Sunday, February 24, 2008

Sundown on my Vacation





Back to work tomorrow...please, somebody save me. Things were just so weird the week before I left. I hope it's better when we go back. I find the whole business so tedious. Education is so fraught with tension and drama - the human element, you know. I wanted to groom bunnies and play with lambs/kids all day, but I didn't time my milk replacer correctly and had to go into Norwich to buy it. I was off by one day! I hit Tractor Supply, Wal-Mart and La Maison Blanc, my favorite French bakery which I had not been to in months. I got a lot of stuff I needed, but it was a gorgeous day and I would like to have spent more time outside. I did take the dogs up to the pond to watch the sunset, and that was lovely. I hate, hate, hate to leave my babies tomorrow. My milk bucket is not here from Premier yet. I will put a pot of milk on the floor for the bottle babies. Still, they will scream for me much of the day. Reality bites hard around here. Miss Rambolina is doing fine, to my relief. Mom's udder did not look full to me, and I was worried about her getting enough to eat. I picked her up to offer her a bottle, and marvelled over the size of her. Her domed head is just sooo soft and white. Mom is protective (one poor kitty went into the pen and was butted horribly) and loves her baby. It's a tough time of year. The flock has been in the barn for the most part for several months, and they are on top of bacteria all the time. In the spring, summer and fall they are outside in fresh air most of the time. Chris Kupris said this time of year was horrible for his dairy herd. The cows would drop like flies. I can't imagine moving a dead 1,200 pound cow. We have a hard enough time with sheep and goats. Oh, not a happy subject! Better make dinner and do chores. I am hoping to watch The Tudors tonight. Just starting watching it and like it, even though it is oh, so Hollywood. Great dresses and sets.

3 comments:

Gretchen said...

I love the Tudors! I have it on DVD if you ever want to borrow it...ha!
See you tomorrow...I helped move your desk to it's new home, yesterday! Exciting stuff.

Maggie's Farm said...

Thanks, G. So they've added "furniture mover" to your job description? Such a girl!! Yeah, the Tudors is a terrific show. I'm all wrapped up with Queen Catherine! She's so beautiful and so cool, and got such a bad deal...oh, it hurts!

Kathleen said...

I think it's different for goats and cows. I know the goats use the bacteria-laden manure as bedding to keep warm in the winter, but for the most part, unless there are strange circumsatnces, their poop is dry and the bedding stays fairly dry too. As the bacteria multiplies, they keep the bedding warm. Cows, though have wetter manure with large quantities of urine and they aren't made to sleep in the bacteria-bedding with soupy poop. They need fresh bedding and surroundings more often. And goats are so wonderfully resilient!