I feel like I say that every week now. What a week. *sigh* It's been crazy between Dr. appointments and getting together with the former club treasurer to get things switched to me (and finding out we couldn't change the banking info without the minutes from a meeting explaining exactly what I can do) and more blood work for Tiff (glucose test for gestational diabetes. And there are women out there who actually get pregnant intentionally??? *mindboggled*) and of course Parsley going to his new home.
*falls over*
Well, after feeling like I have been running in circles for the entire week I had a lovely surprise this morning at chore time. I was loving on Nutmeg and her big old kid-filled belly and I checked her tiny little teats and... there was a tiny little udder under there!!!! Right on time she is starting to have udder development. Of course being a shaggy coated Toggenburg you can't SEE anything but it's there!
I'm less excited about the kids than about the milking. The kids are all destined for the freezer, so I won't be getting attached to them. I am curious to see what they look like, but I am keeping my emotional distance. I'm more excited about my possible new future herd sire, which means waiting until April to see if the doe i want a buckling from even has any boys (this is one of the commercial does owned by the lady who bought Thyme and Rosemary 1, and the sire is her lovely meaty buck, Motor City). But I am giddy about seeing how Nutmeg and Ivy's udders turn out and what kind of milk production I get out of them.
This summer I am practically going to be swimming in milk. *yay*
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Winter has teeth, so does bacon.
BRRR! It turned to real winter yesterday! It's still nicer than it was this time last year (we are just a few days away from Chickory's birthday, when it was -9 actual temps) but.... brrr!
My two bucks refused to use their little house. It was just too cold and windy to leave them outside. I was not at all ready to put Rosie back in the same stall with Sage, but I didn't want to leave the boys outside either. I have plans to goatify my other stall since i never use it for the horse but that is still on my to do list somewhere below "stay sane" and "make sure pregnant teen gets proper care and education".
So... in order to make sure no one died of hypothermia I did this:
Athletic tape over the teats. This was this morning, so it survived all night, and i got my usual amount of milk this AM. Rosie tried to nurse but Sage rebuffed her adamantly and she gave up.
The boys are in tight quarters, but they are getting along pretty well, and aren't shivering like they were outside.
Chickory isn't thrilled being low man on the totem poll again. He'll be glad when they go back outside, which if the weather reports are right should be tomorrow.
Ivy and Nutmeg are doing great.
Nutmeg is due first week of March and is getting huge.
Ivy should be due end of April, same time as Tiff, which is NOT what i wanted but I needed to make sure she freshened this year, even if it meant it was at a bit of an inconvenient time. She is starting to look like she has a baby bump. We'll know more surely in another month or so.
On an unrelated topic, I was cooking bacon two days ago and it tried to blind me!! A bit of fat popped and blew hot grease onto my hands and one little splatter hit RIGHT next to my eye. It barely stung my hands but it left a tiny but quite nasty burn right by my eye. And I can't seem to leave it alone unless I keep a bandaid over it. A half inch to one side and it would have hit me in the eye. *scary* I think I need one of those face shields the coroners in crime shows wear when they have to do something that might be splashy, hehe. But you know what? the bacon was delicious. *grin* Even if it did try to bite me.
My two bucks refused to use their little house. It was just too cold and windy to leave them outside. I was not at all ready to put Rosie back in the same stall with Sage, but I didn't want to leave the boys outside either. I have plans to goatify my other stall since i never use it for the horse but that is still on my to do list somewhere below "stay sane" and "make sure pregnant teen gets proper care and education".
So... in order to make sure no one died of hypothermia I did this:
Athletic tape over the teats. This was this morning, so it survived all night, and i got my usual amount of milk this AM. Rosie tried to nurse but Sage rebuffed her adamantly and she gave up.
The boys are in tight quarters, but they are getting along pretty well, and aren't shivering like they were outside.
Chickory isn't thrilled being low man on the totem poll again. He'll be glad when they go back outside, which if the weather reports are right should be tomorrow.
Ivy and Nutmeg are doing great.
Nutmeg is due first week of March and is getting huge.
Ivy should be due end of April, same time as Tiff, which is NOT what i wanted but I needed to make sure she freshened this year, even if it meant it was at a bit of an inconvenient time. She is starting to look like she has a baby bump. We'll know more surely in another month or so.
On an unrelated topic, I was cooking bacon two days ago and it tried to blind me!! A bit of fat popped and blew hot grease onto my hands and one little splatter hit RIGHT next to my eye. It barely stung my hands but it left a tiny but quite nasty burn right by my eye. And I can't seem to leave it alone unless I keep a bandaid over it. A half inch to one side and it would have hit me in the eye. *scary* I think I need one of those face shields the coroners in crime shows wear when they have to do something that might be splashy, hehe. But you know what? the bacon was delicious. *grin* Even if it did try to bite me.
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Mudville.
It's turned to winter again, but on Christmas eve our world was still mud. I'd had to park in the yard and walk to the house for a while. THIS was the scene at our house:
I won't complain, not one bit.
Now we are buried under a blanket of snow, the water buckets are covered in ice, and I can't seem to get my feet warm. But the driveway is solid enough for me to get the rest of my winter hay delivered. So i guess it isn't all bad.
We got another deer last night for the family freezer, a nice big fat doe. That should be enough meat to last us a while. I feel much better knowing we have enough to get us through for a bit.
On an unrelated note.... Dexter is really sucking up these days. he is in the dog house again. It's a good thing he is cute.
I won't complain, not one bit.
Now we are buried under a blanket of snow, the water buckets are covered in ice, and I can't seem to get my feet warm. But the driveway is solid enough for me to get the rest of my winter hay delivered. So i guess it isn't all bad.
We got another deer last night for the family freezer, a nice big fat doe. That should be enough meat to last us a while. I feel much better knowing we have enough to get us through for a bit.
On an unrelated note.... Dexter is really sucking up these days. he is in the dog house again. It's a good thing he is cute.
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