3/23/17

Next Batch

 Ahni’s bundles of joy were scheduled to arrive one week after Cheeky’s and Reenie’s, on March 9. 
 But she kept Barb up for three nights of checking her every few hours until finally delivering on the morning of March 12 two hefty, dark black bucklings
 Anghus (who inherited mom's wattles)
 and Anoop (who sports half of a milk mustache).
 Ahni continues to be an ideal mom, taking good care of her boys.
 Their droopy ears soon perked up
 and they survived disbudding nicely.
 Their older friends across the barn get bigger and stronger each day:
 Reenie's boys
 Caliph
 and Monarch
 along with Cheeky's girl Tzimmes.
 
 Friend Janet crafted a gorgeous goat tote for Barb featuring the quilted face of Cheeky.
 On the third day of spring the babies ventured outside the barn for the first time 
 to climb on new stuff
 
 chew on new stuff 
 
 socialize 
 
 
 run like mad 
 
 
 and fly through the air 
 all under the watchful eyes of proud papas Chill and Mojo.
 
 Then the always anxious Cheeky led the herd back to the barn
for some serious napping.
Getting sleepy . . .
 
 sleepy . . .
 
 ZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
 It may officially be spring, but the front pond
 stream on the east border
 and back pond are still frozen over
 and there was snow on the ground the fourth day of spring.
 Demolition continues – slowly – on the neighbors' barn.  We’re in no hurry.
 The yearlings get out for walks, too.
 Channa and Kuiper are both due on March 30.
 We're hoping for some doelings to balance this year's bucklings -- gorgeously colored girls from Chana
 and belted girls from Kuiper
who would not be out of character to wait until April 1.

3/9/17

Pioneers! O Pioneers!

 While waiting for bundles of joy to descend from Goat Heaven
 Santa’s Busiest Elf ® crafted more batches of soap
 
 and finished work on the renovated kitchen
 
 installing a gorgeous back splash
 
 and painting & decorating the remaining walls (with generous help from friend Laura).
 Cheeky and Reenie were both due on March 2, but the pioneers they were incubating decided to wait until March 4th to march forth – or “debouch,” as Walt Whitman would say.
 First came Meadowwild Mojo's Tzini (a doeling) without any trouble.  Her obstinate brother and sister, however, refused to budge. 
 So in went fearless doula Barb to rearrange positioning of the breach babies and convince first the buckling Meadowwild Mojo's Doodh ("milk" in Hindi) to come out
 and then the other doeling, Meadowwild Mojo's Tzimmes.
Cheeky started right in with her maternal duties:


 All three kids were quickly up and about.
 Cheeky's daughter Reenie kept a close eye on the excitement 
 
 and a short while later delivered with no problems at all her own pair of boys:
 Meadowwild Chill's Caliph
 and Meadowwild Chill's Monarch.
 They too were soon up on spindly little legs and even climbing
 with only the occasional face plant.
 All was going smoothly until later in the evening, when squeals of distress came over the barn radio monitor.
 For some reason Cheeky suddenly rejected Doodh and was butting him away and biting his ears when he tried to nurse from her.
 Barb had to take over as surrogate mom and feed him by bottle every few hours.
 
 A boy and a girl from Cheeky had been promised to a farm in Wisconsin.  Under the circumstances, their new goat mom graciously agreed to accept them sooner than planned
 
 so on March 7 Doodh and Tzini climbed into the Goatmobile and traveled to their new home.
Vigilant Cat keeps a lookout for the next arrivals
 which Ahni will supply any moment now.
 
 MeadowWild Farm is again awash in fresh goats' milk
 to the delight of feral Momma Kitty, who gets some in her bowl each time Barb milks.
The Farmers are mourning another premature departure: our neighbor's barn, which has been deteriorating for a number of years and must be taken down.
It has been a favorite subject for photographs in all seasons.
Demolition began on March 5
with removal of the cupola and a panel of roofing.
The barn is scheduled to fade gradually away during the rest of the month.
Not currently slated for demolition is another favorite photographic subject.
We conclude this post with a portfolio titled "The Many Moods of Dustin":