Yesterday was another busy and warm day. By popular demand we put Lambchop in another hat. You’ll notice that he has both John Deere and CAT hats, fierce farming equipment competitors. The blog has become so widely read that after appearing in the John Deer hat CAT called him up and paid him to wear theirs. They said his handsome appearance and excellence in the sport of poo made him a perfect spokesman. Okay, I’m kidding. But if you have a hat you’d like to see lambchop in, send it our way!
After Nara learned the intricacies of mucking poo in the morning, we used the last of the cool hours of the day to stack wood. Until we met Greg, we had no idea that stacking wood was such a fine art. Nara and Lesley got the basics (neat, leaning slightly toward the back, front logs flush) and put our thinking caps on for a next hour of puzzling wood stacking. It was a surprisingly complex endeavor. we never thought we would look at a stack of wood with such pride.
Yesterday, Danielle the doeling took her first trip off the farm to get an x-ray. Dr. Maci discovered a crushed growth plate in her front right leg and a few torn tendons in her back right leg. While this ends Danielle’s dream of growing up to become a professional basketball player, it means she will still most likely be able to fulfill Greg and Maureen’s plan for her to give birth to a bunch of cute goats over the years.
It has been such a great experience to watch Danielle begin the recovery process from what was quite a serious injury. Within the first few days of her injury, several people came out to the ranch to take a look at her. Everyone agreed that she was in a great deal of pain, but no one was sure what was causing it. Things weren’t looking good for the beautiful doeling, but Greg and Maureen gave her every chance to make a recovery. Their patience and care have certainly paid off. After watching her lie motionless in her pen for several days, it is wonderful to see her up on her feet nibbling on some alfalfa or calling out to us in frustration because she wants to go out and play. She has a few more weeks of bed rest ahead of her, so she might end up getting very frustrated with us, but it for her own good.
When we returned from Danielle’s big appointment, it was already time for the evening chores. Alicia was happy to be reunited with Danielle for dinner in the goat pen. The sheep were ready and waiting to run through the gate to their pen to get their evening meal, and the horses were in a cooperative mood as they were returned to their stalls for the night. However, the cows and Rodney the ram were in the mood to break their curfew. After standing at the gate and calling to them in vain, Greg took matters into his own hands, jumping on the quad to do a roundup. Greg disappeared into the tall grass to find them and returned minutes later with Molly, Dolly, and Rodney lumbering along ahead of him to get their dinner, their plans foiled by the modern cowboy.
After only one day away from the farm, it was shocking to see how much faster Holley had become. She ran through the field she shares with Gimpy with great speed, scaring the unsuspecting Gimpy from time to time. She gave us a little scare in the evening when she wouldn’t take her bottle, but after removing a clump of undigested grass from her throat, she seemed to feel a bit better. She did take her bottle later in the night but seemed to have an upset stomach and Maureen had the realization that things still weren’t quite right by the runny little calf poo that ran down her arm! We hope that Holley is feeling better this morning.
Well, it’s past 7:30 and we are looking forward to another day in the Washington sunshine with the animals. Until next time, keep safe and be well!!
Lesley and Derek