Thursday, February 24, 2011

I think....

I think I am going to try and do one of those "one a day" blogs. One of those, "I'm going to pick a theme and every day for a year I am going to post a picture and blog post about it" blogs. I think I am going to do something like "Goat of the day". Actually I think that is already taken. Maybe "The Daily Goat". Or "Goat 365". That is probably already used as well.

Luckily they have the function to be able to preschedule posts so I could do like a month of posts in one afternoon and not actually have to manually post every single day, lol.

If I decide to do this I will start requesting pics of stories from folks about their goats to post. I'd like it to be informational as well. We'll see if I work up enough energy to do it or not, lol.

Three quarts.

I could have probably managed to get another 1/2 quart but I was out of jars, and the kids were screaming their heads off wanting their share. They are growing so fast. They are finally eating their feed with the anti-cocci stuff in it, and they have discovered the joys of free choice minerals and protein lick buckets, hehe. Today is a big day for them, if everything works out right at least. They are getting their shots and getting banded (I.E. neutered). Well, they are for sure getting their shots, may hold off a day or two on banding depending on how things go with the shots.

I think when I band them then leave the does with them that first night so I may wait to band until this weekend. Either way Tsu will be helping, and the kids are going to be so ticked off at me!

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Test result finally....

the ones I was waiting for almost a month ago.... I've been calling and calling trying to get the results and it was a huge mess. Pain in my butt. But everything is ok. A few things to keep an eye on but nothing that needs any further looking at for now. Thank goodness. I am a little perturbed that it took me getting so obnoxious to get my results, though.

I'm sorry, if you have a mammogram and they call you the next day and immediately schedule you for a recheck, then they take 10 new scans and leave you bruised and sore for days because of how they had to squish you, and then they tell you they will call you either way to let you know what they find.... having to call every two days for THREE WEEKS leaving messages and begging for info to finally get results is inexcusable.

I shared my displeasure, and the nurse seemed interested in the fact that the receptionist has not been passing along messages and she also commented that the receptionist took the "call immediately with results" post it note off my file and put my file away... so the nurse had no reason to think I had not been contacted. She said it WOULD be looked into.

Now I can get back to looking for a job.

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Parsley, the big bad buck...

The girls got the weekend off from the milking stand and I let the kids do the milking for me but I'm running out of cheese and that is a situation that MUST be remedied!

So I had planned to switch them over to being away from the kids at night, but my evening feeding is at 6 or 7 pm, and my morning feeding is usually at 9 am. That is too long for them to be apart, so I fed them then went back out around 10pm and separated them. Here is the thing... last week it was niiiice. So Parsley was out in the outdoor pen. But I do not currently have a real shelter out there, just a table with a tarp over it. So he can not stay out there when the weather is really wintery and if you have any idea what our weather is like in Michigan over the last few days... well... it's wintery. lol.

So... what to so?

Parsley is mellow. Laid back. Super sweet. So i got the brilliant idea to try sticking him in with the kids at night.

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So I stuck him on the milk stand while I moved the girls to his pen, then took him in to meet his children for the first time.

He took one look at the bucklings and puffed up and started blubbering and prancing. I had a lead on him just in case he acted like a jerk. The kids were stunned. What is this? It's a goat, but it isn't our moms! Chickory stood up tall, raised his hackles like a dog and snorted.

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Parsley stood up to his full height, twisted his head and shot forward like he was going to butt those kids into next week and Chickory met him head to head without any hesitation..... and Parsley made a startled squeaky sound, started to run backward, and hid behind me trembling in fear. He kept burying his face in my side and shaking. He would peak out around me and as soon as one of the kids started to approach he would get all shaky and hide his eyes again.

He is such a tough guy, haha!!

So I took off his lead rope and slipped out of the stall and watched from outside. He kept standing up at the door bleating at me as if he were yelling "Help! get me outta here!" *chuckle*

I checked on them later and he was still looking timid and hiding from the kids, but he wasn't running from them anymore.

So this morning i went out and all four boys were standing in the corner like old friends, and when I went to take Pars out of the stall the kids tried to follow him. He couldn't get out of there fast enough, lol.

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I got a half gallon of milk this morning. My little milker wasn't holding pressure very well, the cold was making the lines stiff. So I had to do a lot more hand milking than usual. Thyme is getting easier to milk, her teats are finally long enough to get a grip on, haha. Rosemary, though... HAHAHA! Her little thimble sized teats. *shakes head*