Frustratedearthmother's Journaling Journey

I did it! That's the cleanest my desk has been in months now.

I thought it would be regular chores tonight, but.... I look over in the buck pen where Short STuff and the Nubian girls are and Lil' Bit is in standing heat. Right now I think I might have to admit that I've got the dumbest buck in the history of the world.

I can see that Short STuff is nothing but frustrated! He's been trying from every angle except for the right one! After watching him make one futile attempt after another, I figger I need to step in and help. I already have a little ramp set up to boost his chances, but do you think that dingbat can figure it out? I went so far as to lead Lil Bit over there and hold her in place. I swear, this must be the dumbest buck in the world, lol. He couldn't even figure out how to get up on the ramp...gee whiz. So, I take the doe and lead her up on the ramp - he follows. Things are looking up. I'm thinking we might have a chance of success. So, I stepped her off the end of the ramp and hold her in place - just the right height and everything - shoulda been easy-peasy! Wasn't!

Let me figure out how to say this delicately.... ummmm.... I don't want to get in trouble, so I'll put this in sports terms. Let's just say that the pitch missed home plate and ended up in right field. I saw visions of tiny goatlings flying through the air.....literally. He gets down, goes over to the corner, lights a cigarette... ARGH! He threw a foul ball and he didn't even know it! :he

Okay, enough of that sad story. But stay tuned sports fans - we'll pick up this game tomorrow.
 
:lau Reminds me of one of James Herriot's stories, but in that case, it was a dog!
 
I looooooooove James Herriot's books. I need to see if I still have any of them laying around and indulge in a reading day while I'm off work.
 
What a frustrating morning. Took the terriers out to milk this morning because I've seen some rodents scurrying around in the barn lately. They are fantastic ratters! Okay, one of them is a fantastic ratter - the other is old :old and blind. He can still sniff them out but if they run away before he can grab them, he just stands there looking perplexed. Anyway, I should have known better because the dogs made Red nervous and she kicked the bucket, not once, but TWICE. There went at least a quart of milk....grrrrr.

As part of my morning routine, I walk over to give a quick glance at the rest of the herd and, dang it, found a dead goat. It was a young wether that I'd just moved out to pasture yesterday. The worst part of this is that I think my own GPyr did the deed. Can't prove it, but I'm very suspicious. She has always been wary about new animals in HER pasture - she sees them as intruders I think. But, this goat was born here, and as a baby he crawled all over her. He's been penned with the other baby bucks for several months now and because he was wethered, I put him back with the herd yeserday evening. I watched them for a little while and, true to form, she gave him a good sniff-over, but then turned her back and walked away. She eats out of a bucket hanging on the fence, and I found him dead under the bucket. She is very food-protective and has the rest of the herd well-trained to stay away from her groceries! Guess this little guy found out the hard way.

Death on the farm is a sad, but natural part of life. I just hate it when I think it's because of my own negligence. Even after all these years, there is always something new to learn. I was complacent and I shouldn't have been, and this poor little guy paid the price. Even though he was destined for the freezer, I owed him a better life than to be killed by my own dog.

Lots of chores on the list today. Need to work on that chicken run, do some general clean-up and start the marathon mowing spree. Gotta get busy.
 
Thanks for the hug, Pink. You can never have too many!

Well, one life ends and another begins. At least that's what I'm hoping. Short Stuff finally figured it out and we've had two successful breedings today. We'll try again this evening and see if she's still standing in the morning. I have a feeling today is all we get since she started acting receptive yesterday. Sometimes you don't get much of a window with these gals.

Got the easy mowing done. Easy = riding mower. The hard stuff, with the push mower will hopefully get finished this evening.....if the rain holds off. We've been working on the chicken run but it was waaaaay hot. Got it about half done and it started sprinkling. Big thunder going on...lost tv signal...rain! Gotta go close the store room door.
 
Whew - it's already HOT, HOT, HOT! Why did hubs and I decide to take vacation on what will be a scorching week? Yesterday morning, before the clouds and rain moved in - we had a heat index of about 108 on our little home weather station. Not sure how accurate it is, but I can definitely verify that it was ridiculously, over the top - crazy hot. Thankfully, the clouds rolled in and between showers (it never rained hard) we got a few things accomplished. Got the chicken run finished and today I need to decide which breed will be the new ower of said pen. I got Lil Bit bred three times now that Short Stuff has figured out that I'm there to help him!

Spooky, the third Nubian doe is flagging her tail and sounding forlorn, so it was her turn to meet up with Short STuff this morning. This crazy witch (and that's the nice version of what I've been calling her today) put on a rodeo worthy of the wildest bucking bull ever. Everything started well. I put a collar on her, led her over to the ramp and Short Stuff comes up to woo her. I reached back to make sure her tail was out of the way, and I swear this gal came unglued! Now, I'm a stubborn ol' gal myself and I will NOT turn loose of an animal just because they think I should. I'm a firm believer that if I have them, it's MY decision when to let go. MOST of my animals know and accept this. Nine times out of ten when I put a collar/halter on them, it's a good thing. I make sure the session ends on a good note. Works out well for both of us. Until today, I thought Spooky understood that too. She jumped forward, twirled around on her hind legs, tried to take off the other way, but guess who was in her way? She's a big stout doe, probably weighs about 120, and even though I do outweigh her - she managed to pull me about six feet before I dug in my heels and got control. So, we try it again.... at least this time I was prepared. This time she ends up on the ground, squalling like she's dying.... what a drama queen! At that point we take a few 'cool down' laps around the pen, and I turned her out. What does she do - head right back to the pen squalling and flagging her tail. Geeze louise! Her antics are the main reason she earned her name.

Few days ago I put the Pilgrim geese into an overgrown pen in hopes that they would do some clean-up. They made a good dent in it, but I think they've just about done the best that they can so me and the push mower will have to finish it off. I want to get some broccoli , greens, and some onions in the ground soon. Our winter was so mild last year that I can only remember two times that it was cold enough to concern me. On those nights I just piled up extra hay mulch around the plants and everything came through just fine. Broccoli out did itself! I'm hoping for the same thing this year.

I want to try to make goats milk cajeta today. Not even sure why I want to try it since we consume very little sugar in this house. Maybe just to be able to say that I did it.

Gotta get busy!
 
Winding down from one of those days. A little melancholy thinking a lot about my sister today. Don't think I've mentioned it here, but I lost my younger sister one month ago today. Supposed to scatter her ashes in a couple of weeks. Sad situation, family fights and a bunch of stuff that shouldn't be happening. Don't know why death brings out such horrible traits in some folks....

On a brighter note, had two successful breedings between Short Stuff and Spooky. I sure hope it works because I'm really considering finding a new home for her after she kids (if she kids). Hopefully her kids won't inherit her over-the-top dramatic side! I don't tolerate troublemaker's very well!

Made the cajeta - yummy! Even though I don't eat a lot of sugary foods, I am a total sucker for sweets, just try to control it. I could probaly eat the whole batch if I'd let myself! I split the batch and put part of it in the fridge, and put about a cup into a hot canning jar which obliged me by sealing right on the counter.

Processed a bunch of eggs, which just means that I took them off the kitchen counter, wiped 'em down and put 'em in cartons in the fridge. Getting about a dozen a day right now, but still have a bunch of young pullets that should start laying within a month or so. Oh, almost forgot - I tried a new method of boiling eggs - which doesn't involve boiling at all. You bake 'em at 325 for 30 minutes and then plunge 'em in ice water for 10 minutes. There is a tiny difference in the consistency of the yolks - a little softer I guess. The advantages are supposed to be that you can do a bunch of eggs at one time. I baked 2 dozen. In the future, I might bake 'em if I had at least 4 dozen to do (which is rare). But, all in all, hardly seems worth the extra electricity....

Hubby picked up supplies for another chicken run - yippee.

AND we're considering an overnight trip to a gambling casino/hotel in Louisiana. I've only been gambling once - and took a very limited amount of cash. I'd sold some Westie puppies that supported that trip. Had a blast, even though I left more money in Vegas than I came home with.... Hubs and I don't get away very often with all the critters. We deserve some fun, we do, I think...

He's online checking out a place to go!

Going to pour myself a glass of merlot.
 
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