Mini Nubians? hmmm....

What is a mini Nubian? Simply, the purebred nubian bred to a nigerian dwarf. In this instance, male nigerian dwarf had his way with one of my purebred Nubian does. Out comes these adorable little gremlins. Ears double size. and not upright because of the weight and length of the ear - becomes airplane ears. 

This photo makes me laugh out loud. What am I doing, yet again, with a single goat kid in the house. And she is from a Nigerian Dwarf male and a purebred Nubian. She came out with two males. one was dead on arrival. One died a couple days later. She on the other hand came out healthy and at 5 days old, a little terror. My mini mountain goat. 

I've never wanted to delve into the mini's. Never had any interest in making a smaller goat that makes less milk. Seems the universe is thinking otherwise. We shall see what is going to happen. I want to say i'm going to call her daisy but i usually don't name them for a few weeks. .We shall see. . 

Goats. Goats. And more Goats.

 What a challenging year I have had. But the one thing that keeps me going is babies. lots and lots of babies. Being back in milk is such a calming enterprise. It creates discipline. Time to milk. Time to feed. Time to feed kids. If not feeling well (which at times is the case right now with me) it forces me to work thru it. The animals don't care if you don't feel well. They don't care if you need a nap. They don't care its a holiday. 

The best part of course are the kids being born. And while it is a bunch of work, its the best kind of work. I raise them in the office with me for a few weeks. After disbudding and vaccinating I set them up outside in one of the stalls to grow and have more room to be. 

Simplicity gave me a whopper male just last week. And Fern, my oldest doe here, gave me two simply gorgeous females. I will keep. And raise. They are  the last out of my Delilah. The goat that started it all. 

This is the whoper male i'm calling him Moose. He came out at 12 lbs. a single male. His dam is offering up over a gallon a day. 

This is one of my new females. She is precious. Typical mottled ears. Her sister is all brown with brown ears.  Just adorable. Can't wait to see them grow. Fern is older and this will likely be her last birth. I'm so lucky she gave me two females...

Kids. Kids. Kids.... and broken fences....

I'm sitting here trying to remember some details.. Last December 2020 we started to kid.  Dec. 25th to be more exact... Then in January 2021 we had a few more.  I have to check my notes because the difficulty to remember is huge right now. I hope it comes back. 

Giving birth is usually such a whirlwind of excitement around here. Getting the stalls ready. Cleaning them. Bedding them. Getting the molasses and the towels put in place. Making sure i have all the things needed in case of a problem... This year not so much. I'm tired. Sick. In pain alot. Still dealing with symptoms of Covid and it's long haul status. Luckily, 2 does kidded out easily. I walked outside and voila babies on the ground. And so thankful for it.  Had zero strength and constantly dizzy... 

Fern started to give birth and all that changed. It was about an hour of me trying to untangle kids. Adrenaline rushing i realized later I was going to be down for days afterwards... Nothing I was doing was working. I needed brute force at this point. to save Fern. I knew the kids were likely dead already.  Luck would have it a friend was coming over. I got her involved in pulling out what we knew were already deceased kids. When kids are alive they do help in the process of birthing. Their heads don't waggle all over the place. You can put your finger in their mouths and feel the tongue move. You can re-arrange them still inside and their heads won't wobble back. Or their feet won't disappear again... But with this birth they were tangled, and likely dead a day or two. It was very upsetting Fern is 10 years old this year. I wanted this to be her last kidding. And based on the difficulty it will be. It was in my opinion one of my more terrible births. I am convinced the kids were dead prior to her first push. But still doesn't take that sting away. I think she might have been head butted by one of the others a few days before. 

This picture popped up on my memories in FB. 11 years ago.
My friend Liz is holding Fern as a baby. 

All in all a somewhat uneventful birthing. 3 goats. 6 doelings (2 that died). 1 buckling.  I weaned them uneventfully. One died from unknown reasons. One sold. 3 of them are still here. Today, they are hitting 7 months old. Healthy and doing well. 

This would normally be the end of the 'birthing season post' ... ha.... in typical farming fashion...  the unexpected happened... and yes, being ill is a part of it.. Charles my buck decided he was going to break thru a few fences back in February. While i tried to contain. And fix. I was no match for him this year.  Especially back then... The fencing is far too old and he is far too big and... 

Part two of birthing commences...  Carolina gave birth to again 2 healthy doelings. And Wild Child gave birth as well, to 2 doelings.  Both of them gave birth easily and without any help from me. These 4 babies are still in the house. Video below. I have to say how much I love birthing season. But twice in one year is just too much. On me. On the goats. On their udders that were slowly drying them off early. I love their wide eyed looks. Antics. Cries. Even the parrots get involved and start calling for the little ones.

What am I going to do with Charles. And the fencing. Right now I have him stuck in the back. For how long till he breaks thru that fencing ... Time will tell. It's now become urgent I do something drastic to keep him away from the girls. 

If this year wasn't such a blurred mess with me getting sick -it would have been stellar. 8 doelings. 1 buck. out of 5 birthing. I would call that the goat trifecta. Bucks are so difficult to sell. Does aren't. 

They really are the cutest with the elf ears.  Charles is a purebred Nubian. 

Both Dams are 50/50 Lamancha/Nubians. This makes the babies ears a tad longer. And if you see I have one with beautiful Nubian ears - and to standard - below the nose. 

 

HB 1185 / Indian Trails trying to incorporate bill

Around this time 4 years ago, a bill was introduced into the Florida state legislature for the incorporation of the Acreage area. The area where I live. It got shot down in committee.  In 2002, we had an attempt to do the same. And the same thing happened. Shot down before it got any where. WHY.

Third times a charm... Well, not so fast...

Bill draft thru the legislature link:

https://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Bills/billsdetail.aspx?BillId=72307

Before, I go any further, I should disclaim this is a waste of time and tax payer money. 

The expense to put a bill thru the legislature isn't free. It costs us the taxpayer. And from what I read $50,000 from our budget.   Attorneys. Lobbyists. Time to draft. Revisions. Meetings. Traveling to Tallahassee. These things cost money... Whose money? This doesn't include the cost of trying to get a feasibility study done if this bill passes. This is the amount of money spent to get the bill seen.

I also, believe the community will shoot it down, if it ever gets to the referendum phase. I'm wholly against incorporation. I have seen what incorporation has done to the various other townships and cities around S. Florida. And its never about making things better for the residents. As a matter of history, it tends to make it more restrictive - why?  a newly formed government needs to make money. And when that happens - the property owners suffer. 

This year Indian Trails Improvement District (ITID) has gone the route of trying to change their charter so that they can ultimately try to incorporate our area. 

Changing the charter is just one way of going about this. While, reading the original draft language - it was far reaching -  Changing the borders to delete the overlaps of already incorporated areas of the district. Adding in Safe Neighborhoods statute. Requesting a reduction in voter acknowledgment (10% of electorate).  It was a hefty bill. 

Not any more. The committees have now stripped this bill (draft) to it's bare bones. The only thing this bill does (if passed) will allow ITID to spend money to get a feasibility study done. That's it.  So before we go any further. This allowing to get the Feasibility study done has already cost the tax payer $50,000. They are estimating the cost of the feasibility study around $30,000. Though no estimates have been  submitted.

They will have to go back in the future to change boundaries (add another $50,000). 

So here are some issues that make this a waste of time, and money. 

In the 2017 feasibility study they tried to use this portion of acreage area. See map. The issue of contiguous land... (see the orange lines on the left). That is one little road that is connecting the two separate areas of the Acreage. It didn't fly then. I doubt it will in the future. 

The same issues will apply this time around. There is only that small sliver of land that is 'used' to make the area 'contiguous'.

Read what the state replied regarding this issue. (below).

So, unless, the boundaries exclude the lower (Southern portion) of the Acreage. This still won't be a feasible incorporation based on 2 points in the state statute. Contigous. And 2 miles from another municipality. 

We have Royal Palm to our East. Palm Beach Gardens to our North. Westlake right in the middle of us. And The Town of Loxahatchee Groves to the South. 

But.. this is all in the future. This years bill deleted the issue of boundaries. And any active units that are in other municipalities. 

The various committees took out the boundary changes to the charter, so the existing boundaries in this map (below) still stand. ie. The Legislative Boundaries. Units 16,17,18 are in Royal Palm municipality. And Unit 11 is still there. (not contigous). And Rustic Lakes are now in Palm Beach Gardens municipality. 

Essentially, this bill is useless, except for the money allowed to be spent on a new feasibility study. A study that won't be accurate because legally, the boundaries below are the legal legislative boundaries.  If they take out the areas of contention, its not accurate nor legal. If they keep in the areas of contention its not accurate. 

Another bill, in the future will have to be submitted for ITID to try and change the borders in the charter. Again. And wanna bet the feasibility study will have to be re done to the new boundaries.

Another major issue is that there are bonds and inter -local agreements for many of the over-lapping units that sit in other municipalities. 

Bonds and agreements that need to be fulfilled. No one seems to be addressing this. Why? Because the myopic stance is this will work itself out later. Like the boundaries. 

This is how the bill (draft) stands now. (it was 14 pages, now 3). 

Overall, this bill is a dud. It left the gate without regard to what the other municipalities would do. And they've obliterated anything that gave it any teeth. 

... I guess there will be next year, to change the boundaries. 

Of course, only if Royal Palm Beach and Palm Beach Gardens and City of West Palm agree to it.  

And yet, another $50,000 spent by ITID on getting it into the legislature. 

CovId. Kefir. and Diabetes.

if it wasn't for these little piranha's some days i'd never get out of bed. 

That's a mouthful. But the focus of my life right now.  C-19 the corona coaster of the century. It seems after the initial infection goes away, it keeps on giving. Inflammation is the key word. And then comes histamines. and Allergic reactions. After the initial can't breathe, can't move, can't get out of bed, sleep all day ends - It starts to hit various organs in your body. 

I have read numerous accounts of people having emergency appendix surgery or gall bladder's taken out etc. It's pretty scary to think. In my case, it hit my pancreas and my gut long-term. And hit it hard.  

For anyone that understands a bit about Type 2 Diabetes, will know I was (should have gone) headed to the hospital. My A1c was 11.8.. and my fasting BS was 564. She said go to the hospital ... NO..  Can't. Won't. I felt ok. I really did. Except, for the reasons I was there. Overall, I did not think I was emergency worthy. She gave me some antibiotics for infection, and Metformin for the T2 and, off I went. In three months got it back down to normal. Only 3 weeks on Metformin (had to stop taking it from side effects), my A1c is back to 5.4 and BS 135 on average its even lower these days... 

C-19 has really taken it's toll. On me. On the farm. With the animals. Little did i know that the last 11 months of my life would be centered around NOT FEELING WELL.. It sucks. It's not me. I'm not this person. The one struggling to breathe. To walk to the mailbox. To feed the kids.  I am one of the most independent people I know. And that in itself is a disease of some sort, especially, when sick. I don't like asking for help. And I am wholly uncomfortable receiving it. I have no clue where this independent streak came from. And it's not in line with being sick. This is torture. 

So I've explained a bit of the virus. And the Diabetes. Now, on to the Kefir. 

A few years back, I started making it and hated it. Ugh. I just didn't want to make it, whatsoever. But, a funny thing happened. Every single person in 50 miles with any kind of IBS, Cron's, Gut biome issues, stomach upset, etc. was knocking on my door. I was making it, and selling it faster then the milk. Or was selling the milk to those that made their own. 

Kefir is truly a wonder food. 

And I couldn't wait to get back in milk to figure out if it would work with me.  

My symptoms these days run the gamut of: headaches ( head imploding headaches). Cognitive impairment. Foggy brain. Dizziness  Gut pain. (excruciating gut pain). Painful flatulence ( i know, right? wtf). Slow digestion. Neuropathys. Joint pains. Shooting leg pains. Interstitial Cystitis. Pelvic floor changes. Urine pain. UTI pain (but no UTI - been tested). Lower back throbbing and pain. Eye pain. Blurry vision. Periodic lymph node swellings. Leg swellings. Ankle and foot pains. Rashes and abscesses. Let's not forget exhaustion. 20 hours some days of sleeping and still exhausted upon waking. and then breathing issues that require daily inhalers. I have become allergic to chemicals that I've used all my life. Allergy and histamine related things that have never bothered me before. And all of his is inflammation related. Thank you COVID. With out a true diagnosis, Mast Cell Activation Syndrome is the catch all. MCAS. and its here. To stay is the question. 

Kefir grains were delivered and I've started my journey - slowly.... The other day I had too much and had a scary Herxheimer Reaction. This was not fun. Now i'm going a bit slower in taking it daily. Like I mentioned above Kefir is truly a wonder food. And it's potent. Not the store bought but the fresh from goat milk made this morning.

Thru some research Kefir is well known (scientific and anecdotal) to reduce inflammation. Reduce Asthma. Reduce cholesterol levels, beneficial in righting your gut microbiota. It combats food allergies.. and this is new to me but, is beneficial in wound healing as well.. There are claims it also has 'anti tumor activity against multiple cancer cell types'... But, i'm not going to be worrying about that. I just want to be pain free and wide awake. 

I don't think this is too much to be asking from my body. PAIN FREE.  WIDE AWAKE. Without these two things, nothing much is getting done around here. There have been times during the 11 month, thinking i'm out of the woods, till another wave hit. Till another symptom started. It has become never-ending pain fest. I'm not a wuss either. I spent two days shooting that video *upper right of the blog* with PBS while having a burst appendix. Shooting ended Thursday, by Friday evening, i was in emergency surgery. I have a high pain threshold. 

The kefir IMO is working. Slowly. And I have a feeling it's going to take more then just a week on it. It has been over 11 months from infection and the corona coaster.  So, this could take some time...

This quote was interesting. found here:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4854945/

The fact that kefir can induce shifts in the immune system in both directions is promising as it may mean that the organisms in kefir are capable of regulating this balance in the immune system. This may be in part due to the increased number of regulatory T-cells observed in some of these studies, as regulatory T-cells play an important role in maintaining tolerance and supressing unnecessary inflammatory immune responses (Sakaguchi, 2011).

I read that study. It's helpful and explains in detail many things that make me believe (HOPE) that Kefir is going to help right the body. It's not the only thing I'm doing. I am trying to figure out what low histamine foods are also diabetic friendly. As this is it seems harder then it sounds. And anything I eat right now is a potential 3 days in bed with excruciating pain. It seems some foods good for a diabetic diet are high histamine foods and cause inflammation. Balancing act. See Saw. Corona coaster... 

Here is a good blog post on how to make kefir. 

https://www.theprairiehomestead.com/2020/07/how-to-make-milk-kefir.html

So, there it is in a nutshell. My life. CoVid. Kefir. and Diabetes are taking over the farm, my thoughts, and my life...