The Lord works in mysterious ways. His timing can’t be beat. When I was home alone — the kids in California and Jeff also out of town — Piper went into labor. She is the goat who we never saw go into heat. We felt she must be pregnant but we had no idea when she would give birth.

At the evening milking and feeding on Tuesday, I noticed her udder was full. Also, she wasn’t interested in food. A few hours later, when I was locking up the ducks for the night, I found Piper all alone in the barn, backed into a corner, arching her back and looking uncomfortable.

Pipe was doing just what Buttercup did last week, whose labor produced a (stillborn) kid. I recognized Piper in labor because we had been through it before. God had prepared me, I now recognize.

I was nervous about being alone with a birthing kid, yes, but I leaned hard on the Lord. I knew that Piper was a strong goat and should birth easily. I hoped anyway.

I put Piper in the birthing stall with a bed of straw, plenty of alfalfa for munching, and water. I got a lawn chair, my camera, my phone (to call Jeff), a water bottle, and towels, and camped out. The contractions came sporadically, and she labored standing up for the most part. She moaned just softly and was not nearly as vocal as Buttercup had been.

Then she laid down and kept falling asleep. I would see contractions maybe every 10 minutes. It seemed like she was progressing, but it also seemed like it was going to be a long time.

I went to bed and left her sleeping. It was about 11:30 pm. I woke up at 4:30 am, very confused. I couldn’t remember why I was supposed to get up. God reminded me. I got out of bed so fast and went to the barn in my pjs and a sweatshirt…

…to find Piper standing and screaming her head off and two newborn kids on the ground, under the warm heating lamp. One (who I later found out to be a male) was trying to stand up. The other (a female) was probably just barely out of the womb; she wasn’t trying to do anything. I figured I’d help her, as Piper was not interested in her kids yet and the little boy seemed to be doing just fine on his own. Piper was still screaming for her herd or from the drama.

I rubbed the little doeling and wiped some goop from her face so she could breathe freely, and I nudged her to stand. She started working on it. Too cute! The little buckling was up and on his feet by now, though unsteady. I brought Piper to the babies; she didn’t want anything to do with them. I tried putting them to nurse. She brushed them away and moved away every time.

I had no choice; I chained Piper up. I put the hobble on her. I showed the babies where to nurse and they grabbed on. As soon as they did, Piper’s maternal instinct kicked it. I could feel it. She turned her head to them and started licking the buckling. I unchained and unhobbled Piper. When she finished getting to know and cleaning up the buckling, she got to know her daughter. The kids nursed off and on, and she kept licking and loving them. So miraculous!

When I thought things were going well and sat back, I noticed two things. First, the kids were shivering. They were still quite wet and goopy. I dried them more and put towels over them off and on. Our barn is quite breezy. Piper kept licking and cleaning them.

Second, the straw underneath where the buckling was standing was bright red. He was bleeding! His cord was going drip-drip-drip. I applied pressure and it wouldn’t stop.

I came inside to look up on the internet what to do. Suggestions were to tie it off with dental floss. I got some floss, but before I went back, I tweeted @Nika7k for advice. She knows goats. She eased my mind by and confirmed the steps I should take.

Back at the barn, I tied off his umbilical cord. The bleeding slowed, but still the cord dripped for an hour before the blood dried up.

Both kids were pretty wobbly on their feet for the rest of the day, and I felt the buckling took a downturn. He was not as energetic or active as his sister, even though he started the day with more strength than she. I am guessing that he lost enough blood  to zap his strength. They slept alot yesterday.

When Jeff got home yesterday evening, we took stock together. Just like a kid (human), Jeff couldn’t wait to get home to see them. Our visit to the barn left us feeling that they were doing well. Piper is a great mom. They nurse often and well, as far as I can tell.

And the twins love each other!

Now, today, the twins are just over a day old. The buckling has so much more strength today — I am glad! The little doeling is just the cutest thing ever. I can tell she’s mischievous. Stubborn, too; she does not want any help nursing and finding the nipple. And, she’s friendly. She follows me and wants to leave the birthing stall when I do. She calls for me when I leave.

The buckling has had the stickiest first poops. It was like hard candy stuck all over him. I had to bathe him this morning to unclog that mess. All better now.

My kids will be home tomorrow to find these cute gifts from God waiting for them! Even though they’re not here, my girls have already blogged about this event with the pictures I emailed them: Haniya’s post and Naomi’s post.

I am alternately baffled, overwhelmed and thrilled by the events of the past day. I think I know some of what God wanted to teach me: to trust in His design. His creations  birth and raise their young successfully because He made them to do it. I know I helped Piper’s birth, but I think can’t help thinking that it all would have been fine if I hadn’t been there, too.

I feel privileged to have witness a miracle of birth on our own little farm. God is good and His works are beautiful.

I’m sharing this post in “Simple Lives Thursday,” a blog carnival which I co-host at GNOWFGLINS. “Consume less, produce more.”

The third day we had the Muscovies, one of the hens disappeared. No idea where she went, or if she was taken.

The Drake was just plain mean, stalking us, and very possessive of his hens. When the two hens which were left started setting on eggs, he went ballistic. Poor guy was lonely, I know. But it is hard to feel sympathetic when he was so mean. When we milked in the barn, we’d have to cage him up or carry a stick. He would get so mad we were in his territory he would literally shake with rage.

Did you notice I said “The Drake was just plain mean”? Yes. The Drake is a Was. He has gone bye-bye.

Here’s the story. The sweet little hens hatched out seven of the cutest ducklings you ever saw.

The Drake ate three of them. We didn’t realize he was our culprit until Mikah caught him red-handed (or red-beaked) eating the third one.

Lest you wonder – yes, we did keep the ducklings and hens separate from The Drake. But, the ducklings would get out and The Drake would be waiting to gobble them up. They must have provided a substantial meal because he only ate every couple of days.

We found out about his strange diet last Thursday. (No, we don’t think he ate the first hen who disappeared.) Jeff left work early to come home and butcher The Drake. It was bloody and tiring and hopefully we will get better at processing ducks. Yes, I’m reminding myself, we are raising these ducks for meat. So we better get good at it.

So now The Drake is in the freezer. I have to figure out how to cook him.

The remaining four ducklings and the two hens are still the sweetest. One of the little ducklings, Angel, is smaller than the others, and she seems cold. We hope she makes it. We decided not to nurture her inside the house because we want the ducks to raise themselves. If she doesn’t make it, that’s a sad fact of life. Yes, we will cry. But it will be okay.

Next up: Khaki Campbell ducks for eggs. They’re on order…

How was your Mother’s Day? Ours was wonderful! Jeff’s parents surprised us with a visit; Jerry (Jeff’s dad) was in Oregon for business so they extended their trip to stay with us for a few days.

Judy and I both had an agenda – pictures. She wanted updated pictures of us for Jerry’s new office. And I wanted pictures… just because.

I realize that there’s alot to catch up on Such Treasures. But because I can’t possibly catch up, I am just going to jump in, and try to fill in the blanks as I go.

On Saturday morning, Judy (Jeff’s mom) took me and the kids out for breakfast. There was a motel with beautiful landscaping near the restaurant and we took advantage.

Yesterday, Sunday, we took some pictures on our property.

Some of the pictures ended up with the goats, because they followed us around … especially Pegs!

We are definitely dressed for the country, but that’s okay!

And here are the kids with their grandparents.

We had a wonderful visit – too short! But sweet.

Someone had told Jeff about Twin Lakes, so we decided to go there. It is a short hike (1-1/2 miles), but we turned it into five miles by hiking to the lake, then back up to another trailhead, and then back to the lake.

Then on the way home, we stopped at a mini mart and bought a half gallon of Umpqua ice cream – Triple Chocolate.

Now today, it really feels like vacation is over. Jeff went back to work. I’m working on a video project for gnowfglins.com. The kids will be home at the weekend. Then school will start up again for us next week.

Tomorrow I’m going to tell you about my wool socks experiment…

The kids picked wildflowers in our front pasture today. Okay, I’ll admit. They were posing for me. But pretty soon they got lost in the activity.

Mikah found a turkey feather and put a headband on to become an Indian picking wildflowers.

Here’s a little diversion, but it does relate. Even though I know I’ll never be a great photographer, I do enjoy reading about it. A site I really enjoy is Digital-Photography-School.com. I don’t participate in the site or its community, but I do read almost every word of the daily emails that come via an email subscription. The tutorials offered are super and easily adaptable to GIMP (from Photoshop). Today, a tutorial arrived called “Creating Depth of Field With Filters and Masks.” I know it will be very useful in the food photos I take — I’ve always wondered how food photographers make the food focused and the background blurred. I decided to try out the technique first on a photo of Haniya from yesterday. She was taking a much needed drink on a hot (okay, warm) day. The original photo:

The photo, when filters and masks were added:

Definitely not as eye-popping as I imagined, but we all are laughing at how she looks like she’s floating now! Haniya helped me go through the tutorial; I know she’s going to use the technique on photos very soon! The girl is a sponge for anything technical or technological. If only I’d started this stuff when I was 11, as she is. Ah, well… I didn’t send an email or get on the internet until I was 20. And that was only occasionally.

What gorgeous spring days are upon us! Thank you, Lord! The sun is energizing and refreshing and Oregon is a bloomin’. This must be my favorite time of year. At least until allergies descend! Naomi brought me a bouquet on Saturday. She also brought me a frog. On Sunday, I received more bouquets from Haniya and Mikah. My heart is full.

Usually, we take a long time to consider such moves. Not this time.

His story is sad. I hope I get it right. When our friends were presented with the opportunity of raising him, they didn’t know and weren’t told where he came from.

He is one of the cast-off babies from a conventional dairy farm. The mama cow must get pregnant and give birth in order to produce milk. The baby (at least if he’s a male, I am not sure what happens if she is a female) doesn’t get to nurse but is killed or sold. We know he was happier at our friends’ house and we want him to be happy here.

When he arrived, Naomi coaxed him out of the truck with some hay. Then he went straight for the woods and the food. He’s not interested in us. And he seems to be scared of the goats. The goats are scared of him, too. They all stand in a line (all 8 of them) when he’s around, their hairs stand straight up, and they snort loudly and repeatedly. They are warning him not to come near. He’s not interested in coming near, but they haven’t figured that out yet.