Monday was the first day of term for Farm Girl. We’d debated, haggled and argued the proposed school day structure for quite a while and she fair bounced out of bed at the assigned hour (6.45am) in order to be showered, fed and ready for chores by the time the menagerie started calling for breakfast. With a new school (grandly coined the Union Homestead Preparatory School and Home for Colourful Thinkers) comes new responsibilities and one of these was way too exciting to waste time lurking in bed: the care, coddling and (gasp! finally!) milking of Miss Leia.
This was made a tad more hands-on and perfect for a first school day as, just on the off-chance, Leia’s kid’s (Jack and Jill) new owners had popped by to see if they were ready to relocate. They were, they did, and as a result Mum-Leia was feeling a little lost and very sad. Farm Girl was up to the task though.
The paddock was suddenly very empty with just Ulrika left hanging out with the stalwarts and it took a while for equilibrium to reassert itself – in the shape of Geraldine calling the shots, naturally. It helped that the girls ventured out in the new truck on the trail of a good deal of goat feed including the three bales of hay our crazy weather has reduced our ration to. Farm Girl felt it was then time for a bit of R and R, a perk of being home educated.
Speaking of which, we find ourselves in the uncomfortable position of encouraging a truant. The Ministry of Education have been stalled in their granting of a Certificate of Exemption by some paperwork being shunted to a siding in the Kingdom of Nova. However, our truant has worked very hard this week and we’re getting a fuller understanding of where she is at in terms of learning, and what gaps we will need to fill. It’s also made us aware of how debilitating visual fatigue can be. It’s going to be a bit of a balancing act while we work out how far to push before the wheels fall off.
Another balancing act is being staged between teaching and homesteading. Working this out has not been helped by The Milk Maid injuring her ankle. She is not the most patient of patients and her frustration at tasks being done at the hobble rather than the double has led to a few dark moments in an otherwise sunny week.
But now the ankle is on the mend, we have one week of schooling under our belt, and the goats continue to offer their milk in ever increasing amounts. Our fridge is bulging with feta, mozzarella, ricotta, quesoblanco and our latest goat milk recipe discovery: Cajeta (cah-heh-ta) aka sweetened condensed goats milk.
So this week has been one of getting up to speed; a speed which will no doubt be affected by a great many things of which the ingestion of all the goat milk goodies is top of the list.
Union Homestead 
You do have to work hard to keep on top of all that milk your goats produce. Good luck with the home schooling too.
Thank you. Most days it seems totally do-able 🙂
The Union Homestead Preparatory School and Home for Colourful Thinkers: with a name like that you cannot go wrong!! I wished I could have homeschooled our youngest, The Netherlands does not allow it. So the hardworking fellow had his own program after school at home. Maybe you are already aware of it: visual impaired children need extra vitamine D, zink , magnesium and calcium to lessen/avoid this fatigue. For the youngest Mr. Walker it made an enormous difference when we got these in a proper dosage.(almost double) Also he went to good osteopath twice a year because there is so much more strain on their little bodies. I am not bombarding you with unwanted advise I hope…because you all do so well with the Framer’s Girl!!!
Be careful with your ankle and have a great weekend! xo Johanna
Thank you so much for the advice…a definite bonus of sending our posts out into the blogosphere is hearing how other people have “made it through”. Your advice is never a bombardment or unwanted 😊
I’m trying to be very good about resting my ankle…but it is soooo frustrating.
Have a wonderful weekend x
“A good grounding in cheese making is the foundation of a civilised education.” Plato, The Republic.
Well, we’re getting there slowly 🙂
It sounds very good from your reports.
I hope you all don’t suddenly find you don’t like cheese any more! Best of luck to you all with the Union Homestead Preparatory School and Home for Colourful Thinkers! It seems as though it’s not just Farm Girl who will be learning a lot in this venture! What a fabulous team you are! Hope the ankle gets better soon.
I quite thought I’d posted a comment, but see that thought was as far as it got – and not deep thought either :). Glad to hear the first week went well. Balance is such a tricky thing in all areas of life, but thankfully she’s young and resilient and smart, and I believe ultimately she and you will find the groove and surge forward. Red tape is at least part of the reason to be doing homeschooling if you ask me (and I know you didn’t, but there). I have friends who fought that battle and lost, to the detriment of their children. How did we get to this place where societally acceptable parents are not permitted to make educational choices on behalf of their children?
All that cheese sounds wonderful – do you freeze some or do you just have to live on bread and cheese till the milk slows down? Cajeta sounds marvellous – does it make into ice cream? Hope the ankle is mending – we don’t seem to bounce back quite like we once did…or so I’m finding, somewhat resentfully.
Cajeta as ice cream…brilliant!!! Currently we are freezing the ricotta and mozzarella, and mostly paying off the neighbours good nature with the feta. Bread and cheese though…there could be worse. 😊
Red tape is crippling. As soon as they start on the whole “cant set a precedent…”the red mist descends. Thankfully we’ve got a pretty water tight case for home school and its just a matter of waiting for the paperwork. As to weird things becoming socially acceptable…crazy!