Tuesday, February 28, 2006

Back into winter we go.

Chores are now taking me almost 2 hours; well, included in that is usually more than a few minutes of goat schmoozing and adoration that could be eliminated, but....
The oldest kids are now a month old, halfway to weaning age. I am looking forward to that, but looming in the not too distant future is a slew of fresh does and babies. I have probably 15 does to kid between March 13th and April 1st. FUN FUN FUN!

After chores yesterday morning I went back to work on my feeder. I welded the other crossbar to the top, and now I could cut off the former top and make it more goat-sized.
This involved cutting 12 pieces of pipe at eye level crosswise. Holding the cut off saw and cutting that much at that angle made my whole right side ache, but I made myself do them all, and I lastly cut the upright holding the whole thing. It looks cool now! But of course now I still have the whole other side to do. I'll make myself do it this morning.

The rain came a pouring down, and that's all it took to once again close Meridian Road. It was such a tease; we had it for 2 days. 2 DAYS! Back to the trip through town. I do get to keep tabs on a house that is being built near the fairgrounds. Driving by 4 to 6 times a day, I can see their progress. It's only 2 guys and a Labrador, but they are plugging right along. They are starting to put up the wall framing. Not much got done yesterday, they took the day off to nap.

So I spent the rainy rainy day sorting out Josh's Lego's. They have been sitting in bags downstairs, occasionally being ripped open by bad dogs, some chewed on. Since J is 18 and hasn't played with them for years, it's eBay time. I sorted them into colors and cleaned tham ( taking out the dogchewed ones) and they are in zip locked bags ready to go. It was all a ploy to seize the little table they were sitting on. It's my old sewing machine table and I absconded it to take to the ranch to put my pasteurizer on.
And it was done.

Monday, February 27, 2006

DIY abortion for South Dakotans ( for now)

Sunday, February 26, 2006

Project Runway: NIck should have never been out. But I did find his blog

A switch opens on half a million volts

The High Line will be a huge asset to the lower west side of Manhattan. It has been abandoned about as long as I have been out of New York. I'm excited about it, check out the video.

The 100 most popular hits of the 70's. I am so nostalgin'

The Top 10 Singles of 1975

1."Love Will Keep Us Together" - Captain & Tennille
2."Rhinestone Cowboy" - Glen Campbell
3."Fame" - David Bowie
4."Shining Star" - Earth, Wind and Fire
5."My Eyes Adored You" - Frankie Valli
6."Thank God I'm A Country Boy" - John Denver
7."Philadelphia Freedom" - Elton John
8."One Of These Nights" - Eagles
9."Pick Up The Pieces" - Average White Band
10."At Seventeen" - Janis Ian

2 hours?

Last night, with the storm approaching, I got the following done in a 2 hour flurry of activity:
Milked the does ( I think there are 10 now)
Pasteurized milk
Put Lil Nubian dude back in his pen
Pulled a huge buck kid from a first freshener ( I do mean a HUGE kid)
Fed my babies (16)
Moved my hay trailer to the barn and unloaded and stacked J's hay
Milked colostrum from fresh doe
Vaccinated her
Rounded up crate and fresh shavings for new buck kid
Backed up the big truck full of hay into the front barn ( in the dark, it's a tight fit, that was a chore!)
I never would have believed it but Ted got the tractor running. It is now off of exile island and safely in the barnyard. From the battery to the starter the dang thing really started. The odds seemed so against it.
I am awestruck.

After that Robyn showed up, so while Ted tinkered some more ( it doesn't want to clutch) I was up on the roof patching against the impending rain storm, and Robyn and I chatted.

Finally tonight, Tippy had her kid. A huge black ( like both Tippy's dam and sire) buck kid. Tippy has a gorgeous udder and I milked out a good amount of colostrum.

It was a very very good day.

Saturday, February 25, 2006

Do I see a swallow?



My doe. Tippy, still hasn't kidded. I'm getting a bit anxious. She is my first daughter , and my first daughter to freshen out of my permanent Grand Champion, Nifty ( AKA Ms Man), as well as my first daughter to freshen out of another permanent Champion, Prince.
*Chews nubs that used to be fingernails.*

In other news, Ted started to try to revive my poor abandoned water logged tractor. So far he has gotten to the started which seems to be seized. I know it will get running at some point, I feel so bad for it. I have promised it I will build it it's own barn this summer.

The feeder project is moving along, I have a good vision how I am going to finish it, that makes it more likely to happen. I might have to buy some steel for the legs.

Rain is on it's way in for the week, the first we have had in almost a month. It's been a great break, and I've even spied some dust on occasion. Meridian Road has finally been opened and I am seeing part of my neighborhood I haven't seen in months. That's pretty strange, I hadn't seen any of the windstorm damage down there, or the flooding mess.
It changes my commute (I drive at least 2 usually 3 round trips per day)from a 10 minute, 5 mile, through town, round about drive to a 2 mile, 5 minute straight shot nothing but farms drive. It's like taking a time machine.

Daffodils are blooming, trees are flowering, babies are being born, it doesn't get dark until 6:30.
I keep thinking I see swallows, but I know they're still a month away.

Friday, February 24, 2006

"Pretty Dyana: A Gypsy Recycling Saga"

I went back to work on my feeder today.

A very good day.

My dentist's appointment was postponed.
I gave away 20% of my dogs.
Meridian Road is open since it flooded in December.

I would call all of those things good.

Thursday, February 23, 2006

This is what can happen

Only 4 dogs now!


I finally found a great home for one of my Border Collies. Panda just has not been working out, and is constantly fighting and competing with Abby. It has just not been working out.
I've been trying to find a home for her for 2 years, and finally today, she went to a new home.
The Fosters are a great 4H family that I have known through the goats and Doe Project.
They lost their old Border Collie recently, so the timing was good.
I hope it all works out. Panda is a sweet affectionate willing to please dog, and I think they will all get along great.
Here are Riley and Will this morning in the sun on their front porch with Panda.

Wednesday, February 22, 2006

Food? What's that?

Ug it took me almost 2 hours to do chores this morning. That is too long. It's time for me to sell some milkers. I almost took one with me up to J's today.
After I got all that done I drove up to J's dairy to help her trim the rest of the does in her dry pen. It was a fantastic beautiful sunny and almost warm day. We worked for over 3 hours straight, we did finally get to the end of them, and we were both pretty wiped out. After all of that we still needed to load my truck and trailer with hay for me to bring back for her weanlings that are at my place. Also, I took a buck kid I had asked for, plus 2 grade bucks that a friend was looking to feed extra milk to.

Once home I had afternoon feeding to do before I got a chance to sit down and have a bite to eat. Toast.

Now I am watching Project Runway, and soon I have to head out for evening chores. I am pretty tired. Oh and tomorrow I have a dentist appointment. Yippee.
Tomorrow is Tippy's due date and she is the last doe I have due in this bunch. I have a break until the 7th when one doe is due and until the 13th when the next bunch starts. From there it just goes until April.

It's time to sell some of these goats.

Tuesday, February 21, 2006

The Waiting Stall

While thinking nasty thoughts about someone I don't even really know, I bashed my knee on the corner of an open drawer in my bedroom. I hit it really hard, so hard that I yelped, yelped, and fell onto the bed whimpering. It still hurts.

I am waiting on Princess Leia to kid. She has been ready since last night, but she's just hanging around, eating hay and chewing her cud. She'll be 8 this year, this is at least her 8th set of kids, so having kids is no big deal to her. She last kidded last June.

I finally finished mowing the lawn today; that last bit has taken me 4 attempts. The grass had gotten so long, and my lawnmower has been tempermental, but today ecerything finally came together and I got the last bit done. Of course by this time the first part of the lawn needed to be mowed again, so I went ahead and did. Right for this minute the whole lawn is mowed. That will last about 1 to 2 weeks, at most.

This morning was the first morning in almost a week that there was no frost on the car. I'll still take these clear but cold days over the incessant rain.

My camera has resurfaced and I am going to try to upload at least 2 video clips to Vimeo a week.

I burned my thumb really bad on a piece of firewood 2 nights ago. I've got a nice blister going, I'm curious as to how the healing will progress. Will it die and fall off? Will it break open? Keep tuned.

Monday, February 20, 2006

T is out of town for his monthly Portland trip, and it was damn cold last night. Fifth night in a row of frost. I'll have to pour water on my windshield again this morning to clear it.

I had a dream last night that I was out of milk. If you knew what was going on in my house you'd know how absurd that is.

3 does due in the next 3 days, and Twister is all ready to go. Neleven kidded yesterday with bucks, thankyouverymuch.

Pat's family has started moving her things out of the house. The house belongs to the ranch I rent, and so to my landlords. I have no idea what will happen with it now. Her garden was so beautiful, who will tend her roses? I think I will prune them as it is time.

Yesterday I drove up to Eureka for a Dairy Goat Club meeting; it was to be a little lecture by a Santa Rosa vet and Saanen breeder on the perils of parturition.
I had a lovely time considering my anxiety of meetings/ groups of people/ and I even raised my hand a few times and asked questions and I don't think I even got sweaty from doing it!
In fact after the meeting I was surprised how relaxed and comfortable I had been there, even to the point of enjoying being around the local goaties. I guess at this point we all know each other pretty well.
O K I guess sometimes it's nice to be around people. Did I say that? I did leave quickly..

UPDATE:
Twister had beautiful twin doelings!
Uh, I poured hot milk on my windshield...!

Sunday, February 19, 2006

Remembering something...

In 1983 I was living in Montana and looking for a way out. I wanted to farm.
In the back of The Mother Earth News were classified ads with "Intentional Communities" looking for members.

I wrote to a few, got a few answers back.

One was from a guy in Kentucky. He was a spelunker and he wanted someone to live on his farm so he was free to go caving. Milk the cow, tend the garden etc.
I was young, and invincible, so I went.
It took me 3 days to get to his farm and I arrived at the end of his road in the middle of the night. Even though he had sent me a map, it was completely dark, and the instructions were to park and walk in. I slept in my truck and headed out the next morning.
It was about a 2 mile hike into his place, and before I got to the house he jumped out from behind a tree. His gates were rigged, so he knew at the house when someone had opened one. He wore a pistol on his hip. (later he told me he was using me as bait for a local rapist)

I spent about a week at his place. It was a mess. Somewhere I have photos maybe I'll dig out. While I was there it snowed, so we were in the house a lot. I chose to spend much of the time in the barn. I learned to milk the cow and I solidified the relationship I have with goats. He had a mule and lots of chickens, and some nice dogs who wore sticks hanging from their collars on chains to keep them from chasing the chickens.

Not much happened at the farm, I really didn't like him or his place so it was pretty obvious I wasn't going to stay. He was weenie so I knew I could fight back, but he never bothered me, and I was never frightened.

On a whim today I looked him up. He died in 2003. I found an ad he published after I left, still looking for someone to tend his place. Remembering him in a Cave Journal people who knew him pretty much described him as I remember; dirty, bitter, didn't like women.

I left his place and went to Jims
Jim said "He let you get away, this time..."

Friday, February 17, 2006

Farming is fun

The sun is still out everyday.
Yesterday I started to re build the sheds and feeder that were destroyed in the New Years Day windstorm. It was a project building them the first time, a real annoying chore and a waste of a good sunny day to have to do it all a second time.
But now, I have most of the feeder fixed, and today I put 12 wheelbarrowfuls of shavings into one of the pens to make a nice mound out of any mud that is/ will be.

I also ran a line of barbed wire across the fence where my colt has been reaching across and nibbling the grass trashing the fence. He was watching me do it; I felt like I was ruining his fun. Like the scene in "To Kill A Mockingbird" when Mr. Radley is filling up the knothole that Boo has left the children gifts in, while they are watching.

I gathered up the sheep and vaccinated the lambs, then turned them out in the tall grass behind Pat's house. No one has been at Pat's house since last Thursday. It is so strange that she is gone now. She was always there, now she's gone forever.

Quigley grows up

Molly blew into town last night and is already gone again.

It was so great to visit with her and the few minutes she spent with me and my colt have really left an impression. She came to get buck kids and goats for her meat goat project, and I got her lined up with breeders. She ended up really scoring a truck full of kiko kids from J and S my landlords, who really were sick of bottle feeding them. So that worked out well for every one. Even me, as I wanted her to help me when I picked up Q's back feet for the first time since he was a tiny baby.

That went as well as I could have hoped, he did nothing, picked up his feet, let me mess with them, put them down. I need to have his feet trimmed and I want to make sure he will cooperate with the horseshoer. He was absolutely as fine as could be about all of that. It's pathetic but I have to buy a hoof pick, I don't even have one, and now I will clean out his feet regularly.

Then I asked Molly what I should be doing with him now that I want to get to riding him soon.
Well it was like having a private session with a trainer on one of the RFD-TV Horsemans show. She showed me how to get him to flex and give his head, and prepare him for accepting a bridle, the next big step.
She gave me lots of encouragement and seemed to think he will be easy to work with as he was willing and soft on the responses he gave.
It was really exciting and I have evem more interest and renewed excitement on the prospect of having a horse of my own to ride again.
Ooh, now I get to shop for horse clothes as I need a bridle!!

Thanks Molly! You are the BEST!!

Thursday, February 16, 2006

I Heart Steinbeck

"We had a game we playfully called speculative metaphysics..."
"We thought that perhaps our species thrives best and most creatively in a state of semi-anarchy, governed by loose rules and half-practiced mores. To this we added the premise that over integration in groups might parallel the law in paleontology that over-armor or over-ornamentation are symptoms of decay and disappearance. Indeed, we thought, over-integration might be the symptom of human decay. We thought: there is no creative unit in the human save the individual working alone. In pure creativeness, in art, in music, in mathematics , there are no true collaborations. The creative principle is a lonely and an individual matter. Groups can correlate, investigate, and build, but we could not think of any group that has ever created or invented anything. Indeed, the first impulse of the group seems to be to destroy the creation and the creator. But integration, or the designed group, seems to be highly vulnerable."

from About Ed Ricketts
John Steinbeck

Steinbeck seemed to be a man forever searching for true human experience: happiness, sadness, struggle, and endurance. In the biographical collection American Writers (1974) one quote seems to sum up the life of John Steinbeck. "It was Steinbeck's philosophy to the end of his life...that three wills are operative in mans experience: the will of the group, the will of the individual, and the moral will which must in the end prevail over the lesser two"(American Writers, 1974, p. 57).

Delicate-ness

"For decades, many of ski jumping's patriarchs scoffed at the notion that women could compete -- suggesting the sport could damage reproductive organs or cause pelvic injuries."

Everytime I hear this argument I am amazed.
Are there any more vulnerable reproductive organs than the male's?
I think they've all got it backwards, if there is any argument at all.

Wednesday, February 15, 2006

Rats and Hamster Valentines Dance

It was strangely pleasant climbing around on the truck last night. The passing rainclouds with the moon shining through them. I was trying to haul a tarp over the hay ( still) in the back of the big truck. It was almost midnight, everything, including myself, was wet. It was like playing in the rain. Sort of.
I was almost laughing out loud.

Not much to report. The little rain we got last night was the first drops we have seen in almost 2 weeks. Everything has pretty much dried up here, what with the cold whipping winds we had on Monday and the sun, even the lake on Saottinis place is gone. Of course, much of mine is still there, and my tractor is still stranded on Manure Island.
The water on Meridian Rd is completely gone; that's been flooded since December. Maybe soon they'll fix the bridge so my commute will be cut in half. I really despise driving through town everytime I go to the ranch.

From the 19th through the 23rd I have 4 does due to kid; afterwhich I get almost a month break ( next due on the 13th, oh but J brought me a doe due on the 7th. Drrrr)

While I was milking ysterday, the feedstore truck showed up with my Valentines gift! A big green square bouquet! He knows what I want...

What with all the animal chores I haven't done any metal work, and I am anxious to get back to it. Not today, as I am hauling 2 more lambs to the butcher.

Steve the hamster has been missing since before we went on our ski trip.
The past few nights we have heard him scritching around, but we hadn't found him. 2 nights ago I heard him by my bed so I turned on the light and saw A MOUSE not Steve run under the bed.
Great, there's some sort of rodentfest going on in our house.
So last night I tore apart the corner of the house where I figured this was all going on and sent the Might Rat Hunter (Jet; Schipperke Queen) in to get the thing.
She found nothing in there, ( I did get it cleaned out, though) but then Ted got her on point in another corner, and sure enough she was pointing at Steve! So Steve is back home and we can set a trap for the other vermin.

Monday, February 13, 2006

Dairy dreams

Sometimes it's the little things, like my milk hose.
Since the dairy has ended, I have had a hard time getting the right milk hose for my little milking machine. The last 2 times I got hose it was way the wrong kind; too stiff and not transparent. Also, most importantly, not resiliant so that when it gets stretched out at the point it connects to the shells, it's constantly falling off.

Well thanks to Amy, she turned me on to the fact that the plumbing supply place in Fortuna carries the hose, so today I went and got some. It was even 1/2 the price of the dairy hose I was buying. This hose makes me so happy it's ridiculous.

There's been a little goat dairy sized tank sitting on a trailer at the Dan's ( the dairy place) and everytime I drive past it, I try to resist asking about it. I had a feeling it was the little tank I went up to Arcata to look at. So today, since I was in dairy mose, I stopped to ask about it. Dan was in a good mood, about to leave on a trip with TP ( my former partner) and was drinking beer,; so chatty.
The tank might be sold ( that's O K, and it was 2/3 the price the other guy had quoted me...)) and indeed it was the Arcata tank. We talked about tanks, dairys, and pumps. I asked about a larger pump that I could milk 2 or so does with as mine is too small for that, and he told me it would be no problem and almost the same price as the little pump I am using now. That was good news, and I will probably get the new pump this summer, so I told him.

George came in and was shocked to see me in there, as he knows how floody my place is. He told me I needed a place even lower so it flooded more to get that thought right out of my head. He is always asking me if I am getting back into it.

So I have the new headlocks, and a good lead on a bigger vacuum pump.
What am I thinking?

Speed skating

For the first few goat shows I attended I was completely lost as to what was going on, what the rules were, how it all worked.

That how last night's Speed Skating Relay looked to me.
It seemed like controlled chaos.

The short track is so small and there were 4 teams with 3 ( I think) members all skating at once, making changes.
I loved it.

It really looked like fun

Sunday, February 12, 2006

Random quotes from current reading material

"You can recover from a beating, but a disappointment leaves a scar in the soul forever"
From The Fair- Sholom Aleichem

"He admired worms of all kinds and found them so desirable, that, searching around for a pet name for a girl he loved, he called her "Wormy" She was a little huffy until she realized that he was using not the adjective but a dimunitive of the noun. His use of this word meant that he found her pretty, interesting, and desirable. But still it always sounded to the girl like an adjective."

About Ed Ricketts- John Steinbeck

(I'll be naming Snakely's doe kid "Wormy")

"I was to think of these days many times. Of Jem, and Dill, and Boo Radley, and Tom Robinson, and Atticus. He would be in Jem's room all night, and he would be there when Jem waked up in the morning. "

To Kill A Mockingbird- Harper Lee

Saturday, February 11, 2006

Friday, February 10, 2006

The song of the Lawnmower is heard in the land

After months of unceasing rain, this beautiful weather seems to have affected everyone in our little town in the same way.
The grass has been too wet tomow for so long, and now, finally, it has dried out enough to attack it. Of course, after months of mild wet weather, the lawns are like jungles.

Everywhere you drive there is either a mowed lawn with clippings spread out across the road, or a mowing in progress. Wet tall grass is not an easy lawn to mow, and it isn't pretty once it has been done. But, the hum of the small engine and the smell of clippings is everywhere.

Also, the mud is being attacked with convoys of gravel. The gravel trucks are busy bringing roads and driveways the relief to the mud. As soon as my tractor is off it's island we will get some too and spread it around.

Patricia Kastler

When I got to the ranch yesterday morning, there were probably 10 cars parked by Pat's house. I had a feeling this meant that she had passed.
I went to the grain tank to feed and one of Pat's daughters came out and told me that she had passed away during the night. She was lucid and alert right until the end.

I saw the big van with the man in the black suit arrive. After he left, all the cars left too.
Pat would have been 81 this year.

J told me on Wednesday that her sister had passed on Monday. People like to die in the spring.

Thursday, February 09, 2006

Tattoos?

To me it seems as if people have run out of new ideas for how to spend their time and money, so now they're just drawing on each other.

Thanks, Josh!


My son took me out for lunch today.
It was a good thing; I had hardly eaten anything for two days.

Farming is fun?

Almost 3 full days of full on farm work and I am wiped out. It's a good thing that I'm retired! I will take it easy today and lick my wounds. The worst of it is that I stabbed my left index finger making typing a challenge.

On Monday it was all about trying to keep the g d d m cows out of my field. It culminated in the evening with all of them pouring into my soft fresh pasture making a river of mud like lava as they went. I managed to get them into a field that has been grazed (by goats, though) so the footing was a little firmer, and called for help.
T showed up and we managed to get them to the gate, but not through it. Finally K and the boys came and with about another 20 minutes of pushing, they reluctantly left.

And I worked on the fence. at least getting it hot so I saw one of the bitches get her nose zapped.



On Tuesday K came to help me with the lambs. That all went well, 12 lambs banded and I gave a dinky black ewe to Kathy as it didn't look like her mom was giving enough milk for the twins she had.
(video on Vimeo)


Thw cows had stayed out all morning, but by the afternoon, when I arrived, just in time to see them once again streaming into my field. I had Abby with me, and it took us about 1/2 hour to finally get them back out. Then I faced the problem of leaving sentry watch keeping the cows out in order to work on my fence.
Poor Abby had run her little tail off working to get those fckrs out of the field, then she stood sentry on them while I worked. Those cows patrolled the fence line looking for a way in past Abby.
After working on that fence for hours, I still couldn't get it hot and could not figure out why. I called T to come and see if he could figure out, and bring a spare charger I had at home. Just as he arrived at sunset, I found the culprit; a section of fence was grounding the whole thing out. I pulled it free and the fence was hot!
2 days later, still no cows in the field.

Yesterday was a long long farmy long day. I had planned to go up to J's and help them trim feet; M set it all up and said he wanted to get 100 does done. That was a lot, as 5 does is a lot for me to do at once.
I got my chores done, seeing Snakely was thinking about kidding, hooked up the flatbed trailer and headed out, with a pounding headache in my right eye.

On my way up there, R finally called saying that he was going to get hay today, did I want to also? So after I was done at J's I would call him and go do that.
I called J ahead and asked for some Ibuprofen and a cup of coffee, which she had all ready for me. Fortunately,( after 3 days of it) my headache soon left.
We soon got set up in the barn; M snapped 4 does to the fence and J and I went along the line. As we finished a doe, we'd let her go and M would get another and snap her in place.


The shadow of the barn crept across the yard, I talked M into bringing a radio out and we trimmed to the oldies. After about 2 hours my blisters had blisters and I had to stop. I figure we got between 30 and 40 does done; that was pretty good.
Then M paid me in scrap metal, the real score being the old original line of headlocks for their dairy.

Heading back with my trailer load of booty, I called and told R I would meet him at the barn where the hay was. Then we proceeded to load almost 3 tons of hay into the 2 trucks. I was filthy dirty, tired, sweaty; I was a mess, and at that point, did I care?

Back to the barn and Snakely had had a beautiful huge set of twins; buck and doe.
My car battery was dead, jumped it and drove home.

What a day.

Wednesday, February 08, 2006

I just love the way the Google ads are linked to my blog. Check out the ad for eBay "Cows for sale. Quality new and used items. Find cows for sale NOW!"

It was about time we finally got out winter break from the rain rain and more rain. It's been clear and sunny, and even warm in the afternoon. It looks like we'll get this lovely break for another week, too!. This weather in February makes me think of clearing the garden spot and sticking some pea seeds in the ground.

I'm supposed to be on my way to Arcata to help at J's dairy, but I am running late. I've had a eye headache for 2 days now, which makes my get up and go in the morning quite sluggish.
I have a doe due to kid as of yesterday, who isn't working on it yet, and I cooked my milk this morning so I am on pot #2.

After spending hours on my fence to keep the fck*ng heifers out of my field I think I have finally gotten the wire hot enough to do the trick. I just get mad at the farmer, who hasn't come to feed them and they are way out of pasture. You can't really blame the cows; they're hungry and the thick green grass in my field looks like a salad bar. But I am tired of the whole fence line being my responsibility, the other farmer should be maintaining half of it. Unfortunately, within minutes of them piling in they have made my green lush pasture into thick brown muddy crap. Cows are big and stupid and smelly and they make mud immediately.
It's as if I had a herd of elephants trample through my garden.
Most of the problem was trying to keep them out while I worked on the fence. It was like the guy who used to juggle plates on the sticks..as soon as I'd chase them out and go to work on the fence, they'd be back so I'd have to chase them out again. Finally, Abby sat sentry and kept them mesmerized while I got the fence back on line.
She worked really hard yesterday chasing them around; first getting them out of the field, then chasing and chasing them everytime they'd regroup and launch another assault.

Cows are NOT user friendly.

Monday, February 06, 2006

How high's the water?

I talked with Molly for a long time on the phone tonight. About goats and sheep and that cows suck so bad.

She said there's a Johnny Cash song about flooding that always makes her think of my place on Port Kenyon Road.

Artist/Band: Cash Johnny
Lyrics for Song: Five Feet High And Rising
Lyrics for Album: The Essential Johnny Cash
's thw
My mama always taught me that good things come from adversity if we put our faith in the Lord.
We couldn't see much good in the flood waters when they
were causing us to have to leave home,
But when the water went down,
We found that it had washed a load of rich black bottom dirt across our land.
The following year we had the best cotton crop we'd ever had.

I remember hearing:

How high's the water, mama?
Two feet high and risin'
How high's the water, papa?
Two feet high and risin'

We can make it to the road in a homemade boat
That's the only thing we got left that'll float
It's already over all the wheat and the oats,
Two feet high and risin'

How high's the water, mama?
Three feet high and risin'
How high's the water, papa?
Three feet high and risin'

Well, the hives are gone,
I've lost my bees
The chickens are sleepin'
In the willow trees
Cow's in water up past her knees,
Three feet high and risin'

How high's the water, mama?
Four feet high and risin'
How high's the water, papa?
Four feet high and risin'

Hey, come look through the window pane,
The bus is comin', gonna take us to the train
Looks like we'll be blessed with a little more rain,
4 feet high and risin'

How high's the water, mama?
Five feet high and risin'
How high's the water, papa?
Five feet high and risin'

Well, the rails are washed out north of town
We gotta head for higher ground
We can't come back till the water comes down,
Five feet high and risin'

Well, it's five feet high and risin'

I so hate cows.

1 part fresh goats milk
3 parts kahlua

Cows suck so bad. They are vermin.

Naming the goats

A list of exotic pet names starting with W. This is the W year, and I try to name all my babies born with the years' letter.

In my "Star Wars" line (Princess Leia, Naboo) I already have Wookie and Wandrella out of Naboo.
Princess Leia is due in 2 weeks.

The next doe to kid is Snakely, so named because she was crazy squirmy and snakey as a kid.
Water Moccasin? Western Viper?

Sunday, February 05, 2006

Farm love




Beautiful photographs from France of farm animals and horses

From the website:

Man and beast

Since the work on farm animals, all of the team’s animal portraits include a human component. This staging became evident from the very first shooting sessions. The initial project didn’t include the presence of the breeder next to his animal on the set, but the poor beasts seemed lost, appeared to call on their masters for help. Standing aside, the owners were slightly intimidated, even gauche without the animal.

At first sight, it becomes obvious that the true photograph is there, that the complicity between man and beast enriches the image by revealing a genuine rapport based on everyday contact. The team pursued this line with portraits of dogs, then of cats, and now, with portraits of horses.

Welding project #2

I am starting on another project. I have had this big horse hay feeder for years, just sitting in the yard. I've always thought about re doing it for the goats, so it seemed like the perfect candidate for my next project.




It's interesting and educational to see how other prople have solved problems when building something. This is definitely a home built feeder, with a few odd features. My favorite is that the builder used some links off a huge bike type chain as the hinges for the top. The things that can be done, I have only started to see...



Tim built a (one of many) crazy farm contraption a few years ago; it's nick named Mad Max, so you can imagine..
It's a self driven bale wrapper. YOu know those huge bales of hay wrapped in white plastic> He made a wrapper that lifts and wraps the bales, built it on a truck frame. Once when I was looking at it I saw he has used some crazy piece of something, maybe it was a wrench, as part of the steering linkage. It boggled my mind then to even realize that such things can be done.

This old feeder is rusted and crappy in some places. I'm cutting off the worst places and replacing them. I'm making it smaller and better scaled for the goats. However, in grinding off some of the pipes to prepare for welding I still find beautiful shiny solid steel beneath. It's like mining gold..

Esther sees the sun!

What happens when, after months of rain, the sun comes out and I open the window to the barn?

Saturday, February 04, 2006

If this is a dream, don't wake me.

How long have I waited to see this?
What does S-U-N-N-Y mean?


.TODAY...MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH SCATTERED SHOWERS THROUGH MID
DAY...BECOMING PARTLY CLOUDY IN THE AFTERNOON. HIGHS IN THE
MID 50S TO LOWER 60S. SOUTHWEST WIND 10 TO 15 MPH.
.TONIGHT...MOSTLY CLEAR. LOWS IN THE 30S TO LOWER 40S. NORTH WIND
5 TO 15 MPH.
.SUNDAY...MOSTLY SUNNY. HIGHS IN THE MID 50S TO LOWER 60S. NORTH
WIND 5 TO 15 MPH.
.SUNDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLEAR. LOWS NEAR 40. NORTHEAST WIND 5 TO
15 MPH.
.MONDAY...MOSTLY SUNNY. HIGHS IN THE UPPER 50S TO MID 60S.
NORTHEAST WIND 5 TO 15 MPH.
.MONDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLEAR. LOWS IN THE LOWER TO MID 40S.
.TUESDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY...CLEAR. HIGHS IN THE MID 50S TO LOWER
60S. LOWS IN THE LOWER TO MID 40S.
.WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY...MOSTLY CLEAR. LOWS IN THE 40S.
HIGHS IN THE MID 50S TO LOWER 60S.

Friday, February 03, 2006

Irony

This afternoon Ted came with me for my afternoon chores.
I hooked him up with the welder and he played with it for a while.
Tim ( he taught me how to weld) came by and I asked him about the feeder I am working on.
He also "inspected " my welds on the tiny trailer and he gave me some tips and advice.
It was like a mini welding class, custom made for me.
That was really great.
Then. Forge & Anvil was on tonight.
Ineed to dive into the next project.

Iron and livestock

IT'S NOT RAINING!
It also wasn't raining last evening when the people I was waiting for were an hour late. Without calling.
AN HOUR!
That's really late. How long do you wait for someone? Although I wasn't really waiting, as I was at the ranch and I can always find something to do, but I was ready to go home by the time they showed up.
Then they didn't come to find me, they just wandered into one of the barns to look at the goats, I had to go to them!

It's been a pretty hectic few days, starting on Wednesday morning with the sheep.
I had to haul 2 lambs to the butcher and of course it was pouring down rain. I still had some work to do on the newly re furbished little stock trailer, so after chores I got that done. Mostly, re fitting the back gate where I had pulled the sides together to weld the top bar, and (duh) of course now the gate no longer fit. And my fix was lame, so now I have to completely re do the gate. But, I had it so it was good enough to use.
Gathering up the sheep went smoothly, Abby and I got them right into the pen. Meanwhile, the doe I had been waiting on to kid ( as I had no breeding date on her) decided this very moment was as good a time as any.
So I went back and forth between dealing with the lambs and dealing with Rare Treat. In the end, the doe had twin bucks, which makes life easier for me, and the trailer worked better than I had expected.
I used to haul the lambs in the back of my truck, which not only entailed a tricky maneuver opening up the tailgate and the cap top while trying to keep the first lamb in, but also lifting the 100+ LB lambs up about 2 feet.
The back gate of the trailer opens like a door so it was easy to open and just shove the lambs in; and it's only about 8" off the ground so they just walk in or I can roll them in from their butts. It was really great. That operation had been too hard, and I usually tried to enlist someone to help me with it, which I really would rather not do.

Lambs loaded, doe settled with her kids, I drove to Eureka and dropped the lambs off, then up to Arcata to help a friend on her dairy. Our plan was to trim hooves, but we ended up disbudding her new crop of kids, which for some of them were a little past due.
That done, we spent time visiting with the goats. She has a lot of my old herd including some does I had even before I had the dairy. I think both Betty and Symmetra were born in Bear River. If not, it was soon after we moved here, and we've been here for 10 years.

Then I got to dig through the pile of scrap metal, which was really exciting! In the pouring rain, so I don't think J was as into it as I was. There's almost a whole milk stanchion in there, the first one M built for their barn. It was built for 12 goats with headlocks and a steel floor, but J thinks it is a bit bent. I saw 3 headlocks sticking out of the pile, I really would only want 4, at most 6 anyway. I couldn't get it out, but I'll come back when M is there and can use the tractor to pull it out. I got quite a lot of box steel and a nice piece of heavy sheet. There's quite a bit of good iron in there, I'll go back with the little flatbed trailer and get more!!

Home again in the driving pouring rain and I unload the steel and put the little trailer back in the barn.
A Bath and just as I lay down in fresh clean dry clothes I get a call that a friends doe is having trouble kidding, could I come to help?
Back into coveralls and boots I head out. I was a little worried about helping someone elses goat, but past experience reminds me to just treat the doe as if it were my own.
Fortunately, it was an easy delivery and everything came out well. Oh, except the doe should have been bred to one buck, but she was obviously bred to the other buck, of a different breed. Good thing the kids were both bucks..