Still no rain. A Wyoming Fall is usually filled with a sprinkle once a week. Not this year we are again on our third week since the last rain of only ½ an inch.The pasture is not just brown but crispy brownish tan as the green has not returned and you can see the soil through the grass. The trees have changed so quickly the beautiful gold has already turned to rusty brown. I guess 2020 will be a year to remember for many reasons. Let’s get to it.

On the homestead, goat breeding season is now in full swing. The girls are rowdy and I get the pleasure of examining their little tushies daily. In the list of care for dairy goats this chore is rarely mentioned. For some herds this job is given to the buck but as we don’t and will never own a buck it has been given to me. Why do we not own a buck? Because of the smell! There is no way we or the neighbors could get away from it. If I were asked to describe the smell of a fully endowed male goat, I would say it is a mix of rotten goat milk, strong onions that make you cry on the first slice, moldy gym socks, and throw up. May Mae, my son’s Boer Doe, has been with a friend's buck for a few weeks and I placed a CIDR in Goldie to prepare her for Artificial Insemination in two weeks. I will update the Girl’s Breeding Page once everyone has settled and confirmed pregnancy!

The young layer chickens are laying consistently. For weeks, I couldn’t understand why they would start laying with a few eggs and then just stop. At first I thought our dog might be eating them as they free range and their coop is located in the backyard. I have found him carrying them around twice. But both times he just gently set them down at my feet and I brought them into the house. It was not until George found their hord of eggs that I realized they have been laying them the whole time just not it the expected place. I guess teaching them to lay in their nest needs to be added to the to-do list!

In the garden, I am planting Clover in as many beds as I can to protect the beds this winter. I am also still waiting for the pumpkins to fully ripen before I can finish the garden cleaned up.

In the kitchen, the produce mountain is slowly eroding and the shelves are filling up. This week we turned a huge box of apples into 25 pint jars of apple butter. Still on the list are tomatoes, pumpkins, and maybe some carrots if I can find some at this week farmer’s market.

Thank you Lord, for the abundance on our shelves and the calm only a full root cellar can give in times like these. In You and only in You, Jesus Christ, do I find the rest and peace that the world longs for but can not understand. Amen