In Bloom At The 4Rs

In between rain storms, I went out to check on what is blooming.

My azalea made it through the winter and is close to bursting forth in full bloom.

My yellow irises that originally came from my mother’s house, usually fall over.  But so far this year they are staying up straight and look beautiful.

My little chimney pot of chives is blooming.

And the old fashioned iris is glistening with raindrops.

My clematis has saucer sized blooms.

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And the strawberry bush is absolutely covered with flowers.

The poppies are starting their show.

 And who doesn’t love a purple Siberian iris.

The details of the blooms are fascinating.

And not blooming yet but it won’t be long, the peonies!  Maybe we will have a few dry days to enjoy them when they bloom.

Three Disappointments And A Smile

I have been working more in the yard recently.  There is lots of good stuff happening but also a few disappointments.

 First, is this variegated yucca that appears to be dying.  I have had it for about 3 years so I don’t really know what happened.

The other one is still doing fine.

I learned about this plant, blue sea holly, while watching my British gardening shows.  I had never heard of it before but I thought it looked stunning.  So I have been on the lookout for it.  I found it at Walmart.  I bought two.

They came in solid colored bags so I could not see what they looked like.

The first one was what I expected.

Then next one was just a hollow skin.  Looks like I will have to make another trip to Walmart to return this mess.

Then when I was planting some other things, I noticed this allium.  The cold weather really did a number on it.  I will have to wait another year to see it bloom.

It is still raining, 2 inches so far.  Maggie is keeping close watch over her herd.

And this little smiling goat just looks like he is up to no good.

Kid count - 84

It’s Raining

 Kid Count - 75

Triplets x 4

 Yes, four sets of triplets yesterday, along with two singles, two sets of twins, and unfortunately, a twisted uterus that I had to take to the clinic for a c-section.  But her uterus was ruptured beyond repair and the twins were both dead. I euthanized her while she was anesthetize.

One nanny decided to kid in a dirt patch.

This one picked a little bit better spot.

These looked ok.

As did these.

The dirt patch bunch had a couple that were a little weak.  We decided to move them to the barn but they were on the other end of the field.  We used the leap frog technique to get them across the field.  

Joe would take two, walk a little ways and put them down.  Then I would pick up the other one.  The nanny would go to the ones Joe put down and I would carry mine a little further.  We repeated that all the way to the barn.  And since she was a pretty level headed nanny everything worked out.  Once in the barn we were able to help the weak ones nurse.  They were all up by that evening.

One of the other nannies had a big teat on one side that the kids weren’t getting ahold of.  So Joe just snuck up and grabbed her.  I then helped the little ones work on the big side.  We will see this morning if they can do it by themselves.  

Kid count - 62

Trouble, Tribble and Sadie

Trouble and Tribble, bottle goats from 2 years ago, have both kidded.

If you remember, Trouble was the one that broke her leg when she was 5 months old and had to wear a cast.  She had a set of twins on Thursday.

Then Tribble had a nice set of twins today.
 

Sadie spent the night with us and helped check on the goats both this morning and and afternoon.  

She enjoyed taking care of the next generation of bottle babies.

And or course, she really enjoyed grooming and riding Otoelene.

Kid count - 44 (from 24 nannies)

Fracture Repair

One of our staff members had a cat that broke it’s leg.  Because the fracture was into a joint, a cast or splint would not work.  So they wanted surgery.

I had never fixed this particular type of fracture before but fortunately there are lots of YouTube videos on it.  (I wish that was availability when I first started years ago, I usually just laid all of the books out on the counter to refer to while I was operating.) But now I can go in much more prepared which is nice.
 

So an IM pin and a figure 8 tension band wire and it when together nicely.  It has been three weeks and the cat is doing fine.  I will probably have to pull the pin and wire in a few more weeks.

Meter Disguise

When our house was build, they stuck the meter right on the front.  They said it was to make it easier for the meter reader.  I have been trying to disguise it ever since.

I made a trellis once. That stayed a few years.  Then I planted an arborvitae.  This worked out well until it outgrew the space.  I cut it down this spring. 

Next up is this old door that I dug out of the barn.  After removing the panels and hardware, scrubbing, sanding, scrubbing again, and painting, I replaced the panels with some leftover laminate.
 

I think it turned out well.  But now I have the challenge of installing it.

  I was thinking of a square wooden post on either side with a support across the top, then attach it like a door with hinges.  Any better ideas?

Counting Kids

Kidding started yesterday with a set of triplets.  That weather had been beautiful for the past few days.  Then about an hour after the triplets were born, a cold front came through with sideways rain.  

We ended up moving them into the barn.  Surprisingly, the nanny cooperated and we got them settled in without any drama.  The overnight temperature dropped into the 30’s, so I felt better that they were in the barn.  Everyone was fine this morning.  But I did give a bottle to the smallest one.  
 

Then today we had a single,

Twins, 

And more twins. 

Kid count-8

Sadie And Allie Saturday

Virginia and Mike brought Sadie and Allie over the the day yesterday.  We did all of our usual things.

 We made cookies in the Easy Bake Oven.

Played in the gravel with Joe’s old dump truck.

And took Otoelene for a spin around the barn.

I didn’t know we were supposed to be making faces.

And I got to hold Allie for her nap. 

Just another day at Mimi’s house.

Any Day Now

According to the goat gestation calendar, the nannies should start kidding on April 18.  Since the nannies don’t all know about the calendar we usually put them in the kidding field a few days early.

 And since they had bedded down last night near the kidding field we decided to take the opportunity to go ahead and move them there.

They are looking pretty big now.

Joe counted them as they went through the gate.  Looks like they were all there, 68 nannies to kid.

Hoping for a better year than last.  Guess we will find out any day now.