Facing the Day

Sometimes I lay in my bed and let random thoughts race through my fuzzy mind. It's so cozy and warm with the doggies laying up against me under the covers, and I don't want to get up. I fix the coffee pot so all I have to do is stumble over to it and press the button. If I'm really efficient I wash all the mugs the night before. I have my funny little routine that works for me - like fixing five cups of coffee at one time. I pour milk and sugar in five mugs and heat them in the microwave while the coffee is brewing, then I pour coffee in all of them. There's always a cup of coffee waiting. We get pretty good coffee at work in the cafeteria, greatly improved by flavored coffeemate creamer and it's free after lunch. Gretchen makes very delicious gourmet coffee. Yesterday she had German Chocolate Cake flavored coffee - very interesting. Sometimes I am so cozy in here I don't want to venture out and face what's waiting for me in the barn. Lots of goat babies who are too weak to stand up (lack of grain?), first time moms who aren't comfortable with the pain or the routine and need help, etc. Had a new goat mom deliver last night during chores with more screaming and carrying on than I have EVER heard from a goat. Usually they give out one big scream and there's the baby. This gal screamed bloody murder the whole way through first labor to birth. Goats have to be "crotched" so the hair is not covering the teats. It's too cold to shear them but the milk bank has to be available to the kids. Got them jugged up but mom is still very nervous. Stumbled out of bed this AM, fed my in-house babies including Bandera's little buck kid who I've been helping along, put on my New-Age music channel which plays in the barn, got my bottle of warm milk replacer and other paraphanalia in the big pockets of my old Carhart jacket and ventured out. There they were - a yearling ewe with a good size ewe lamb lying next to her. She looked like she was licked off, but mom had not stood up. The placenta was lying next to her and she was happily chewing her cud - but NOT talking to her baby, a bad sign. I let the ewe and her lamb out of the dog pen and got the new pair inside, but she's ignoring her baby. Have to get Matt up to help me milk her out. Another day in the maternity ward. I figure two more weeks and it's got to be over. Please...