I also have loose minerals in every pen. The reason we're dealing with this is because our water from our well has flushed with nitrates this spring and those nitrates can lock up the consumption of iodine in their natural habitat or from minerals. So they're needing more iodine than normal to still maintain themselves. Like I said these are little things that always occurs on the homestead. You're dealing with live animals and their care and you need to be mindful of all aspects. Even though I was doing my best and had minerals and their salt blocks always readily available, it wasn't enough. But because I know my herd and thankfully I have a goat expert I can talk to and she walks me through many of my problems. I feel confident that we're going to move past this week and everyone will be fine. My one advice to any of you that raise animals, any sort animals and you are a beginner, is to find someone that can help you, beyond a vet, who has raised that said animals for years.It is great to have a good friend that can help you out. So I want to thank my good friend, she knows who she is, for helping me. Cuz, I was freaking a little bit.

As for the rest of the animals on the homestead the meat chickens are growing like crazy. I envision some butchering sessions happening either this week or this weekend. The layer chicks are doing great. We've moved them out of the house, they're out in our brooder section of our chicken coop. We've moved the turkeys out onto grass. The turkeys are loving it. It's so exciting to put new animals on green grass. Back to the goats, we have started our new grass rotation and the new electric fence is work wonders. We also got some fencing done. I can't wait to have my yard, hopefully, deer proofed.

In the garden everything that I have outside is just continuing to grow. Everything in the seedling area is growing bigger and can't wait to get outside. Wyoming weather is starting to cooperate so hopefully we'll get everything outside this week. We did not get our mobile greenhouse up yet. But that is on the to-do list.

In the kitchen, I actually went to the grocery store. My husband has been doing all the grocery shopping for the past 2 months. I'm sure you guys all know why. And it was nice to go and actually get stocked up on a few things. No dishwasher detergent that puzzles me but what will be will be. We will get through this. Dandelions are up right now and I'm searching for dandelion jelly recipes and thoughts about maybe dandelion syrup. So once I get those recipes figured out I will be sharing them with you.

Lord God, I thank you for this week and thank you for the friends that you put in my life. I thank you for the strength of my husband and my kids and all their help getting through the hiccups we had this week. I ask you Lord to lay your hands on the sick. I asked you to help those that are grieving in this time of separation from our loved ones. In your name I pray, Jesus Christ, Amen

Tell next time,

Pray, Just Plant!