Rain, Fence, Tree, and Goats

I shared that our big five inch rain on the 13th washed out the fence between my Back Forty and the neighbor’s field.  Since then, it really hasn’t quit raining.  We’ve had probably 12 inches of rain since then (including that five inches; I’m writing this draft on the 21st).  That means, we really haven’t been able to get back there to fix it.

from 5 inches on the 13th

No problem!  I want Tony to get used to Fionn and Xerxes and the other goats, so when we cooled down, I shut the three of them in the small paddock.

Tony, Fionn, and Xerxes

By the way, Tony ditched his halter, so I’m out there looking for it a lot too.  I’m not too mad because I knew it was loose and was too lazy to switch it.

It will also let Tony get closer to the whole herd of goats and other llamas if they are on the front pasture too.

Tony watching goats

So I let the rest of the llamas and goats onto the front pasture.

Aurora and Odie

It’s certainly got enough for them to eat for quite a while.

Haley, Cinnamon and Haley’s kids, Calliope jumping over Orpheus

I did forget one minor thing though–the horizontal oak tree.

The goats love it!

Hermes in the tree; Aphrodite and Giselle (?) above

Unfortunately, when it was cut and the fence pulled up, it was done to hold in cows, not goats.  You can see Caroline and Daisy clear out over the ditch.

Athena and Daisy accidentally landed on the ditch side of the fence.  I had to haul Athena kicking and screaming back to the barnyard.  When I was getting ready to go try and bribe Daisy in, she figured out she was on the wrong side and panicked.  I called to her, and I swear to you, she came on a dead run around the corner straight for the gate.  If I had been standing in the way, she’d have run me over.

Betty Lou and Athena on opposite sides of the fence and Daisy about to be on the wrong side of the fence

Well, it’s still raining, so we haven’t had time to even bring the chain saw and trim the tree.  At least the rain kept them away for a day, but today (again the 21st), they were all playing on the tree again.

You’ll notice Daisy is headed back up down the tree so she isn’t on the wrong side again.

Caroline, Daisy, and Zeus

However, Caroline fell off on the wrong side.  It didn’t phase her.  She just kept eating.

I did have to drag Caroline her back to the barnyard.

Seriously, why can’t you just walk?

“Why am I in jail?” -Caroline

Then Zeus was up there trying to eat. (Video link below)  He got carried back to the barnyard.  At least that was a little easier.

https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fedenhills.myson%2Fvideos%2F1805652856148229%2F&show_text=0&width=560

Zeus (Yes, that’s Caroline right behind him, but she did turn back around.)

We finally goat a break in the rain so we could trim the tree to keep the goats in!  Who knows how long it will be before it’s dry enough to take equipment to the Back Forty to fix the fence (or make hay for that matter).

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The First Round

Things have been so busy, I’m way behind on sharing what’s been going on.  On Monday evening, I had my first round of hide-and-goat-seek.  I saw Haley take her kids out to pasture, but I was busy preparing for incoming storms.  I had to move some of the brand new kids to a place where there was enough room for everyone to get inside.  I figured it would take a few minutes, and then I could run down and grab her kids.

Well, a cloud came and the breeze picked up and brought relief from the 100 degree feels-like temperature and the goats all got excited and took off across pasture, so I had no idea when the kids got tired and decided to take a nap.  I did, however, discover that my fence was washed out in the rain that moved the tree down the ditch.  I might have had to yell at a handfull of goats to get their tails back on my side of the fence.

I walked and walked and called to the kids and swore at Haley for bringing them out, and after a good half an hour, I came upon this adorable sight.

Calliope and Orpheus

Score!  Farmer Teresa 2; goats 0.  I carried them back to the barnyard, and it wasn’t long before the front line of the storms reached us.

We had another inch-and-a-half of rain overnight.

A Day to Kid

Father’s Day was going to be busy.  Not only did we still have horribly hot temperatures, but I was still checking my last three girls left to have kids.  On top of that, I was supposed to join my family for Father’s Day lunch at my dad’s house and then go to a baby shower for an honorary niece.  That means that just as I was getting ready to leave for my dad’s house, Cookie got down to business.

Cookie and Jimmy P

I put her up north with Sidney and Harley, and she kept working, but didn’t seem to make progress. I finally decided her sagging stomach muscles (she’s retiring this year) meant she couldn’t get the baby pushed out, so I pulled him.  He really didn’t want to come out.  I pulled and pulled and pulled and finally sat on the ground and pulled, and he finally came out and landed in my lap.  So much for the shower I had just taken.  Meet Jimmy P.  I figure if I show up for lunch forty-five minutes late, the least I can do is name the kid after my dad.

Then my sister and her boyfriend and my nephew came back out to the farm, and we caught Tony.  On Saturday he was open-mouth breathing, and I was going to put him into the garage where it is air conditioned, but he ran when I went to catch him, and I didn’t think that would help with the heat.

Since I had help, we caught him; although, Maybeline and Buster talking to him was more help than anything else.  We led him into the garage, and he is in there until this horrible heat and humidity breaks.

Then we went to the baby shower and got to see all kinds of adorable pink things for the baby, who is going to be named Freya.  Can you guess where this is going?  I stayed as long as I could, but I just had to come check everyone.  I was surprised to find that Victoria had come back up from pasture and had given birth.

She has a beautiful baby girl.  Since I was at a baby shower for Freya (a norse mythology name), I thought I should name the kid in honor of the baby.  So meet Freya.

Finally, I checked Tony, and he seemed to have settled down happily munching hay.

He was watching kids in the other garage stall, where I have my kid daycare.  Seriously, I need less livestock in the garage.

Dolly’s boys have names! Pluto and Anubis

Eve, Enkidu, and Horus

Then I was off to the Back Forty to check Zinnia.  I found her far along in having her kid.

There was no going back to the barnyard at this point.  That stuff hanging looked like the individual baby bag, which means he needed to be out soon.

I called my mom and had her get my nephew and said to bring me a collar and the Ranger.  Zinnia tried pushing while we waited.

She also went down to under this particular tree which I call the summer barn.

(From this point on, we’ll have a gap in pictures; although it would be amusing to see).  My mom and nephew finally arrived, and I caught Zinnia and felt for feet.  They were there and big.  The bag was broken, so I knew I needed to get him out as soon as possible.  My nephew held Zinnia for me.  I worked to finish opening her up (new moms) and getting both feet in position.  When she pushed, she moved the head down and I lost one hoof.  I got both feet and the head in position and realized I forgot to request a towel.  If you’ve ever tried pulling a kid without a towel or something, it’s not easy if it is not an easy pull.  They are slimy and your hands just slide off. I whipped off my tank top and used it to hold on to feet.  I pulled, and then I worked to open her up and pulled and kept working.  Finally, the face was out, and I just had to get that new mom skin pulled over his head, and out he came!  He was none too lively, so it’s a good thing we got him out when we did.

I checked, and there were no more kids.  We let her rest a few minutes, and then we loaded her onto the Ranger, in front of the seat with me in the middle holding her horns; my mom was in the passenger seat with the baby; and my nephew was driving.  Yes, I was still shirtless because it was totally covered in slime and blood, and my mom had wrapped it around the baby like a towel.  We slowly drove through the pasture and around the corn field and out onto the road.  As we pulled into my driveway, I waved to the neighbor on his riding mower.  What else can you do?  Then we got Zinnia settled into the north paddock.

They are both doing well.

I still need to find one last mythological name.  And I am doing kidding for 2018!