What We're Up To

I haven't posted in quite awhile-it seems there is never enough time to do it all lately. If I'm doing well in one area, then I do poorly in another area.
Lately, I've been busy helping the older kids w/ animals-mainly the calves. The milk replacer really does not sit well in their bellies, but they're finally getting used to it. An old farmer told us to put a raw egg in each of their bottles & it seems to help.
It really proves that God designed things perfectly. Mother's milk is designed perfectly for their babies (people, cows, dogs, etc).
Someday, I'd love to have a milk cow-and let her keep her calf each year. I don't mind sharing the milk & this way we'd only have to milk her once/day. And, her calf would grow without any help from us (read no extra work for us-LOL).
I want a jersey milk cow & would like to breed her to a hereford beefer-to our own dual-purpose cow for a lot cheaper than getting a heritage breed that is bred for that purpose-although, I would love a heritage breed. It's just in the budget is all.
So many people ask us why we don't just milk our beef cows. LOL Well, they don't let us near them. And, they'd kick us to pieces if we tried milking them. We had to tranquilize a mother cow 2 days in a row just to treat her for mastitis.
Right now, my dh doesn't want a milk cow-and I don't know enough about it anyway. It's a little intimidating to me as well.
I've also been helping Hannah w/ training her 3 yr old horse. He's such a sweetie-and such a big toddler. I really like him a lot. I've been helping Susanna w/ her pony as well. He's a shetland and so cute I just want to pick him up. He's also a little sweetie, but a bit headstrong as well-which is typical for Shetlands, but he doesn't have a mean bone in his body. He just wants to eat something-anything-all the time.
Since the baby has come, I haven't been making much butter, but this week I finally got around to doing it. I had been using the cream to make yogurt-so as not to waste it.
I've also been up at nights trying to get the baby transitioned from the cradle to the crib. The first night was difficult, which made the next day difficult as well. But, last night she did much better!
I am so chomping at the bit for all our snow to melt so I can get in the garden. I can't wait. I have so many new ideas to try out! Most of my free time has been spent reading homestead websites and reading homestead books I got out from the library.
Oh, there just is never enough time to read!!
I'm going to start growing indoor lettuce/spinach. I don't know why I never thought of this myself. I read about a family that grows their own salads in the house during the winter to save money. I could easily do that, I hope to start this week.
I did start some sprouts yesterday. I love them in salads & in sandwiches. I've got a lot of sprouts that I bought from the urbanhomemaker last fall. They're going to last for a very long time. It's also a great way to get fresh food w/ all the great nutrition from it when you can't get fresh food from the store at a reasonable price.
Well, the baby needs a nap & I need to read to the kids. We started the Civil War unit and we're really enjoying a book called, Brady.