Friendship...True Friendship is PRICELESS!

I'm like my mom.  I guess that is not surprising since I'm her daughter, but sometimes it really amazes me how much I am like her.  And my boys, well, are going to be just like me and their grandma.  I guess it is not because I'm raising them or that my mom raised me...it is because of what we have seen "modeled" time and again.

Family takes care of family....

Friends take care of friends....

I have always taken care of friends.  If I had the means and had what you needed...it quickly was gotten to my friends and freely "given".  From high school to college, my friends were my priority.

I'm now a mom and we have been so blessed to call many elderly people "friends".  My two oldest grew up looking "up" under Mrs. Thorn's quilt rack.  She would quilt a queen sized quilt, COMPLETELY by hand, in four weeks.  Yes, she completed twelve a year.  And each day, my boys checked on her and brought her mail into her.  Often, she would be taking a "little" nap when they quietly put the mail on her dining room table.  She invested time in my boys.  She taught them about quilting, but more importantly, she taught them about life and serving our Savior.

Then there was "Bob".  We had him over year after year for Thanksgiving.  And we NEVER knew how many people would be coming for Thanksgiving which always made it fun and exciting!  The second time Bob joined our family he called Thanksgiving morning and asked if he could bring some family.  I asked how many and I think it was 6 extra.  I took a "deep" breathe and said...bring them over.  That was the first of many Thanksgivings with Bob's family.  We honestly never knew how many would come on those Thursdays, but we always had left overs and plenty of seats.  It was a few Thanksgivings ago that we were driving down the road and I asked each of the boys to complete the following sentence:  It would not be Thanksgiving without ______________.  I wanted to make sure that what ever would make Thanksgiving special for each of my boys would happen because these are special times....special memories.  My second oldest said, "It would not be Thanksgiving without Mr. McClellan."  I assured him that would not be a problem as I had already called Bob and left a message on his machine.  Not that we needed to because he had a "standing invitation" for dinner every Tuesday night and every year at Thanksgiving.  But as I have learned, it is always nice to "hear the invitation".  I'm glad I called and left the message on the machine that year.  You see, Bob passed away the Sunday before Thanksgiving.  The family was having a small "family" funeral since Bob was being buried on his property.  They checked his answering machine and heard my message and called to let us know that Bob had passed away.  His funeral was the day before Thanksgiving.  We did not have Thanksgiving that year.

We often talk about Bob and Mrs. Thorn.  They invested in my children and my children will be better citizens thanks to them "investing" in my family.

Recently we had another friend in need.  My oldest left summer camp to help.  My husband and second oldest had already packed and made plans to travel the 500 miles one way to help finish a wheel chair ramp.  Unfortunately, that late afternoon, the friend they had planned on helping passed away.  What a shock!  So instead, I took my two oldest over and they had their tools.  They were going to finish the ramp that needed finishing and whatever "else" needed to be done.  Those plans changed once we arrived and we helped in other ways.  We did what needed to be done...not what we wanted to do.  We put our friend's needs and feelings above ours.  You see...that is what friends do. 

After we returned home, my oldest played a song for me.  He said, "mama, this is us".  It does not matter the cost nor the distance, if we have friends in need, we are going to help.  I told him he was correct.  There is no excuse...take care of your friends...put their needs FIRST...that is what we are supposed to do.

So here are some lyrics of the song:

You find out who your friends are
Somebody's gonna drop everything
Run out and crank up their car
Hit the gas, get there fast
Never stop to think 'what's in it for me?' or 'it's way too far'
They just show on up with their big old heart
You find out who your friends are....

The song is by Tracy Lawrence and titled, Find Out Who Your Friends Are.  When you open the link, you will see Artist, Song, Album.  By "Song", you will see a play arrow.  Just hit that and you will hear the song.

Find Out Who Your Friends Are

Take a moment and listen to this song.  And think about your friends.  Give them a call today...
tell them hello...
check to make sure they are doing okay...
and if they need anything...
go do what needs "doing"...
just because...
that is what friends do.

My goat thinks he is a DOG!

Zeb:  he is our three year old buck.  When we first got Zeb, no one could touch him and no one could catch him.  When we had to worm him, we would have to rope him.  Honestly, it was that bad! 

Then one day Zeb became ill:  VERY ill.  Of course, it was during the winter and due to his blood lines, we did not want to lose him so we did what anyone would do...we moved him inside next to the wood stove.  At this point, he was two.  Yes, that means we moved a two year old buck into the living room.  We started out with plastic garbage bags down so the hardwood floors would not get ruined...then newspapers...then towels.  There was a LOT of maintenance using this method!!  We progressed over time to a sheet of plywood with 2 x 6 sides.  We put towels under the plywood so the floors would not get scratched.  Then, inside the box, we put plastic garbage bags so the wood would stay dry.  Then we filled the box with saw dust.  Yep, we made a small stall in the house just for Zeb!

This last method worked VERY well!  It was low maintenance and smelled nice.  And with the saw dust, we were able to "dig" holes for him to lay in so he would not fall over as he was weak.  All said and done, Zeb lived in the house for four months.  That really is a long time to have a buck in your house! 

We knew he was ready to move out when two days in a row, he met my husband in the hall way early in the morning.  He did not like the idea much, but we put him out during the day so he could get some sun.  After about two weeks of being out in the day and inside at night, we moved him outside.  He lived up by the house for about the next six months before we returned him to the buck pen.

During this time of illness, he lost all fear of people and developed love.  Right now, we let him graze the upper ten acres during the night and pen him up during the day.  Each morning I wake up and feed the chickens and then the cats.  Zeb always enjoys nibbling on the chicken food.  I then grab his food and I call him just like a dog and he comes running for his breakfast!  Honest, he does!  And if he is not penned up when I am working around the house, he is right by my side walking and hanging out with me.  He loves to have his head petted.  If you come for a visit, you will likely see my GP, Joy, standing ON my right foot and Zeb standing to my left.  They are great shadows and I am so thankful that Zeb survived his illness.  We have many babies thanks to Zeb and well, I have a goat that thinks he is a dog!

Saving Goats Milk for Soap

When you are making goats milk soap, it is important that you measure all ingredients accurately.  A simply way to save goats milk for future soap making is to freeze it in an ice cube tray.  Simply milk your goat; filter the milk; pour into ice trays and freeze.  Once the milk is froze, transfer the milk cubes to a gallon sized zip lock baggy.  Then once you are making soap, just pull out as many cubes that you need for your recipe.  And don't forget to fill some of the cubes in the tray half way or a quarter of the way up.  This will help you achieve your exact measurement. 

Happy Soaping!