Saffron’s day

Saffron and one of her girls

And so our last but not least girl, our herd queen Saffron, had her kids Thursday morning around 8 a.m.  It was a warm day, cloudy and a little breezy, but really pretty perfect all around!

Wednesday night as I was doing my midnight rounds, I found Saffron up in the paddock whining and crying, very softly.  I was a little alarmed, and couldn’t tell if she was talking to her babies and encouraging them to make an entrance already, or if she was upset at being alone up there!  The two other moms were in their jugs with their babies, and Peanut unfortunately doesn’t count as a real goat with the rest of the crowd, so for all intents and purposes, Saffron found herself on her own.  It was quite unusual, watching her walking slowly around the paddock under that bright moonlit sky.  She definitely had no signs of active labor, so I went in and got into bed but didn’t turn the light out so I would get up in another hour or two and check on her again.  Same thing going on at 2 a.m. as well!

Saffron’s girls

John checked on them around 4 and 6 a.m., so I headed up to chores about 7:30 on Thursday morning.  It was already comfortably warm, and Saffron was still doing the same thing.  Talking, crying and walking around!  She didn’t show any signs of wanting breakfast, though, so I knew she must be getting close.  And sure enough, while I sat in the greenhouse with the babies and moms, I was able to watch her on the little hill, pop that first doeling out.  She made quick work of getting that little girl dried off, and nursing, then her second doeling made her entrance a little under a half hour later.  I left them where they were for as long as I could, but the breeze was a little stiff and I didn’t want those babies to get chilled.  As I was carrying the doelings slowly toward the greenhouse, Saffron was frantically licking them both, and ended up washing my arms into the bargain!  She is such a good mama.

Bellies are full, time to nap!

And so our kidding year is closed now.  I am very grateful, and getting more sleep is a very good thing.  I am still sitting up around midnight wondering why I am awake, though!

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Twig’s big afternoon

Twig’s first!

It’s been a busy few days!  All of our girls have now delivered their babies, just in time to avoid the rain that is coming in this afternoon.  (Actually, I think it is already drizzling).

Yesterday I came and went over and over again up to the paddock, and around 1:30 I decided to take the lawn chair to just outside the girl’s greenhouse, and relax for a few minutes.  The sun was warm, and there was a breeze, but not a bad one.  I closed my eyes, and then realized I was hearing two things:  Eleganza, who was in the greenhouse penned with her babies, was calling to Twig, her 2 year old daughter, who was outside in labor, grunting.  Oh my!  That goes to show that you are never finished with being a mom!  It was so sweet.  Twig grunted and growled, and Eleganza called.

Lighter is the doeling

Twig was doing really well, and didn’t even get up to get that first baby out, a little doe.  What a cutie she is, very spunky at a minute or so old!  I didn’t have to guess her sex, as after only a moment, she squatted to pee!  That is something I have never seen before.  Twig is showing herself to be as good a mother as Eleganza; she had that baby cleaned up and on her feet in record time.  As the afternoon wore on, however, I realized her next baby in line was having issues.  He had his head tilted up and back, and one leg was all the way forward and out, while the other was all the way back.   I don’t think I have had to help any goat births in about 10 years, and here we had two situations in two days that needed a little push.  You just never know!

As soon as I got the little guy’s head down and out the back door, she didn’t have any problem getting him out.  He’s another beautiful red buck, with a little white blaze on the top of his head.  They are both very active babies and are doing well.

And so it goes!  4 babies down.  I’ll tell you about Saffron a little later!

New life

First baby

Is always so precious and wonderful.  We finally have had our first babies of the season!  Eleganza, our beautiful Guernsey girl, went into labor this afternoon.  I wasn’t there for the very beginning, but when I went out around 2 PM, I knew that she had not just begun her labor.  She is a real trooper, and last year had two 8.5 lb bucklings without any help from us.  This time seemed to be a bit different.

Goats and sheep usually deliver their babies in an intact sac filled with amniotic fluid.  You can usually see the head resting on the two front legs, as they come to meet us as though they are diving into a pool.  This one was no exception, nothing wrong about his presentation, but there was something wrong with her ability to get him delivered.  This poor little/big fellow was coming out and going back in, which is not unusual, but our girl Eleganza was not making any progress.  I don’t tend to interfere with a birth if it looks normal, but after almost an hour, as she began to lose steam, I waited for my chance and helped the little bugger along as she was having a contraction.  He is a very big boy, over 9 lbs, and I am glad I did help him out as he had been so stressed that he was passing a lot of meconium poops into his amniotic sac.  And so we have our first baby of the season!

Baby #2

And then his brother made an appearance an hour later, just as I like to see it, so that the first could have all his mother’s attention for a bit before having to take care of the second baby.  Our little guy was up and nursing before I knew it, and the second large buckling was born with no help from me, thank goodness.  The darker red buck is actually the second born, and the smaller of the two, although he looks bigger because of the camera angles.

I love it when we have babies in the daytime!  And no, we still have no spring peepers!

Waiting, again

For goat babies, and for spring peepers!

Everyone has spring fever!

We have had some lovely weather in the 50s (F), and now today it is sleeting and snowing and blowing, but isn’t too very cold at least.  Just what I want with one of the does due to kid tomorrow!  I hope she waits until tomorrow, but compared to some of the years we have kidded and lambed, I can’t really complain too hard about the temperatures.  We have historically lambed and kidded in early March.  Brr.

Eleganza waiting patiently

Our Eleganza is the one up for tomorrow, and our Saffron due a week from today.  Both are experienced and wonderful mothers.  Twig, our two year old first time mom, is due next Tuesday.  All in all, a nice tight cluster of sleepless nights and early mornings.  Not too bad, really!  In looking back on the two older does, they have both kidded every year during the daytime.  I would be very grateful if that trend continues!

We have also been enjoying our local wild turkey population immensely.  Our house is on a mostly wooded site, with a beaver pond down back just barely visible through the trees.  And so our yard is a heavily travelled turkey route, which currently includes the back of the house at our bird feeder.  There are two or three fairly large toms that are traveling with a large group of females and a few jakes (young toms), as it is the mating season.  We have been treated to a daily show under the feeder by the tom.  His harem, however, doesn’t even give him a glance!  They are busy eating the fallen seed and the little chunks of stale bread I throw out there, and as they move on, the tom moves with them – after he has put on quite a show!  I think when he is showing off he looks like a wind-up toy.

And now I think I will be off to check on our expectant mamas again!

Icemud season

Ice and mud

What a lapse in blogging!  The days have been flying by, even by winter weather standards.  I think most of us in the northeast can agree that this has been the winter of ice, which was definitely not an easy-to-handle one.  Each snow storm we had ended in rain and sleet, and the buildup of ice in all the areas where the shade predominates has been epic.

Sunrise over the pigeon loft

And so we enter the in-between time of icemud.  Not yet mud season, but mud mixed with layers of ice… and everything re-freezes at night.  Gotta love it because there is nothing to do about it!  I am enjoying these 40F days, though, and afternoon chores are my favorite time of day.  The sun is high and warm, and even the unrelenting wind has not spoiled how nice it feels to be outside.

Peanut, Twig, and Eleganza (left to right)

On the goat front, we are just 3 weeks away from our first babies!  Eleganza is our Number 1 this year, and is due on April 9th.  The other two are due a week later.  Our first-timer, Twig, has begun to have a nice little udder, so even though she does not look incredibly pregnant, she is chugging along well.

And so it goes!  Spring is not a season that we really have here in Maine, but the trees have buds on them and the overnight temperatures are in the upper 20s and low 30s, which is delightful.  Maple trees are tapped and syrup is flowing well.  And Daylight Saving time is here, which always makes my day :*)

And now December is upon us

Autumn was beautiful

And then this happened. Twice.

Holy cow!  Time is really flying by.  Much of what is going on in our lives is the minutiae of getting older and dealing with some health problems.  I am not feeling quite as energetic as I used to because of higher beta blocker doses (that really seems to sap the energy!) and my ongoing battle with some crazy painful bursitis in my hips.  And so I am moving more slowly and trying to be mindful of not doing too much, as I always have in the past :*)  It feels like it’s becoming a full time job.

Pippi on the left, with Twig

After our yearly NY Sheep and Wool/Rhinebeck trip in October, my dear Pippi went off to the butcher.  Thankfully, her boy found a great home, so we were spared sending him off for meat.  And then breeding began and ended as quickly as I have ever seen it!  Everything just fell into place in spite of itself, and in spite of not having much of a plan in place.  Our girl Peanut, who I am not going to breed this year, if ever, was in heat middle of the first week in November.  So that passed and on Sunday the 11th I woke up to the sound of aother goat in heat, screaming at the top of her lungs.  Eleganza made no bones about her predicament, and so I grabbed our sweet Ephraim, the very laid back buck, and threw him in with the girls.  I gambled on Peanut not coming back into heat, which could have happened, but it didn’t.  (Although I will keep in mind that she was in with the buck and make sure I don’t miss anything as the winter goes on).  And as if I had planned it, Saffron and Twig came into heat during that week as well, and all of our 2019 babies are due between April 9th and April 16th!  It really couldn’t have worked out better.

Eleganza giving her opinion on the stink of her very attentive suitor!

And I don’t believe I have to worry about Peanut, because she has just spent the beginning of this week screaming at the fence, in heat again (and I am sure the whole neighborhood knew about it, too!).

And now we are 8

The last few weeks have been very busy ones.  I had been advertising the goats I needed to move along, without any response, and I was feeling a little down about it.  I really hated the thought of sending these beautiful girls to the auction, but I was beginning to think I would have no choice.

3 of the Guernseys around the feeder

Saffron stuffing her face

Jingle and Fergus

But, then, I actually found a farm that wanted all of them!  Edna with her two doelings, Battie and her daughter Betsy.  All together, which made me the happiest of all.  And so last Friday they all got a nice ride to their new farm.  I hope they do well, they are in a very good place.

Pippi and her buckling from this year are still here, although they have a butcher date in late October.  Pippi is still milking well, but she is losing her teeth at an alarming rate, and she is elderly.  If I leave her to try and winter over another year, I am afraid I will lose her at a time when we cannot bury her…  and I hate using the goats as coyote bait, but a lot of folks do that around here in the winter when they can’t bury dead animals.  And so she will provide us with a little stew meat, and her circle of life here will be complete.  She’s been such a great little goat, my fierce Herd Queen!  (Saffron is lining up to challenge that position, but Pippi is no slouch, she is not giving in one little bit).  Pippi’s buckling may actually have a home lined up, but if that does not work out, he will go with his mama.

And so the seasons are moving forward, and I am moving forward with our little farm.  Chores are so wonderfully uncomplicated now that we are smaller, and much more enjoyable.  More time to actually hang out with the goats and enjoy our time together.  They are awfully good company!

And I should not forget Jingle the Donkey, who will never leave!  So maybe I should say, now we are 9 :*)

Is it almost August already?

Happy girls this afternoon

And boy does it sound like it out there!  The crickets and the grasshoppers are playing their music frantically.  I don’t know if it’s the drought, or just the usual.  Whatever the reason, I love sitting and listening to them, it’s a most comforting sound.  The rain is finally making a brief appearance every once in awhile, but the days are growing shorter again, which always surprises me for some reason.

Fergus the wether. Trying to look innocent!

We have had an insanely crazy summer so far.  My husband has been traveling back and forth to NJ.  His dad, 94, was getting feebler, and ended up in the hospital and passed away just before the 4th of July.  And so many trips up and down, alone, with me, with our son and grandson later, it’s been nuts.  Very sad to have lost my sweet father in law, but also nice to have had an opportunity to see much of the family again.

Sam and some of the girls last November. We all miss him!

In the middle of all this upheaval and emotional stuff, my older son, the one who has been with us for a little over 2 years and has been a huge part of the goat farm, had the opportunity to move back to NJ, which he did this past week.  And so it goes!  When it rains, it pours.  Change just is, and I am old enough to not be surprised by it.  But it does every time.

Today John came back from NJ once again, and I think he can stay for a week or two before heading back south.  The summer traffic is epic, and it took him almost 10 hours to get back today (it’s a 400 mile trip, should only be about 6-7 hours).  In the meantime, my schedule has changed drastically, as my son was doing a lot of the feed prep each day, and it will take me awhile to get into a different groove.  I know the goats are standing around scratching their heads wondering why everything is taking so darn long :*)  Ha!

3 cottolin hand towels, Summer & Winter weave

My weaving work has continued well, and we are exploring double weaves right now.  It’s so much fun!  I also finished a set of Summer and Winter weave hand towels a few days ago, which I just love.  I made them from cottolin, and the colors are lovely.  We only have about 2 months left tin the grant timeline, and I have a few projects I need to work on aside from what I am doing with Nancy.  I need to really get cracking on them.

Detail of the middle towel which I will probably use as a table runner (a small one)

The hot and humid weather can turn me into a very cranky soul, but so far we have had pretty small doses of it until this past week.  It’s been a tough one, and I know that the animals are feeling it as well.  I certainly am not very sprightly during this hazy, humid stuff, and living in Maine, we do not have air conditioning except in the bedrooms (although living only about a mile from Muscongus Bay definitely helps, particularly when we get breezes off the water).  The next 3 or four days are supposed to be better, and then the stickies make a return appearance.  Ah well, this is summer, and this too shall pass!  I am not wishing it away, the green and the warm don’t stick around for more than a blink.

 

 

 

Leaving home

Finished twill towels

Time is flying by as usual, and this past week has been a doozy.  My husband had to travel down to NJ to help with some things and his 94 year old father, I have been weaving like a crazy person, and 5 of our 8 babies have moved off to their new homes.

It’s so nice to meet the new families that are taking on our little Guerseys, and I know they are all going to new adventures and great lives.  Most of our Guernseys are unregistered, and almost all the families who are taking them are doing so for the same reasons I choose the goats I do:  their temperament, their size and their nice milky butterfat.

Off to NH

Saffron’s girls went off to New Hampshire with a wonderful young family last weekend.  Little Red and Blue are now called Lucy and Gidget!  Great names for these sweet girls.  (Gidget is the darker red girl whose ear tips were bent from birth, pretty perfect name!).  It sounds like they are settling in well at their new farm.

Eleganza resting in the shade with her boys

Eleganza’s boys have gone off to different farms here in Maine.  They are sweet guys as well, and I know they will have lots of girls to keep them busy in the future!

Pippi’s girl giving me the stare.  Her name is now Poppe!

And the last to leave this week is our sweet little doeling, Pippi the Lamancha’s girl (Pippi is our Herd Queen).  If I could have kept any of the babies from this year it would have been her.  I am really happy, though, that she is going to a wonderful farm in Vermont, to a young family with whom we are acquainted.  She will love her new friends there, some mini Nubians and some Nigerian dwarfs.  Who knows, maybe she can aspire to being the new herd  queen!

And so it goes.  Spring is quickly turning to summer, and we only have three little ones left to move along to new homes.  Things are much quieter already, it will be a real shock when these little ones leave!  And now, on to serious milking and some cheese  :*)

 

Spring, finally!

Feeding frenzy

And today is an out of the ordinary one for Maine.  85 F here this afternoon, although we have a nice breeze so the bugs are not too big a problem.

Love Betsy in this photo, talking a mile a minute with her mouth full of hay!

The babies are growing like hotcakes, and the scrum around the feeder is incredible in the morning.  We can barely get the hay in there before 3 or 4 not-so-little ones are jumping on and in.  It’s nutty, but they are so much fun at this age.  Everyone has cleared 35 lbs so far, and we are nearly ready to send some of our sweet ones out into the world with new families.  Almost empty nest :*)

And so it goes.  I will have to do a separate post to update my weaving apprenticeship.  I have been very busy with that and have a lot of photos to share.  Nothing earth shattering that any of you weavers out there couldn’t throw together in a jiffy, but the experimentation is teaching me a lot.   And I am having a great time with it!