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 |  A Journal of our Adventures in Country Living.... |
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"Home is where the heart is" and this is the continuing story of our life on the farm....where our heart is and where we make our home. ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** I want to thank janieruthryals for this wonderful Merit Badge: ![Merit Badge in Nature
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For the wonderful visit to your farm, all through the words in your blog.](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/genre-Nature-1125.gif) |
| All has been quiet on the farm lately. No new babies, no new injuries. I do have a new resident that I am feeding though. We have several apple trees in the side yard and as the apples fall to the ground, I pick them up. The apples that are wormy or knotty I put in a pail and take out to the lane that leads down to the pond. I lay the apples in a pile and leave. About 8 o'clock in the evening she comes. At first she is hesitate and looks around ready to flee at any moment. Then she relaxes and eats. Yesterday she found a pile of goat chow along with her apples and I noticed she was enjoying the little extra. She is a young doe. A deer that has been hanging out down by the pond. I had seen her several times on the back side of the pond, snatching leaves off the bushes and drinking from the shore. Every evening she came to drink and then she would disappear into the tall grass. One afternoon I walked the pathway to the pond to see how the water was holding out. We haven't had much rain lately and some of our neighbors ponds are getting pretty low. As I walked along, I noticed movement to my right. Something brown had moved rather quickly to the other side of the brush towards the pond. I continued my walk and passed the small group of brush and I saw her standing on the banks watching me. She was just watching. I stopped and looked at her. The muscles quivered in her hips and I knew she was ready to bound away into the woods. I stopped and lowered my gaze and then slowly turned and walked back to the house. I didn't want to scare her away. I stood on the porch and looked and she was still standing there, relaxed now and drinking water. I picked up the binoculars and studied her. She had a mangled right ear; it hung limp and shredded. Her left ear was up and alert, hearing everything that was happening in her space. That evening I gathered the first of the fallen apples and put in the path for her. The following day she came. The dogs gave her away, barking and throwing a fit at the edge of their fenced yard. I looked and sure enough, she was standing there, on the other side of the goat pasture about 60 feet away from the house. David and I watched her as she looked around and then dropped her head to eat. She stayed for about 10 minutes enjoying her apple delights, then raised her head and walked off the path into the tall grass. It was amazing. She took three steps and she was completely concealed in the grass and brush. I knew she was there, I could just barely make out the outline of her back. But if I hadn't know, I would have never seen her. Then she moved further into the grass and all I saw were a few branches quiver, then all was quiet. She had bedded down for the evening. It was in the same area where I had disturbed her the first time we met. Every day I put out apples and some goat chow and every evening she comes to eat. Her mangled ear hanging while her good ear keeps tabs on all that is going on around her. We can only guess that maybe some coyotes got a hold of her when she was a baby and shredded her ear. I will post a picture of her standing on the far side of our small pond. It's not a good picture as my camera doesn't focus in on the long shots and everything turns out blurry. But you can see her there, standing on the bank. ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** I believe she is one of three that use to come visit the neighbors pasture every evening. The other two are probably her mother and older sister who are keeping their distance because of new babies. I am hoping that as the fawns get older, the mothers will bring them to the pond and rejoin the lone deer we have now. If this doe makes it through the Fall hunting season, maybe she will present us with babies next summer. The deer create a dilema for me. I want to put a large garden in, but I know the deer will enjoy it. How to scare the deer away from the garden, but not scare them off completely is a problem. I love seeing them and watching them, but I can't afford to turn over a whole garden to them. Hopefully, I can figure out what to do by next Spring !!! |
| That's right. Life just isn't fair sometimes. Now I understand this, and I live with what I got and enjoy life to the fullest. But when it comes to toys and who gets to play with what, when..... well we have RULES in this house. You see, we have an Xbox, we have the TV and we have the computer. If one of us is watching a program on TV or playing a game on XBox, then the other gets the computer. So far, this plan has worked really well. No fights, no arguments. When the one watching TV or playing a game on XBox gets tired, they politely ask if they can have the computer. Usually it is given up freely and the changing of the chairs takes place. Well, after talking with my son last night...... HOUSTON... WE HAVE A PROBLEM !! You see, Richard talked to David about the newest Call of Duty game David is playing. They got to talking about XBox Live, and then they started planning. After hanging up the phone, David gave me a plan of action that I was to take care of today. I don't mind doing this, as he works hard all day while I am at home taking care of daily chores around here. He asked me if I could run uptown and get a LAN line so he can hook the XBox up to the DSL modem. He and Richard were going to play 'Live'. Richard has some kind of a plan where he can add a friend to XBox Live for a trial period, and he was all excited to get David online to play. Ok, that ought to be fun for the two of them to play together, so I happily agreed to the plan and have spent a portion of my morning calling around and getting things fixed up. Then I talked to the computer guru at the repair shop where I was buying 40 feet of LAN line. You see, the computer is at one end of the living room and the XBox is all the way over on the other side. I have to run the line around the baseboards and under the threshold so we aren't tripping over it, or the dogs don't chew it. It was then that I was informed that, if I didn't have something - I think he called it a router or splitter, that you can not use the computer at the same time that you are playing XBox Live. NOW WAIT A DOG GONE COTTON MINUTE !!!!!! That means that if David picks the TV, and plays XBox Live with my son, that he is also taking up the computer. That's not in the rules !!! What am I to do, sit around and twiddle my thumbs???? The computer guru told me that using a router or splitter would work, but it would slow both connections down, so the computer would run a bit slower, and the game would run a bit slower for David, giving him a definite DISADVANTAGE when playing. "He would probably end up getting his butt shot all the time", the guru informed me. "Yeah, so what's the problem with that?" I asked. Of course the computer guy just growled at me kind of like David does. I guess I will either lock myself in the bedroom and watch the little TV in there, or sit in the living room and cheer for my team when they play online together. Gosh, the things that we women do for our men !!!! |
| I really like Missouri. The area we live in is really pretty with gently rolling hills, open fields, dense woods and streams with water that rushes around boulders and rocks on it's way to join some distant river. Ten miles east of us, the land sinks and flattens out into some of the most fertile river bottom around. You can see for miles across open fields of wheat, corn, soybeans or maize. Ten miles west of us, you hit the big hills of the Ozark range. The roads transverse these hills in loops and curves, riding ridges before dropping down into beautiful valleys and up the next ridge. The views are fantastic, and again you can see for miles from one mountain ridge to another until they are lost in a blue haze. The weather is the best of all worlds. The winters bring about some cold winds and a few snow falls, but nothing like the people have to endure further north. The summers can produce some hot days where the smallest amount of effort will cause you to break a sweat, but nothing like our friends to the south who bake for months on end. Spring and Fall are perfect and actually last for the full season instead of just a week or two as it did in Michigan or Texas. It makes life slow, and you can actually sit and enjoy the passing of time. The one problem I have with Missouri are with some of it's smallest critters that we have to share our world with. We have ten acres of fields and woods, but you cannot enjoy them during the most enticing time of the year. It's sunny outside, the temperature is just right for a nice walk in the woods. The dogs would love a romp through the fields, pouncing on field mice and chasing squirrels up trees...... but ...... We have TICKS and CHIGGERS. These are two of only a few creatures that I despise. I have no qualms murdering these nasty little bugs who want to hitch a ride on my body and feast upon it. I HATE TICKS. I don't like their little cousins CHIGGERS much either. You can't walk a foot into the tall grass or the woods without being attacked by these members of the arachnid family. Ticks and their children, the seed tick are just plain nasty bugs. They climb up to the top of bushes and brush and then latch themselves onto anything or anyone who happens to walk by. Then they scurry about trying to find a perfect dining area, usually a place where you can't reach them, or in the most private areas of the body. After attaching themselves and drilling their little beady head into your skin, they drink upon your blood until their body double or even triples in size. YUCK....... I hate pulling Ticks off. It's bad enough pulling them off the animals if they get one on them (we keep frontline or revolution on them), but to have to pull one off yourself is just ... EWWWWWWWWW. At least you can't see Chiggers. They are so small, that they are almost invisible to the naked eye. Most of the time, the only way you realize you had chiggers is the day after affect... the small bumps, like pimples and the intense itching. Chiggers don't drink blood, they actually liquify your skin and eat it. Thank goodness they are smaller than the period after this sentence. The intense itching that they leave behind is not fun, let me tell you. Seed Ticks are just baby ticks that gather around your ankles and feast. You can see them, although they are just a bit smaller than the size of a asterisk *. They relish their dining experience, then drop off to grow into big ticks, ready to head out to dine again. Ok, enough about the delectable dining experiences of God's smallest, most annoying creatures.... ******************* Living on the farm requires a lot of maintenance and daily chores. There are animals to feed, flower beds to weed, fences to check and fix and grass to cut. David mentioned one time that he loves to cut grass, so that chore has been delegated to his list. He would happily head out the door and start up our old riding lawn mower and spend an hour or so out cutting. I was usually indoors doing laundry, cleaning or cooking. One day I happen to look out and this is what I saw..... Dang, talk about the easy life..... ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** It's a wonder he doesn't put a remote control on the mower and sit back in his rocker on the front porch pushing buttons on the joy stick. Paybacks are good though. Yesterday, he was going to walk into the goat pasture with Booker. He was having a hard time unlatching the gate, so put his cup of hot coffee on top of the fence post. He reached around to undo the chain and brought his hand over the post, knocking his coffee off, which promptly spilled... all over his head and down his chest. He was only wearing a pair of sweatpants and shoes, so his bare chest had coffee running down everywhere, and catching the drips that were still coming off his head. I was in the backyard and just rolled on the ground laughing. Even the little girl next door saw it, and I heard her giggle also. David stood there and just growled, the poor baby. I was washing out the little pool we have for the dogs, so being the good wife that I am, just turned the hose on David to help wash him off. For some reason, that action was not appreciated by him. Geeze, it's hard to make a man happy, sometimes !!! |
| Where did men learn how to give: "The Look". You know that facial expression that they are always giving us, trying to intimidate us into believing that they 'know it all'. That squinty eye, pouting mouth, chin up look. David is always giving me "The Look", even though he knows I just scoff at him and ignore it. I always wondered where they picked this peculiar look up at. Was it acquired in grade school when those 'stupid' teachers were trying to actually get something into those hard heads of theirs? Was it picked up in the teenage years when they just knew it all and were invincible even though parents and peers were trying hard to convince them otherwise? Well now I know.... they are born with it !!! Just take a look at this picture of my grandson, Aric. He is just hours old and already he is giving his poor mother "THE LOOK". ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** Oh I'm glad I don't have to go through raising kids anymore. There is a reason that is left up to the younger generation, and us grandparents get to play and spoil them and then give them back. Here is my son and daughter-in-law with Aric right after they got home from the hospital. I asked Richard about the beard... and he replied: "Who in the heck has time to shave when you have a baby in the house?" Actually, he has 30 days of leave time and is just enjoying relaxing with his new son and spoiling mom. ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** Welcome to the world, Aric James Swiger !!! Gramma and Grampa are already looking for a pony for you, so you have something to ride when you visit. You will have goats babies to play with and chickens to chase and dogs to give you sloppy kisses. We have a pond to fish in, woods to trek in and fields to chase rabbits in. Oh we can't wait until he gets to come and spend some summer weeks with us, it will be so much fun !!! |
| Things are slow around the farm right now. We are waiting for our refund checks from the IRS so we can continue on with our fencing. Once we get some fencing done, we can bring our horses home. They are at my sisters now, only a few miles down the road, but it will be nice to have them here so I can go out and interact with them whenever I want to. With the price of gas, even driving a few miles down the road and back, every day, adds up. I took Sherman, our Yellow Lab/Bloodhound mix dog to the vet and had him neutered last week. Usually there are no problems, the dog comes home and life goes on as normal. NOT WITH SHERMAN..... Nothing is normal when Sherman is involved. He LOVES going to the vet. He bounces through the door, all 100 pounds of him and stands in the midst of the office help, other patients and animals with this stupid, happy face and his tail going a mile a minute. He truly believes that everyone loves him. The world revolves around Sherman and he has never met a human or critter that he doesn't like. Body language tells everyone that this is not a dog to be feared, unless you don't like sloppy doggy kisses delivered to all parts of your exposed body. The vet and his wife have a young 3 year old son who wanders around the office and he did not escape the ravages of Sherman's kisses. Jeremiah wrapped his little arms around Sherman's neck and they became instant buddies for life. I dropped him off, and everything was fine. The next morning I picked him up and he was a bit stiff, but that tail was still wagging at everyone we passed. He was happy to get back home to his family and settled in, sleeping off the after affects of the medication given to him. It wasn't until later, that I noticed that he was developing some swelling. That was to be expected, to a certain degree. But Sherman never read the rules and by the next morning, he was so swollen in the ex-man part area that David was truly a jealous man. The swelling also filled in the sheath area so much that I wasn't sure the poor dog could urinate. The fluid was accumulating and his hind leg was swelling also, enlarging his hock area to the size of a tennis ball. I called the vet and ran him back up to be checked out. The vet gave him a quick look over and said that it was a hematoma, where a small blood vessel was leaking. He said not to be to concerned and that the vessel would clot and the body would absorb the fluid accumulation over the next few days. The next day it was worse and I had to put Sherman on antibiotics and pain medication. I also had to sit next to him, while he laid on his back, and hold ice packs on the swollen ex-man parts and surrounding areas. I had a heck of a time keeping David away. Sherman actually showed his teeth and growled one time when David tried to butt in and take his place. After a few days of alternating between cold packs and a heating pad, the swelling went down and Sherman felt better. There is still a little residual fluid pocket in his leg, but that should be absorbed soon. David was not totally against having Sherman neutered, but he cringed every time I mentioned it. He would have prefered to just not have it done. Of course, now I am getting flack on how much his poor dog has suffered on top of having his man-parts removed. I keep trying to tell him that in the end, Sherman will be a happier dog and will be able to enjoy life without the frustration of all that testosterone ranging through his body every time a female dog in the area comes into season, which is often. David claims that that is just a man's destination, to be frustrated by the female sex all their life, and men just learn to cope with it !!! That got him bopped real good !!! ******* The weather has been beautiful here in southeast Missouri. All the storms have missed us again and it is sunny and warm with cool evenings. We drove down to the river yesterday and it was clear and flowing fast. The rivers here have this beautiful blue cast to them that make them really pretty. We started to get the itch and talked about renting a canoe and casting ourselves onto the water to see what we could catch in the fishing department. Here is a picture of Sherman, our 100 pound bundle of dog. ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** |
| My son and daughter-in-law were expecting their first child on June 11th, but apparently the baby just didn't want to waste anytime so decided to make his appearance on June 1st instead. I got a call from my son on Sunday night right around midnight saying that they had just arrived at the hospital and Lindsey was getting settled in. She had started having contractions that morning, but they were light and far apart. So they waited and finally decided to head in and get a room. When they checked her, she was already dilated to 4. An hour later the contractions were getting strong and they gave her an epidural and she checked out a dilation of 7. They broke her water and little Arik was born about a half hour later. Not bad for a first baby. He weighed in at 5 lbs 12 ounces and was 18 inches long. Lindsey is just a squirt of a girl herself standing about 5'4 - I don't know what she weighs but I know she was wearing a size 0 to 1 not to long ago. Lindsey was having some problems with a bad headache and real bad pain in her neck and shoulders. At first they thought it was the epidural as the first time they gave it to her, they penetrated the spinal fluid and had to back out and do it again. But Richard said the doctor checked her out and said he thought she had just strained some muscles when she was pushing and gave her some medication for it. I told Richard to keep an eye on it and to get another doctor if the pain gets worse or doesn't go away soon. My sons name is Richard Steven and they really wanted the baby to have a name that came from within the family. So they found the name Arik which is suppose to be the German equivalent of Richard. His last name is German. The really really liked Arik Steven and that is what they were going to go with..... except..... my sons last name starts with an S. That would make the baby's initials ASS. Now for a while, they decided to go ahead with that as how many times do you use all three initials? But then they thought of all those school years and how mean kids can be and if it was found out that his initials were ASS..... would he be hounded continuously? So they finally decided on Arik James S...... Now his initials are A J S . I asked my son if they were going to call him A J and he said... "NOT ME. HIS NAME IS ARIK." But he did say that if his friends want to call him A J then that would be ok. I don't have any pictures yet. My son took a lot of them, but forgot his cord to hook the camera up to his computer. They should be home today and hopefully he will find time to send a few pictures. Update on Scarlet (my Quarter Horse filly): Her face is healing pretty good. I have to medicate it everyday and shove some antibiotic pills down her throat and she is NOT a very willing participate. But with appropriate butt scratches and belly rubs afterwards, she if pretty forgiving. My sister is calling the Missouri Conservation Office today to report the incident with her dog and also of the horses tearing her barn apart. We think it was a bear that probably got into the barn after the feed and caught the horses in there and they just wailed the stalls trying to get at the bear and tore there stalls to pieces. Usually if horses kick at each other, they will knock a board or two or three down.... but there was nothing left of about a dozen 2x6x12 foot boards....just splintered. She keeps her dog food and wild bird seed in the garage and the garage door is kept open for the 2 dogs to go in. Their dog houses are in there. We think this same bear probably tried to get in to get the food and was surprised when the dogs came out and took a swipe at the one, then turned tail and left. My sister is only about 2 or 3 miles from me and I know my neighbor said he has sighted bear back behind us two years ago... so they are around. Ok, I've got to go lay down for a bit... then head on over to my sisters to medicate the filly and her dog. Here is a picture of Richard and Lindsey taken last year when they came up to visit and we were playing in the Current River. ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** |
Debi Wharton  and I were discussing Guardian Angels in a email and I told her about an Angel I had seen. I thought I could turn it into a blog entry... so here it is:I was probably about 13 or 14 years old at the time and my father and I were heading to church. I was the only child left at home, and my mother never went to church with us, something about a disagreement she had with the priest over the names she chose for her children. We were catholic and our church was one of those huge old cathedral type churchs built along the lines of St. Pauls Cathedral. It was quite ornate with huge stained glass windows surrounded by even more smaller stained glass. The altar was massive and made out of marble with two alcoves on either side with smaller versions of the altar in each area. The sunlight streaming in through all the artwork of colored glass was regal and majestic during the day, and with the moonlight at night it was very sobering and dignified. The choir sat upstairs in a balcony that overlooked the entire church and huge organ pipes lined the walls behind the main altar, creating a wondrous musical resonance that you could feel right to your soul. The church was usually pretty full, and my dad and I took our normal seats about 1/3 of the way back from the front of the church. We greeted friends and neighbors and then quieted when the priest made his entry with two altar boys following in their march up the main aisle. The mass was still said in Latin, and the priest would sing/song the words and we would answer appropriately. A few songs were sung and we were about half way through the service when something to the right of the altar caught my attention. There up towards the top and to the right of the altar was a soft, but bright light. It kept growing in size until it was about the size of a human, maybe slightly larger. Then the light started taking shape and there before me was the most beautiful Angel I had ever seen. No picture in any book could compare to what I was seeing at the moment. I never thought to be scared, just awestruck. The Angel was suspended in air, not moving. It's wings were spread out like an eagles and it's robes flowed softly around it's feet. I looked at my father, and then at the other people around me, but apparently no one else saw it as they were either intently watching the priest or falling asleep. I nudged my father and asked him if he saw the Angel. He said, "see what?" "Can you see the Angel?" I asked him. He just shook his head and put his finger to his lips and hushed me. 'Shhhhhhhhhhhh' I looked back towards the altar and the Angel was still there, floating, slightly wavering, the folds of it's robe gently moving about around it's feet. A soft glowing light radiated from the form and the angel smiled. I couldn't take my eyes of it. Then slowly, gently the light became more and more transparent and the Angel faded away. I don't know how long it lasted, maybe two minutes or three. I will always remember that Angel and how it looked and the feeling that overcame me that day. It affected me in ways I can't describe. Made me not fear death, or strife. I knew then that my time here on Earth was limited and there was a much better place waiting for me in the end. The nuns at the Catholic school that I went to, taught us this little prayer in first grade and I can still remember it to this day: Angel of God, my guardian dear, To whom God's love commits me here, Ever this day be at my side, To light, to love, and be my guide |
| Life on the farm is never without some excitement of some kind. Today was David's day off and around 4:30 we drove over to my sisters to play with the horses. (we don't have all our pasture fencing up yet) I helped my sister medicate her dog, the one that got tore up and we are kind of rethinking the coon theory. David voiced a concern that I had thought of, then dismissed.... the rip that the dog received looked like it came from a claw and not from a tooth. A coon would have left more small rips, but this one is huge and the first thing David said was 'bear'. Now when I first saw the dog, I thought of 'bear', and we do have bear around, but they are rare. There was one sighted a month ago about 8 or 9 miles away, so I guess it would be possible that a bear had come into her yard after dog food or bird seed. Our neighbor said that he has seen bear a few years ago back in our woods. Anyway....... we walked out to play with the horses. David walked out into the pasture where Lucy and Scarlett were while my sister and I headed out back to look at a fence that my sister noticed was messed up. As we walked back towards the barn, David came up and said: "You had better come look at Scarlett, she has torn up her face pretty bad." I walked out and sure enough, her head was all tore up. She had several deep gashes on her forehead between her eyes and a large 3inch by 3inch piece of skin lower down her face on her nose, that was laid open to the bone. The flap of skin was hanging down over her nostril. Now I knew how the fence got torn up. It looks like Scarlett, being a young and foolish filly, either stuck her head through the fence or was rubbing it against the fence and got it caught. When she tried to get her head back out, she couldn't and panicked and just yanked her head through the wire. Well, the wire acted like a knife and just sliced her skin like you were filleting a fish. Now the problem we have is that it was after 5pm by this time and all the vet offices were closed. We called one vet after another and they were either gone, or out on emergency calls. We finally contacted a vet in Poplar Bluff that said they would meet us at her office (a 45 minute drive away), but she had to go on another emergency first and it would be about three hours before she would be heading back to the office. We had tried to call our local vet, but got no answer either at the office or his home. To make a long story short, we finally jumped in the truck and hunted our local vet down. Doniphan is a small town, you know. Once we found him, he said he would meet us back at his office. So we headed home, hooked up the horse trailer, loaded Lucy and poor Scarlett and took off. He sedated both of them (Lucy so she wouldn't fret over her baby) and then gave Scarlett a 'knock-out" shot and laid her down on the ground. I sat by her neck and held her head in my lap, her jaw resting in my right hand while I held a small flashlight in my left hand to help the vet see better. The vet sat in front of me and worked on her. He cleaned the wounds and then sutured them up matching the white markings the best he could. I think he put about 35 or 40 stitches in. He brought the flap of skin back up over her nose and filled in the gaping hole and by the time he got done, you could hardly tell she had done anything, except for all the little knots made by the stitches. Even though the injury looked terrible, it was not life threatening and it is a pretty common injury with horses. When horses get caught, the first thing they do is panic and pull back. They peel the skin right back whether it be their face or a leg. But since there is bone right under the skin, the skin adheres real quick back to the bone and heals real nice. The problem with injuries like this to the leg, they have a tendency to rip tendons and muscle and that can be hard to heal. He cleaned her up and she came to about 5 minutes later. We loaded them up and took them home. By the time we got them unloaded and put the trailer away, it was close to midnight before I came staggering in the door. David had come home earlier as there was really nothing he could do while we were waiting for a vet to contact us. He has to get up in the morning for work. So now I am going to jump in the shower and then go join him. Never a dull moment on the farm !!!!!!! |
| Dang, flipping goats !!! Yesterday started out as a normal, beautiful day in southeast Missouri. I got David off to work, picked up the house and puttered around outside for a while. I came in around 1pm and laid down for a bit and then headed over to my sisters to help her with her animals. She had a dog get tore up pretty bad by a raccoon. Sliced his neck open from the top of his head to below the ear and when he put his head down, the flap of skin, with ear attached, would flop down over his eyes. He also had some other rather deep gashes here and there about his body. Instead of stitching up the wounds, the vet gave her some liquid 'wound heal' that is applied with a dabber. He explained that with deep bite wounds, if sewn up, would probably become infected no matter what he did. This medication would sanitize the wound and create granulated tissue and allow the wound to heal from the inside out, drawing it together. He said we would be amazed and it will heal just as fast as if he had sutured it. The problem is that this is a big Red Bone hound and he is strong and my sister can't do this by herself, so I drive over everyday to medicate him while she holds him down. I visited with my mother for a while and headed home. Once home, I had my own chores to take care of. My animals all had to be fed. I portioned out the dog 's food and got them fed, filled the seed cup in the birds cage and headed out to feed the goats. This is where the problem lies. You see, goats are not gentle eaters. They rush from one feed bucket to the next in a constant state of musical chairs. Maggie will grab a few bites of grain out of her bucket and then rushes over to Gypsy's bucket pushing her out which causes Gypsy to run over and push Addie out and he in turn butts Maggie and the mayhem goes full circle. I even have one extra bucket that I put feed in, but it doesn't matter. They always think the other is getting better stuff than they have. Well, that was fine. They eventually ate and everyone ended up with approximately the same amount of feed. Then Holly showed up. She is my little fainting goat. She is the sweetest goat and follows you around like a puppy dog. Being naturally polled (no horns) and so gentle that she won't even chastise the babies when they bug her, she gets picked on and chased off the feed. She is at the bottom of the pecking order and is pushed around by all the other goats. When she tries to get back to a bucket, they immediately charge her and being a 'fainting' goat, she stiffens up and falls over. Over and over again, she tries to eat, but the other goats just will not leave her alone. So I sit out there with her and fend off the other goats so she can eat. There is a nice sized log right where I feed the goats and I put all the feed buckets on one side and fill them up and I put Holly's feed bucket on the other side and sit there guarding her. She is a dainty eater while the others chow down their feed. Of course, when they are done, they come over to chase her away but I intercept them. I sit there until Holly is done, making sure she gets to eat everything. So last evening, when I returned from my sisters and had all the other critters fed, I head out to the goat pen with feed in hand. I follow the routine and feed everyone, then put Holly's feed in her bucket and sit on the log to wait for her to finish. Sure enough, after about five minutes or so, here comes Maggie to push Holly away. I shoo her away along with Gypsy. Then Addie wandered over and I went to wave him away. Now normally he gets a bit pushy, but a good bop on the nose will change his mind. He walked over and shoved his head into Holly's bucket and I bopped him. He just pushed harder and poor Holly was shoved right out. I grabbed his horns and pulled his head up out of the bucket and shoved him hard, but he came right back. He was determined to get Holly's feed. I grabbed his horns again and yanked his head out of the feed bucket and he lowered his head and hooked my leg under his horns. I was still sitting on the log at this point. My leg is up in the air, over his neck and wedged behind his horns. He is pushing me will all his might (these little buggers are strong). I am pushing back the best I can, but I realize that I am on the loosing end of this battle. I tried to flip my leg back over his horns but because of the way his horns lay back over his neck, my leg was wedged. I tried to stand up, but couldn't in the position he had me in. Then he did it...................... He shoved with all his little might and flipped me over backwards off the log like I was nothing. My legs flew up and over my head, my butt hit the ground with a resounding THUD and my arms flailed about before me. Over I went, doing a backward somersault, off the log and onto my back. I laid there for a moment cussing the little devil. I looked over and there lay Hollie in a faint, all four legs stretched out and the other goats chowing down on her food. Oohhhhhhhhhh was I mad. Dang goat !!! I came to my senses real fast, but it took me a bit longer to get to my feet. Once upright, I found the biggest stick I could find and I started beating goats. I whacked Addie over the butt and got after the others and made them leave poor Holly's feed bucket alone. I put more feed in it and called her over. While she ate, I sat there with that big stick in my hand and every time one of the other goats took a step towards her, I raised that stick and by golly, they backed up. Dang flipping goats !!!! I usually take my walking stick out there with me, and they respect that. But the little horned devils are smart. They knew that I didn't have it, and Addie took the lead and just butted his way right in and the others followed. I have never been flipped by a dang goat before, and I promise you, I will not be flipped again. This goat girl has learned her lesson. You know, they are a lot like David.... as long as I carry my big stick, he behaves, but the minute I put it down..... just like the dang goats. Here is Addie..... ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** He is only about 24 inches tall, you wouldn't think he would be so strong, but he has power behind that set of horns !!! |
| Ok ladies, tell me, are all men just the same? Do they all drool and slobber all over themselves when a woman with 'tits' walks by? Do they just go 'dumb' when a female vixen with a wiggle in her butt sashays in front of them? Do they just have a complete melt down (or should that be uplift) when faced with testosterone overload? Why do I ask, you wonder. Well you would have to read "Invalid Entry"  to see where I am coming from. In this blog, he talks of the women who walk in through Wal-Mart's doors when the weather warms up and the sun is shining. More specifically, the women who wear the scantiest of clothing, cheeks swinging and boobs bouncing. You see, David just can't let it go. He has to stare like he has never seen anything like this before in his whole life. I look at him and see a 5 year old kid who just caught his first big fish all by himself. The look of wonderment, of awe, of adoration and even a little fear that lights up that little face. It's a once in a lifetime event. But when you see that same look on a 59 year old man who is staring at a 27 year old woman who is parading herself around Wal-Mart, flirting and teasing with all the guys.... well it's just plain sad. I remember the time that David and I went to Florida to visit a good friend. Eddy took us to Panama City one afternoon to show us the sights and the beautiful beaches. To this day, if you ask David about this quaint little town that sits on white sand beaches, his eyes glaze over, his jaw drops down to his knees and he will start to drool. The only way to break this spell is to whop him with a BIG stick. He doesn't remember the cute little oyster shack we went to for lunch. Well, he remembers, but his memories are way different from mine. It was a quaint little place sitting across the street from the beach. They had a oyster shucker that had competed and won several national titles for his shucking abilities. It was fun to watch him shuck those oysters a dozen at a time, his hands and fingers just flying. What David remembers is the cute little waitress with the long black hair wearing a pair of shorts that made you realize that she had no tan lines on those butt cheeks that hung out, and a halter top that must have been glued in place so things didn't fall out. David had told me before hand that "He was NOT going to eat oysters, that they were nasty things that would never get near his mouth"! I told him that he would have to just try one... just to say that he did. "NO WAY, JOSE" was his reply to me. Then this little curvy, butt showing, cute as a button waitress sashays over with a large oyster impaled on a toothpick, sitting on a plate. "Here darling," she says to David as she wiggles her way onto his knee. "Won't you just try this little, itty-bitty, wee oyster for me?" Dog gone if David didn't pop that mouth right open like a little robin, to be hand fed the oyster by that little thang with a name badge pinned on her skimpy top that read "Bambi". "Do you have any more of those DE-LI-CIOUS little nuggets of joy?" he ask Bambi. He ended up eating a whole dang platter of them, all the while maintaining a gawd awful grin on his face. I ignored the whole scene and enjoyed the interaction with our friends, the beautiful decor, the glistening water of the Gulf and the overall atmosphere or ambience. After the lovely lunch, we strolled across the road to the beach. There we sat in a cabana sipping our Pineapple Pina Coladas and Rum and Cokes. The sun was still high in the afternoon sky and the brilliant blue water of the Gulf sparkled and danced before our eyes. Well, before everyone's eyes except David's. We were all sitting enjoying the cooling breeze when I noticed that David had disappeared. You see, down the beach a bit, a game of volleyball was taking place. Now this was not your average game being played by moms and dads and their children. No, this was a game being played by beach babes dressed in nothing more than thongs hidden in the cracks of their butts, and a few inches of cloth covering what had to be covered by law. They were sweating in the heat of the sun and sand was sprinkled about their bodies like sugar on a cookie. By the look on David's face, they were cookies, the sweetest cookies he had ever seen. He stood there, mouth agape, eyes glazed over. I feared for his health. No, not from a heart attack as I knew his heart was just a pitter-patting away at that moment. No, not from a stroke as I knew that the blood was flowing.... rather well. No, I feared for his life as I was carrying a BIG stick and was about to beat him senseless. I walked up to him and ask him who was winning the game. "What game?" he replied. That's when the ambulance was called and our trip to the beach ended rather abruptly. Thank goodness, the paramedics were female.... they understood completely what had happened and just nodded in agreement when they threw him in the back and hauled him off to be stitched up by the local doctor in town. So do you women out there have the same problem? I tried blinders, but dang his sense of touch and smell increased 10 fold. But I can't really complain. All he does is look, drool and stutter. But I tell you, the benefits that night are well worth the daytime antics that I have to put up with. Yep, I am one LUCKY woman !!!!! |
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