Good-bye Rachel!

Our friend Rachel headed back to St. Louis this morning.

We tried not to cry.

She will be sorely missed. I will miss our chats, walking the fences, planting the onions, tending the kids (2 and 4 legged ones).

The girls will miss their friend. Maggie will especially miss her helper with the goats.

It was quite a great visit. Rachel got to experience a taste of spring on the farm. The miracle of birth, the sad reality of death. She learned how to castrate little bucklings. Helped trim a lot of hooves. She didn't get to do nearly as much gardening as we had planned, due to rain and cold. I think she got to see that eating isn't nearly as fun in late winter as it is late summer, and sometimes worries of the world make stressed out families butt heads as much as the goats sometimes, but prayer and laughter get us through.

I guess the thing that blessed me most about Rachel's visit was how she lived with us as family. Our joys were her joys, our pain her pain. She has become much more than a friend and intern. Big sister to kids, little sister to me ( I can't say daughter, it would make me feel too old!).

So I guess I will cry a tear or two and be sad that we had to say goodbye to Rachel. We miss you! I hope that your journeys will bring you back to the farm soon! BTW, Thistle hasn't had her babies, but looks like she is going into labor! And Lucy and Tarkheena are acting very suspiciously. I moved them into the barn with Ophilia. Maybe we will have Easter lambs!