Sometimes you get just what you expect...

We experienced our first minor health issues with the goats this week. There have been a couple that are coughing and just haven't got better or worse. Then, Gabby got the runs. I called the vet and he told me to give Gaabby some Pepto-Bismol and to stop by and pick up some sulfa pills for her and the two with the cough.

I drove to the vet who is about 30 minutes away. I'm supposed to be at work so I call my boss and let her know I'm going to be late. I pick up the pills, the Pepto and hurry home. I head out to the barn to administer the medication. I start with Gaabby and the Pepto. Right off the bat, I kneel down by Gabby and put my knee right in a pile errr puddle of runny goat poop....in my work clothes. I give her the Pepto. She and I end up wearing less than half of it so I think it's a success. Now for the pill. I fight with her to get her to swallow the pill. I hold her mouth shut and run her throat. Finally she swallows the pill. I get ready to give Taabitha her pill. I go through the same fight with her. I turn around and there's the pill on the hay in front of Gaabby... How do you get a goat to take a pill and keep it down when they are cud-chewers. They can swallow it and bring it right back up and spit it out.

Finally, I get all of them to keep their pills down. I repeat this battle the next day...twice. The next day, I pick up some molasses treats at the store. I take them into the pen with me and have the pills in my hand. Esmerelda comes up and starts sniffing the hand with the pills in it. I decide to try to just give her the pill. She sniffs the pill and takes it and chews it! Ok, lucky. I try it with Taabitha. Same thing! Can I get lucky enough to have it work on all three girls? Yep, Gaabby chews it up and swallows it.

I went into this expecting to have to force them to take the pills and that's exactly what I got. What's that saying, don't assume or your goat will make you look like an ass??? Teehee. I'll try not to assume next time. What else can a goat teach me? We'll see. Any of you ever learn something from an animal?

Pumpkin deliciousness

Wow, where is the fall going? I especially love fall at the local orchards and hopefully soon at our own orchard. The apples, the pears, the cider, and THE PUMPKINS. I love anything pumpkin, but this year I wanted to expand my pumpkin horizons.

I brought home my pumpkins and cooked them down with instructions from my farm guru, OhioFarmGirl. The first recipe I tried was Pumpkin Cannelloni with Sage Brown Butter Sauce from Country Living magazine. I pretty much follow the recipe, except I added some sage sausage from a local farm. This is made the top 5 meals I've made so far list. It's AMAZING.

I also had a Pumpkin Biscuit recipe from Country Living magazine (seeing a theme?). It has ginger and cayenne for a little kick. Here they are ready to go into the oven:

And here is how they came out. They practically rose sky-high:

This recipe got me thinking. I really like poached eggs. Chad is our Eggs Benedict chef at Tilton Hollow, but I wanted to give poaching a try. I poached some eggs fresh from our girls, melted some Blaak cheese from Beekman 1802 on some Canadian bacon, and topped it with some arrugula from our fall/winter garden and put it all on the warm pumpkin biscuits. They were absolutely delicious. We accompanied this with some mulled wine made with cider from a local orchard. Great fall evening meal!

Ok, maybe the picture is a little pretentious, but we wanted to share it with Country Living and Beekman 1802. It really was delicious.

We are having Thanksgiving for both families this year. I'm starting to work on some fall decorations. I'm steeling myself up since we're providing the turkey or turkeys depending on how they dress out. I harvested some bitterswett and made this wreath. I like the kinda organic, primitive look. We have a bumper crop of bittersweet here on the farm, so I'll be making some other fall fabulousness.

What are you doing in preparation for Thanksgiving?