Well, Monday is a wrap. Finally. We had quite the morning. Zelda and the buck Oreo were scheduled to leave us and join the farm that Sassafras and Pickles went to live on two weeks ago. And it was not as easy a transfer as I would have liked!
Scheduled is the word. I was worried all last night that Zelda was going to be the one that was difficult, and Oreo would be the piece of cake to walk into Curt’s trailer. Not. What a surprise, but it’s something that should not shock me at all. You just never know.
And so we had the goat rodeo on ice. Oreo knew something was up the minute we went out for chores this morning, and we were even being nonchalant. I did my usual thing, and Sam went to do his. Oreo was having none of it! Zelda came with me into the catch pen and launched into her morning hay like nothing was amiss. But Oreo got the wind up and it took four of us adults to get him cornered and caught, slipping and sliding on the ice and the snow. I really hate doing that. In the process, Sam got an arm injury, John came in with a bleeding arm, and the new owner’s hands were bloody by the time we got the buck into his trailer. I waited to take a fall until I tripped on the handle of a bag in the house. Not a winner of a day, I can say that now. But tonight, it feels like it is ancient history. I can truly say that this morning was kind of the end of an era.
Since last spring I have been working toward getting all the animals together that I can definitely handle alone. Sam will not be here forever, and when he moves on, my 62+ year old body needs to be able to handle what we have. I don’t move as fast as I used to! And so I have planned accordingly, and we made a plan for who to keep and who to part with. I had a really hard time parting with SnowPea’s daughters Pickles and Sassafras, and Zelda was an even more difficult cull. But we lucked out and found an amazingly wonderful farm in Auburn, Maine, and the owner there really loves our girls and our genetics, and not only has the 3 girls now, but he also has Oreo the buck. I couldn’t have asked for a better home for them, and they are not really that far away. (He has Nigerian Dwarf goats as well, and I am dying to go up and visit his place!).
Anyhow, we are turning a corner here at the farm. I think we are as tight as we can be. I have two purebred Lamancha does left, and 7 almost purebred Guernsey girls. One Guernsey buck and one half Guernsey buckling. It’s finally a picture that I think can work for me.
The winter seems to be settling in, so I am glad that the Goat Rodeo is finished for the year. I hope. After the Solstice I think I can feel a little more positive going forward. But we definitely won’t think about January 20th just yet :*/
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Goats are sure hard to wrangle…maybe harder than twins and bird dogs! I hope everybody is taking it easy tonight. You know, I can block out some news where I live, but I feel my stomach drop every time I think of Inauguration Day. DH is doing the paperwork for us to become dual citizens (US & Canada) for safety’s sake. Just in case a wall is built somewhere…maybe crazy, but also careful…DH is the son of someone born in a DP camp in Germany.
Thanks, Joanne, we had an early night and this morning it is brutally cold, be we are only one day away from the Solstice! I totally agree with you and your husband… you are already living and working in Canada, it makes sense for you to have the dual citizen status. I am still a dual citizen between the US and Israel, but I just can’t see moving back there permanently. I don’t think I could take the temperatures anymore!
Oh boy! Sounds like a ‘rest day’ is in order!! We have a saying around here too. “Can we manage this when we’re eighty?”
I know, I hate to admit that I can’t do what I used to! Just a couple of years ago, I would have been right in there diving to grab the goat’s back leg with the rest of them. Not any more!
We’re also realizing that we’re going to have to reduce the amount if work here on our small. It’s a sad reality for all of us. The mind is still willing but not the body!
That’s for sure, Jane. I wish it were not, though!
all the above, but you are so much moving in the right direction.
Looking, thinking, making decisions. I just love reading all the
mundane details of it…”i am not alone”. Here, i still can’t know
how it’ll go. WILL? the daughter REALLY come for them? It’s
been 4 and a half years. IF she does and IF i DON”T decide
to go to Californing (like part of the herd), will i want to keep
some here? How many? Why? Will i want to breed and milk
if there a couple or a few? How different would it feel if there
were a couple or few compared to 17????????
and i am ashamed to admit it, but i got a huge smile reading about loading the buck…again, an i’m not alone kind of thing…
and yes…how they are psychic…how they read our minds, the
absolute truth in this.
to have dual citizenship would be somehow comforting. I am
really trying to understand some way to go forward in it all….
but really, there’s no way to think about it even, he is so unpredictable
and mindless. But here we all are, sprinkled all around the world,
…if we can somehow keep those threads strong….
Yes, Grace, all the mundane details! I can’t imagine a future without goats, but I know that the day will come at some point. So I don’t know how you can make that decision! Not an easy one. And I can’t really think about the new one that will be coming in in January. Just can’t. I keep my counsel with the goats.