Happy Monday from a dreary drizzly damp Gentle Giant Meadows Ranch. Somewhere up in the sky, Song is on an aeroplane winging her way back home to Seoul, South Korea…she left a little bit of her heart here and took a little chunk of the ranch with her. Young Cody caught a before daybreak commuter bus back to the city and Quatre has also gone city side for a short time. We miss them all, come home soon.
Today is going to be my first day “semi” functional. Today was the first day for at least 6 months that I didn’t watch the reserve team doing the chores I have done for so many years. Today I almost felt like I am useful again !! ( only almost !) It didn’t last too long, Greg (aka back police or nurse Cratchett) was only going to tolerate me bending unspoken rules for so long and here I am back at the house watching the world go by.
The three musketeers, Goliath, Samson and Delilah are flourishing. Those desperately weak little bodies now gallop around the pasture bucking, tails in the air like fluffy banners, the picture of health and vitality. Their sad early days now far behind them, they will benefit from the open pasture and the early Spring grass. Bottle feeding the trio has become quite the art, three calves, three bottles…two of us. I take docile demure Delilah. That black and white heifer is the smaller of the trio, equally ravenous and just as active as her comrades, but oh, so gentle. Whilst Goliath and Samson push and head- but, Delilah just puts all her bovine energy into inhaling the contents of her warm richly vanilla smelling bottle, eyes closed and little tongue wrapped around the big pink rubber teat. It is going to be interesting watching those little babies grow, we have never had the Friesian breed and who knows what breed Goliath is. From his size I’d guess that boy’s daddy is a buffalo !
The newest babies on the ranch, tiny doeling Song and butch buckling Cody are also thriving. The twins were born on Thursday and have had to discover the instinct to suck and more importantly learn that people bring bottles and bottles mean food. Like two little puppies the kids curl up together in a cosy ball under the warmth of the heat lamp and bleat and bounce like little rubber balls when awake. Those two babies are cuteness personified !
Our little Lamanche doe, Alissia, mother of the twins was lonely. She had been living with dominant daddy buck Macho the man. Macho had, for obvious reasons been removed from her pen prior to birthing and was apparently missing goat company. A quick phone call to Mary of Herrons Hill Dairy and Acorn the red doe came to be Alissias new best friend. Peace and harmony has been restored to the goat pen after a brief but feisty discussion as to just who is the queen of the goats.
Time to go, a hungry farmer has dragged himself away from the barn and requires feeding ! Take care, keep safe, M
Today is going to be my first day “semi” functional. Today was the first day for at least 6 months that I didn’t watch the reserve team doing the chores I have done for so many years. Today I almost felt like I am useful again !! ( only almost !) It didn’t last too long, Greg (aka back police or nurse Cratchett) was only going to tolerate me bending unspoken rules for so long and here I am back at the house watching the world go by.
The three musketeers, Goliath, Samson and Delilah are flourishing. Those desperately weak little bodies now gallop around the pasture bucking, tails in the air like fluffy banners, the picture of health and vitality. Their sad early days now far behind them, they will benefit from the open pasture and the early Spring grass. Bottle feeding the trio has become quite the art, three calves, three bottles…two of us. I take docile demure Delilah. That black and white heifer is the smaller of the trio, equally ravenous and just as active as her comrades, but oh, so gentle. Whilst Goliath and Samson push and head- but, Delilah just puts all her bovine energy into inhaling the contents of her warm richly vanilla smelling bottle, eyes closed and little tongue wrapped around the big pink rubber teat. It is going to be interesting watching those little babies grow, we have never had the Friesian breed and who knows what breed Goliath is. From his size I’d guess that boy’s daddy is a buffalo !
The newest babies on the ranch, tiny doeling Song and butch buckling Cody are also thriving. The twins were born on Thursday and have had to discover the instinct to suck and more importantly learn that people bring bottles and bottles mean food. Like two little puppies the kids curl up together in a cosy ball under the warmth of the heat lamp and bleat and bounce like little rubber balls when awake. Those two babies are cuteness personified !
Our little Lamanche doe, Alissia, mother of the twins was lonely. She had been living with dominant daddy buck Macho the man. Macho had, for obvious reasons been removed from her pen prior to birthing and was apparently missing goat company. A quick phone call to Mary of Herrons Hill Dairy and Acorn the red doe came to be Alissias new best friend. Peace and harmony has been restored to the goat pen after a brief but feisty discussion as to just who is the queen of the goats.
Time to go, a hungry farmer has dragged himself away from the barn and requires feeding ! Take care, keep safe, M
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