Random 5 Friday

1.  There’s water in my Back Forty!  I’m excited about that.  I’m so excited that I’ve walked back there taking pictures the last two days, which has been wonderfully relaxing.  I’m not excited about the muddy barnyard, but the moisture is good!

2.  Writing seems to be the theme of my life right now.  I have finished the first draft of my second novel, a fantasy/romance, and I’ve been writing a lot of poetry.  Who knows, I might even publish a book of  my poems and pictures.  I’m really enjoying all the writing!  It takes me back to some dreams that were put on a shelf for a later date.  I guess that date is now!

3.  My first goat of the year is due one week from today.  Her mom, Millie, was usually late with her kids, and Bambi was late last year, so I’m not sure we’ll have them by next weekend, but  I’m really excited to have kids arriving!  The other six having spring break babies are due later, the next week.

4.  I’m planning on making a new soap this weekend.  It will be “Full Moon” with a heady flowery fragrance and charged with the energy of the full moon.  I’m excited to try it!

5.  I honestly think I am as happy now as I have ever been in my life.  I can’t imagine living life anywhere else; I love my life on the farm and writing.  I think all the wonderful people I’ve met through the Internet is also a big part of this happiness.  I now know there are other crazy goat ladies out there.  Thank you all for being so wonderful!

I’m linking this to Nancy’s Random 5 Friday, Farm Fun Friday, and Weekend Reflections.

Random 5 Friday

Nancy at A Rural Journal has started a new meme in which you get to share five random thoughts.  I’ll try to limit myself to the five, and the pictures have nothing to do with my random thoughts (and hopefully TexWisGirl will tell me what kind of bird it is).

1.  I’m really excited about our kidding season, which starts the last week of March.  There are seven girls due that week, and then the rest will be due when school is out (barring any more snow days).  Even though it is exciting, I’m a bit nervous after the rough kidding season we had last year.

2.  I was independently reading books by the time I started kindergarten.  I was a voracious reader all through school, college, and beyond.  I haven’t read hardly anything but research articles and blog posts in the last couple of years.  It’s sad, but every spare minute is devoted to writing instead of reading now.

3.  I’ve long said baking bread is a meditation.  It’s an earthy activity that connects me to nature.  I got evidence of this when I was making my bierock last weekend.  As I stood kneading the dough, working it in a rhythmic pattern, I felt myself slipping into that meditative state where my energy was expanding.  Suddenly, the mousetrap in the corner snapped!  Who knew the human energy field was strong enough to set off a mouse trap!

4.  If my son were to read #3, he’d remind me that’s one of those things you shouldn’t say publicly if you don’t want people to think you’re crazy.

5.  The snow and rain we’ve had and are predicted to have has me optimistic that our horrible drought is past us.  I know we still need a lot of rain once the ground thaws, but I do hope we’ll continue to receive moisture.  I’m not sure how my pasture and crops would do with a second year of no rain.  I hate that part of farming.

5 1/2.  Don’t forget you can still enter the giveaway for a copy of my novel.  Just click on the thumbnail below.

Linking to Random 5 Friday, Farm Fun Friday, Camera Critters, and Bird d’Pot.

5 on Friday

Just found this fun meme, 5 on Friday that allows you to share a photo and five thoughts for the day.

1.  I can’t believe we are almost to the end of the year.  It seems the wheel turns faster and faster all the time.  With what seems like less time each day, I’ve decided to use a picture I took for my photography blog, so I apologize if you’ve seen this already (but that isn’t very likely).

2.  I’m excited for the two craft shows my mom and I are doing this weekend.  One is tonight in the same town where I did the farmer’s market over the summer.  The other is in another small town.  Hopefully we’ll have good sales.

3.  As I’ve been reflecting over the last few weeks or so, I’ve really rediscovered my love of writing.  You might notice I have a new badge in my sidebar saying I’m a NaNoWriMo winner.  I wrote a whole novel in the month of November.  I’m in the editing stages, and then I’m actually going to try and publish it.  I’ve also started writing my second novel.

4.  I’m constantly thinking about our weather and the horrible drought we’re in.  If anything inflicts fear in me right now, it’s the thought that this drought may  not end before spring.  That would have a catastrophic impact on farming.

5.  I finally got a call from the Nikon call center about my D3100 that I sent in to clean.  After a couple week delay trying to get parts from Nikon, they decided it was more cost effective to junk the camera.  That means, with the extended warranty I had purchased, I got a whole new setup.  It’s taking some adjusting to get used to it, but I am glad to have this one.

Linking to Farm Photo Friday, Show and Tell Friday, and Farm Girl Friday Blog Fest