Barn Sittin' at 2am...

Well here I am.  It's 2am and I can't sleep.  I am too wired from the wonderful day we had here at our little farm.  You see, Pomegranate ("Pom"), one of our goat does, had her first kids last night! 

Let me introduce "Buttercup" and "Charlie".  They are, as we say here at our house, stinkin' cute! 

Thankfully, I did not have to scrub up and "go in" as mentioned in my previous post.  This year, I got to just enjoy the blissful event.  Well, ok.  Maybe not blissful....at least from our goat's perspective!

Anyway, the adrenaline of being a midwife to one of our favorite does has worn off, and after a few hours of sleep here I sit.  If I weren't in my jammies, I would be sittin in the barn right now.

It's a favorite and rare thing for me to get to do--barn sittin all by myself in the quiet of a cool night.  No distractions.  No chores to do.  No "Mommy!" being hollered at me across the house for some unmet need.

So instead of actually trudging my way out to the barn, I do the next best thing.  I turn on the baby monitor.  Yes, that's what I said.  Baby monitor.  Believe you me, when you are waiting for kids to arrive, listening in the monitor can save lots of trips back and forth from house to barn.

Tonight as I listen, I hear only the occasional rustling of straw under hooves.  I imagine the little ones and mama are all trying to catch some zzz's after an eventful night.  It's hard work being born, you know!

And I relish the quiet.  I know that in the morning my 5 year old daughter is going to rush through her breakfast, throw on some barn clothes, and fully expect to do her fair share of holding her precious new charges.  After all, she helped bring them into the world, and made a great little vet assistant!  She wasn't squeamish about the blood or "goo" that comes with the messiness of new life.  She even encouraged "Pom", telling her "Push Pom, push!"  But then, she has seen the arrival of new life a few times now.

And I'm glad for this quiet time.  If I let myself reflect, I think back to that first night in the hospital when my little girl was born.  Everything was finally quiet.  The nurses were no longer poking and checking every few minutes.  The adrenaline of a long labor, failed induction, and Caesarean section had worn off, and I was sleepy.  But I didn't sleep.  I held that precious new life in my arms.  She was so quiet and trusting.  No crying or fussing as I had imagined there would be.  Just quiet and peace. 

And I praised God for the gifts He gives so freely. 

It might sound funny to some, but as our brave Pom first began active labor last night, my little girl and I paused together and prayed for God's guidance, wisdom, and help.  We needed Him to help us do the best for this animal, and not to do harm.  We needed him to help her do her job as she labored.  And we needed him to help us with these new little lives.  And he did!

A Simple Life

Sure.....Those country magazine covers make country life look enviable.  Raise your own heirloom tomatoes...build your own chicken coop...make your own bread from scratch.  It sure sounds "doable."  But when those tomatoes have critters as round as your thumb crawling all over them, and that loaf of bread you just spent three hours on is as heavy as a brick...well, let's just say it's not always as easy as it looks!

Don't get me wrong, life in the country can be very satisfying.  Whether you live on just a few small acres or your nearest neighbor is miles away, having a spot on God's green earth to care for is a real gift.  And nowadays it seems everyone is trying to get back to nature.  Eating organic.  Going green.  Striving for greater self-sufficiency.  But unless you've grown up gardening, raising livestock, and the like, there's often a learning curve when you "go country."

And I guess that's what my family and I are striving to do.  But we also want our life to be uncomplicated.  We are striving for a simple life.  One that remembers such simple pleasures as porch sittin'.   Barn dancin'.  Fire-fly catchin'.  Know what I mean?

Life in the country, or for that matter, anywhere, isn't always peaceful.  There are complications, daily stresses, and yes, even meltdowns that often arrive at our doorstep unannounced.  Like when your chickens decide to ignore fence boundaries and visit the neighbor's flower beds.  Or when your doe goat is giving birth to a kid in breech position, and the nearest vet is over an hour away.  What do you do?  Well, you scrub up and go in!  (More about that in a future post....)

Homebodies at heart, my hubby and I are willing to put up with some complications in order to live this country lifestyle.  Someone has to go to work to pay for the goat feed, and the chicken feed, and the hay, and the straw, and, well, you get my drift.

And someone has to keep the homefires burning.  Supper's got to come from somewhere, bellies need to be fed, minds need to be taught (we homeschool), and chores have to be done.

So we join as a family in a cooperative effort to accomplish all that needs doing, so that everything gets done, and so that we end up spending as much time together as possible living our life here in the country.

Come on along!  We'll share our adventures, our triumphs, our failures.  And maybe we'll learn something in this life -- this country life.