November was weird. As in the weather. The trees still had leaves, the grass was still green, and yes, it was still muddy. The sunsets were reminiscent of summer, but earlier in the day. By November all of the goat breedings were confirmed, Momma cow and Baby cow (who we named Annabelle and Rex but never call them that) stopped hollering and adjusted to life in the mucky pasture and we spent Black Friday (again!) buying stone to fill holes in the driveway.
Ivy's short summer haircut grew out, her toe-tuft moccasin feet returned as did her lovely but high maintenance tail plumes. Ironically she grew a mohawk that somehow reflects her personality quite accurately.
The fall foliage and color were short lived but we managed to sneak a few walks in before the leaves fell.
We also managed to sneak away to the warmth of San Antonio for a few days for a conference just after Thanksgiving. The unseasonably warm days were a nice break from the gray skies at home and hopefully will give us a burst of energy as we're trapped at the farm for the next 6 months while inundated with baby goats.
We managed a drive out to the country, 'Hill Country' specifically and visited some national preserves and saw ranch after ranch on sprawling hills full of cattle and goats.
And we took lots of pictures of fenceposts. Because we don'r have enough fenceposts at home. But these had cacti. And potential for rattlesnakes.
We also visited the botanical gardens and it happened to be 'dog day' which made us grateful to also be in a hotel room (and bed) devoid of pups for a couple days.
And as the month flew by we found ourselves in the usual rush to make the house spirited for the holidays. Ivy is a big fan of all things trees, sticks, etc so we are on edge until January when it can be taken down and turned into goat food.
When I saw these longhorn ornaments I couldn't resist adding them to the tree this year although about 50% of the people in my life told me they were 'dark' and I had a 'death tree'. Meh, I like them.
We rang in the New Year with the usual crowd complete with a tray of fresh jowl bacon (thank you pigs) and tomato ginger jam. I'm not sure if this is a tradition meant to bring luck or health but it makes all in attendance quite happy!
The pups are not equipped for late night parties and spent all of January 1st sleeping in one spot or another. Which is a bit surprising since Ivy helped herself to some unguarded cake at about 2am. Lets be honest, we hardly left the couch either...
While we were doing our holiday cleaning and organizing we ran across a box of old photos and located this gem from a New Years formal from what we think was 1999-2000. We look happy, right? And free from wrinkles, gray hair, stress from farming, life, animals, homeownership, stress from work, life, dogs, life...but let's face it, those clothes are not cut out for days in the barn. And we just aren't fans of dressing up. So in 2019 we will once again trade gowns and ties for carhartts and boots and our goals and resolutions center around productivity, machinery and food. And we wouldn't trade it. Happy Holidays and a Prosperous 2019!
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