Here I am. There has been no death or tragedy or anything. We just got busy with end of summer and fall and then we got lazy. But here I am to let you know about a Thanksgiving Miracle. The Miracle of Life!
As you know, we bought our ladies a handsome young man of their very own and were planning on breeding early for kids in February or March. But the goats would not go into heat! Not at all. None of them. And you can't force these things, apparently. We tried lighting candles and reading sexy stories and playing soft music. We had a talk with Millie about the does and the bucks and told her not to be afraid, those feelings, they are natural and normal (she is a young lady and this will be her first experience with a young man). We told Thor to be a bit more assertive and confident (he is a gentle spirit and perhaps a bit too timid for the more experienced mamas). Nothing worked!
We had really all but given up and were talking about buying a bred goat or a freshened goat in the spring. And then today Fanny Mavis started wagging her tail like crazy and pacing around in the area of the buck yard, and when Mike took her over to see Thor she just stood there and got right down to business! Yay! So if she took we should expect her kids around April 24th! Better late than never. She had triplets for us last year and has been our best milk producer. Otherwise we should expect her to go into heat in 21 days. Hopefully Millie and Ruth will follow her good example now. Thor was very proud.
In other news: We dried off the goats early this year. Ruth had a little skin infection on her udder and we just figured we would dry off and maybe go snowshoeing. Mike completed a new coop for the chickens, so now they have proper housing and and are closer to the house. He also finished the barn remodel as well as his shop area, cleaned all the garbage out of there and moved a bunch of crap to the "creepy shack," and is now working on weather proofing the part of the barn that floods in the winter (it's not where the animals live). We planted cover crop over the whole garden and mulched the parts that have overwintering plants. We chopped a bunch of wood so we can be extra cozy. We painted the living room finally and are getting ready to put up binds and buy some furniture. And a ton of other stuff too. Everything is snug and ready for winter. We have a few trips planned and family time. Basically we are all ready for our hibernation with books, movies, friends, video games, baking, and trips. And now that at least one of the goats has bred we can relax for real because everything is done. Winter is our lazy time. Ahhhh . . .
