Yesterday we drove the Campbellford to Bashert Farms where our friends were caring for and housing our new buckling for us during his quarantine.  José was imported from New Mexico and has travelled a long way to get to us.  We are very excited to have him here with us as he is moonspotted and will hopefully pass that gene onto his offspring.  He is still only a few months old and has much growing and filling out to do before he is ready to start breeding.  We look forward to watching him grow!

We started weaning Orion and Cassi last night.  The first night went well actually with minimal crying.  The babies sure were hungry this morning though and quickly enjoyed a very large breakfast with their mom once they were reunited!  With the first night past us, I am sure we can continue to work through this difficult process with them.  Cassi especially needs to seperate
from Bonnie as she is becoming as wild as her Mom which we just can`t have.  We want her to become as friendly and easy to handle as the rest of the herd so while she is being weaned we will continue to work on her handling.  We hope to show her as well in the months ahead!  Orion is being prepared to leave for his new home in the next week or so.  We will miss him here but know he will have a very important job where he is going.

More than a month has passed since my last post. School this year is beyond challenging. Keeping on track has been the hardest challenge. School is now out until January 9th and I fully intend to enjoy as much of it as possible! I am not making any big plans or going anywhere
this time to ensure that I get as much downtime to recharge my batteries as possible. Health wise, I am experiencing other contributing challenges. I have been diagnosed with severe sleep apnea which basically means I stop breathing at least once a minute while I am trying to sleep - which translates into I NEVER SLEEP! No wonder I am so tired and completely drained of energy every single day. I am getting fitted for a CPAP machine that will keep me breathing while I sleep. I am not looking forward to that but at least I will be able to function again!
Everything on the farm is doing good. Both Bonnie and Dixie are bred for April kiddings which we are all looking forward to. Poor little Mimi suffered from a bout of pneumonia last month but recovered well. Both her and Lucy are doing great and growing up so much! Dixie still hasn't fully weaned them but I am sure she will in time for her new kids in the spring. Geordon and I decided we prefer to let her decide when to wean them as neither Mimi nor Lucy are being considered for sale for the time being anyways. It also gives us the opportunity to see how things develop when we are not interfering with the natural process. Sometimes I think we humans interfere with the natural flow too much and I enjoy seeing how things can thrive without us. It is a great way to stay humble and grounded.
Everyone in the family is doing well. Geordon and Daniel are both working a lot and everyone is super busy. I am not sure if I mentioned it in a previous post, but Daniel finally finished high school! We are so proud of him for sticking it out and doing it on his own. For now he is just
going to work but he is thinking about applying to George Brown College for Culinary Arts. I am sure no matter what he decides, he will do great! Alyssa has returned from school for the holidays. She came by to see us the other night. Oh how we have missed her energy around here! I am hoping to see a great deal more of her while she is here but she has many people to see and spend time with. She is still like a breath of fresh air coming into the room though. I am glad to see that school hasn't taken that out of her. She too is finding her first year at University particularly tough. Time for her to buckle down and put partying on the back burner I think :o).
Well, I am finally going to find the time to add our three new goats to the website! You can look for those updates to be coming in the next few days - or today if I find the time! Christmas is one week away and I need to seriously start getting some shopping done!