First Milking

Calico did very well for her first milking. The kids also did well, they didn't complain at all. Calico was talking to them this morning but they didn't really act like they were missing her.

I milked Cinder first, then fed grain to the babies in the dog kennel and put a halter and lead rope on Calico. I led her to the barn and it only took a hand full of grain to get her to jump up on the milk stand. She buried her face in the grain and didn't care what I did to her.

I first tried hand milking her, she has perfect teats that are very easy to milk. She didn't stomp or kick even one time. She is nothing like her mother, Cinder. who still has to have hobbles after years of milking.

I did put the hobbles on Calico before I put the milker on her. She didn't even notice until all of her grain was gone, then she realized that her hind feet where tied together and she didn't like that at all. I will only be milking her once per day until the kids are completely weaned. Tomorrow morning I will try milking her without the hobbles.

After I finished milking her, I let her eat grass in the yard for awhile before turning the boys back in with her. They surprised me, they didn't even act that anxious to nurse after being away from her overnight. I guess they are getting old enough to handle adulthood and separation from their mother.

Weaning

I finally got around to starting the weaning process for Copper and Zinc today, it is way overdue. It isn't a complete weaning just a start. I put them in the dog kennel for tonight, then I will milk Calico for the very first time tomorrow morning. I will turn the kids back in with her after they have been fed grain in the morning. I thought that they would cry all evening but so far they haven't made a peep.

Our fox returned this evening. I was just getting ready to milk Cinder and had gone to the back of the barn/house to put grain in the feeder on the milk stand, I hadn't brought Cinder in yet. I looked out the back door and there was that sneaky fox sniffing around.

I went directly into the house and said, "FOX" to my DH who was on the computer at the time. I grabbed the .22 magnum rifle and as I went back out the door, I said, "FOX" again, still no response, so I yelled it at him. That time he heard me and jumped up and got my .22 rifle.

I just stood inside the back of the barn and waited on my Husband to shoot because I have missed him before and I thought that maybe the DH might be able to hit him. He waited until the fox came closer and he had a perfect shot, but he is just as bad as me. The fox jumped straight up in the air when he shot and took off to the woods.

Stake Out

It was hot yesterday. It is going to be hot again today. I have to stake my Buck out to eat now because we don't have any hay. The goat lot where the does stay has plenty of grass, clover and weeds but my buck lot is small with nothing green in it.

I usually stake him out in places with lots weeds that need cleaning up but yesterday was so hot that I just tied him out in the morning shade then put him back in his cool lot during the heat of the day. When I stake him out I have to periodically untie him and lead him to water. The silly thing will hardly ever drink when I take him. He is like a camel, he only wants to drink once a day and when he does drink, he drinks a lot.

Since Cooter spent most of the day in his lot, I had to stake him out in the evening after it cooled down some. I didn't want to leave him staked out over night but he very seldom gets tangled up where I have been putting him, so I left him there. I checked on him a couple of times during the night.

Early this morning when I went out to check on him he was lying flat out on his side, I thought he was dead. I yelled at him and he didn't move. I walked up on him and saw that he was breathing deeply and slowly, but he still didn't respond. I said his name and he fluttered his eyelids but still didn't wake up. I put my hand on his hip and shook him real hard, he finally opened his eyes but still didn't raise his head. I thought something had to be wrong with him. I asked him what was wrong and he lazily raised his head and looked at me, then finally got to his feet and stretched.

I was glad that he was alright, though I couldn't figure out what could be wrong with him. I just couldn't believe that he would sleep that sound. I know it isn't because he has a clear conscious, because as soon as he got done stretching, he peed all over his front legs and chin. He pees all over everything, all of the time, you would think that he would have to drink more water than he does.

Losing Weight

The nurse who checked me in at the Doctor's office was very kind when she weighed me. She suggested that my denim skirt looked pretty heavy, then of course there were my shoes and a very heavy belt. I had a big barrette in my hair also. I didn't mention these things to my Doctor, I just went ahead and let him believe that I actually weighed that much.

I took the lecture without sobbing, but then he started in on all of the other stuff that I needed to do, things that I don't want to do, like mammograms, colonoscopies, gall bladder surgery, things that have nothing to do with my aching back. I have a good mind never to visit another Doctor, they just aren't very nice.

I was whining about my Doctor visit to a friend who is a Registered Nurse and she said that I wasn't fat. Since it is always best to get a second opinion, I strongly considered just going with hers. However, since I did pay the Doctor a large sum of money, I suppose his opinion is more valuable.

We left the Doctor's office and went straight to the Golden Corral in Bedford, their Chocolate Pie is to die for. I did manage to stop after the second piece, my DH wouldn't let me go get a third one.

As I am typing this I am indulging in a small glass of Kefir made with fresh goat's milk without the cream removed. It was slightly frozen and I added a sweetened Pina Colada syrup to it, delicious! So you see I have already started cutting back, only two pieces of pie and only a small glass of Kefir while blogging before bed.

Cooler Weather

After Saturday night's storms, things have greatly cooled down. I have barely been getting enough milk for my own two glasses per day, plus I drink goat's milk anytime I get heartburn, it cures it instantly. Goat milk production around here has been greatly reduced during the recent hot weather, I had suspected that this was to blame but wasn't sure until yesterday. Milk production was up by at least 50%.

Egg production has been down as well. Just when I finally had more egg buyers than eggs, my hens quit laying. We were lucky to get two eggs a day out of ten hens. The banties were actually laying better than the big hens were in this heat. But with the cooler temperatures yesterday we got four eggs. I have four hens who are raising chicks, so they have an excuse for their lack of production but the others have just been on strike because of working conditions. They are demanding an air conditioned chicken house with well ventilated nests.

I get to go to the Doctor today, oh what joy! I would rather go to the Dentist and get teeth pulled than face my Doctor. He just keeps harping about my weight and I always try to lose a few pounds before I see him, just so I won't have to hear his lecture. But I didn't manage to get that accomplished this time and have gained weight since last we met.

He believes that my spine wouldn't be complaining as much, if I would relieve some of it's burden. That is actually quite a motivation for me, if I thought that I could live a normal life again, I might just lose that weight. I just can't figure out how to do it.

Rodeo

We attended a rodeo at our local fair on Friday night. It was expensive and nothing but a bunch of bull. I was disappointed that they had advertised barrel racing and didn't have any. It was mostly bull riding with just a few broncs that I think were just unbroke horses that they had picked up somewhere. They certainly had no bucking experience, all that they did was run and all that the cowboy had to do was hold on.

The bulls were good and loved to buck. The problem was that they were too good for the cowboys that were there and most of them hit the dirt as soon as they came out of the gate. Only one cowboy made it to 8 seconds and he won the whole pot.

The evening was kind of spoiled by the man that came out before the rodeo and started scratching on the bulls who were turned loose in the arena. That kind of spoiled the mean and ornery, bad bull image. Although we did see a couple of cowboys butted and stomped.

One cowboy walked past me after the rodeo was over and we were walking out. He caught my attention by the glazed look in his eyes and the paleness of his face. I think that maybe he was beyond pain. I worried about him because he was wondering around alone. I am sure that he needed medical attention but was too tough and proud to admit it.

The highlight of the evening was when the little 7 or 8 year old boy was trying to pet the bulls through the holding gates and barely got his arm out before the bull kicked at him and got his foot caught in the gate. We were a little surprised that they let the crowd walk out past the bulls with nothing or no one there to keep kids away. I guess they thought that maybe parents would take that responsibility, they must have been aliens from another planet if they believed that.

Microsoft Update

I have my computer set to do automatic Microsoft or Windows Updates. On Wednesday an update finally got itself downloaded with my slow dial-up connection. So Wednesday evening it asked me if the updates could install themselves. I allowed the installation right before I went to bed along with the shut-down and restart process.

The next morning when my Husband got up, he kept dialing up and trying to go somewhere, anywhere and it behaved as if the browser wasn't receiving an answer from the internet. He was online but all of the web was blocked. He tried redialing several times but always got the same response.

So he woke me up and explained the problem, I thought maybe the update had disabled my Firefox browser. I opened up Internet Explorer and got online with it and had the same results.

I decided to use the handy dandy system restore feature. I clicked START then HELP AND SUPPORT then chose SYSTEM RESTORE. It let me choose not only the date to restore to but also the time. I choose the time when the update had installed itself, just to make sure that the update was the problem. Sure enough that was the problem. I got online and all was well with the world again.

The update returned and I let it install itself again, sure enough the same problem occurred. I did the time machine thing again and shut off the automatic Microsoft Updates. Then I got online to see if anyone else was experiencing this same problem and couldn't find anything. Maybe they just haven't been able to get online to complain yet.

Foxy

Well, my fox problems have returned. I was missing one of my new banty hens yesterday. I was hoping that she was sitting on a hidden nest somewhere but I think that I got an answer today at noon.

I just happened to be looking out the window and a fox came running down the hill in a blur of speed, right into the front door of the barn, that is where the two Mille Fleur D'Uccle hens stay with their broods. I heard startled chickens scattering and Angel started barking.

I grabbed my rifle and flew out the door, I must have clicked the safety off as I ran out. The rooster was chasing him out the front door with me right behind him. The fox made a beeline up the hill, then stopped and turned around. He didn't have anything in his mouth and he was a perfect target. I pulled up and took aim but the trigger wouldn't budge. I guess I must have clicked the safety on again as I pulled the gun up. By the time I clicked it off, he was gone.

This was not the same fox that we have been having trouble with. This fox was a beautiful little animal. He is dark red with a pretty coat, fluffy tail with a white tip on it. The other fox looked like he was a halfbreed, he was tall, long bodied, light colored with a rough coat and no white on his tail.

When we first got Angel I had wanted her to stay in the goat lot with no roaming around the farm or neighborhood. That didn't work out because her coat was so thick that she just went under the electric fence, like it wasn't there. I had gotten use to her coming to the barn/house with Cinder when I milked and liked the idea that she could be more of a protector if she wasn't confined to the goat lot. On several occasions she has run off foxes and dogs.

Then summer arrived and she lost her heavy coat and got some mats on her back that I had to cut off. She started getting shocked when she went under the fence, so she has stopped getting out. My DH is thrilled and says that I will have to keep the hair on her back shaved. But I am thinking today that I may have to fix a special place in the fence where she can get out without being shocked. Just don't tell my DH.

Stupid

I couldn't think of a title for this blog because I have so many different thoughts going through my head. I am hoping a title will emerge from the blog all on it's own.

All was peaceful and quiet yesterday evening, my DH had a rare day off and was busy mowing the top pasture. I thought that I would go ahead and get the evening feeding and milking done before it got dark. I was going to take my time and enjoy the process. I started out by trying to get all of the new chicks in cages with their mothers. I soon realized that herding baby chicks is not an easy task and that I was wasting my time.

I went to the goat lot with halter and lead rope in hand, caught Cinder and led her to the barn/house to be milked. She was not as cooperative as she usually is and that task turned out not to be pleasant in the least. She didn't want to get on the milk stand that is still standing in muddy water from the recent rain.

I finally got her in place and sat down to milk and dropped my clean cloth that I had to wash her udder with into the muddy water under the stand. So I had to go back into the house for a new one. On the way back to the milking stand was when I first noticed that the wind had picked up and the sky had grown dark and there was a not too distant sound of thunder. I had a lot to get done before it started to rain, so I picked up my pace.

Cinder had more milk than usual and so it took me longer to milk as the storm crept nearer. When I finally got the milking done and everything cleaned up and turned her loose, she lost all common sense and couldn't remember any of the routine things that she does twice per day everyday. She tried to go out the wrong door, she had to stop and taste everything along the way, whether it was eatable or not. I finally got her put back in the lot by the time it started to rain.

I was moving as quickly as possible because I needed to get into the house to turn off the computer before lightening struck again.

I went to collect Cooter who was tied to a concrete block in a nice patch of weeds. He had wrapped the rope around the block several times and while I tried to untangle him, he was giving me kisses and chewing on my hair. You can't slap him or push him away because then he thinks that you want to play and he plays too rough. I finally got him loose and by this time it had stopped raining but the storm was getting closer. I put Cooter in the horse trailer for the night instead of in his pen which is up the hill and farther away, so I had to get him a bucket of water.

Next I mixed the goat and chicken feed and managed to get them all fed without too many problems. Now it was back to chick herding, that is a skill that it takes years to perfect. You would think that they would go into the cage when their mommy went into the cage but not so. There is always one more thing that they need to do outside the cage before they call it a night.

Some of the chicks who were already safely nesting under their Mommy, would also think of something else that they needed to do and run out of the cage just as I got the last straggler in. I think that I used the word "stupid" a lot last night in dealing with both chickens and goats.

I finally got everything put up, watered and fed. I closed both big sliding doors and the side door, then went into the house to shut off the computer. The storm went east and never got to us. It did rain later in the night but all of my rushing around was wasted.

I think that I have a title now!

Surge Protector

Yesterday morning's rain was wonderful, I refuse to complain about the rain after last year's drought. It's the mud that keeps giving me problems. A river washed through our barn/house, so the whole barn floor is slippery and we have puddles in the barn. Water also came through the wall into my living room while I slept yesterday morning. I kept waking up to the thunder, lightening and pouring rain, that gave me a good excuse to just keep right on sleeping.

As soon as my Husband left for work, there was a painfully loud clap of thunder that was followed by a pop that shook the house. The electricity went out, then came back on, so I rolled over and slept some more.

When it quit raining, I got up and found my wet floors and of course no phone service. This sounded a little different to me when I held the phone to my ear, it was just dead. Usually when someone steals our phone lines or service is just out, I can hear dead air but this was just dead with no sound at all. I had the feeling that it had something to do with that lightening strike.

When my DH came home for lunch with the cell phone, I called neighbors on both sides of us and they both had service. So I whined around until I got my DH to wade through the mud to break into the phone box on the outside of the barn/house and hook a phone up out there to see if the problem was inside the house. Sure enough we had service out there, so I came into the house and started the process of elimination.

I found out that my high priced phone line surge protector had done it's job and gave it's life to save my phones and computer. So I rerouted a few lines around the surge protector and was back in business. However, my computer and phones are now at risk if we should get another storm. I will purchase another one because this proves that they actually work.