Just want to say hello to you all. What a great group of people here!

My husband and I have been avid readers of Countryside for a couple of years but only yesterday I decided to check out the forum. We have 2 acres of mostly woods in Eastern NC.We raise goats, chickens and rabbits. We also have a little 5 year old son who is Homeschooled. Is anyone else homeschooling an only child?

You have no idea what a relief it is to find that other people have had the "pink goat's milk" problem!!! This is only our second year with Dairy goats (Nubians) and the first time with any milk problems. I've been worrying myself silly about it. I thought that there must be some kind of bacteria growing in it over night! Needless to say I've almost scrubbed holes in the milk pail, the doe's udder and my hands! Blood never entered my mind since nothing sinister was showing up on the screen of the strip cup. It seems to have cleared up this week but boy have I dumped a lot of milk!( She gives between 4 1/2 and 5 pounds per milking so it's been heart breaking to throw it away.)

Thanks to you all!!! Now I can relax a little.

Best wishes, Pauline at Two Roosters Farm.

-- Pauline Adderley (tworoosters_farm@AltaVista.com), May 16, 2000

Answers

Pauline, I'm new to the forum also! But, this is just a great group of people who are so informed by experience, careing & polite, & helpful! My hubby & I have enjoyed the magazine for years---but I have just found the forum a few weeks a go & now it is a daily habit! Sonda in Ks.

-- Sonda (sgbruce@birch.net), May 16, 2000.

hi, this is a great place to meet people! we are going to start homeschooling next month our 4 and almost 3 yr. old . we all cant wait , but right now we need to get the planting done. nice to meet you , and good luck !

-- renee oneill (oneillsr@home.com), May 16, 2000.

Pauline, welcome. I'm kind of new to this goup but I've asked a lot of questions and really received some good advice. I have 16 hens and had two roosters for over a year. A couple of weeks ago, I got rid of the roosters and the hens seem a lot calmer and seem to be doing better. I guess having all hens wouldn't help your name of Two Roosters though. Eagle

-- eagle (eagle@alpha1.net), May 17, 2000.

Welcome! I'm fairly new myself, but thouroughly enjoy this forum! There are some great folks out there!

-- Eric Stone (ems@nac.net), May 17, 2000.

Just got back from the feed store and found all these welcome messages. Thank you, I feel at home here already!

We too have been busy getting the garden in so there hasn't been much structured schooling going on. He seems to be doing just fine though and continues to surprise us with new knowlege every day.

As for the roosters, well, we started out with just the one, then one day right out of the blue this other showed up. We have no idea where he came from but he made himself right at home here. We called him Treetop because he always roosts in one of the oak trees in the yard. He's like a puppy, follows us around everywhere and gets under the feet! The other fowl are confined so he spends his days oggling at the girls through the fence and dreaming! You can sense the other rooster sneering!

I think this site will become a daily habit here too. Great to be able to comunicate with like minded people. Most mothers I know can't wait to get their kids in school and out of the way. And most people could care less about raising livestock. And "how can you possibly live without cable???" Thank goodness for a supportive hubby.

Well it's threatening to rain out there so I'd better get out and download the truck before everything gets wet. We really need a good soak down here.

Thanks for taking the time to welcome me in.

Best regards,

Pauline

-- Pauline Adderley (tworoosters_farm@AltaVista.com), May 17, 2000.

Hello, I homeschool my only child. And he is doing very well, and still enjoys it. Have not found any problems as of yet doing it this way. For our family anyway, we found homescooling the best way to go. If you have any questions Please feel free to Email me. :O)

-- Bergere (autumnhaus@aol.com), May 18, 2000.

Pauline, I just wanted to welcome you to the forum. It is a lot of fun and there is so much information here. karen

-- Karen Mauk (dairygoatmama@hotmail.com), May 18, 2000.

Welcome Pauline,

I'm a newcomer myself. I found this site a few months ago and it's really great...even for us city-slickers who are still in the dreaming stages of the "simpler" life. All the folks on this forum are GREAT! Very knowledgable in all sorts of things. It's very helpful.

A few years back, I homeschooled my two daughters for two years (through grades Kindergarten, first and fourth and fifth - they are now almost 19 and 16 yrs. old). it went very well for us with only a few snags along the way. Of course not everyone supported it but...I also decided to use a preschool program with my son (he is 5 now), as he had never had any type of "formal" (institutionalized) schooling. He went to kindergarten this year and he's reading books like Charlotte's Web, Stuart Little (and anything and everything else he can get his hands on). He needs help with some of the bigger words, but he has an extensive vocabulary and understands what he is reading. His teacher and even the librarian at the school are amazed. Even the Assistant Principal gave us the O.K. to check out library books from the library (which no kindergartener has ever been able to do at this school). He's right on the level he should be in Math, maybe a little above.

Well, I have to dash for now. Good luck to you and your family.

Greenthumbelina

-- Greenthumbelina (sck8107@aol.com), May 23, 2000.