BELACRES GRETA won Recorded Grade Grand Champion and Best of Breed.
OUR FATHER’S GIFT ROSEMARY won Recorded Grade Reserve Champion and Best Udder.
OUR FATHER’S GIFT BLANCHETTE won Recorded Grade Junior Reserve Champion.
OUR FATHER’S GIFT BRIGHTY won second in her class.
OUR FATHER’S GIFT VALERIS won third in her class.
To lose an animal will always be a trial for me. I have loved and cared for that animal. Planned their future, tried to make them happy. And then all those hours, thoughts, dreams, and dollars seem wasted.
Over the years of farming, I have lost many animals. Some were kids that never even got the chance to take their first breath. Mothers have died and taken their unborn with them. A favorite buck dies suddenly with no warning. A gentle calf was never given the chance to run and jump for joy. A beloved doeling, with all the potential in the world, dead. And the list goes on. And it hurts every time. I would ask myself if there had been anything more I could have done for them. Sometimes the answer was yes, and that is always when it hurt the most, because I felt like I had let them down somehow.
Had all the hours of stress and vet bills, trying desperately to bring that animal back from the brink of death, been wasted? Did their life have any purpose?
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28
As hard as it may be to see at the time, their lives, all of them, did have a purpose. It’s my responsibility to make the most use out of their deaths, because I know that God is working even that out for my good. I need to learn as much as possible from their deaths, so that maybe next time the outcome can be different. Sometimes that has meant improving management, or nutrition. Or keeping certain medications on hand and removing hazards from their pastures. Maybe the only thing I got out of a death is to just spend more time in the barn and never take their lives for granted.
Whatever it is, I know I can trust God that their lives were not wasted.
Lenore Thorne
John and Brighty, twins
Valeris and Sedrik, twins
John and #155, best friends!
Daisy and her two new babies, the first lambs of the year!
Alfred pulling the Wagon and Jenny with the Blanket
Jesus is Lord; Past, Present, Future
After we spun the alpaca fiber, we warped the loom. The loom is a rigid heddle table loom made by Ashford.
Time to start weaving! This is the fun part.
This scarf, now finished, measures 50 in. by 14 in. We hand-spun all of the yarn that went into it. The colors are natural, coming from black and white Alpacas.
We lost Sage today. Two days ago, she was the picture of health. Yesterday morning, she had bloody scours and was off her feed and listless. We treated her aggressively for coccidiosis and enterotoxemia, and tubed electrolytes every few hours, but she went downhill very fast. She died in 24 hours.
She was one of our first and most beloved does. I always loved her personality. Loving, yet not pushy. She was one of the goats that hummed when she was happy and just made you smile every time you looked at her. She was a Nubian cross and had crazy half floppy ears that fit her perfectly. Sage was such a wonderful mother, not only to her many kids, but to other doe’s kids too. She would hang out with them and babysit while the other does were out grazing. She would even let the other kids nurse on her. But Sage’s mothering was not limited to goat kids, she extended her loving influence to the people kind as well. She was the one to teach the littlest children showmanship and they always got a kiss out of the deal too. Because Sage was such a big girl, she could give goat back rides to little children when they visited our farm. She and a little girl named Evangeline made an especially strong connection. Evangeline thought she was in heaven sitting on that goat’s back! Sage was a hero in the eyes of the little children. I loved Sage. She was the first goat that I showed in 4-H. I am so thankful to God for the time we had together. We had hoped to have many more years with Sage, but instead of dwelling on the time we did not have, I rejoice in the time we did. Sage’s life, though cut short, was by no means wasted. Goodbye dear friend Sage.
The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.
Job 1:21b
Sage Babysitting
Sage with two of her doelings from this spring
One of her favorite hangouts on the picnic table.
Goodbye Sage
Along with the fall leaves and pumpkin pie, this time of year brings the scent of bucks around here on Our Father’s Gift! For our dairy goat herd breeding season started Sep 2 when we introduced our buck Valor into their herd. He did an amazing job of synchronizing their estrus cycles and all 10 of them bred between September 9th-13th. So long as they don’t come back into heat we are looking forward to a very busy and exciting kidding season beginning February 2017. Our sheep, meat and fiber goats will start to be bred around the end of October. That way the weather will be warmer for kidding and lambing, and the dairy goats will be done using the kidding stalls. We are thankful to God for a great start to this years breeding season!
Valor and Peppy
Valor and Arwen
Valor and Peppy
Violet and Lenore Demonstrating needle felting.
Some of the needle felted artwork that we had for sale.
Lenore Spinning
We had a lot of fun at the Trousdale County Fair. Here are is a sample of some of our winning entries.
Lenore – Photography
Violet – Gardening
Bergen – Photography
Violet – Photography
Lenore – Drawing
Violet – Drawing
Violet – Sculpture
Lenore – Novelty Craft
Violet – Educational Display
Lenore – Cooking
The parade was on despite severe thunder storms and torrential rain. Thankfully the rain stopped just long enough for the parade to go.
This was Jenny’s first parade. She did an amazing job packing that candy!
For Alfred this was his second parade and the first time pulling the wagon in a parade.
After the parade was over, Alfred and I stayed around and gave free rides to the children. That went over very well. At some points we even had a line waiting for rides! Our Father’s Gift Farm won the Kid’s Choice Award this year. Thank God for giving us this opportunity to serve our community in a fun way. We are looking forward to the next time!
