FUEL anthology publication day!
1 year ago
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
I was afraid that I would have a very sad post for you today.
Yesterday morning I called the herd in for some hay. They had skittered down the mountain to drink from the creek. All came back except Pearlie.
The night had been milder than we had had in a while and I decided to leave wee Bridey out with her mom to get a full 24 hours of milk on her mom. She's so tiny. I just wanted her to grow more.
I called and called for Pearlie and finally she came up. Without Bridey or Goata (thanks to Erica for naming Bridey's brother). Pearlie wandered around all day looking like she'd left her car keys somewhere. She would stand by the front porch and bleat up at me. The white goats are really sweet but they are not the brightest of goats.
Pearlie is the original dumb platinum blonde of goatdom. She has large expressive eyes that follow you and have a sort of curiously vapid expression. She's very mouthy and a bit whiny. When she talks, you're pretty sure she's saying very blonde things. But she's very sweet and vulnerable, and like most blondes, you can't help but love her and want to protect her.
Cameron Diaz once said, "I've been noticing gravity since I was very young." That's the sort of thing I imagine comes out of Pearlie's mouth on a regular basis.
I drove down to The Fifteenth and tried to spot the kids on the cliff side. I knew it was an exercise in futility. Both Bridey and Goata are perfectly camouflaged. I stood on the cliff and called for Bridey. I thought I heard her a few times, but I couldn't be sure. Sound behaves strangely here. And BossyToe always answers so I couldn't be sure if the kid cry I was hearing was from BossyToe over the the far pasture or from Bridey down the hill.
As we were losing light, I made one more futile gesture to reclaim the lost kids. I marched Pearlie and the rest of the herd over to the trail head that they had come up from that morning. And I sent Pearlie's happy ass back down the mountain. I figured the least she could do is go down there and feed them. Her udder was tight and painful by this point...a reminder of what she was missing.
At sunset, a tired looking Pearlie with the two kids emerged from the opposite side of the farm. She had found them and this time realized that she had to walk them back along Big Creek to the place where the slope was not so vertical.
No more nights outside for Bridey. She's sooooo grounded.
BossyToe was overjoyed to see her best buddy. She danced and leaped around her wanting to know all about her big adventure. Those two are as thick as thieves. I see them getting into loads of trouble when they get big.
Today I finished up the disbudding of the doe kids. I thought I would have two more including Bridey. The other being my moonspotted Violette. I wasn't looking forward to doing Violette. She is the most athletic of the triplets. Blanche is the largest, but also the laziest. Rose is the small, dairy one. I managed to sneak up on Violette and catch her...just barely. And wonders of wonders...a completely smooth forehead. Violette is polled like her mama. She will not grow horns and is gorgeously spotted as well.
In other goat news....My darling buck, Leonard, sidled up to me today with great affection. And peed on my shoe. It's official. He's in rut. So far, Bolly the wether, is bearing the brunt of his affections. I'm not thrilled about this. I wanted to get the buck pen built before we went through this again. Having kids in hot weather isn't much better than having them in cold. The babies will probably all have to come inside in the air conditioning. Damn.
So, today, I hurried to get as much farm work done while we had temps over 50 degrees. I got the round bale of hay moved on the trailer and tarped up the hill. I fixed the fences and got them really nice and hot. I disbudded little Bridey. Set up a new water tank and got the water situation ready for this week's snow and freeze.
In short, I pushed my body a wee bit past its breaking point. Betsy had asked me if my lupus was flaring and I bravely said, "No, I'm just really tired."
I don't know what she saw. Or how she saw it. I don't believe in many of the things Betsy believes in. I'm a skeptic. I don't like to think I'm giving off lupus vibes.
But I'm feeling it. I'm feeling it sneaking up on its little wolf paws. Growling and baring its little teeth.
I upped my pred and downed some pain pills to see if I could nip it in the bud. I'm too damn busy to be sick right now.
I have too much life to be living to deal with this shit. So it just better go away.
Labels: Baby Goats, goats, lupus
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'The Goat Yoda'
Nice, don't blame you for getting away from the rat race, I'm a country hick myself.
When I was a kid in Northern Idaho I used to hike into the mountains a few times a year to spend the night at an old goat mans place. It was really cool there.
Now I live at the edge of a small town that is still to big for me. But the place is paid for and the cats don't seem to mind what all the stupid humans are doing.
It is a quite block though. Have a good day.
He had lived alone up there for many years as a bear killed his wife one day sometime before I discovered him. Just before we left Idaho to move to Utah he came to town to look me up to tell me that he was leaving the homestead to live in a retirement home.
I hiked up there one more time to meet the people that had took over, they shot my dog. So much for that.
Your Greek friend sounds like quite the character. Goat cheese is a bit of an art and a science. Not sure what variety your friend was making. Feta maybe, being Greek? Not everyone cares for feta. I've had a few skanky tasting batches I've thrown out. I freeze a good bit of mild soft chevre that I use throughout the winter and keep feta in the fridge for salads and stuff. Hoping to try some other types this year.
So sorry about your dog.
Rosie, what an honor, that you have chosen to Christen your baby goat with my moniker.
You have made this the best Valentines Day, ever.
You cannot imagine how truly ecstatic I am (really!)
And yes...there are "lupus vibes". Its called the love of a friend who can tell something is amiss.
How much pred from and to; how long ya been at that dose? I was nine years, mostly at 20mg/ every other day.
Anytime you wanna write your old buddie, let me know.
JohnieB
Yes, Jane...SLE is a bad actor. I've had it since I was 25. The SLE isn't nearly as bad as the secondary clotting disorder I have along with it. It nearly killed me in 1997.
JohnieB...my current maintenence dose is 5mg. But my rheumatologist knows I've been successfully managing my pred for over 15 years now. I'll pop it up to as much as 40 and do a five day taper when things start to look ugly. If that doesn't nip it, then I have to go in for some bigger guns. She's sort of keen on CellCept. Was on Imuran.
I'd, of course, love to correspond with you. Feel free to email me.
Ewick's Firefox says it "don't know" how to talk to Rosiewulf at no Yahoo for some pitiful reason I know nothing of. And my only account lays me bare; gimme the one you wanna use here, and I'll try nother path, 'K?
Johnie
Thank-you for putting me on your blogroll. I am a little embarassed that I made a stink about it, but I am happy to be there.
You are on mine of course.
Googie Baba
for Valentine's day, my father got my mother an..adoptionship? of a baby giraffe, at the zoo. (she loves giraffes).
Cameron Diaz once said, "I've been noticing gravity since I was very young." That's the sort of thing I imagine comes out of Pearlie's mouth on a regular basis.
hee hee.
i have a friend who has a cat named "Twiggy." he's a bit of that sort. aptly named.
i did not know that. that makes sense, though. i might've guessed pork.
goat cheese is a good thing, i think, but i could see how badly made goat cheese could be pretty nasty.
and now i am thinking of "Heidi."
Goat milk can be used to make any sort of cheese. Most people think of it as chevre...but it's much more versatile. Lots of french cheeses are made with goat milk.