Charlotte's Menagerie

Bamboo Treat for the Goats

2013-07-19T16:48:00.000-05:00

A neighbor down the street had the bamboo in her backyard cut and put on the curb.

So Don and I drove the truck down there and got a load for the goats.


This was after I had carried 2 loads to the goats. Gus, Don's cat was hoping he got something.

They love the leaves. It's much better for my bucks than goat pellets. In fact, the veterinarian told me not to feed the bucks pellets, when Billy Shakespeare developed Urinary Calculi. Here is a wonderful article on Urinary Calculi. http://www.tennesseemeatgoats.com/articles2/urinarycalculi06.html I almost lost BS. I feed him hay and oats now; instead of the pellets many people feed their show goats.

Billy Shakespeare and son, Minimus

The pile of bamboo will likely still be there until Tuesday, so we may go back for some more free food for the goats. It would be great to just let them go down there and eat, but I know that is not a good idea. My neighbors are very good about my urban farm, mostly because they can't see it.


Honey Bunny, Dottie Belle and Anna, Dottie's new kid.

Honey Bunny's kid, April.

Dottie Belle Had 2 Doe Kids

2013-07-15T00:32:00.000-05:00

It was about 5 pm today and I was in the middle of making yogurt and cooking dinner; when I made a trip to the garden for tomatoes and noticed Dottie Belle, a Nigerian Dwarf goat, standing in some tall weeds. She had been yelling at me all day and when I felt her ligaments, But I noticed they were looser, but saw no other signs of labor this morning or early afternoon. As I came back from the garden, it looked like something moved beside Dottie Belle. So I went to check it out. Sure enough she was cleaning up two small little girls.

Dottie Belle with her 2 doelings.

One looks just like the buck, Jazzman she delivered on July 17 last year, but about half his size. The other one is black and white. Both have Billy Shakespeare white cap on top of their heads.
Grandson, Chase named the tri-colored, blue-eyed doe Neapolitan. Connor wants to name the black and white, brown eyed girl, Anna; probably after one of his many "girlfriends." Either way those may not end up being their names, because I am going to sell them. Connor asked me why would I sell them. I told him because I can't have too many goats. He wanted to know was is against the law. Anyway, children never want to part with baby animals.

Connor's eyes are red from chlorine in the pool.

I already have homes for 2, but Gypsy Ginger is going to deliver any minute, so I don't know if these 2 will go to the same home or not. But I called Jo Marie and she came right over. We'll have to see Gypsy's baby, but it looks like she will have a tough decision about which 2 she wants. These are adorable. She bought 6 baby chicks and a coop from me a few weeks ago. I gave her the 2 baby ducks I had. But for awhile the grands will have fun playing with the new kids. I will soon be milking 3 goats. That could make me very busy.

But not any busier than momma goat.

My Sister, Debbie

2013-07-11T00:21:00.000-05:00

It's said that your siblings know you better than anyone, because they are with you from the beginning to the end. That is certainly true of you, my sister, Debbie. I was two and a half when you were born. There's no one that I have played with, cleaned the house with or fought with more fiercely.


Debbie and Me

We didn't live in a neighborhood, so most of the time we only had each other to play with or the younger siblings to pick on.

Seems we were always side by side.


Me and Debbie in a rare Louisiana snow.

You were by my side through my life's disappointments; sometimes rolling your eyes and smirking.

As evident in this picture, when you got the pretty doll with the "real" curly hair and I got the ugly one with some kind of sculptured painted on hair.

Pictures also show we spent a lot of our time with our hair rolled up in bobby pins. We know the pain of sitting at Mother's feet while she rolled our hair every night. Then the next morning, making Mom angry and getting bopped in the head with the hairbrush.

It was always my job to wash the dishes and yours to dry them. We would sing every song we knew and then start making up songs about our younger sister, Lenora, until she starting screaming and Mother or Dad would tell us we couldn't sing any more. We loved the Gabor sisters. I was Zsa Zsa. You were Eva. And we told Lenora she was Moo Moo Gabor. That really made her scream. Until I looked for this picture, I didn't realize there was a third Gabor sister; of course not named Moo Moo.

But of course, you often turned the teasing on me. I lost a couple of potential boyfriends due to information you gained reading my diary. You still love to tell the story of putting the water hose through the bathroom window and ruining my hair while I was primping for a date. In those days we didn't have blow driers or curling irons, so curling one's hair for a date was an all day affair.

But as others come and go in my life; I know that you were born to ALWAYS be right there by my side and I by yours.

Happy Birthday beloved sister and may we share many more.

Finalists For Superintendent From Search Firm

2013-07-10T00:01:00.000-05:00

Social media and the internet are so much better than they were even 5 years ago, when the school board was looking for the last superintendent. So after 5 years, our local school board is in the middle of hiring a new superintendent. In a vote of 10 to 2 the board voted to hire a firm headquartered in Nebraska to conduct our search. Last time we received 21 names; many were totally unsuitable. We've had the list of 7 finalists for the position of Superintendent for our system since July 3rd:
2 Caddo School natives for CPSB superintendent job- Dr. Mary Nash Robinson, current Chief of Staff, Mr. John Dilworth, former educator in Caddo, former Superintendent of Birmingham Public Schools and Superintendent of East Baton Rouge School System, Romain Dallemand (Macon, GA), John Green (Suwanee, GA), Jerry Payne (Pine Bluff, AR), Angella Perera (Smithfield, VA) and Theodore Thompson (Alexandria, VA)
Already we are hearing from people all over the country about their experience with these candidates.

I try not to blog about a lot of the school board business; though much of it could be viewed as entertaining, if it didn't affect our children, teachers and community so much. But I'm going to write about this experience because it is going just as badly as I thought it would when the decision was made to hire an outside firm. I also want people who are looking for a superintendent to get the opinions and information I have received.

So this is my first post. I will just post the emails that I have received and my replies to citizens who care about public education enough to get involved. I also hope people in my district will be aware of the the communications that I am receiving. Tomorrow and the rest of the week I will be calling the school board members in these districts and getting their feedback.

They put their names on the e-mails, but because I didn't get permission to print their names, I'm not going to use their whole name.

First e-mail

-----Original Message-----
From: Danny H
Sent: Saturday, July 06, 2013 4:50 PM
Subject: romain dallemand

I am just warning you folks that this guy will poison

your system. Be diligent, check with the Rochester Mn.

as well. Lawsuits and chaos have followed him, just 
saying. Danny H.

Second e-mail

July 9,
2013

Mr. Larry Ramsey

Caddo Parish School Board President

RE: Superintendent Finalists

Dear Mr. Ramsey

The Shreveport Times July 4, 2013 article quoted you as saying, “We have a nice mix of candidates from throughout the southern region, and I’m pleased with how much our consultant has already done to narrow the field.”

I am amazed that you are pleased with these candidates. Two of them were FIRED from their positions; one left because he could not work with the school board; one has been in the system only two years but is looking elsewhere; one left the system because ‘of concerns over retirement benefits’; and another has only been in a system since 2011. Our own Acting Superintendent is the only one without such negative comments. If this group of candidates offers possibilities, what were the others like? It seems that this firm has wasted time and money for a system which did not need this. Representatives of the citizens of this community asked the board to do their own search because the same problems are occurring with consultant firms around the country.

I think the citizens of Caddo in the best interest of students, teachers, and the future of the school system should seek new board members when terms are up. It should be noted that only two members, Mrs. Crawley and Mr. Hooks, voted against pursuing a consultant firm. You do not appear to have the best interest of the constituents who elected you and it is time you relinquished your seats to others who are concerned about educating a future generation.

Sincerely,

Bonita B

Third e-mail

Dear School District Board Members,

I am a parent of three children in the Bibb County School District in Macon, GA, and a professor at a local university.

Based on our experiences with Romain Dallemand in the last 2 years, and as a parent, I am strongly encouraging you to disregard his application for superintendent. Romain Dallemand did more damage to Bibb County schools in his short tenure that I could have ever imagined. Many teachers abandoned the system for other counties due to his lack of leadership and bizarre policies. Many parents pulled their kids out of school to avoid dealing with the mess he caused, putting them in private or home schooling them. He became a local joke and harmed our school system a great deal. Our county wasted tremendous money on this man and his grandiosity.

Please, do everything you can to select someone other than Romain Dallemand. You will harm your students if you put this man in the superintendent's office. You cannot believe what he says or trust him. He will deceive you, take your money, and ruin you financially. He is not reliable, trustworthy, or even a true educational professional. He has no personal integrity. Do not hire him. Please take this recommendation from a concerned parent. Mr. Dallemand should never be placed in a position of authority in a school, or especially a district, ever again.

Sincerely,

Susan C

Macon, GA

My return e-mail to Susan

Mrs. C,
I truly appreciate you taking the time to send this email. It shows how much you 
really care about public education for all children. We must be able to track 
and identify such opportunists to preserve our children's future. After studying 
the applicants sent to us by this search firm, I am even more convinced that 
these firms are about the business of facilitating the preying on taxpayers' 
dollars through school boards who want to turn a deaf ear and be blind to this 
practice. We must depend on noble citizens willing to tell us the truth.
Thank you,
Charlotte Crawley

Vengeful Cat and Forgiving Husband

2013-06-30T16:12:00.002-05:00

I was rather dismayed when I took my cat, Cloud, to the vet 3 weeks ago and realized he is 8 years old. I was guessing 5. I got him as a very small kitten, and could not believe so much time has passed. Half of his life is almost over. Cloud may have understood those remarks, because he suddenly started going crazy wanting to go outside. Some kind of mid-life crisis, I guess. He has been the most laid-back cat, but now he acts like a demon. I have been adamant that he can't go outside, because I had his front claws removed. So we are in a battle. Every time the door opens, Cloud is right there and bolts out. I don't think I will ever have another cat declawed.

Of course he likes to lie on the sidewalk right by the driveway and street.

He particularly scoots outside in the morning, when Don is coming home from a long night's work. So one day after having a particularly hard time finding him the night before, I asked Don not to let him out when he gets home. So Don was very careful and Cloud spent most of the day inside, before finally making his breakout.

All seemed to go well, until Don called me from the hospital about 9:30 saying he had a big favor to ask me. One night out of a thousand that I'm actually in bed before 1 a.m. "What is it?' I asked. Don said, "My clothes smell like the cat peed on them. Please bring me a change of clothes." Well he didn't have to say that twice. I couldn't get there with fresh clothes fast enough. Cloud has never gotten up on the settee at the end of the bed where Don lays his clothes. I guess Cloud actually understands the term pissed-off. Okay, Cloud gets to go outside now.

Digging Potatoes With Grampa

2013-06-29T15:38:00.000-05:00

Our garden has been amazing this year. With 100 degree temperatures and much less rain, it's slowing down now. But it was a great spring.

See I can stand with my shovel like Grampa.

http://www.territorialseed.com/product/501

We also planted purple string beans, Royal Burgundy beans, that I ordered from Territorial Seeds. Purple ones are suppose to be more nutritious. The strange thing was, they turned green when I cooked them. First picking was small, but I roasted them with potatoes and other vegetables. It was a great dish.

BIlly Shakespeare's New Pen

2013-06-28T14:05:00.000-05:00

As usual, Don was not a willing participate in my farming project. All through Lowes Friday he was saying, "This is the last project I'm helping you with." I replied, "Yes, this is the last project this weekend." (He does not find me funny; but at least he ignores my comments, so that works.)

So Saturday morning we gathered up the items and headed to the spot for B. S.'s new pen. Don started digging the holes with the post hole digger and said, "I don't want to do this." But of course it has to be done, because my dear sweet neighbor is not happy with stinky Billy. And because I tend to be a very lucky person; not just because my husband is not a violent person, but just 2 days before, a former employee in our construction company had called looking for work. He's kind of a handyman, jack of all trades, and his name is Jack. So I told Don, that if he just couldn't make himself do the fence; he could hire Jack to do the work for him. I had just spent almost $200 on materials and am still in debt for the Chateau de Poulet, so all I could afford was the free labor that Don was hopefully going to do. My husband ran a very high end remodeling business for 30 years, but for most of that time he was the pencil pusher, not a hammer swinger. He loved designing and was very gifted at it. Anyway, I had been far-sighted enough to write down Jack's phone number. Don disappeared into the house for a few minutes and came back out and said, "Jack will be here in about an hour."

B.S. now stands on his igloo looks at the does.

So Don mostly got to supervise and advise and Jack worked his butt off. It took about 4 hours Saturday and 2 hours Sunday afternoon. Late Sunday B.S., along with the new buck kid, Minimus moved into their new yard. I called Linda and told her to go to her computer room and take a deep breath.


Father and son now live together.

Sorry But Billy Shakespeare Stinks

2013-06-27T15:57:00.000-05:00

I have 3 does and 1 buck, not counting the 2 kids that were born April 1st. The does and kids live in the back, behind the garage apartment. But we didn't make a special yard for B.S.; I just put him in the dog yard that fits rather snugly between my house and my neighbor's. He loves to stand on the air conditioning unit and yell at everyone going by. It's funny to see people stop, point and laugh at the unexpected site of a goat.

B.S. is my friendliest goat. He was only about 2 weeks old when we picked him up in Loganville, just outside of Atlanta, GA. at the Double Durango Farm. I had to bottle feed him. That night we checked in a hotel to watch the LSU football game. So B.S. is one of a few goats to sleep in a hotel and watch a football game.

He and my granddaughter, Kennedy, have been wonderful playmates since the day they met.

Kennedy and Shakespeare last year.

We'll be outside and I'll look up and B. S. is wandering around free in the yard. I'll look at Kennedy and she will say, "I let him out. He's my friend." And he is. She has great control of him. I think she will be great showing him at the State Fair.

My Neighbor is the best neighbor about my having a mini urban farm. She is always bringing friends over and even recommended that a family who is home-schooling their daughter come and visit the farm. She saves vegetable peelings for the critters and I give her eggs. But one day she called and said, "I have to ask you to move Billy away from my computer room. I can smell him in that room and at my front door."

So in the spirit of being a good neighbor; last weekend we built a new pen for Shakespeare. Don, very reluctantly, and I went Friday to Lowe's to get the needed hardware. We had a lot of chain link left over from the girls' yard, so that came in handy. I'll write a post tomorrow about B.S.'s new pen.

Super Moon Over the Chateau de Poulet

2013-06-23T22:55:00.000-05:00

The biggest job I have been involved with this spring is the building of the new chicken coop. I'll do a full blog on just the coop. But I have been rather mesmerized by the super moon for the last couple of nights and trying to take a picture of it with the coop's cupola and rooster weather vane. I also noticed that a dragonfly spent all day on top of the rooster's head.

At 2:37 the dragonfly was there.


At 6:47 it's hovering, but it sits right back down.

I don't have a really fancy camera, but the moon was cool.

A picture without my camera flash.

Tomato Basil Soup Time!

2013-06-22T23:24:00.000-05:00

This has been a wonderful spring. Just about every time I thought I will water the garden and yard tomorrow; it rained. So I haven't been too busy watering to blog. But so much is happening; that about dark I just sit on the sofa and watch TV like a zombie. Well, my cable went out last night and they can't repair it until Wednesday. Hopefully, my blog will not read like a zombie brain wrote it. I am exhausted, but I don't go to sleep early; well maybe early in the morning I will.

I did not use all of these in the soup.

Back to the garden post... The first couple of years that I gardened, I had great success with my tomatoes. I remember giving tomatoes away in 2003. Wow, I just realized how long ago that was. But the last 2 or 3 or maybe 10 years have made me come close to giving it up. If you really know me, you know I would die before I gave up anything. I just try a different approach. First, we went to Gilliam Cotton Gin and got the cotton hull compost. And with a long, slightly cooler and much wetter spring; we are being greatly rewarded for our hard work. I go back and forth between I and we, because most of this is my project, but there are times when Don is inspired; never required to lend a hand.

Back on May 21st Kennedy was watching for the tomatoes to turn red.

Tonight I made tomato basil soup. A few years ago I read and tried a lot of recipes, but lately I just add stuff until it tastes great.
Here's sort of what I did:
Chopped in food processor 3 or 4 stalks of celery, lots of petite carrots (I've never planted carrots), lots of basil leaves and half a large onion.

I sauteed them in half a stick of butter. Then I added the diced tomatoes and chick broth. I poured all of that in the food processor and pureed it. I pour it back in the pot and add spices like thyme. oregano, salt and black pepper, 2 tbs of sour cream and about 6 ounces of cream.

I add croutons to my cup of soup. Don doesn't. It was the best ever tonight. Probably because I know how hard we worked to get those tomatoes and it's been years since they have been this good.

Add caption

Vindicated By a Duck

2013-04-23T23:57:00.000-05:00

In a prior post I mentioned that I gave 2 pre-K classes 20 chicken eggs and none of them hatched. We were so sure that the rooster, Big Foot, was not up to the job.

I knew it wasn't my fault. And you don't know why I'm hostile.

Then I gave them 11 of the 16 eggs that my duck, Daisy, laid. I left 5 of the eggs in the nest. But I had marked the 1st 4 that she laid with a big black X, because Daisy had not been sittling on them and they sat out in the freezing weather. Then after more than 2 weeks she decided to sit on them. I had collected the new eggs each day and saved them for the class. That was why I marked the 1st 4 with the X.

I felt so sorry for Daisy sitting for 28 days, barely getting up to eat, drink and take a quick swim once a day. So on April 5th, when my grandson, Connor, yelled I see baby ducks; I thought surely only the last egg had hatched. So I said, "You see one duck?" He replied, "No, there are 4." Sure enough the 4 that I had marked with that X had all hatched; leaving just the newest egg unhatched.

I quickly texted the teacher to ask if her eggs had hatched. None of hers ended up hatching. So it appears Big Foot most likely does not shoot blanks. I'm sure he is thankful to Donald for clearing his reputation. It's still a mystery what went wrong with all those eggs at the school. One theory is that the heating unit in the building is cut off at 3 pm each day; but I don't know if that really affected them.


Donald takes his job as protector very seriously.

We are just happy that it is truly spring at our mini urban farm with baby chicks, baby goats and now 4 baby ducks. Oh, and as for the 5th egg; Daisy had to move on with the 4 that had hatched. Chase, my 12 year old grandson, understood what had happened and begged me to do something so it could hatch. I had to tell him that I am not a mother duck and I don't have an incubator. It was just one of those tough lessons one learns quickly when raising farm animals, even as pets.

Adorable family of 6

Nothing beats a good spring rain.

The New Kids Spent Their First Night Alone

2013-04-21T00:44:00.000-05:00

This is about 1/3 of what I bought that still need planting.

Today was a busy day. I still have hundreds of plants to put out from last weekend's shopping trip to every nursery in town with my mother and daughter. In fact, when we unloaded the truck, my daughter said that it looks like a nursery threw-up in my yard.

But before I could get to my landscaping, I had to milk Honey Bunny, my Nigerian Dwarf goat, for the first time. This is very exciting for me, mostly, because I haven't had fresh goat milk to make all that cheese and yogurt I learned to make in the classes I took back in February in Waco.

Milking Honey Bunny this morning meant that the kids, April and Minimus would have to spend their first night away from their mother. I expected a lot of crying and that's what happened. I decided to give Honey Bunny a bedtime snack. So I put her up on the milking stand facing away from the pen so she would not see me moving the kids into the "baby house." That's where they were born and spent the first 10 days of their lives with their mother. Oh! I haven't even blogged about their birth that was on April 1st. Things move along quickly around here.

April, Minimus and Honey Bunny

Of course they started crying when I took them to their house and their mother got upset and started crying. I put her back in the pen and went to the babies and held them for 45 minutes until they fell asleep. Actually they were asleep after about 3 minutes. I just enjoyed holding them. Honey Bunny had calmed down by then.

For her first day of milking Honey Bunny was super calm and still while I milked her. Just the opposite of my stubborn girl, Dottie Belle. Maybe it was good that Dottie Belle was my first goat to milk, so I can truly appreciate a great one like Honey Bunny. Dottie Belle was a bottle baby. She was not raised with her mother. Instead I bottle fed her. I'm not sure she has ever understood that she is not human. So I think she cuts up more because she is more familiar with me. We'll have to see if Honey Bunny stays good. Tonight the kids never cried when I moved them and they went right to sleep. Honey Bunny still called out to them a few times, but settled quickly.

Working in the front yard allows people to stop and ask me can they see the goats. Of course I love to do that. So I had two sets of visitors today; both with children. They all love holding the kids and chickens.

Gypsy Ginger enjoyed sampling my friend Lola's clothes.

This evening it was so great to look in the refrigerator and see a jar of goat milk. It won't be long before I can have some really great yogurt for breakfast. Now that I have made my own yogurt, I can't eat that stuff from the grocery store.

My Mini Urban Farm Needs a Fowl Psychologist

2013-04-19T00:00:00.000-05:00

I had my pearls and boots on; all ready to do my School Board Member duty of attending the Student on the Year Banquet at 6:00.
It has been a very rainy and stormy day so that set-up a rather slippery situation.

Before I leave in the late afternoon, I have to let Big Foot the rooster out, so when it gets dark the hens can go in the coop for the night. I have to manage him very carefully, because he attacks females; especially me. So I let the hens out in the morning and he only gets out at the end of the day, when I am not going to go outside again until dark. My only other option is to get my son-in-law to kill him. Big Foot is giant size and really wants to hurt me.

So tonight before heading out to the banquet, I had to let Big Foot out of the coop. I always have a big stick in my hand just in case I need it; which I do at least half the time. Well of course, this would be one of those afternoons when he chases me and almost caught me. But just as I got to the carport I started slipping and I could have landed face first on the concrete or on a large holly fern in the flower bed. Apparently my subconscious chose the holly fern. I had just had an encounter with the sidewalk 10 days ago and I am still on the mend. At least the rooster stopped. He was probably laughing.

So instead of going to the banquet, I got out of my muddy clothes and watched TV in my pajamas all night with my hurt ankles, neck and right thigh; to say nothing of my pride and feelings.

My husband pointed out that both male fowls, Big Foot and Donald, have a lot of aggression toward me. That maybe the 3 of us should get some psychological help or at least the one that allows the other 2 to continue to live on our property?

I need a male fowl whisperer immediately.

Come on out here so I can bite you.

Ducks

2013-03-31T01:19:00.001-05:00

Last spring I bought 2 ducklings. I wanted a male and a female, so I googled to find out all I could about how to sex a duckling. What I read was that the female would be noisy; always quacking. The male would be quiet, but moving around a lot. So off to the Tractor Supply Store. All they had were Peking and that was fine. So as I observed them, I did notice the 2 very different types of behaviors. I got one completely yellow one that was making a lot of noise; therefore a presumed female and one black and yellow one that was quietly running all over the place; my presumed male. Without a lot of thought, I named them Daisy and Donald.

About four months or so later my designation of each one's gender was confirmed by their behavior in their little pool.

This year Daisy is sitting on 5 eggs. I had read that Peking ducks don't go broody, so I marked the first 4 eggs in her nest and began collecting the new one each day to dye for Easter. I also gave 11 eggs to the Pre-K teacher to see if they would hatch. Daisy laid one final egg and has decided to hatch them. I don't believe the 4 I marked will hatch because we had several days below freezing and she was not on them. But for the past 15 days, she rarely moves from her nest. Let's hope that at least that one egg hatches after all her dedication.

You can see the x I marked on the eggs. I do feel guilty about that now.

Daisy looks so sweet taking care of her eggs.

And what is Donald doing while his mate is no longer running around quaking at him all day?

Mostly he quietly stands guard very close to Daisy.

When I open the door he runs up and attacks me. It is very painful to be bitten on the ankle by a duck.

You Knew I Was a Snake

2013-03-28T21:20:00.001-05:00

I know most people have heard the story of the monk who met a snake going up a mountain that was freezing to death. The shivering snaked begged the monk to carry it up the mountain so it could warm itself in the monastery. The monk argued that it could be deadly to be bitten by a poisonous snake. But the pleading snake promised not to bite him, if he would just be so kind as to save his life. Of course as soon as they were at the monastery and getting all warm; the snake promptly bit the monk. To the shocked monk, the snake replied, "But you knew I was a snake when you picked me up."

Well as a School Board, we choose to "work" with a charter school and its board of directors, who are members of our community. But like most people who are trying to make a profit off of public education; ethics and perhaps laws are rarely a top concern. As I read the following article in yesterday's local paper I could not help but think about the monk and the snake story. We know Charter Schools are the poisonous snakes in "public" education.

Governor Jindal: Killing public education one school at a time.

Coates Bluff Wright Island files suit against city, charter school

Shreverport Times picture.

http://www.shreveporttimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2013130326058&nclick_check=1
. . . Coates Bluff Wright Island — developed by U.L. Coleman — filed suit against Shreveport Charter Foundation and the city of Shreveport, saying the city illegally allowed the foundation to construct Magnolia on River Parkway Boulevard right of way. . . .

This final statement speaks of the confidence the Charter's Board of Directors have that they are above the law. “We have every intention to open Magnolia at the beginning of August just as was the plan,” Rozeman said. “This suit doesn’t change that for us.”

I hope that my shaky faith will be restored in Louisiana's judicial system. But politics, not honesty, often prevails here. And for the record, I did not vote to play with these snakes.

Easter Cold Snap

2013-03-27T22:16:00.000-05:00

Yes, it's wisdom handed down from our grandparents, don't plant the vegetable garden until Good Friday and look out for the Easter Snap. I just googled "How often is there an Easter snap" and found no meteorological data. Anyway for the past 2 weeks the weather has been very spring like. We planted the tomatoes, squash, tender herbs and peppers.

The peach tree is blooming.

The dogwood tree is in full bloom.

The azaleas are in full bloom.

Then the forecast for 6 a.m. Monday was a low of 31, Tuesday, 28 and Wednesday, 31 degrees. So the entire area was under a freeze warning. Of course down here we can't really complain, many places just a little north got a blanket of snow.

I have always planted after Easter, but for the past 2 years the temperature hits the 90's and even 100 degrees before the tomatoes have time to develop. So I decided not to wait. I want a good crop of tomatoes this year. With that decision comes the extra work of covering all the vegetables when the Easter Snap attacks.

Yes they are warm under here!

Tomorrow and this weekend it will be back to the 70's, that's degrees not ugly clothes.

Gardening is a Family Affair

2013-03-23T01:43:00.002-05:00

My parents raised 6 children in the country. We raised just about everything we ate. My parents planted the garden, but the children picked the beans and such. I have had a vegetable garden now for about 15 years with varying degrees of success and I've managed to involve the grandchildren. In an effort to cut down on weeding, last year my husband built raised beds. A co-worker of Don's raised a fantastic garden last year and he used cotton seed compost from the Gilliam Cotton Gin. So a couple of months ago we went there and for $25 got a truck load.

At the end of February we planted potatoes, onions and spinach. Last weekend we planted 12 tomato plants. Almost all were a different type. I'll list them later as they begin to produce. Usually Celebrity produces best here, but they don't taste the best. Planted 4 bell pepper plants, but a chicken ate one of them, 3 eggplants, and sowed some Royal Burgundy Bush Beans. We also planted 2 crooked neck squash plants and sowed a few butternut squash seeds.

A couple of chickens helped mix up the soil.

Connor and Kennedy have always worked well with us.


Working in the garden has never been Chase's thing.

Egg-gate or My Rooster Shoots Blanks

2013-03-16T21:35:00.002-05:00

In February I took 10 eggs to a Pre-K class to incubate. 24 days later I got a sad call that none of them hatched. So I took 10 more eggs to them. Well this past Tuesday I received the following text message.
"Try to find a fertile rooster. Your rooster is definitely shooting blanks. I'm going to the farm store to get some chicks to place in the incubator. Time for a big cover up. No roosters. I got 6 chicks. Leaving 4 unhatched. Not sure if this lesson is process or product. One thing's for sure...things aren't always what they seem?"

The next day she sent this picture with the caption

"Mission Accomplished!"

She said I'm not doing what?

The students were very excited when they opened the incubator and found 6 little chicks. Four eggs had not hatched. When the students asked why they did not hatch, their teacher told them that the rooster had not done his job.

Well as Big Foot's human, I have seen him performing his only duty rather diligently, but I can't explain the failure of 20 eggs to hatch. A couple of years ago his sister went broody and she hatched 5 of 9 eggs.

Anyway, Friday after school I received 6 very cute little chicks; 2 Plymouth Barred Rocks, 2 Rhode Island Reds and 2 Buff Orpington. I have to say that Mrs. Flint was extremely determined to give her students a great experience.

Baahing at the Barkus and Meow Parade

2013-02-10T23:35:00.002-06:00

Thursday, January 31 while my daughter, Jacquie, and I were getting pedicures; I chose to have my toenails painted purple, gold and green for the Mardi Gras season; Jacquie mentioned the Barkus and Meow parade was Sunday. I told her I was going to ask Don if he was up to taking the grandkids and enter the goats in the parade. This is the one parade that one can just show up and enter! I really thought it was a long shot that Mr. Introvert would entertain that notion for a second. But "Sure!" he said. So I spent Friday and Saturday making and gather 5 costumes and devising a way for Dottie Belle and Gypsy Ginger to pull a wagon with Kennedy in it. Don and I practiced with the goats before we told the children what "our" plan was. We found a scrap piece of PVC pipe about 30" long and put the 2 leashes through it to keep the goats straight, looped the leashes through the handle on the wagon and clipped them on the goat's collars. It actually worked well. I didn't photographically document it very well. I was too rushed and was afraid of trying Don's patience.

Getting ready to line-up.

The theme for our float was Capricorn. Connor was the mythical god, Pan (half goat/half man). Notice hat with horns. This picture shows some difficulty. The goats kept losing their boas.

Notice Kennedy is not riding in the wagon. It took way too long for the parade to start, so I had to carry her most of the time. So the boys used the wagon for the candy and beads to throw.

Here's the professional video from the parade. We actually made it at the 1:58 mark. It's just a very quick appearance. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5rt4T3R67c

Don summed-up his experience as an intravert's nightmare with all those people jumping out and wanting to pet the goats.

The children, goats and I had fun, but were totally exhausted. Dottie Belle spent the rest of the afternoon lying down. Gypsy is a high energy kind of girl, so she fared the best.

Cheese Making Classes

2013-01-29T20:05:00.000-06:00

I mentioned earlier that from August through November, I was milking my Nigerian Dwarf goat, Dottie Belle, and making cheese, butter and best of all yogurt. Dottie Belle is the first animal that it has ever crossed my mind to milk. If fact, this whole goat, milking and cheese thing is way off path for me, unless one considers that I am always up for a new adventure.

The most milk I ever got in 1 milking was 34 ounces. Nigerian Dwarf goats give very rich and sweet milk, but not a large quantity. But they are very small animals compared to a cow. So I would have to save up to make a batch of cheese or yogurt.

I bought 2 books.

A friend loaned me this book.

It's great to have all this information along with many internet sites, but none of them exactly agreed. My first attempt was a failure, because this former 4th grade teacher forgot how many ounces were in a gallon and I only used 64. That was the "simple" recipe I got off the internet where you add apple cider vinegar.

Anyway, I did manage to be successful at making a strong traditional feta and ricotta. But I went crazy over the yogurt it was so good. I will share that in a post by itself.

For a combination Christmas/Birthday present, my children went in together and paid for me to attend 2 cheese making classes on February 8th and 9th. http://www.sustainlife.org/ On Friday, we learn to make soft cheeses and hard cheeses on Saturday. The classes are in Waco, TX a little more than 4 hours away. My husband is taking 4 vacation days to drive over there with me. He's not interested in taking the classes. But we will come back through Dallas and visit with his daughter and my son. So it's a long weekend that we both look forward to.

Honey Bunny

After I have acquired all that cheese making knowledge, I will have to wait until my doe, Honey Bunny, kids hopefully in early April, so I can have milk. When we left town for 3 days in November, I hired someone to milk Dottie Belle for me. When I returned she had decided she was not going to produce milk anymore. That was a big disappointment. Have any of you had an experience like that with your milk animal?

Gypsy Visits a School

2013-01-28T00:57:00.001-06:00

Last week Kennedy and I loaded up the truck with Gypsy and 2 chickens, Gracie and Moonshine. The Pre-K classes at Shreve Island had been studying the letter G. They had also learned the song "Gus the Goat."

When we drove up to the school, Kennedy pointed to the playground and wanted to go play. But I told her we had to show all the children her goat and chickens. The children certainly enjoyed petting Gypsy and the 2 chickens. As I was holding Moonshine and passing her around so the children could feel her feathers, we heard a splat/crack. I was so shocked. Moonshine had laid an egg and it hit the concrete. It almost hit a child on the head. I can't believe I didn't get a picture of that, but I was just too surprised. Now the children know first hand where eggs come from.

Moonshine right before she lays an egg.

By the way, the first Pre-K class took Kennedy to play on the playground while I showed the animals to the next class.

On Friday, I took 10 eggs to one of the classes to put into their incubator. Hopefully, by the end of February they experience chicks hatching.

Goodbye to Jazzman

2013-01-25T11:16:00.001-06:00

Last July, Dottie Belle was the first goat to kid here at Thornhill Acre. She had 1 buckling that weighed 5 lbs. The average size for a newborn Nigerian Dwarf kid is 2.5 lbs. So he was a big fellow and I was so lucky that the birth was easy. He had great coloration and clear blue eyes; but I can't start out keeping every kid that is born here. So when I got a chance to sell him to a good home, I did.

Jazzman

Anyway my grandson, Connor, came over and I told him that the lady had just left who bought Jazzman. Connor was very disappointed that I would sell a boy. He believes the farm has too few males. How do you explain to a 6 year old boy that a farm doesn't need very many male animals?

Billy Shakespeare

I told him that it was okay to sell Jazzman, because Shakespeare was now living with Honey Bunny, so we should have some new kids in March or April. He replied, "No, Shakespeare is Dottie Belle's husband." I told him that boy goats could have 3 wives; since I have 3 does. His eyes lit-up and I knew what that little boy was thinking. In the past few months he told me there were too many beautiful girls for him to have just one girl friend.

Honey Bunny

Therefore, I quickly added, but people can only have 1 husband or wife. His expression quickly changed and he said, "But what if there are just too many beautiful women?" I then said, "Well then you are not in love, so you can't get married." There are such tough lessons to learn.

Presidential Goats

2013-01-22T22:01:00.000-06:00

During the all day coverage of the inauguration, one reporter started mentioning all the different kinds of pets that the First Families had brought to the White House. Of course, my ears perked up when I heard some had goats. But they did not say which Presidents they were. So I googled it.

Benjamin Harrison had a buck named Old Whiskers. Wow! They had a great little cart. One day, while the President was waiting for his carriage at the front of the White House, Old Whiskers darted through the White House gates, pulling the children behind him in the cart. President Harrison ran down Pennsylvania Avenue holding on to his top hat and waving his cane, but the goat kept running, only stopping after numerous Washington, D.C., residents had seen the Commander in Chief chasing the runaway goat cart!

Yep, folks have seen me running down Thornhill and Delmar chasing a goat. Goats don't care how they make their owners look.

Tad and Willie, President Lincoln's two sons had two pet goats named Nanny and Nanko. The boys would hitch the goats to kitchen chairs or wheeled carts and have a ride through the White House as the goats pulled them along. Nanny was often seen sleeping in Tad's bed. The goats also outraged the White House gardeners by ruining the flower beds.

I haven't found that my goats mess up the flower beds much. What they like best is to trim the rosebushes. So I find that rather helpful, if they would just wait until the bloom is gone.

Here on Thornhill, we love our lap goats.

The Sunshine House

2013-01-20T21:54:00.000-06:00

Goat Shack

The little Goat Shack, made out of recycled wood, sat needing a new coat of paint for a year and and half. I had sanded and scraped one side twice. I had bought the paint and brushes. But they sat in the garage/barn. I had many excuses; it's too hot, too cold, raining, I have Kennedy. Anyway when I got the call that the Kindergarten class was coming to visit the mini urban farm, I found the motivation I needed. I scraped the other 2 sides in one day. I put 2 coats of paint on the goat shack in one day! Now it has been upgraded from the goat shack to the Sunshine House. My dear husband said, "I didn't know it was going to be that shade of yellow." No matter, it is not visible except if you walk down to the goat yard; though it may glow through the slats in the wooden fence. Whatever, I don't have to keep coming up with excuses and that is a relief.

The Sunshine House

29 Kindergarteners Visit My Mini Urban Farm

2013-01-17T21:09:00.000-06:00

Neiman Marcus Heritage Hen Mini Farm

The principal of St. John Berchman's School, Mrs. Cazes called me to arrange for the kindergarten classes to visit my mini urban farm, Thornhill Acres. She had told me before that they wanted to come, but when they saw the cover of the Neiman Marcus Christmas book, http://www.neimanmarcus.com/christmasbook/fantasy.jsp?cid=CBF12_O5415&cidShots=m,a,b,c,z&r=cat44770736&rdesc=The%20Fantasy%20Gifts&pageName=Beau%20Coop&icid=CBF12_O5415
they thought about my farm and called. I don't know if any of you saw it, but one of the fantasy gifts was a Heritage Hen Mini Farm. No one that I talked with about this fantasy gift got anywhere near the price, even knowing it was Neiman Marcus. For $100,000 a would be urban farmer would receive the coop, 3-12 chickens and up to 3 visits with recommendations and evaluations by "chicken experts."

But I'm now off topic. I think I was fantasizing about receiving the "expert's" portion of that price.

Before the students arrived, I ordered farm animal suckers and tatoos from Oriental Trading Company to give to each of the 29 children. I started by showing them a carton of the very colorful eggs my chickens lay. Even the adults remarked that they did not realize that chickens laid different colors of eggs.

I put my Nigerian Dwarf goat, Dottie Belle, on the milking stand and told them about her "udderly" amazing udder that was full of great tasting milk. Then I showed them how I milk her. About half the class yelled out that they had milked a goat before. That made all the adults laugh. Remember these are city kids who likely have not seen a live goat or chicken. Then one child asked could he milk her and that was followed by all of them lining up to take a turn. I was shocked that every child waited their turn to milk. Dottie Belle was a great sport and stood still for it all.

Next week I will be taking my goat, Gypsy, for her first trip to visit a class of 4 year olds. They have been learning the song Gus the Goat and reading The 3 Billy Goats Gruff. The teacher texted me today that they children are very excited about Gypsy's up coming visit.

Of course I love my animals and the milk and eggs I get from them; but even more I actually love sharing them with children who otherwise would have no first hand experience with them. I have never stopped being a teacher.