Houston, we have goats

I re-read my last post. It is pitifully filled with grammatical errors and plenty of 'what was I thinking?' I apologize for giving you a headache trying to decipher what my brain sorta spaghetti-plopped. In my defense - I was pretty much falling asleep at the computer. 'Nuff said.

Now, to finish what I left you hanging with.

We were about as prepared as we were going to be with what little time we had. Barn stalls sorta cleaned, no milk stanchion, a sad lack of goat chow and treats, milk machine-like contraption still in the box that it was delivered in and the manual still sealed in the plastic sleeve, and enough of a general idea of what we were getting into to be overwhelmed. What are we getting ourselves into?

Well, Saturday came, and we drove, and drove, and drove. It's at least an hour-long drive to get to the farm where the goats were. The back two benches of our 12-passenger van were taken out to accommodate three big dog carriers (Dad got a 'Fur'rarri. It's quite the plush carrier, if I do say so myself), and we loaded up whatever else we thought we might need (including collars for the little escape artists). Dad, Mom, Oma, and I all headed out. We stopped at probably one of the coolest, most awesome farm and feed stores ever. It's an old, restored mill, complete with original scale, gigantic wooden beams, and hardwood floors. If I join the work force, I want to work there. After we loaded up the goat fare, we were off once again.

As we walked up to the goat shepherdess' dwelling, we weren't greeted by the pack of poodles and mini dogs like we were last time. The farm was oddly quiet compared to previous trip; something didn't feel right. I found out soon enough: the pregnant doe that we had purchased delivered twins that very morning; one was a stillborn and the other was barely clinging on to life. It's one of the risks that you take with a first-time freshener; the caretaker was having a hard time with the whole thing. I was under the impression that she had never had to deal with this sort of loss before; she adores all of her goats. I'm kicking myself for not offering to bury the body for her; I didn't think of that until after we got home... I guess that goat farmer J--- had called my parents about the ordeal before we left. Why do I always seem to miss the important calls? :shrugs: Anyway... J--- didn't want to have the mamma or newborn around anymore; she was emotionally spent. What are we to do with a preemie?! We were no where near set up for this sort of thing. The surviving kid had to be pulled since he was stuck; the little guy was cold and had slim chances of survival. Shepherdess J--- kept saying that something just isn't right with him, he's just not vibrant like the other kids, doesn't seem to have the gusto that most goats have... Oy vey. Diving in head first, we are.

Eight goats wrangled up and loaded up into their respective carriers, and paper work all filled out, we mounted up for the ride home. I held a spritely, sassy little doeling on my lap, and mom held the newborn. It was certainly a trip that will forever be etched in all of our memories. ;) Imagine - a whole herd of mini goats who had never been away from their farm were now cruising down the highway at 55mph with complete strangers. I think I'd vocalize my opinion in the matter too, if I were in that situation.

At home, the mini-man, Eli, kept asking when we were coming home with the goats. He's been waiting for this day to come. When he woke up that morning, he told Mom, "Guess what today is! We get our goats!"

We pulled up the driveway after 6:30, but the day was far from over. We still needed to get the goats moved into their new home since we had nothing set up. The barn stalls had no bedding in them, no water buckets, no nothing... just what the llamas had been using. And all that was at a level where llamas could reach it, not mini caprines, and it was all covered in spit wads. We certainly are prepared, aren't we? Well, all that to say, we didn't come in until after 10. We were thoroughly whooped. But Mr. Preemie needed round-the-clock care. Mom was up all night with the goober.

Sunday morning came way too fast. We had goats to milk, potluck lunch to put together, church stuff to pull together and set up, worship music to assemble, etc, etc, etc... And everyone just wanted to sleep. Sorry, no sleep for you! Responsibility calls. I don't think that I've ever felt so piece-mealed, yet people kept commenting on how good I looked. I guess when I'm frazzled and brain-drained... :P Some of the young men also kept asking if there was anything that they could help us with; I couldn't even keep up with a conversation. Well, we stayed awake during church and miraculously drove home in one piece.

Meanwhile, while most of the crew was at church, Mom was at home with a tired 7 year-old, a tummy-troubled couch dweller, a preemie, and the phone. Yes, the phone. People wanted to come see the newest members of the farm family. Why not, says I. Come on over, she said! Well, one of the visitors was a friend who has been in the dwarf Nigerian business for about a year now. She was able to help give the goats a more thorough looking over. We got a little more than we bargained for. Our buck has turned into a rescue case, poor little dude... He was at the bottom of the pecking order.

The rest of Sunday was spent nursing preemie, continued work getting things set up for the goats, goat supplements and medicines, and naps (for the humans, the goats were wide awake). We still didn't come in until after 9:30. Keep in mind - we still have boat loads of high-maintenance chickens all over the place that require attention too.

The only promise of a better night's sleep would mean that Mister Tiny would have to stay out with his mom. But it's too cold to leave him out there yet... We were able to get the two of them together though. She had been searching and calling for him. We brought him out, she recognized him, and immediately started excitedly licking him - it was certainly a reunion that almost brought tears, it was that touching. After he got a bath, it was time to bring him in under the heat lamp again since he was getting cold.

Monday - Memorial Day - a day of continued barn work. Oma came over for the afternoon, we had bbq steak... we were starting to settle into a 'routine' if you can call it that. The initial buzz and excitement started to wear off. We were even able to get the little guy to be with his mom all afternoon - in a special pen that we made specially for the two of them and under a heat lamp of course. Things started looking up even if the little squeaker had to sleep in the house again that night.

It's Tuesday now. It's one thing to be greeted by a gloriously sunny day as you wake up feeling more refreshed than you have in the last several days. It's an entirely different matter when you go down to find that the preemie died during the night. I still have to go out and bury the poor little guy since my brother is gone all day. We did everything we could. It was hard to go out and milk his mamma, and she was standing there asking us where he was. Our relief was the spunky little doeling that gave us plenty of comic relief.

I'll write more after I get some pictures of the herd.
Until next time
~*SG*~

1863

A welcoming lunch greeted us as we came up to the camp

A friend getting ready to go on a stroll through the camp

"Get back in line!"

Maybe if we lay low, they won't see us.

"Give me that water, boy!"

Playing taps

Going for a walk

Now it's time for the cooler settings on my camera. ^_^

Group picture

Zoomed out

moment of silence

Now for the piece-de-resista'nce!

Tada! I love this picture

Tis the Ides of March

March 12th, 2008, I went with some friends to tour Greece and Italy (we had all just finished classical literature). I had waited over a year to go on this trip, and in 14 days it was over. What remains is the memories and the friendships that were made. So, here's a sampling of our little adventure. :)

Picture it- you've been up for almost 18 hours flying across vast oceans and continents. As you cross mainland Europe, it's complete and utter darkness except for the lights of the small villages you're flying over. As you approach Northern Italy - the sunrise. The fairytale land of Italy suddenly emerges from the darkness as the light swiftly rises across the horizon. Your plane lands at 6:30 in the morning Italy time and you hit the road running to maximize every second of your dreamlike stay.

We were in Rome on the Ides of March, so this Caesar statue was all dressed up for his day. In case you don't know the story, go brush up on your Roman history. ;)

The Trevi Fountain - if you throw one coin in, you will go back to Italy. If you throw 2 coins in, you will also find true love. I threw two in. ;) PS - the romantic rome you think of because you've watched too many movies does exist - underneath all the tromping grounds of tourists. You just have to get off the beaten trail and explore a bit. ;)

The Titus Arch - General Titus earned an arch for him after he besieged Jerusalem and destroyed the last of those 'rebellious' Jews. Because of this arch, we know what the candlestick and many more of the temple treasures looked like before they were taken away (they're all depicted on the inside of the arch)

And how could you go to Rome and not see the Coliseum? That building is absolutely ENORMOUS!!! And to think it was built to make killing people a spectator sport... :'(

This is the Porch of the Maidens on the Acropolis in Athens, Greece. A cool note on the history of the building - when it was built a certain nationality was chosen "because they are the only ones strong enough to support a roof." Well... If you look at the rest of the building anything that the ladies weren't holding up did fall down. Hmm... ;) And an interesting note on the weather - I guess that in the middle of March, winds from the FAR south pick up dust from the Sahara desert in Africa and bring it across the Mediterranian to Greece. That's why the sky is so dusty.

This is the bridge that connects mainland Greece with the Pelopenesse (sp?), the cow-udder look-like peninsula hanging off of Greece. Before this bridge was built it took hours to get around to the island. A special note on the water in Greece - go ahead and jump in when you're at the beach! The water is so clear and clean! Because it was colder when we went, we just got wet up to our knees. ;)

It's been two years... I can't believe that time has gone by so fast! I really hope that I can go back and explore the areas that we didn't get to see very much of.

Fort Stevens Civil War Reenactment

Finally! Pictures from the Civil War Reenactment! =D
Civil War, please meet 21st century technology. What's wrong here? ;)

Adorable kid was sitting in front of me! Took the most of the opportunity! I think he wants to be with the big boys on the battle field...

Barking orders to the Confederates

shooting at the confederates

*respectful silence please*

O_o I like!

Playing Taps

Part of the Union army

Aww!

The Confederate Army coming into camp to disband

Here's the Union!

Part of one of the camps. The whole thing was huge!

Disbanding the Union. Their disbanding was much more orderly than the Confederates...

Ha! I got you! and you didn't see me!

Dancing Demo! the virginia reel. Why the funny face, David?

Catching an even greater glimpse of God's creation!

*Sigh...* I just had one of the most amazing weeks ever! Some friends invited me to join them and another family on a trip to the Wallowas in Eastern Oregon! I created an album of most of the pictures I got on Facebook and there's so many I couldn't muster the patience to upload only a few select ones onto here, so here's a link! http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=30339&id=1127710451&l=5e1bc00e92

We brought some horses with us and went trailriding almost every day for a week! (the only day we didn't ride was when we went on a hike) The best trail riding spot (in my opinion) is the hunting reserve (but we didn't see any animals. Isn't that coincidental?). The worst was the trail (or should I say trial?) to Aneroid Lake. One of the horses decided that she didn't want to get her feet wet in a creek that went down the trail, so she jumped up onto a rocky burm that was on the side that dropped into a river/ravine. The rider jumped ship only to land in the rocky terrain on the ground and almost get stepped on as the horse turned around back into the creek. We only made about 2 miles up a 6 mile trail. The whole trail was narrow, two-way, dusty beyond breathing (think Oregon Trail on this one, k?), treacherously rocky, and the horses were beginning to get extremely sore legs and feet. Let's just say we were done with horses for the rest of the day when we got back to the cabin.

Another memorable highlight of the trip was conquering that same trail on foot. It's 12 miles round trip and the first two miles are very steep, and jagged rocky. I ditched the walking stick very early on... ;) Once you got past the first 2 miles then you walked across alpine meadows. *Sigh* It was well worth the excruciating pain. You come around a corner in the meadow, and there it is! Anaroid Lake! You walk quickly down to the dock and kick off your sweaty shoes and socks and stick your feet in the water. I must say, I was in absolute bliss. Then my stomach started complaining at me. I hadn't eaten breakfast since we had gotten up at 6 to get on the trail early. Out come the home dried strawberries and bananas! The nice thing about them is that they're light enough to pack up the trail and offer enough sustanance to get you back down the mountian!

The rest of the week was spent boating, fishing (I never did do that though ;D), more trail riding, shopping, socializing, watching the thunder showers etc. I will definately go back. <3