(DF) SPRINGTIME BABIES.....JUST BARELY

Yes, it is springtime, though the weather calls the calendar a liar.  Fact is, whatever the weather is doing, the vernal equinox has passed making it officially springtime.  As circumstances would have it, the first day of spring was fairly nice here, with sunshine and a gentle breeze.  Be that as it may, we haven't had a nice day since.

With that in mind, it was really good timing.  My milk goat took advantage of the nice weather to have her babies, and with them being born on the vernal equinox, you can probably guess the name of the little billy..  This is the only milk goat I have ever owned or knew of who would not wait for cold or stormy weather.  So far she has always picked a nice afternoon to give birth, a trend that I hope continues and is passed on to the offspring.  This time, as usual, she had twins, one male and one female.  They are large and healthy, thriving well on all the milk they can drink (at least until they are penned up part of the time so I can have a share).

It is always encouraging to me to see springtime babies.  As with all the other beginnings of spring, it serves to re-affirm for me the natural cycles of life.  Simply put, it reminds me that the good things of life always come back around.  Soon wild foods and fruit blossoms will be popping up everywhere and the garden will be all fresh and new.  I can hardly wait.

(AF) A Memorial for Siser Bertrille

    I will soon be changing my profile pic, I just haven't been able to bring myself to do it, yet. You see, the pic posted is of my wonderful Sister Bertrille (named after the Flying Nun because of her ears that stick out like a nun's hat). Sister Bertrille gave me many beautiful babies over the years, and much wonderfully, delicious milk. But sadly, a couple of weeks ago, I lost my beautiful girl during labor. It turned out that she also had some vinyl tarp threads balled up inside her, tightly wrapped up with hay she had eaten, that had impacted and blocked her digestive tract. It apparently was in the last bail of hay I had purchased. It didn't take much of those thin, blue strings to do the fatal damage. She is sadly missed by not only me, but the other goats and even the cats. Some of the cats adored her and loved to cuddle with her.

Rest in peace my beautiful, faithful and loving Sister Bertrille! You were so in tune with me that you knew when I needed your comfort and snuggling and comforted me in a loving and gently way. You also knew when I needed to laugh and did a great job of clowning around to make me laugh until I nearly fell over. I will always cherish your wonderful memories. Rest peacefully, Sister.

Her last set of babies.

Sister Bertrille on the left, trying to corral her ornery, near grown kid. I still have the now grown kid (on the right) and she is totally lost without her momma!

A carefree afternoon of munching hay.

Her ears would flop down just a little when she ran.

Sister Bertrille playing peek-a-boo.

I will never forget those beautiful ears!

(DF) SPRINGTIME BABIES

Monday evening, I hurried home from work, tired but with full intentions of spending the hour and a half or so before dark, working on the goat fence. What is it they say about best laid plans? In this case, they were led astray by small creatures of the springtime baby variety.

I knew my milk goat was bred and even the general time frame for a due date, but I really thought it would be another week. Not that I don't keep breeding records, problem is the big white billy (yes, the one in my profile photo) goes quietly about his business. No noise, no show and no stink except during breeding season (and not much then). Simply put, he was so sneaky about the whole affair that I wasn't completely sure which day to mark on the calendar. Knowing pretty close to the date, I marked April 1st +/- a week, still thinking it was more likely on the plus side. I WAS WRONG!!!

I had not yet prepared for the little devils and, of course, first thing they did when they were strong enough to walk was to start getting in trouble ........... they ARE goats after all. So it was through the fence and into the pen with their dad. He is a very gentle, good natured goat but really doesn't like things messing with his legs. The rescue was followed immediately by kid proofing the bottom of the pen, which should have already been done but had been put off in favor of more immediate considerations.

This is the mother's second set of kids, and this time looks like she will be giving more milk than last year. As the photo shows, there is reason to believe there will be plenty for the babies and some for us as well. Even though I hear that use of raw milk is increasingly coming under fire and the push is on to make it illegal, I will be using milk from my own goats. Goat milk is excellent for drinking fresh, cooking, making cheese and anything else you would use milk for, with the added benefit that the enzymes haven't been killed. Honestly, I truly believe that the stuff you get in the grocery store is worthless, and worse yet, somewhat toxic. Just my opinion, but at least it is an informed opinion. So, for now at least, I will enjoy the little goats and the fresh milk ......... just some of the pleasures of springtime on the farm.

(AF) Dandelion

Hello, all! By now you may be wondering if I was ever going to write again. I have so many posts in my head that I want to get written, but putting up pears and preparing my little farm for Winter has kept me so busy that I start working the second I hit the floor in the morning and don't stop until I sit down somewhere late at night and accidentally fall asleep.

One update since the last time I wrote is, unfortunately, a sad one. On Halloween morning I lost my wonderful and faithful Billy Goat, Dan (short for Dandelion... I name my goats after flowers). Born the same day as my first grandchild, and the last remaining sibling of a set of triplets, Dan, 9 years old, went very suddenly and unexpectedly.

Dan appeared to still be the picture of health. His weight was good, he was always the first one to the food at feeding time, he was very active and energetic, and he was faithfully doing his job with the Nannies that had just come in season. Everything was as normal as usual.

Then the night before Halloween, when I went to toss the goats some pear trimmings, Dan acted like he was really tired and didn't run for the food. He instead came over to the fence, looked up at me with weary eyes and gave me kisses. At my encouragement, he finally nibbled on some of the softer pears. My beautiful, energetic Dan had never acted like this before and I knew what was probably coming. I stayed up late keeping an eye on him, but I finally had to sleep for a few hours.

In the morning I rushed to get outside to check on Dan. But sadly, the leader of my small herd was gone. All the other goats slowly and quietly met me at the fence. They seemed so lost. Dan had instinctively gone into his little house, laid down, and went to sleep for the last time. It appears he probably had a heart attack or something of the like. My heart broke in two!

Not only were the other goats and me ultra attached to Dan, but so were several of my cats. It was heart wrenching to watch a couple of them nuzzle up to his neck and chest in an attempt to get him to wake up and play with them. One cat even perched herself on his neck, gave him a cat bath, then sat there on his shoulder for a long while in a protective stance. She was going to protect her best friend until he woke up. Oh, it was so sad!

My beautiful Dandelion was the most wonderful Billy Goat anyone could ask for! He got along well with other billies, yet let them firmly know that he was 'boss', occasionally getting a little too rough to get his point across if one of them tried to take the lead. He was gentle, loving and very protective of the nannies. He loved his ladies! During breeding season, nothing stopped him from getting his job done, not even cattle fencing .... he would go right through it (I still need to get a couple of spots repaired). And as for me, he was the most loving, caring, gentle 'farm friend' a person could ask for. He loved cuddles, hugs, kisses, and, best of all, back rubs (which he so often adorably begged for). Before he got too tall, I could ride him around the yard (yes, my feet still touch the ground, so no weight was on his back), and he let small kids ride on him, too. He would sit still for as long as I wanted to and tolerantly let me braid and play with is beard, lol. He had a long beard that I just loved messing with and he was so patient with me, never fussing or complaining at all. If I was out in the goat yard and needed something to lean on (such as to get a rock out of my shoe), he was there for me, standing still and firm as I leaned on him, never complaining or faltering. If I fell (and often times I do with all the arthritis in my legs), he was usually the first goat there, nudging me to see if I needed help getting up. He was one of the best, most loving and faithful work animals I have ever had!

I could never say enough positive things about my wonderful, beautiful Dandelion. There aren't proper words to express the value he was to me and my little farm. He was my faithful worker, protector, and loving friend. We love you Dan, and we will forever miss you! You have well earned your rest, rest peacefully, now.