Lions n Chickens n Goats, Oh My!

Okay, my last two or three posts have been pretty much singin' the blues, so today's will be a refreshing change...  As many of you know, we were given a baby goat - little Chestnut - but, he died within eight hours of our receiving him.  I was more than a little heartbroken.  And very, very tired.  Moshe tried to cheer me up by bringing home another baby goat Monday evening "to spend the night".  We dubbed her "Ellie", and she was cute and funny and everything one might expect a little kid goat to be.  But, as I mentioned, I was tired. And, Ellie was rambunctious! Even though she was only a few days old, she was an active little critter.  She slept for about two hours;  from thereafter, the only way to keep her from roaming the  house was for me to camp out on the office floor and keep her company.  Moxie and CassPurr assisted, and there we spent the night... Ellie, Moxie, and CassPurr, and me...  all scrunched together atop a couple of old quilts, with garbage bags under the "designated goat area", to at least attempt to protect the carpet.  I somehow had the foresight to put a plastic bag over the heating pad, then cover it with a pillow case.  Once Ellie discovered the heating pad, she pretty much stayed in one place. Meanwhile, I was on the floor - cold, tired, and not terribly thrilled with goat duty... Let's just suffice to say that Ellie's kidneys worked. And worked . And worked.

Me, holding the rambunctious Ellie

Tuesday morning I got up, looking like a "before" ad  for an insomnia medication; feeling like murder.  I barely coped with the morning chores, got my shower etc., and went into town to run errands.  I think I sleepwalked through most of the day. Ugh.  Bone tired. It'll work on your mind, sleeplessness... Fortunately Moshe realized that it would not be wise to bring home orphans of any sort Tuesday evening.  I got a good night's sleep, and  managed to get lots and lots of stuff done yesterday.

Lil Bit , between another newborn and a Momma Goat - TINY!

Then, yesterday evening, in walks Moshe with yet another baby goat! This one was even tinier than poor little Chestnut. Her Momma had given birth to three kids - a set of twins, and then, this little runt who is not quite half the size of the twins.  Momma goat rejected the runt, so Moshe and his coworkers bottle-fed her and held her throughout the day.  Then, she came home with Moshe...
Oh, tiny, but NOT sickly!  She had bright little eyes, and she wagged her tail crazily like Moxie does when she sees something that makes her happy.  Moshe dubbed her "Lil Bit".  Lil Bit and I hit it off from the first second. She tried to nurse my chin, then my nose, then my T shirt.  She took to the bottle like an old pro.  When she is hungry, she has a voice that sounds EXACTLY like a clown's horn on a unicycle! A LOUD clown's horn! I thought I'd laugh myself silly over the enormous noise coming from this tiny creature.  She sat in my lap all evening, very graciously wetting onto the towel/plastic provided for such a purpose.

Lil Bit has a good appetite

Not wanting to go back into sleep deprivation, I decided to try fixing the bed so that Lil Bit could sleep with us. I put a layer of plastic, then two or three layers of towels, then a nice soft baby blanket in the center of the bed.  As if she already knew the routine, she snuggled in and slept through the night. Oh, I woke up a few times and checked on her, like any adoptive mother would; and, every time she would awaken when I touched her , softly ma-a-a, then, go back to sleep.  Good baby.







Meanwhile, there ARE other animals here on our little farm...  Moxie got me up around midnight, wanting to go out.  I staggered down the hall and opened the back door for her.  It's almost a full moon, so the back yard was pretty well lit... and, what do I see, but one of the Peeps perched on top of the doll house on the back porch! "Okay", I think,  "One of the Peeps must have not made it inside the little coop before we closed it up for the night."   We have seen a mountain lion in our back yard twice now.  Once, I saw it; the second time Moshe and I both saw it.  So, of course, I couldn't just leave the little bird out there!
So, I go back up the hall, put my shoes on, grab a sweatshirt, walk back down the hall, and go outside to put the bird to bed... I picked up whichever Peep it was and carried it over to the little coop.  I opened the coop door. And it was empty! Oh my gosh!  I looked back around, and ALL the Peeps, plus Pretty Face, were perched on the back porch... on the back of the doll house, in flower pots, on the boot cleaner mat (GREAT, huh?), etc.  We had closed up the coop before ANY of them got the chance to go in for the night!  Eleven trips I made, carrying each chicken over to the safety of the coop.  Each of them squawked and put up a fight, then, immediately went quiet once they realized they were safely "home".  Moxie, of course, thought it was great sport!  Wow!  We get to play with the Peeps tonight!  Hooray!!! There's always one in every crowd... Last night it was Blondie... Blondie is one of the Peeps who is now a rooster.  Apparently he felt the need to act  "roosterly", so he crowed and flew, crowed and ducked under the Jeep, crowed and ran alongside the house.  Moxie herded him back toward me, and I got him and carried him to the coop. where he - like all the others.- immediately went into the trance-like sleep that only another chicken owner recognizes.

CassPurr and Lil Bit on the couch 

Thankfully, I too was able to go back to sleep, and woke up to a pile of happy animals - and a dry bed.  Lil Bit  - ever the gracious house guest - waited until after her morning bottle to wet. The chickens are happy to be back in their groove.  Moxie has spent most of the day outside cavorting with Beau.  And, CassPurr is the smartest one of all... With the exception of meal times, he has napped on the couch all day...
 Lil Bit is coming back to spend the night again this evening.  This time I am better-prepared, and, hopefully, we can all sleep the sound slumber of contentment.

 SHALOM  Y'ALL - TWYLA

Hearth and Home

     Up since 4:30 this AM, with a "weather-front headache".  After one large cuppa' coffee (AKA the brown liquid of life), a slice of homemade bread, a couple pieces of ginger root, and some aspirin, it is nearly gone.
But the big question is, "Where's the weather that's supposed to come with the front?"  According to both weather.com and accuweather, it was supposed to start snowing at around 3 this morning.  Sheesh! There's not so much as one flake so far.  Not that I especially care whether it snows or not... Oh, it's pretty alright.  And, if it does indeed snow, nobody would appreciate the beauty more than I would.  But, if it doesn't,  it will be much easier to feed the chickens without falling...
     Speaking of falls, it's been a week since Moshe fell on the ice and broke a rib.  He's still in a lot of pain.  Neither of us is sleeping much.  This morning I convinced him to try the couch.  I figured it would feel good to have the back of the couch supporting his back ribs.  I put the heating pad to his back, covered him with a quilt, and he's been sleeping now for a couple hours.  Bless his heart.  I've had chronic pain for over a decade now, and it isn't easy.  But, I think when a person is not accustomed to pain, it is much more difficult to deal with.
    

The animals have the right idea.  They look like mismatched bookends, holding up the pot belly stove on either end.  The stove sits on ceramic tile flooring, and there's ceramic tile up the wall behind it was well.  Those tiles absorb the heat and are toasty warm, if a little firm, to nap upon.  I can almost FEEL the "Zzzzz's" floating through the house this morning!
     We got a truckload of firewood a couple days ago.  It's mostly red oak and it burns  nicely.  Keeping the fire going has become a little bit easier for me this past week.  I'm starting to really get the hang of it.  There was only one night when it went out.  On that particular night I just didn't have the energy to try to restart it.  God is good, and it was warmer than usual that night.  Even with my unwillingness to tend the fire, the central heat didn't kick on.  We have the thermostat set at 61 degrees, and it was 63 in the house when I got up.
     Yesterday I cooked a pot roast on top of the potbelly.  It was sorta' experimental;  I put the roast, the onions, potatoes, carrots, spices, a a cup of water in the roaster pan;  put the lid on, and set it on top of the woodstove.  It took about 4 hours 'til the veggies were tender.  Wow! The meat literally fell apart when speared with a fork.  It was wonderfully delicious, and we didn't use any propane!
     So, while it's so quiet, I think I'll treat myself to another excellent cup of coffee, then start preparing the chicken food, dog food, cat food, people food...
Shalom Y'all - Twyla

A Rough NIght

     Moshe is fairly certain that one or more of his ribs got broken in the fall off the back porch yesterday.  We had a pretty rough night.  He's in a lot of pain, and I feel helpless to do much to help him.  By my estimate, he got about 2 1/2 hours of sleep last night, and I fared better with around 4 1/2...  Maybe we will take naps later in the day?   He's doing pretty well right now sitting at his desk.  I propped pillows behind him with the heating pad against the sorest place;  this has kept him relatively comfortable the past few hours...  Regular provision of hot tea and a nice plate of warm cornbread couldn't have hurt, either.
     The chickens are fed and watered, the pets are fed, the people are fed.  "They" say it's going to rain again today, so I went out early and got a bunch of wood brought in;  the fire is going nicely.  So, we are okay... as "okay" as can be when one of us is hurting...
     But, never the type to give in to despair, Moshe handed me this note, "to be delivered to all the chickens."