Frustratedearthmother's Journaling Journey

[frustratedearthmother]

Oh yes - he's always very grateful! That, and mutual respect, are important things in our relationship!

My poor DH, he's working soooo hard. He was up til 1:38am this morning working on some quality issues in his company. Now - he's not in the quality department because they don't have one.... They want him to start one all the while that he's working his regular job....hence, the after midnight hours all week. Somethings gotta give... He can't keept his up forever!

We're supposed to get rain today and tomorrow... uh... I'll believe it when I'm dripping wet, lol. Radar shows lots and lots of rain out there, but mostly north of us. We could sure use some though.

 

[Denim Deb]

I'd send you some if I could.

 

[hqueen13]

Jealous of your harvest already! We don't even have broccoli and cabbage and cauliflower yet!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

One of the good things about living where I do is I really can garden pretty much year round! (If I have the time and energy....)

 

[Britesea]

I remember being able to do that in Bay Area in California. Here in the mountains gardening is a real struggle; we can get frosts or even snow any month in the year. Pretty much everyone that's serious about gardening has a greenhouse. I can't afford one yet, but it's on my list; in the meantime, I've got cold frames and I'm planning on making a hot bed for next spring.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Happy Mother's Day!

Wooweee - I got up early this morning, showered and went out to the garden. A couple hours later and I could use another shower... Our summer humidity seems to have set in, for sure!

Garden is finally producing! I musta picked 10 lbs of zucchini and yellow squash this morning. Last night I sautéed garlic, purple onion, peas, yellow squash and zucchini in some olive oil and had it over noodles. We topped it with some homemade chevre and squeezed a little lemon juice on top. Light and tasty and almost all from the garden. I don't grow noodles - sooooooo....

My old pygmy doe is due to kid really, really soon. Today is her "official" due date at 145 days. Through the years most of my pygmy's have kidded closer to 145 days as opposed to (my limited experience with) Nubians that seem to kid closer to the 150 day mark. I checked her this morning and her ligaments are really, really squishy but still barely discernible...her bag is full but not totally tight soooooo - we start the waiting game. I hope she does it today to fit in my work schedule. I worked yesterday so I get a day off next week and I'd like to take Thursday. Because we are off on Fridays now - I'd have a 4 day weekend!

I noticed that some of my potatoes are starting to bloom so I'll be digging 'taters soon enough. If I get a good harvest I'll probably dehydrate some of 'em. That makes it so easy to toss some in a pot of soup. Onions are starting to set seed - so I'll be pulling some and tossing them in the dehydrator too. I've finally got corn coming up - after the second planting. I'm guessing the soil just wasn't quite warm enough the first time because I used the same seed for the second planting and I've got good germination this time around. But, just in case - I planted another small plot of corn in a different location using a different seed so I'm covered for corn!

Got lots to do. I need to move the new buckling to a different area - he's driving me CRAZY in the front barnyard. He's off the bottle now, but I'm not sure he knows it, lol. He still comes running up to me being all nosy and pushy... AND, he's been hanging around the pen where the pregnant doe is and seems to be totally in love with her. I know she's giving off all kind of hormone smells but he is CONFUSED, lol. They stand, each on their side of the fence, with their heads stuck through the panels all lovey-dovey with each other.....to the point where he/s not eating like he needs to be. Sheesh...

DH is cooking up some breakfast and it smells really good so I'm headed to the kitchen.

Later!

 

[hqueen13]

Lucky you with the year round garden though I guess I'm the heat of summer That comes with a price too lol

 

[frustratedearthmother]

I'm picking zucchini and crookneck every day now. Peas are still producing, but heat is starting to visibly stress 'em. I raked out a big stall/run area yesterday that had some old, well-aged (but technically not composted) hay/poop in it. I spread it all around the corn sprouts because corn is such a heavy feeder. The hay is old enough that it was all broken up into tiny pieces and mixed in with lots of horse and goat poop. It should help feed the corn as well as hold moisture in and weeds out (hopefully).

Goat is still holding on to those babies - but she is about to pop. She's so full that she really can't breathe when she lays down - so she spends much of her time panting and sitting up like a dog to keep pressure off her lungs.... She passed some mucous plug last night, but still no last minute udder growth. Ligaments are really soft, but can still barely feel them... She neeeeeeeds to deliver!

 

[Denim Deb]

Try squeezing her.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Well, today was the birthday. Had the baby monitor in the stall all night and heard exactly NOTHING except roosters crowing during the night. Went outside this morning to find one baby, up, dry and running around. I looked around expecting more... but nope. Mama was down and not looking good so I had a quick feel inside. There was a second baby with just a foot up... I went inside and found the head tucked down under the baby. Thankfully this doe dilates wide enough for me to get allll the way in with no problems. I popped the head up and she pushed it out but there was no saving it. No breathing, no heartbeat... nada. Went back in and found baby #3 all wadded up into a ball. Managed to find back feet first so I pulled her out backwards. She spent more time than I wanted her to with her head still inside mama.... she didn't really try real hard to breathe when I got her out - so I had to work on her for a bit - but got her going.

Mama was real tired and tried once to get up and was too unsteady. I got her some warm water with molasses in it and it seemed to do the trick. When these does are so full of babies like that they really have a hard time eating enough to keep their strength up so the sugary water helps get their blood sugar back up and just gives 'em a little boost. She rallied enough to pass the placenta and eat that (YUCK!). By the time I was ready to come to work the babies had both had a decent meal. Hope they're still doing well when I get home. They are BIG ol' babies for a pygmy. She's a real short doe and her udder is not very high so they were literally laying down to nurse, lol.

I'll really have to keep an eye on that second baby because I know she inhaled some birthing fluids and we don't need a case of inhalation pneumonia... I think mama will be fine and as harsh as this sounds - 2 babies will be easier for her to raise than 3. Such is life on the farm...