I Love The Letter G

The other day I visited Claire's blog "Is This Heaven? No, This Is Iowa!" and she had posted about a fun little game! To play, you must name 10 things that you love, beginning with a letter assigned to you by the blog owner who's blog you saw the game on. Claire assigned me the letter "G". Which made it easy for me, so in no particular order here are my ten things!

It is a predictable place for me to start I know, but I love Goats! We raise Boer and Boer cross goats on our farm along with a few Nubians. I remember just when I became fascinated with goats though. Many years ago I was just sitting in my living room, enjoying a peaceful afternoon when I suddenly got the feeling I was being watched. When I looked out the living room window I discovered my peeping tom was actually a cute, little pygmy goat looking back in at me with a funny little beard and a curious face. I managed to catch her with a little bit of horse grain. As it would turn out she belonged to our neighbor, her name was "Nanny" and she was an accomplished escape artist. It only took a few days or less to track down her owner, but by then it was too late. I was already bitten by the goat bug and it was not long after that I convinced my husband we needed a few goats "to help clean up the weeds" and that is when we brought our first two goats home. The rest is history or so they say.

Also, I love Great Pyrenees dogs. We use them to protect our goats from coyotes, bobcats, stray dogs and other predators. This very old breed of dog has been doing this same job of protecting sheep and other livestock from predators for a very long time. They are very good at what they do, we have not lost a goat to predators since we have had these beautiful dogs watching over them. They are also big, gentle, lovable lugs that while they might not win an obedience trial, since they really do prefer to make their own decisions; they have definitely won my heart.

I love "my Guy", my husband Jamey. I realize this may be a bit of a technical stretch for the letter "G" since I don't just love any "Guy", but "my guy" which actually starts with the letter M, but it is my list and I am going to make that stretch. We have been together a very long time and while our relationship has certainly had its ups and downs I wouldn't trade that time for anything.



I love Garfield! He is just the most adorable, funny cartoon character ever!

I love Guinea fowl! They are a bird that is related to the pheasant. It is native to Africa, but has been domesticated in the United States and other countries. I do not have any on the farm though, I am still trying to talk my husband into them. Never mind the fact I just think they are interesting and really neat birds, they could do a lot of good on our farm eating ticks. I have been told by many people who do own them that they really cut down on the tick and bug population around their farms.

I love Goat's Milk Soap! I started making goat's milk soap several years ago after hearing how much better it was than commercial soap, which makes both Jamey and my skin itch like crazy. The difference was amazing after we started using the homemade goat's milk soap instead. No more itchy skin! It also gives me a good use for some of the extra goat milk that we have each year. This is a picture of Lavender scented and Fragrance free goat's milk soap set up to cure.

Wonderful soap is not the only thing that can be made from goat milk. I also love Goat Cheese! It tastes great and is wonderful in so many recipes. I have been pretty busy with soap making but I hope to find more time to make cheese again this year. Unfortunately I don't have a picture of any goat cheese, but I thought this picture was appropriate because without this special lady, there would be no goat cheese or goat's milk soap! This is a picture of my Nubian dairy goat, Dymphna. Don't worry if you can not pronounce that name, that is her registered name but I did not name her. All of her friends and me just call her "Dym" for short. She is a wonderful dairy goat and produces lots of milk which has many uses on our farm. Dym can produce 1 1/2 gallons and more per day after her own kids are weaned. If we do need more milk than that we also have her two daughters, Penny and Rose who also produce good goat milk for our farm.

Now we have talked about the goats but not the gardening! I love Gardening! There is just something so rewarding about growing our own vegetables from seeds to food for our table. It makes me feel more self-sufficent, independent and happy. Vegetable gardens are not the only kind I love though. I love flower gardens and the color and beauty in them.

One of the many things I want to grow in our garden this year are some Gourds! I would love to try my hand at some Gourd crafts, such as bird houses this year. For some more neat craft ideas using gourds, check out this article.

Last, but not least I love the color Green! Green is spring grass after a long, dreary winter. My eyes are green, OK hazel green. I love the smell of some fresh cut green hay. Money is green and someday I hope to not have to worry about it. Doing what I can to help the environment is green. The color green reminds me of nature and the outdoors, which is the biggest reason I love green.