Monday, March 26, 2007

Monday

Well, we got the plumber's snake, and got the clog out. It was not a pritchard teat, as I had suspected, but it was a dishcloth. Formerly a dishcloth-- Drano can wreak havoc on a cotton cloth.

And I managed to get more than 2 quarts out of the goats this evening.

And I had a good IEP meeting at school with M's teachers.

So, I think it is tentatively a good evening... :) Maybe my streak is ending?

Did you think it would get better?

Well, think again. It did NOT get better on Sunday.

We prayed hard at church for a more productive day, but it did not come to pass. Our first indication of that should have been when we came home from church to find our power out. It was out for about the next 2.5 hours. Fortunately, it was a gorgeous day, so the outage was mostly just an inconvenience, if a bit worrisome (food spoilage). It came back on again for about an hour, and then went out again for about 2.5 hours. It seems to be on now...

B fixed the dryer. But it has some other problem which makes it continue to stop. I think that it did need the belt replaced, so it was not a waste of effort. But we need to still babysit the dryer, and I'd like to find out what the problem is. Thermostat? Motor? Timer? It might be time to call the repairman. Not because he can't fix it, but we are wasting a lot of time in diagnostics, plus we don't want to put money into unnecessary parts.

The drain is still clogged. He did get it all back together yesterday, but the pritchard teat is still clogging (I am CERTAIN that's what it is). He went to get a plumber's snake (probably a good idea for us to get one of those), but the hardware store was closed. Of course it was. So the sink is still full of standing water.

Our church is building an addition, and they have extra scrap wood. We can use it all for pens and for fixing an outbuilding that we are planning to repair this spring. The wood is beautiful and very sturdy. There are even some 20' boards that will be incredibly helpful for building pens. The items are free for the taking. Except that our pickup truck battery is dead. DEAD. DEAD. DEAD. Won't even take a jump from my car. So we crammed as much as we could into the back of my SUV. And broke some of the interior plastic on the back of my car.

In the morning I had to rassle with Cindi to get her milked. I was wearing some low-rise jeans, which gives me plumber butt when I sit on the bucket to milk her. She reached around to give me a wedgie and tore the lace trim off of my underwear. Little brat. I can't put her in the fitting stand because she won't go voluntarily, and I can't lift her. She gives me more trouble than the buck.

So Sunday did not pan out to be very productive. I did chores at about 8:00. The kids ate at 8:30 and had to have grilled cheese because I was so miserably behind.

Lest you think that Monday would be magical, B called me from his way to work and told me that he hit the neighbor dog on his way out.

Saturday, March 24, 2007

And the Fun Continues

Well, today did not pan out to be any better than yesterday. I slept too late (see a pattern here?), got out to the barn late, and again had some caprine wrestling events to get her milked (not because I was late, but because she is a DIVA). I came inside to start my list, which included some goat things and working on a website that I am creating/maintaining on the side.

I intended to tattoo the babies today. But I had no green ink, and went to the farm store where they did not have any.

I intended to give CD&T vaccinations. Except that my vaccine had expired. I did not use much before it expired, so that was a double pisser. Again, the farm store does not carry it.

I intended to worm the goats. I did not have enough dewormer to do everyone. The farm store did have that, but not the same type. I can still use it, but it's not the best option. Not a total failure...

The pipe that B attempted to fix last night did not get fixed. He came home with the wrong part. It was just in the cards-- they were stacked against him. He went this morning to get the part, and got the correct part. He got it fixed, but the drain was still plugged. He used the plunger, and burst another rusted pipe. (We can't tell that they are rusted, as the corrosion is on the inside-- the outside is shiny silver.) As I type this, he is fixing the pipes. We have been unable to use the kitchen sink for going on 30 hours. Last night we did dishes by setting the dishpans and drainer in the bathtub. We have eaten out today for every meal except breakfast. I actually think the clog is one of the nipples for the baby goat bottles. They cost $5.00 each at the farm store.

The dryer is still not fixed.

I did not get the website finished. I am sitting down to do that after this post.

We did drink last night, but B spilled his Guinness all over my ABGA herd inventory papers that I have to send back. It was a waste of a good beer, and I am bummed about the papers.

We can only hope that tomorrow goes better.

Friday, March 23, 2007

One of those days...

I thought it was going to be a good day. There ARE lots of good things about this day, one being that I worked from home, so I worked in sweats from the couch, enjoying the gorgeous view. The kids were good, quiet and didn't fight. It was a gorgeous, 70 degree day, too, and my "breaks" were spent enjoying the spring loveliness.

HOWEVER, it was one crappy stroke of luck after another.

I slept too late. Which, in and of itself was a good thing. But that puts me late to the barn, and the animals disapprove. Disapproval is demonstrated in lots of yelling and little cooperation. This morning I was treated to an uncooperative milker, who tried her best to get away from me. I couldn't lift her onto the fitting stand, and she would not stand still. Several times she stepped into the milk bucket. That ordeal over, I was ready to get to work.

I had an issue with Quark Express, which meant that I needed to reinstall the program. We had it at work, and I had to download it from our apps server-- it took me 3 hours. : ( On high speed broadband. I had to download Quark before I could do about 10 other things that were on my list.

Then I went to do laundry. To find out that my dryer belt had broken. I can't dry my clothes now. And laundry was not done by any stretch of the imagination.

So then I moved to dishes. And I found that the sink was stopped up. I used the plunger with no success. Suddenly L told me that there was a huge puddle on the floor-- my overzealous plunging had burst an ancient pipe under the sink. It was draining all over the floor. I have dishes all over my countertops and on the stove. And dishpans full of water sitting out. It's 8:15 and B is at the hardware store getting parts. So he can fix the sink. So I can fix supper. So the kids can shower and go to bed.

So I can drink heavily.

Then one of the kids noticed that one of the goats was out. I went to guide her back into the barn, and instead of going into the barn, she tried to get back into the paddock-- by going under the fence. Which is like a 4" space. So of course, she could not get back out. Was stuck under the fence by her horns. Thank GOD she did not panic, which is what I would have expected her to do. She just lied down calmly until I could manipulate her head and horns out from underneath the fence.

Next was rassling with the uncooperative milker, who ended up spilling about 3/4 of a quart of milk. I could have strangled her. We need nearly a gallon of milk a day to feed the babies, and she spilled a good deal of it. No, I didn't cry over spilled milk, but I was sure pissed about it. It's one thing if it's an accident, but she's just being a diva pill, and there is no reason for it. It feels good to her to have that milk milked out of her, and we are gentle and kind to her.

B just called. Of COURSE the hardware store in our little town was closed, so he had to go into the big city. He isn't even there yet. Ugh, what a crappy day.

However, I know that I can still find three good things today, which is hopeful. But I can find about a million bad things...

Here's to tomorrow.

Stop Look & Listen!

It's SPRING!!! I can't believe it's here already. It was a long winter, but it did seem to fly by at times, and we did get a break for most of the season. It was bitterly cold, and we did have our share of snow. But that is over!

Listen...

And it's turned green in the past 8 hours!

In unrelated events, this weekend I will be tattooing and registering the new babies. We have decided to name them Wallace Wensleydale and Wendolene Ramsbottom . (Wally & Wendy)

Happy Friday!

Sunday, March 18, 2007

Country Speak Redux

Okay, I thought more of you would know the answer to this! I guess I am a bumpkin after all, eh?

Gee is the teamster's term to signal a turn to the right. If you are driving a horse, and you want him to turn to the right, you say, "gee, gee, gee, gee" until he turns as far/sharp you want him to turn. Haw is the term to signal a turn to the left. It's strange though, I have ridden and driven the same horse, but I have never told him to gee or haw when I was riding him. I don't know why you don't use the terms when you are riding the animal. He must wonder that, too. But he's so smart that he just does what he's told and realizes he's smarter than the people telling him what to do (like any good employee).

Anyway, if your road "gee-haws" at a point, it jogs left, and then jogs right. Yes, MK, the road gee haws just after you turn onto gravel, and hit the straightaway. It actually "haws" just before the Old Crow Farm, and then "gees" after it, and then goes up and down the hill. It also gee haws just past our house as you go up the corkscrew hill.

Quite a lot of them in my area. Thank God they are gee-haws and not jihads.

Saturday, March 17, 2007

Country Speak

A few weeks ago I gave a friend directions to my house. I told him that my road made a gee-haw at a certain point. He said, "A jihad? There is a jihad on your road?" I explained a gee-haw, and he had never heard of it in his life. He managed to make it to my house, and avoid the jihad on my road, too.

Do you know what a gee-haw is? Is it that strange of a term?

Thursday, March 15, 2007

Loose Ends

Such is my life. My mantra is always, “well, things won’t be as crazy once I get through _____ (insert Christmas, Lent, this next conference, my trip to xxx, the school year, WHATEVER is consuming me at the moment).” That is such a bald-faced lie. Because even if that were the case—that my schedule would calm down and I would have an actual LULL in my responsibilities-- all of the things that I did not do during my crazy time would be needing to be done, and I would be scrambling. That is how it works. When I am facing some critical deadlines at work, it is always, “hurry up and get this done by the deadline.” Then when the deadline has passed, it’s always, “hurry up and get caught up on your late stuff before the next deadline looms, and you have to drop everything to meet the deadline for that certain project.” And I never get caught up, so the deadline looms, I drop everything to work on the project that’s due, and then pick up the late stuff again when that project’s finished.

It is very emotional for me, someone who needs closure and completeness. Learning to cope with this is a huge part of my therapy, and frankly, it is taking a long time for me to come to terms with it. My therapist has suggested getting a different job, but I do like what I do. I don’t have the answers, though I hope that someday I will be able to live with unfinished projects and that I will never have everything done.

That is part of the increased responsibility—when I first started here, in an assistant capacity, I had a list, and finished everything on it, and could leave and go home feeling that my tasks were done. Now, however, the responsibility falls on me, and the things are never done. I do have an assistant now, but it is still difficult to offload those projects without feeling some responsibility for them getting done, even if someone else is doing them. So it’s not really offloading them 100%.

Anyway, don’t know why I am moaning today, just feeling overwhelmed.

The goats are good. Cindi is healing, we are trying to come to terms with only having 2 babies to show for our kidding season, and we will all be fine. It is discouraging, as you pay for pregnancy tests, ultrasounds, extra feed, extra medication and supplements. You put everything on the calendar, vaccinate at certain dates, build special pens, buy special equipment, watch them like a hawk, hurry to get it all done before kidding season, and most of the kids die. It is hard to come to terms with. But we will move forward!

Sunday, March 11, 2007

Making lemonade

Well, we're trying to make the best of the situation, and "graft" the bottle baby kids onto Cindi. We shall see how it goes.

Lost another one

Cindi had a beautiful doeling this morning, but it was malpresented. We did everything we could, including calling the vet who claimed he was "tied up" and could not come out, and couldn't give us anyone to call instead. The baby died.

Cindi is doing as well as can be expected. I am not, nor is L.

We lost three doelings this season. I can't believe our bad luck. We do have two beauties, and are thankful for them, but it just has not been a good spring.

The Watched Pot

She's not boiling.

I remember as a teenager, babysitting until the wee hours of the morning. It was always a Saturday night, I'd watch Saturday Night Live, long after the kids went to bed. Then would come Don Kirshner's Rock Concert. Then Live at the Apollo... and then usually the people would be home by then. I do remember a few nights when I'd be up long enough to hear NBC play the national anthem and then sign off for the night.

Well, here I sit. Saturday night, and I am waiting for Cindi to kid. I am watching her on my newly-installed goatcam, which has been incredibly helpful. B saved me, once again. He is my IT hero.

It's 4:11 am. I have balanced the checkbook and paid bills. I have reviewed my Sunday School lesson for tomorrow. I have done and filed my taxes even! I have baked bread. COME ON GIRL!!

She is in early labor, up and down, up and down, her udder is very full and "shiny" (one of the signs of pending labor), and her ligaments are loose and ready for delivery. So what's the holdup, Mizzus? I'm TIRED!

Thursday, March 08, 2007

Hay!

Did I get your attention? Well the price of hay sure got mine. We bale our own hay, with the help of a neighbor. He drives the tractor, and we (and usually some GREAT friends) stack the hay on the rack, and then we restack it inside the machine shed. This year we got 2 cuttings, and paid $.70 per bale.

We are out of hay for the winter now-- completely out of hay. We have to buy it from others. Apparently there is a hay shortage all over the nation from the drought, and folks here in our state have had calls from out of state wanting their hay. Also, the price of corn has skyrocketed, so those who are raising hay are going to replant with corn to capitalize on the current windfall. (As an aside, we sold our corn before the prices skyrocketed, so while we did well, it was not the windfall that others saw. Oh well... ) So the hay situation will not improve.

I paid $4.50 per bale the other day at the feed store. Our animals eat just under 2 bales a day. That is a HUGE feed bill, especially for just a few animals. We're going to fertlize the heck out of our hay field this spring and see if we can't get another cutting. I sure as heck don't want to be in this situation again next year.

Wednesday, March 07, 2007

The Lingo

It's funny how in just a few years the goats have really become part of our lives. Moreso than the cats or dogs. They are not just an afterthought, but often times the focus of attention and conversation. Not that the dogs and cats aren't, but they are with us so much, we don't really talk about them, we just scratch and love on them while we are doing other things. Maybe it's because the goats are a business, or because we are learning about them, or because they are so consuming. I don't know. But, I had to laugh at my son a couple of times. It still makes me laugh out loud when I remember these random comments:

"Mom, this root beer you got is really good, but it gives me frothy bloat."

"Hey, my bedhead is so bad on this side of my head, it looks like I have a scur."

I realize that if you don't know what frothy bloat is or scurs are, you might not laugh. But to me, this is just a hoot.

Frothy Bloat

Scurs

Happy Wednesday. The week's almost over, and the temperatures are a-risin. Couldn't ask for anything more (except for it to be Friday).

Tuesday, March 06, 2007

Ten on Tuesday

Well, I promise updates on kidding, the blizzard, and lots of photos (even video). I am also working on a barn cam, with some stills to upload. That has taken me from bloggin-- in addition to snow days, teacher conferences, band concerts, traveling with work, the animals...

But, so you didn't think I ran away from home, here is a blog meme: Ten on Tuesday:

Name Ten Things You Want to Learn To Do
1. Crochet/Knit
2. Decorate Cakes like a pro (teach me Jen!)
3. I want to learn the rules of football
4. Play the piano
5. Speak Russian
6. Joomla (improve my VERY basic skills)
7. Get my webcam to work behind a firewall!
8. Operate my digital camera (its menus are all in Japanese)
9. Make Psyanky (Ukrainian Eggs)
10. MATH! (but there is no hope... )

Happy Tuesday! What are your 10?