Goats 2.1

Well, Clover is a mom. I see her as sort of a teenage mom, at least she acts like it. Belle made her debut July the 16th at about 6:30 in the evening. She weighed in at 8 lbs 11 ounces. Em and I watched her come into the world. For days after, she commented, "Wow, that was really cool, Mom." I'm glad she got to see a live birth. I grew up watching calves and piglets born each spring on our farm in Nebraska and I've never tired of the miracle of new life.

Moma has done a pretty good job, as long as you don't consider the fact that food and friends rank above baby. Or that she seems a bit absent minded, to the point of three or four times a day forgetting she even has a baby. She left baby in the barn for a couple hours and frantically searched the garage for her the day after her arrival. I was a bit panicked as she is small enough for a hawk to carry off, but a quick search around the house and barn revealed her safe and sound snuggled up in the pen. Mom wanders off eating her way up the mountain and across the fence onto the neighbor's property. All the sudden, brain cells begin to fire and thought occurs to her that she has a baby...somewhere. Head jerks up and she begins to call and frantically turn in circles looking for baby. I told Steve, at this rate, Belle needs to be in the foster care system as a ward of the state. Moma did sit on her once, but was oblivious to the fact that the cries were coming from baby. She tries, she really does, but I don't think motherhood is instinctive to her. Maybe next time around.

I thought it was cool that after Belle was born, as mom was licking her off, she ate lots of strong scented plants and continued to lick baby till she smelled like wet grass. I guessed she was trying to disguise her from predators. Pretty cool. But then again, she could have just been hungry...baby can wait after all. All in all she is doing a pretty good job as a mom. Belle is old enough to follow Clover now, so getting left behind hasn't been an issue since the first couple of days.

Gretel weighs 47 lbs now. She is just 6 weeks old. I must say I have really enjoyed all the new life around here. I have two more hens that have gone broody. One set to hatch her clutch of 10 eggs next Sunday. The other has been hanging around Clover too much, playing mom when it is convenient and fun. But I think she has finally decided to set for good. She has just 5 eggs, they won't hatch for at least 2 weeks. Somehow I'm sure 5 chicks will be more than enough for her to handle. Funny, she didn't go broody till I reintroduced the first broody hen and her chicks back into the coop. Guess she thought it looked fun to sit uninterrupted for 21 days with little food or water. I shouldn't criticize, I apparently thought it looked fun to spend 9 months feeling sick, fat and ugly and at the end, as a reward, to pass something the size of a watermelon. 21 days, no labor...doesn't seem so bad after all.

Belle just 5 mintues old.

Happy New Year!

It was a cold morning; 11 on my thermometer when I awoke. Melissa came over around 8 or 9 a.m. and helped butcher some chickens. We got 10 done before I decided to call it quits. I awoke with a headache this morning that I just couldn't shake and by chicken number 10 I was done. She was a big help, even bringing her own knives and sharpening stone. Even Steve got in the act, plucking 2 of them. I was bummed that 2 ended up being hens. They were the bantams, and I didn't want to keep them, but I was still bummed. I had two new hens that had just started laying a couple days ago, but had no idea it was the bantams. Oh well, in the end I had to remind myself that I didn't want bantams in the flock. I have several more chickens to do, hopefully later on this week. They are starting to get crowded and there are just too many roos out there. 

By the way, my headache was not due to my New Year's Eve partying, but rather that of the entire youth group who invaded our home last night and stayed till around 1 a.m. or a little later. lots of energy and noise. They had fun and it was nice to be able to host them. I hate to say, but I'm already looking forward to going to bed tonight. I'm so sleep deprived that I didn't realize it was actually 2008 till about 2:00 this afternoon. Does that mean we have the youth group over a little too often??

I have a feeling I'm fighting something too. Headache, muscles ache, brain fog and I just can't get warm today. we turned the heat up, but it hasn't helped much, neither did the 4 Tylenol that I popped earlier this afternoon. Its been years since I've taken a pain reliever, but even so 2 did nothing for me and the 2 more I popped shortly thereafter didn't seem to help much either; I still have a bit of aching running down the back of my head and neck.I'm sure a little extra sleep will help a bunch. 

Hope everyone had a great 2007 and and I hope that 2008 is great!

Aunt Neice's Farm

Once again Rachael is visiting “Aunt Neice’s Farm.” She is a riot to have around; however, when she leaves tomorrow, it will take me a few days to recuperate. She was still interested in seeing the chickens a zillion times a day, with the added benefit of having the one legged chicken “Hopper” conveniently located in the garage. She had to feed Hopper about 10 times a day along with the dogs, Pretty Boy and Hershey. She really loves the chickens, just ask her, she'll tell you. She loves them 670 pounds, I told her I loved them all the way to the moon and back, she thought that was pretty funny.

Pretty boy is an indoor dog. A lanky, old greyhound, he stands as tall as she. He is gentle and took a lot of “love” from her, but by the end of the day, would run when he saw her coming his direction. I just hope he ran that fast during his racing career.

“Aunt Neice, you know why pretty boy is so happy now?”

No but I’m quite sure you’re willing to share that information, ran through my head. But I answered with a simple, interested “Why?”

“Because he just got a new baby.” She said as she wrapped up the stuffed Hershey dog replica.

“Um, ok, well, here’s the problem Boys don’t get babies!!”

“Well” She muttered and gave some serious contemplation. “The mom had the baby in her tummy and then Pretty Boy got the baby. That’s why he’s happy.”

“But you know what?” she continued

Um, apparently not, “What?”

“Pretty boy just has to go to work. He says au revoir, I’m goin’ to work, and then we have to take care of the baby. Isn’t that silly aunt Neice? We just have to take care of pretty boy’s baby all day.”

Oh ya, I’m laughing. That’s your job for the day.

We walked up to the coop and fed the hens. On the way back she exclaimed “Surprise!! I’m not taking a nap today; I’m just going to bed early.”

Ha! Surprise, you’re taking a nap today and going to bed early. At least one of us is, but I get to pick.

After lunch she wanted a “dessert”, so I went to the kitchen to whip something up.

“Put your armpits up or I’ll shoot” she excitedly exclaimed as she ran toward me. I was mixing up a batch of brownies, but paused, stuck my finger out and said the same.

“Noooooooooo” she whined as her eyes began to water. “You’re not playing it right.”

“Why?”

“You can just let me tickle you.” She answered

“I can’t tickle you?”

“Noooooooo” she whined again. She then ran into the bedroom and shut the door behind her, obviously tired and ready for a nap.

I continued with the brownies. She quietly poked her head out the door twice hoping I wouldn’t catch a glimpse of her. I pretended not to notice. On the second time, she piped up, head sticking out into the foyer, “Hey! I want some brownies!

“You do?”

“Yes, I want some brownies.” She said with a touch of indignation in her voice.

“Ok, are you going to stay in there or are you coming out?” I asked

“Well, I want brownies, but I’m just not happy with how you were acting” she scolded.

“Not happy with how I was acting?” I asked holding back a chuckle.

“Yes, that’s right, I’m just not happy with how you were acting. You were not behaving good!”

“Ok, well, I’m gonna have a brownie, you gonna have one?”

“Yes” she muttered as she shut the door and pouted on the way out. “But I just call them browns”

Tomorrow she goes home. I’ll miss her, but I understand God’s wisdom in giving kids to young people. After she leaves tomorrow I’m planning on taking a bubble bath with a good book and a plate of browns. Right now I’ll settle for a couple of Advil and a dark room.


Pretty Boy, his "baby" and Rae

The Nest Box

Today was a great day. I decided last night that it was to be a chore day, I put the kids to work and we got a lot accomplished. Becca cleaned inside and Josh and Em worked outside. We're in "Monsooon season" so they say, which means even though it is very dry here, it rains most afternoons. The drive has some spots washed out from the recent downpours, so I accompanied Josh and showed him what I wanted done and how to best do it. He drove the pick-up and I rode on the back, we went down the lane and examined the spots that needed repair. Riding on the tailgate reminded me of the days spent walking beans as a kid. I left him and came back to supervise the girls and get a few things checked off my own list. Josh returned about an hour later with a dead, but still slithering rattle snake. Steve says he has my aim and quick reflexes. He got it with a shovel just below the head, I told him I was proud of his quick thinking and his aim. it was 3' 1" long. Not a big one, but big enough!

Josh helped me to hang the 15 hole nest box in the coop today. I think it looks great. The hens love it. They went from hole to hole to hole checking it out, scratching the hay around, and clucking. I think they tried just about every hole before they decided it met with their approval and hopped on down and out the door. Hopefully tomorrow they will lay in the box and not on the ground.

I picked up the nest box from craigslist. It was in need of some repairs before hanging. Some of the floor trays were missing and some were rusted through, so we cut boards and made new floors for it. Josh was removing some staples from the boards before running them through the saw and rammed a chisel pretty deep into his hand. I told him it pays to use the right tool for the job...probably figured that out already :) He bled a bit. I made him wash it, I put some bactroban on it, butterflied it and then bandaged it. It probably could have used a few stitches, but he takes after me and wanted to leave it be. I told him to keep an eye on it for infection. I think it bled enough to clean it out. I think his plan was to fake dad out and tell him the snake bit him. I advised him to make sure dad was in a good mood first. :)

Becca took her truck into the body shop. She got in a wreck last week and seemed to be dragging her feet about getting it in for repair, not sure why. She is still waiting to hear about the new job. They have had some turnover in managment and she was told they want her, but they can't hire till the new manager is in place, hopefully soon. I reccommended she start looking again.

Tonight the kids had friends over to watch a movie. They like to hang out here. I'm glad, I can supervise and I like knowing what is going on and who they are hanging with.

We didn't get everything on the lists done, but we made a good dent in them, and we had an exciting and fun day hanging out together and working toward a common goal. And, I was reminded once again that I have a bunch of really great kids!


Josh with the headless rattler