The Pan-American Highway is Closed (Again)

Last month the Pan-American International Highway was closed for eight days due to roadblocks by the Ngobe-Bugle, one of the indigenous tribes of Panama. The Ngobe covered parts of the highway and roads in other towns as well with sticks, pieces of metal, rocks, tires and themselves, in protest to the goverments removal of a law that provided enviromental protection to their land and would allow hydro-electric power and mining in their region. (Their land  is home to Cerro Colorado – the second largest copper deposit in the world – but it also holds several other but significant sites already under exploration by foreign mining companies. )

The Ngobe leaders and the goverment had been in negotiation for the last couple of weeks up until today, but apparently the talks have failed and the road is closed again.

Trucks unable to get to their destinations due to road closure (Photo from holistichealthinsider.com)

For those of you who do not know it, the Pan-Am Highway is the only road from the Panama Canal/Southern Panama to Northern Panama. Thats it.

So with the road being closed, it means no more fuel, food or supplies being brought to where we live. We did alright last month, as we had stocked up a little on food and gas, but if the road closures go longer than a couple weeks this time, we will certainly be homebound, due to no fuel. And eating a lot of rice and beans.

Last month the road closures cost the people of Panama-millions of dollars in those 8 days, but I am not convinced it hurt the pocketbooks of the goverment nor caused them as much discomfort as the people of Panama. (“The closure the American Highway by the Ngobe-Bugle Indians has caused losses to the agricultural sector estimated at $3.2 million, however, the figure may be higher, said Oscar Osorio, head of the Ministry of Agricultural Development (MIDA),” reported Prensa.com.)

Personally I do not understand why the Ngobe believe the road closures will assist them in changing the mind of the goverment. (Let us be clear-I am not saying the Ngobe should back down from their convictions. I just do not understand their methods.) I also am afraid this second go round might end up getting a little bloody and I hate to think of it.

I will keep everyone posted of how things are going down south of the border. Keep us in your prayers, as we do you.

Blessings to you all! Rose

Welcome Little Jerusalem & A Love Story

~Welcome Little Jerusalem~

Today a newborn goat was found.

One of our neighbors had passed by the house this morning and noticed a baby goat lying in the ditch that runs along our pasture. Several hours later, he noticed it was still there.

All alone.

The neighbor called out to Steve and our worker, Danilo, who were both working in the field, making sure they knew about the baby goat. They did not. So Steve carried the little kid up to the house.

Danilo was sure the baby had born a day or two ago. And perhaps that was so. The baby was dry and clean. The umbilical cord was dry as well. It seemed a little weak, but not as weak, as one might imagine a totally abandoned baby.

I warmed a half bottle of milk for the baby and as I fed it, I kept thinking of the Scripture in Ezekiel 16 about the orphan ‘baby’ -Jerusalem, who was left lying in her blood and abandoned by her parents. So I thought I would name her Jerusalem. It seemed fitting.

We welcome you to the world little Jerusalem!

After little Jerusalem drank down a half bottle of milk, I carried her out to the field where all of the Mamas were grazing in the warm sunshine. Jerusalem started making soft little cries and I encouraged her, as the other goats starting calling back to her. But out of the 30 plus goats in the field, only one came running up to us and called out in a distressed voice.

So Mama Martha and little Jerusalem were reunited.

The baby starting suckling right away without a problem and I was not sure if she had been abandoned or simply left in the ditch in the shade, while Mama  had went out to graze in the field…

~A Love Story~

For those of you who do not know the beautiful love story of how the Lord blessed and raised up ‘orphan’ Jerusalem, I wanted to share it with you now, as it is found in Ezekiel 16:

  A message came to me from the Lord. He said, ²“Son of man, tell the people of Jerusalem the evil things they have done. I hate those things.

  “Tell them, ‘The Lord and King speaks to Jerusalem. He says, “Your history in the land of Canaan goes back a long way. Your father was an Amorite. Your mother was a Hittite. On the day you were born your cord was not cut. You were not washed with water to clean you up. You were not rubbed with salt. And you were not wrapped in large strips of cloth.  No one took pity on you. No one was concerned enough to do any of those things for you. Instead, you were thrown out into an open field. You were hated on the day you were born.

  ” ‘ “I was passing by. I saw you kicking around in your blood. As you were lying there, I said to you, ‘Live!’ I made you grow like a plant in a field. Soon you had grown up. You became the most beautiful jewel of all. Your breasts had formed. Your hair had grown. But you were naked and bare.

 ” ‘ “Later, I was passing by again. I looked at you. I saw that you were old enough for love. So I got married to you and took good care of you. I covered your naked body. I took an oath and made a firm promise to you. I entered into a covenant with you. And you became mine,” announces the Lord and King.

 ” ‘ “I bathed you with water. I washed the blood off you. And I put lotions on you.  I put a beautiful dress on you. I gave you leather sandals. I dressed you in fine linen. I covered you with expensive clothes.  I decorated you with jewelry. I put bracelets on your arms. I gave you a necklace for your neck.  I put rings on your nose and ears. And I gave you a beautiful crown for your head.

  ” ‘ “So you were decorated with gold and silver. Your clothes were made out of fine linen. They were made of expensive and beautiful cloth. Your food was made out of fine flour, honey and olive oil. You became very beautiful. You became a queen.  You were so beautiful that your fame spread among the nations. The glory I had given you made your beauty perfect,” announces the Lord and King.

  ” ‘ “But you trusted in your beauty. You used your fame to become a prostitute. You offered your body freely to anyone who passed by. In fact, you gave yourself to anyone who wanted you. You used some of your clothes to make high places colorful. That is where people worshiped other gods. You were a prostitute there. Things like that should never happen. They should never take place.

  ” ‘ “I had given you fine jewelry. It was made out of gold and silver. You used it to make for yourself statues of male gods. You worshiped those gods. You were not faithful to me. You put your beautiful clothes on them. You offered my oil and incense to them.  You also offered them the food that was made out of fine flour, olive oil and honey. I had given it to you to eat. You offered it as sweet-smelling incense to them. That is what you did,” announces the Lord and King.

  ” ‘ “Then you got your sons and daughters who belonged to me. And you sacrificed them as food to other gods. Wasn’t it enough for you to be a prostitute?  You killed my children. You sacrificed them to other gods.

 ” ‘ “You did not remember the days when you were young. At that time you were naked and bare. You were kicking around in your blood. But now you have done evil things. I hate them. You have worshiped other gods. You have not been faithful to me.

  ” ‘ “How terrible it will be for you!” announces the Lord and King. “How terrible for you! You continued to sin against me.  Your people built up mounds for themselves in every market place. They put little places of worship on them.  They set them up at every street corner. Jerusalem, you misused your beauty. You offered your body to anyone who passed by. You did it again and again.

  ” ‘ “You committed shameful acts with the people of Egypt. They were your neighbors, and they were filled with longing for their lovers. You offered yourself to others again and again. That made me very angry.  So I reached out my powerful hand against you. I made your territory smaller. I handed you over to your Philistine enemies. The people in their towns were shocked by your impure conduct.

 ” ‘ “You also committed shameful acts with the people of Assyria. Nothing ever seemed to satisfy you. You could never get enough.  Then you offered yourself to the people of Babylonia. But that did not satisfy you either. There are many traders in the land of Babylonia.

  ” ‘ “You can’t control yourself,” announces the Lord and King. “Just look at all of the things you are doing! You are acting like a prostitute who has no shame at all.  Your people built up mounds at every street corner. You put little places of worship on them in every market place. But you did not really act like a prostitute. You refused to let your lovers pay you anything.

  ” ‘ “You unfaithful wife! You would rather be with strangers than with your own husband!  Every prostitute gets paid. But you give gifts to all of your lovers. You offer them money to come to you from everywhere. You want them to make love to you. You are not faithful to me.  As a prostitute, you are the opposite of others. No one runs after you to make love to you. You are exactly the opposite. You pay them. They do not pay you.” ‘ “

 You prostitute, listen to the Lord’s message.  The Lord and King says, “You poured out your wealth on your lovers. You took your clothes off and made love to them. You did it again and again. You worshiped other gods. I hate them. You even sacrificed your children to them.

  “So I am going to gather together all of the lovers you found pleasure with. They include those you loved and those you hated. I will gather them against you from everywhere. I will take your clothes off right in front of them. Then they will see you completely naked. I will hand down my sentence against you. You will be punished like women who commit adultery and sacrifice their children to other gods. My anger burns against you so much that I will sentence you to death for everything you have done.

 ”Then I will hand you over to your lovers. They will tear down those mounds you built. They will destroy the little places of worship you put on them. They will take your clothes off. They will remove your fine jewelry. And they will leave you naked and bare.

  “They will bring a crowd against you. The crowd will put you to death by throwing stones at you. And they will chop you to pieces with their swords. ⁴¹They will burn your houses down and punish you. Many women will see it.

   ”I will not let you be a prostitute anymore. You will no longer pay your lovers.  Then my burning anger against you will die down. My jealous anger will turn away from you. I will be calm. I will not be angry anymore.

 ”You did not remember the days when you were young. The things you did made me very angry. So anything that happens to you will be your own fault,” announces the Lord and King. “You added impure conduct to all of the other evil things you did. I hate all of those things.

  “All those who use proverbs will use this one about you. They will say, ‘Like mother, like daughter.’  You are a true daughter of your mother. She hated her husband and children. And you are a true sister of your sisters. They hated their husbands and children.

   ”Your mother was a Hittite. Your father was an Amorite.  Your older sister was Samaria. She lived north of you with her daughters. Your younger sister was Sodom. She lived south of you with her daughters.  You lived exactly the way they did. You copied their evil practices. I hate those practices. Everything you did was so sinful that you soon became even worse than they were.

 ”Your sister Sodom and her daughters never did what you and your daughters have done. And that is just as sure as I am alive,” announces the Lord and King.

  “Here is the sin your sister Sodom committed. She and her daughters were proud. They ate too much. They were not concerned about others. They did not help those who were poor and in need.  They were very proud. They did many things that were evil in my sight. I hated those things. So I got rid of Sodom and her daughters, just as you have seen.

 ”Samaria did not commit half the sins you did. You sinned even more than they did. I hate those sins. Compared to what you did, you made your sisters seem godly.  So you will be dishonored. You have given your sisters an excuse for what they did. Your sins were far worse than theirs. In fact, your sisters appear to be more godly than you. So then, be ashamed. You will be dishonored. You have made them appear to be godly.

  “I will not only give you back what you had before. I will also do the same thing for Sodom and her daughters. And I will do the same for Samaria and her daughters.  That will make you feel dishonored. You will be ashamed of everything you have done. You have made them feel better because you sinned more and were punished more than they were. Your sisters Sodom and Samaria and their daughters will return to what they were before. And you and your daughters will return to what you were before.

 ”In the past you would not even mention your sister Sodom. You were proud at that time.  That was before your sin was uncovered. Now the daughters of Edom make fun of you. So do all of her neighbors and the daughters of the Philistines. Everyone who lives around you looks down on you.  You will be punished for your impure conduct. I will also punish you for the other evil things you have done. I hate all of those things,” announces the Lord.

 The Lord and King says, “I will punish you in keeping with what you have done. I sealed with an oath the covenant I made with you. You hated that oath. And you broke my covenant.

  “But I will remember my covenant with you. I made it with you when you were young. Now I will make a new covenant with you. It will last forever.  Then you will remember how you have lived. You will be ashamed when I give you Samaria and Sodom. Samaria is your older sister. Sodom is your younger one. I will give them and their daughters to you as daughters. That can’t happen based on my old covenant with you.  So I will make my new covenant with you. Then you will know that I am the Lord.

  “I will pay for all of the sins you have committed. Then you will remember what you have done. You will be ashamed of it. Because of your shame, you will never speak against me again,” announces the Lord and King.  

To me the most beautiful part of this story is the enduring love the Lord had for Jerusalem and even though she played the harlot, He was faithful to His covenant and did not divorce her. How many men are able to love and keep covenant like that?

I hope everyone is having a great day. We certainly are as we have been blessed with another beautiful baby girl kid! Yippee!

Much love~Rose

P.S. Dad you asked for a picture of Roger, your little colt, so here he is! He came up this morning to visit me and I petted him, then snapped a couple pictures of him….

An Iguana, Shopping in Panama and A Bus Ride to Remember

The last couple of weeks have went by very quickly with my daughter visiting. She enjoyed her time here; from the beauty and tranquility at the farm nestled in the countryside of Panama to the excitement of going to the Farmers Market. We just hope next time her husband will be able to come down with her and of course Gabriel will be out and about as well. We are already looking forward to that visit!

An Iguana

On one of the first days here we spied this 3 foot iguana in the goat pasture. This is the largest iguana I have seen in Panama to date. He was very handsome and posed for this picture.

The iguana hopes and prays we do not believe the lie that everything tastes like chicken!

Shopping in Panama

My Mother, Molly and I left a day before Mollys flight back to Texas, for a trip to Panama City.  We went shopping at the Indian store and exploring the mall. We had a fun time together, acting goofy and laughing a lot!

My Mother bought her great grand son a Panama t-shirt! (Molly models it over her belly)

  Trying on dozens of pairs of sunglasses at a shopping center

My Mother was apparently missing my Father, as we found her with this large horned fellow

 Saying our good-byes at the airport

A Bus Ride to Remember

My Mother and I took the bus from Panama City to our home in Chiriqui. It is an 8 hour bus trip. The buses are fairly comfortable and they play movies during the trip. (Unfortunately the movies are in all Spanish, so we try to watch and figure out the plot in spite of the language barrier.)

The inside of the bus seats about 51 people

I have taken the long trip to Panama City and back to Chiriqui, over a half-dozen times now and have always been concerned with what my Mother had warned me about while taking that trip on the bus and that is you can only urinate in bus bathroom. On one bus my Mother told me there was a warning on the bathroom door, that stated there was a fine of $20.00 if you deposited anything, but urine in the toilet.  

Now 8 hours is a long time, especially during the day, when I imagine most people defecate… right??? So every time I take the bus from Panama City, I have am overcome with a little trepidation concerned with the resounding question in my mind“What if I had to go Number 2… What would I do….???”.

The bathroom door was right behind us this trip- The sign boldly states                                   “ONLY FOR URINE”

So on the way back home this week, I am sitting comfortably in my seat on the bus, watching the movie that is playing, as Mom is sleeping soundly away, when I smell a horrible smell. My god, I think, someone has horrible gas… Within a minute the smell seems to dissipate, when I get another waft of a sickening stench and I furrow my brows, thinking someone is not doing too well… Wowser. I look over at Mom; she is still asleep, softly snoring, looking quite peaceful. Two minutes later the smell has not gone away, but has gotten increasingly worse… and I think, this is not fair; she gets to sleep through this unpleasantness. 

So now I casually look around for the offender. I don’t see anyone to the front of me, who looks guilty, so I glance to the aisle beside me and back. I see a woman there with her shirt pulled up over her nose and she starts speaking rapidly to me in Spanish, waving her finger. I can tell she is in obvious distress over the aroma. I nod her way and wrinkle up my nose to let her know I am in distress with her. She is not alone.

About this time, the bus attendant, who stays at the front of the bus, walks to the back of the bus and the woman behind us starts talking very excitedly to him and waving her finger back and forth, obviously upset. With all of the commotion, my Mother is now awake and she wants to know what on earth smells so bad. I tell her-I don’t know, that I thought someone had bad gas at first, but now I am thinking that someone had a bowel movement in the toilet and we are just now smelling it. I am wondering who the guilty party was, as I was watching the movie and had not paid attention to who had walked by me and back.

The bus attendant is now speaking loudly and in an agitated voice. I turn around. He is attempting to pull open the bathroom door, but it keeps being closed back… I see a glimpse of a man in there, trying to keep the door closed. The guilty party has been found and is still at the scene of the crime!

The bus attendant is asking him “Que Pasa…?” (The bus attendant could not figure out what was happening in there…??? I think everyone in the back of the bus could have gave him a pretty accurate idea.) The bus attendant continues to question the man rapidly and continues to try to open the door… I turn back around- a little shocked.

 I find everyone sitting in the front of the bus, looking to the back of the bus… Some people have their shirts pulled up over their noses and others are fanning their faces. I am not kidding when I tell you it smells literally like the man had not taken a bowel movement for over two weeks. It is baaaaad smelling and apparently the mutant odor has spread throughout the entire bus.

Mom looking a little green around the gills and tries to protect her nasal passages and lungs behind the safety of her shirt

As my Mother and I discuss the situation at hand, we feel sorry for the man…. I mean when you gotta go, you gotta go, right…? Shit happens. Literally.

We find it a little unreal the bus attendant was yelling at the man and trying to pull the man out of the bathroom while he was still on the toilet… Suddenly the whole scene becomes a bit hilarious and terrifying all at once… We keep thinking what if it had been us on the toilet… Would the bus attendant have yelled at one of us? Would he have tried to pull us off the toilet..? We quickly try to think if in the future if there a way to avoid taking the bus… Do we need to pay more money and take the plane from now and avoid the possibility of such a vulnerable position? Or could the problem be solved if one were able to poo in a bag and just take to the front of the bus and tell the bus driver, you need to throw the bag off the bus…?

As we ponder dozens of scenarios of how to save face if you poo on the toilet and the craziness of what just happened, we cannot stop laughing and we laugh non-stop for a good 15 minutes.  I don’t think we came up with any definitive answers. Just take heed and be aware, if you ever come to visit us and take the bus from Panama City to get to the farm-Don’t say I didn’t warn you about the bathroom on the bus!

Have a good weekend my dear friends and family! You are loved and we think about each and every one of you more often than you know.

Peace to you all, Rose 

 

A Visit with My Daughter and My Father Flies to Tijuana, Mexico

Good day dear readers. I hope you all are well and blessed. I have missed sharing with you the last couple of weeks.

My daughter came to visit us last week and it was a joyful reunion! She is 8 months pregnant and we were very excited to get to finally meet Gabriel Lee. Unfortunately my son-in-law was not able to come due to work constraints, but we are hoping after the baby is born, all three of them will come down together. We look forward to having them all here!

My daughter and Mom on the Atv for a ride down our road

Steve and Scoot

Taking a break under shady trees by the creek

My Father flew to Tijuana, Mexico yesterday.

We had been praying for direction in the treatment of his cancer. I have always been an advocate for natural alternative treatments after many years of seeing the suffering and severe side effects from the chemotherapy and radiation that was given at the U of W Medical Center, besides my personal religous views on the matter. However I encouraged my Father, to do what he felt he needed to do, whether it was traditional chemotherapy or alternative treatment. Cancer is aggressive and needs aggressive approaches, whether you choose a traditional or alternative approach. I believe how a person chooses to fight cancer or not fight cancer  is a personal decision and no one can answer what is best for another to do, particularly if we have never walked in those shoes.

So as most of you already know, my Father began his treatment at home with alkalizing foods, cancer fighting herbs, juicing, green smoothies, etc…

My Father then pursued consultations with different oncology doctors in Panama City in January for traditional chemotherapy and radiation treatments. After a few weeks of consultations and trips back and forth to Panama City, he decided to stay home and continue with and pursue other natural alternative treatments for a couple of weeks and wanted to see what happened.

After the two weeks, I told him “You need to do something because the tumor in your neck is getting bigger and I am not sure if it is just getting bigger from cancer or inflammation of cancer cells getting killed, but I think you need to do something more aggressive.” My Father was looking at natural protocols for killing cancer, but not following a protocol in totality… And it was driving me crazy. Plus I thought even if he wanted to follow a holistic natural alternative treatment, he needed a doctor or coach that could counsel him and give him the best advice for fighting cancer. All of the natural alternative protocols he was reading about, stated this was one of the most important things to do.

The shortly after this, we were at the Farmers Market in Volcan, a week and a half ago, a woman came up to us, looking for the person, who had cancer. My Mother told her, “Well my husband has cancer…” So the woman sat down and told us about the cancer treatment she had and that she was now “cured of cancer”. She had been diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a cancer of the plasma cells and was found to have a couple of tumors in her bone. She had received a treatment in Tijuana called IPT (Insulin Potentiation Therapy). After her treatments, she was found to be cancer free per her blood work and her scans showed there was no more metastasis (she showed us her bloodwork and scan report). Her traditional Dr had told her “I did not want you to go to Tijuana, but I am so glad you did. I could not have done what they did for you.” She also boasted she had absolutely no side effects from the treatment. So after we met her we checked into IPT treatment by searching the internet.

An IPT treatment would look something like this: You are given a dose of insulin, which drops your blood sugar, to a very low-level of around 30. You are then given intravenous traditional chemotherapy at about 1/10th of a dose. You are then given dextrose to raise your blood sugar to a normal level.

The idea is when the insulin is given- it targets the cancer cells because cancer cells have highly active insulin receptors. The chemotherapy then targets the cancer cells more specifically. Thus the chemotherapy is much more potent, much less chemotherapy can be used and little to no side effects is experienced. So after hearing this woman’s testimony and our prayers for direction, my Father decided to pursue ITP treatment. It made sense to all of us. It does not have the severe debilitating side effects of chemotherapy and he will be able to continue with any other alternative treatment, as well as receiving IV vitamins, minerals and supplements at the clinic.

Here is a link to Dr Garcia Perez and about IPT, if you would like more info: http://www.iptldmd.com/medical-services/how-iptld-treatment-you.html

We continue to be ever hopeful and appreciate all of your support and prayers.

My Father in the greenhouse before leaving for Mexico

Keep me posted on how you all are doing… I would love to hear from you!

Yours always, whether near or far~Rose

Seven Saanen Girls Are Added to the Farm

We have just added seven new Saanen girls to our happy little farm in the moutains of Panama. Six of the seven Mamas are pregnant, so soon we will have more little cabritas in our future!

 Granny Goat

Beulah

Esther

Hannah, Methuselah, & Miriam

With the addition of the new girls we are currently getting around 14 liters of milk a day. Go girls!

And Don Joaquin has just branched out to making fresh white goat cheese sprinkled with tasty little green olives. It is custard like in consistency and has no smell or taste of “goatiness”. It is delicious! The best goat cheese I have ever eaten… Miss Martha at Don Joaquin is interested to know what other ingredients the community would like added to cheese, so give her a call or drop by and give her suggestions. (I suggested chives, garlic or rosemary!)

My Happy Goat Farmer (surrounded by his thirty plus girls!) & Blackie, Whitie and Scoot

Have a wonderful week dear friends and family. Keep looking up!

Yours, Rose

Samson is Sterilized and Welcome Abraham

My parents decided my six month old Saanen buck I bought several months ago, is not going to be one of the breeding bucks for the farm. They decided he had not grown as tall or as broad as they wanted and in general was just too small in size and was a tad… fat. They also protested he had no interest in the does and in their opinion was overly fond of me. 

And actually if truth be told, I had told my Mother a month prior, I wished he was just going to be my pet…

Samson (What’s not to love…?????)

So based on that, I decided to approach Miss Dottie Attwater who runs the Spay/Panama-Chiriqui Clinic in Volcan, to see if the veterinarian Dr Tello would consider sterilizing Samson. After we got the green light from Dr Tello to proceed with our plans, we scheduled Samson for his appointment.

Samson waiting outside the Clinic in Volcan

Samson actually had a great time waiting outside the clinic. He made a lot of new friends. People came up and petted him, talked to him and even took his picture!

Samson getting anesthesia from Dr Tello

Samson on the operating table awaiting the inevitable

 Samson recovering from his anesthesia on a sheet outside

After Samsons procedure, he was brought outside and laid on a sheet. I sat and rubbed him for about 15 minutes, as he started to awake from anesthesia. He awoke rather quickly and was up on his hooves in no time, just in time for the ride home!

If any of you would like to learn more about Spay Panama/Chiriqui Clinic or see pictures of the clinic and staff, please click on this link: http://www.spaypanama-chiriqui.org/46th.html. It is quite different from a veterniary in the states. You are able to be with your pet from the time it is given anesthesia, to being sterilized and able to massage it and be with it, as it wakes up.

This week we also brought home our new stud buck. He was living in the mountains of Caldera, near a river before we bought him. What do you all think about him? My Mother thinks he is beautiful.

 

 Meet Father “Abraham” the farms new stud buck

Well buckaroos have a wonderful week! Will drop you all a line later this week.

Much love, Rose

 

 

Sloth Me or Sloth Me Not (Not Kristen Bells Reaction!)

This week we made a new friend, Raquel and went to her home for Scripture study today. This was our first visit to her home and she immediately introduced us to a varied assortment of animals, whom she has rescued over the years; from a toucan to an owl to coatimundis to a monkey to other native animals of Panama.

Before we left her home today, she came out with yet another creature, a sloth named Kiera!

Have you hugged a sloth today?

Kiera thinks to quietly to herself: Omg- I think I love this woman!

….And I think I could love you too!

If any of you all come to Panama to visit us in the future, I am sure Raquel would love to show you her rescued animals and Kiera would definitely love to give you a hug!

Addendum on February 9, 2011:

I just read on my friends FB page, about Kristen Bell’s “meltdown” over the excitement of being in close proximity to a sloth. Trust me, I did not have that much emotion, in fact, perhaps I was in tears on the inside because I really did not desire to touch it.

When Smith recounts the story about me and the sloth, he says Rose was asked if she wanted to hold the sloth and she said “Uhhhh. I don’t think so.”  and when asked again to hold the sloth she said “Ummmm. No. That is okay.”  (And then the sloth is put in her arms.)

And the next thing I know, there are these stiff open arms of the sloth open wide and coming towards me and as it approaches my shoulders, its arms close around me, in a kind of slow motion and there we are-well- hugging…. “OH, okay” … I think to myself… “I am hugging a sloth.” (Trust me, this was not on the bucket list!) I muster a couple smiles for the camera and then I ask that Miss Kiera the sloth be deattached from my arms! (No offense Miss Kiera, you were a lovely and polite sloth as sloths go…)

And Kristen Bell, I don’t understand your passion for such a random animal, but God love you! If you haven’t seen the video of Kristen Bell on the Ellen show, here it is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5jw3T3Jy70

  Around the Farm

•  My Father still has not started treatment. He sees another Dr next week for another consultation. He is still praying and seeking wisdom on how to fight back. Pray he is given clarity on this. In the meantime, it is trips to Panama and trips back to the farm.
• My Father-in-law did not have a heart attack and had no new blockages. (Big Amen!) His chest pain was caused by overexertion only. Thank you for your prayers for him.
• This week I had eaten out at one of our favorite restaurants and within a few hours had horrible GI upset with fever, for a total of two and a half days. During that time I drank plenty of water and drank kefir smoothies only. I felt I put kefir to the test and I was pleased with the results. I did not have to see a physician, but was prepared to if my symptoms continued for a total of 36 hours, and it saved my body having to take antibiotics or other medications. (For those of you who don’t know what kefir is: kefir is an ancient cultured milk which is full of good bacteria and yeast, which has been proven to kill bacteria like E. Coli and H. Pylori.)

Overall, everything is well here on the farm. It is summer now and the temperatures on the mountain are in the 80′s with a cool breeze. Life is good. We feel very blessed.

I pray you all are doing well, doing what you love and are as happy as we are.

“And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labor,                          it is the gift of God.” 

Ecclesiastes 3:13

Loving you from the midst of Panama~ Rose

What makes Excellent Quality Goat Milk?

Often the answer most people give as to why goat milk has an off flavour and/or smells ”goaty” is because the buck is kept in the same pasture with the does, however this is certainly not the only reason.  There are certain variables which can affect the flavor and quality of goat milk.

Here are the procedures which we follow at our farm, to best achieve good milk flavor and quality production of milk.

1. First we start with good clean equipment which includes our milking bowls and milk storage containers, anything milk goes into. Each piece of equipment is first rinsed with lukewarm water, then washed with very hot water (120 degrees), submerged in a sudsy soap and bleach solution and then rinsed again. A new filter is used for each milking.

2. We only use milk from healthy animals. (At our farm we believe a happy goat is a healthy goat!  Our goats are treated with the utmost love and care and we believe they give us more milk because of it. They also are free range goats and roam the pastures in tall green grasses, in the warmth of the sunshine for hours each day.)

3. We make sure each goat has a clean udder and teat. We ensure this by strict and proper hand milking procedures. (Each goats teat is dipped in a teat dip of iodine solution and dried with a clean disposable paper towel, then the first three squeezes of each teat is milked into a “strip cup” to assess for any abnormalities like clots or blood (the strip cup milk is not saved for drinking!), then the doe is milked out in the stainless steel milking pail and when she is finished being milked, each teat is dipped again in iodine solution. )

4. We provide proper feeding of our goats;  maintaining ration balance, meeting nutrient and mineral requirements. We try to avoid giving the girls foods that might give their milk an off flavor at least a couple hours prior to milking.

5. We have a separate milking barn area. Our hands are washed  and clean disposable paper towels are used to dry them, prior to  hand-milking (or if we feel our hands have gotten dirty for some reason during the milking procedure, whether they are visibly soiled or not, we wash them again).

6. We ensure fast cooling of the milk by either rapid water cooling or refrigeration after milking.

7. We keep constant low milk storage temperatures, including during transportation to our customers. (During transportation we fill a tub of ice, and submerge the milk to keep it cold!)

8. We perform the CMT (California Mastitis Test) monthly on a routine basis, to all of our milking does. Ensuring a low somatic cell count  or particulairy the neutrophil leukocytes in the milk, ensures a better tasting milk.

CMT: Quality Assurance for Quality Milk

The California Mastitis Test (CMT) is a rapid, accurate, animal-side test to help determine somatic cell counts (SCC). The term somatic cell is used to identify any cell in the body. With the CMT test, the somatic cells that are being measured are mainly neutrophils. Neutrophils are white blood cells that help the body fight infection and are present in increased numbers in the udder when the animal has mastitis. The CMT test was developed to sample individual udder halves to determine the presence of subclinical mastitis.  (Though this test was developed for cows, it is also used  in testing goats).

How to Perform the Test: A small sample of milk (approximately ½ teaspoon) from each teat is collected into separate compartments of a plastic paddle that has shallow cups marked A, B, C and D. (Only A and B for goats, as they only have two teats!) An equal amount of CMT reagent is added to the milk. The paddle is rotated to mix the contents. In approximately 10 seconds, the score should be read, while continuing to rotate the paddle. Because the reaction disappears within 20 seconds, the test must be read quickly.

1.  Clean each teat with teat dip and dry with a clean disposable paper towel. Squeeze out the first three squirts of milk in the “strip cup”, then squirt a small amount of milk from each teat into the appropriate section of the paddle. 1/2 teaspoon of milk is sufficient. (My paddle has a little line that acts as a guide, so I can see how much milk to squirt in the paddle-which is approximatley 2cc).

2.   Mix an equal ratio of reagent to the milk. The paddle is rotated to mix the contents.

3.  In approximatley 10 seconds, read the score while continuing to rotate the paddle. This girl has a negative CMT score!

How to Read the Results: The CMT reagent reacts with the neutrophils, and the mixture thickens or gels in proportion to the amount of cells that are present. High levels of neutrophils indicate infection. To become accurate and consistent, practice this test on animals with a known SCC. (Which is why we test monthly on each of our girls!)

Leukocyte count per milliliter	Test appearance	CMT score
Below 200,000	Mixture liquid, no precipitate	negative
150,000 to 500,000	Slight precipitate, tends to disappear with paddle movement	T
400,000 to 1,500,000	Distinct precipitate but does not gel with paddle movement	1
800,000 to 5,000,000	Distinct gel formation	2
Over 5,000,000	Strong gel formation that tends to adhere to paddle. Forms distinct central peak	3

We drink raw goat milk from our farm on a daily basis and because of this we aim for the highest standard of cleanliness, to ward off bacteria and ensure a safe excellent quality goat milk. We do our part to keep things sanitary and the girls continue to do their part to give us rich creamy milk! (Thank you, ladies!)

We  have been very busy selling our extra goat milk and in the last two weeks, our milk has sold out! We want to thank everyone for supporting our farm and appreciating our milking Mamas efforts! (Without you, some of the girls would be unemployed!)

Blessings my dears~ Rose and Smith

P.S. Keep both of our Fathers in prayer- my Father is still getting worked up in Panama City for treatment and it looks like another surgery and Smiths Father is in the hospital with chest pain, high blood pressure, and is going to have cardiac cath tomorrow…

Prayers and Peace for Our Friend Mike

-This is a special post dedicated to our dear friend Mike, who is having surgery due to cancer this morning at 5:30 a.m.-

Dear Mike,

Smith and I were listening to a song called “Daystar (Shine Down on Me)” by the Cathedrals this past weekend. There is a phrase in the song which had never caught my attention before and it goes like this…

“Lead me Lord,  I’m willing….  anywhere,  you open up the door…”…

I could not help but thinking about the meaning of that in our lives… It seems we are always willing and content, to be led through a door that is sunny and bright on the other side, but a door that is dark and dismal, who wants to go through that door…? Seriously now. Who is immediately happy about that?

I thought of my Father who is also facing a new diagnosis of cancer…  Should he look at his diagnosis of cancer with hope and optimism that the Lord is in charge of his life and since the Lord is the one who has opened the door, should he not walk through it willingly in courage or better yet be carried in the his heavenly Fathers arms in comfort, as the children of Israel were carried in the desert (Deuteronomy 1:31)? And as his daughter, do I grieve and get angry because my Father is still young and has yet to see all of his grandchildren born and fill out his days on this earth as a man still bestowing his blessing on his family… or as a woman of Faith, should I not surrender to the beauty of Psalm 139 and the other Scriptures that comfort us, that there is One greater than us, who leads and directs us through this life:

O LORD, You have searched me and known me.
 You know my sitting down and my rising up;
         You understand my thought afar off.
  You comprehend my path and my lying down,
         And are acquainted with all my ways.
  For there is not a word on my tongue,
         But behold, O LORD, You know it altogether.
  You have hedged me behind and before,
         And laid Your hand upon me.
  Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
         It is high, I cannot attain it. 
         
  Where can I go from Your Spirit?
         Or where can I flee from Your presence?
  If I ascend into heaven, You are there;
         If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.
  If I take the wings of the morning,
         And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
  Even there Your hand shall lead me,
         And Your right hand shall hold me.
 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall fall on me,”
         Even the night shall be light about me;
  Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You,
         But the night shines as the day;
         The darkness and the light are both alike to You.
         
  For You formed my inward parts;
         You covered me in my mother’s womb.
 I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
         Marvelous are Your works,
         And that my soul knows very well.
  My frame was not hidden from You,
         When I was made in secret,
         And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
  Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.
         And in Your book they all were written,
         The days fashioned for me,
         When as yet there were none of them. 
         
 How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!
         How great is the sum of them!
  If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand;
         When I awake, I am still with You. Psalm 139:1-18

or

A man’s heart plans his way; But the LORD directs his steps…. Proverbs 16:9

or

The LORD makes firm the steps, of the one who delights in him; 
though he may stumble, he will not fall,
   for the LORD upholds him with his hand…. Psalm 37:23,24.

or

Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care.

 And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

Matthew 10:29-31.

 Mike, I just wanted to share with you some of my thoughts, as I sort out the things that are happening in our own family, in my Fathers life and in our faith. I do believe there is much comfort, much hope and much to learn, in the  midst of the storms and rough roads ahead. It will not be easy at times, but we have each other and the Almighty who leads us, in Him we must trust and lean on in faith, as we walk anywhere with Him through each and every door He brings us to.

Please know our hearts, our thoughts and prayers are for you and your family, even though there are many miles that separate us at this time….

And dear friends and family and readers, as you pray so fervently for my Father and family, please also direct your prayers and thoughts towards our friend Mike and his family as well.

(And  know if any of you ever have a prayer request, please always feel free to contact me, so we can pray along with you, as your sister and brothers in the Lord…)

Much love and peace to each of you,

Rose and Smith

 We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed,

as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the Daystar arise in your hearts.

 2 Peter 1:19.

Living off the Grid: Our Solar Power

I am sure most of you know, that we do not have electricity from an electrical company connected to our home here in Panama. The electrical grid stops several miles down the mountain. Our neighbors use flashlights or candles in their homes after the sun has gone down and watch t.v. from battery operated televisions. At night we  have been using the generator for our power source (and during the days we use it to run the washer on laundry day, Vita-mix,  juicer, etc…). My Father has gasoline-powered generators. In Panama a gallon of gasoline right now is around $3.68. So this solar system has cut down greatly on the expense of running the generator.

Last week, Smith has finished putting together the solar set-up for my parents home. (Its wonderful being married to an electrician! He is always full of sparks!) It has been a project he has been working off and on for the last month. It is so nice to be able to just flip on a switch in the middle of the night, instead of grabbing a flashlight when you get up to go the bathroom and also to not have to hear the loud roar of the generator in the evenings (If you don’t know how loud a generator can be, trust me they are loud… You can hear it clear down the road! I am sure our neighbors are glad they do not have to listen to it anymore either.)

8-230 watt solar panels installed atop of the tool room

The substantial structural frame Smith fabricated and welded for the solar panels

 The Rewnewable Energy Control Board

Smith says: This board consists of a Xantrex wind turbine load controller, Outback solar charge controller and Xantrex 24v Inverter.

The Main Disconnect Panel

Smith says: I forgot to purchase a  disconnect panel so I had to make my own… No problem for an electrician!

Solar Panel Charge Controller Display

Smith says:  This panel shows a reading of 1792 watts around noon out of the 1840 w max. These solar panels are almost at one hundred percent output!

Control Board and AGM battery bank

Smith says: 2 strings of 100 amp-hour batteries connected as a 24 volt system.

AGM Battery Bank

The Diversion Load (The blue tank) has water in it and a 3000 w heating element. (Please excuse the mess in my parents garage!)

Smith says: We will be converting the diversion load into the water system for a pre-water heater soon. I thought we would have to be frugal with how much electricity we used, but right now we are dumping a lot of it into the diversion load because we are not using enough electricity!

A Sunday Drive on the ATV

We took a drive on the ATV yesterday with Scooter. As we were out and about, we found a deep swimming hole and Scooter could not wait to walk around the bridge to the water, but dove right in off the bridge! Our border collie LOVES water and LOVES to swim.

 Ready! Get Set! And…..

GO!!!!

Updates from Around the Farm

• Claires new baby was  very weak on Saturday and not suckling from Mama. This is what is called “Weak Kid Syndrome”, a term to describe newborn kids who do not stand and/or suckle-regardless of the cause. I intervened and had to syringe feed her for a few feedings, before she started taking the bottle.  At first she just gingerly accepted the bottle, but after a several feedings from the bottle, she seemed to revive and started heartily gulping down milk. Now that she has gotten some strength back, she has started feeding from her Mama. I am going to keep checking on her to make sure she is doing well, but I am betting she will be fine now. It is very important to make sure new kids are standing, feeding and active from the get go!
• Annie, my filly, had her one year old birthday this week. She also has learned to walk on a lead rope the past week (instead of me having to lure her along with food or get another trained horse to go in front of her or having someone walk behind her and gently touching her behind) and had her hooves trimmed for the first time yesterday! She is really coming around the short few months I have had her. Every morning she comes up to greet me with a little whinny and nicker and lets me touch her and scratch her. You are doing great Miss Annie! I am a proud horse Mom.
• My Father and Mother are headed to Panama this morning, to consult with the oncologist again and to discuss and start treatment. (Thank you  Mr Kent for driving them down and being such a huge support and encouragement. We appreciate you!)
• We also are happy to report we sold all of but a couple liters of goat milk  at Mana’s restaurant in Volcan last Friday. (We had held a couple liters for a couple, but they did not show up, but we understand… Life happens!) But it was exciting to see other people are aware of the goodness of fresh goat milk and its health benefits! We are also talking with a company who sells different milk products and they are interested in our milk to make goat cheese. They will be trialing some different cheese recipes this week from the milk we bring them later this week, so that is exciting too!

We are thankful for another year and we pray each and every one you all have a blessed  and joyous one, rich in health and happiness. There is so much to look forward to.

“…May your blessing be on your people.” Psalm 3:8.

Always yours-whether near or far, Smith and Rose