Summer Showers

We’ve had quite a few rainy days lately.  It does make it hard to get lots of outside work done.  Luckily, my mom and I spent quite a bit of time yesterday weeding the garden because it finally dried out enough from the last rounds of rain.

I was hoping we would be on the miss side of the hit-and-miss rain overnight.  That way I could cultivate today.

But now it’s way too muddy to get in the garden, and we have more rain chances for this evening.

At least the rain is making everything grow well.

I don’t really mind the break from outside work.  It gives me a chance to slow down and just enjoy things.

grape vine growing by my house–I have plans for this vine

lily

raspberries are turning

grape leaf

yucca

morning glory

I think I’m getting too old for a lot of the hard work on the farm.  The goats are not fans of rain and mud either.  Purl seemed a bit surprised by the mud when she came out of the barn.

Hilda with Stitch and Purl checking out the puddles and mud in the barnyard

Don’t worry.  Her mom took her back in and found a nice safe place for both Stitch and Purl to sleep where nobody was going to accidentally step on them.

Purl and Stitch tucked behind a gate to sleep.

Some goats were lounging on the picnic table to stay dry.

Astra (front) and Joy

Penelope

Others were just napping and lounging in the buildings.

Midnight Margarita has Octavius

I noticed yesterday that Margarita’s udder was really filling up and she had dropped.  She was positively looking gaunt where the baby had dropped.

I checked her a few times, and when I went out to feed the girls, I noticed she was lying a bit away from Antigone and Joy.  I shook my food pitcher and bribed her up to the buck room.

Margarita

She had goop hanging, and I got all panicked that she had been trying to kid for a while, so I immediately pulled her into the garage to try to check her.  She wouldn’t have any of it.  She fought me, and every time I tried to catch her she ran, and when I got back with a collar and lead, she was busy eating the chicks’ feed.

She can’t have that feed.  It’s got medicine in it to keep the chicks healthy (as a side note, that’s why I can’t move the chicks–the medicated feed would kill the geese and peacocks and I would have to discard my eggs; the girls will get moved very soon).  Anyhow, I made Margarita come to the Love Shack with me.

I checked her and her cervix was still closed. That was a relief.  She was just starting.  I kept a close eye on her, and she had a few contractions, but nothing major.  I checked her before bed, and her cervix was still closed.  I set my alarm for 1:00 am and went to bed.  The dog woke me up at 11:45, and I decided to go check her.  I found one cold foot stuck out.  I grabbed her and we went in the Love Shack to where I still had her collar and and towel.  Everything was there, but the feet were tucked under the chin, and that’s way too much to come at once.  As soon as I got the legs pulled out straight, the baby flopped out.

I went to bed, but the dog woke me up at about 3:30, so I went out to check them.  She was laying outside with the baby.  But I was already hearing rumbles of thunder, so I took him back into the Love Shack and she followed.  I put a panel up to keep them from coming back outside.  That was a good thing because the next time I woke up it was thunder, lightning and pounding rain at 4:30 am.  By morning, it was a muddy mess.

But Margarita and her buckling, Octavius, were safe and dry inside.

Margarita and Octavius

Octavius

Good job, Margarita!

Rainy Day and Thursday

Yesterday evening, the rain came.

It was gentle and slow to start, which is good because it gave me time to check on Uno and Seven since they had just moved.  Uno somehow managed to injure himself.  I really have no idea how.  Poor baby, but he’ll be fine.

Uno

Xerxes is innocent.  He didn’t have a drop of blood on him, so I know he wasn’t fighting with the kid.  He is actually happy to have company.

Xerxes

While I was up checking on Uno, I also found Seven.  He had moved himself back up there.  Again I don’t know how Uno managed to hurt himself, but it looks like it might have been on the tub Seven is sleeping in.  That is all Uno blood.  Seven just looks dead.  He was sleeping quite soundly and unconcerned that his maa was yelling for him to come eat.

Seven

Don’t worry, I carried Seven back down to his maa.  Everyone got inside during the rain, but I did have to kick Pistol out of the buck room because she was picking on everyone.  Poor Antigone has to be without her maa now.

This morning after the rains had quit, I checked again, and everyone was fine.  Seven looks quite cozy in his new surroundings.  You can see he had been outside because he has wet legs.

Seven

Popcorn has been hanging out with the girls in the buck room; I hope he keeps going out to pasture with them like he did yesterday afternoon.

Popcorn

I am grateful for the rain because we’ve been rather dry. No matter how old I get, I still enjoy the bright color of a dandelion.

This will hopefully help the crops and let the seeds I had already planted in my garden to sprout.  It certainly has helped the lilacs finish opening.

lilacs

I still haven’t decided if my cherry tree will actually have any cherries after our freeze.

sorry for the blur–Iowa is a windy state

Sky never seems to mind the rain.

Sky

This was a perfect rainy spring day!