The Midnight Express

No,my friends,this is not a story of a train. It is however,a story of a goat. I know big surprise on this blog,lol! So...meet my own personal Midnight Express....Sweet Pea!

I know you are wondering why I am calling this tiny goat the Midnight Express.Well,let me tell you all the story!

Long about midnight,see the connection starting to form already,The Boy burst in to my  room and says Sweet Pea is in labor.When I say burst I am not exaggerating,like to gave his ole Ma a heat attack! For one thing,The boy never gets in a hurry for anything.That is just his personality.I have rarely seen him get past a mosey along! His nick name in T-ball, years ago, was 90 Year Old grandma! He was the only kid that would walk the bases and then stop and yawn between second and third with everyone yelling the whole time for him to run! On the plus side,he has no temper.You can hardly make The Boy mad! Now see, I have gotten off track! My mind just bounces around like that! Back to the story of the Midnight Express...
So I get up and stumble out side grabbing an old towel from the box that I save them in just for goat birthing time. Soon as I open the door I hear Sweet Pea screaming like a freight train.  See more connections with trains! Good grief she was hollering! That didn't sound well. She was due last Sunday and my long time readers will remember she is the money goat. I say the money goat because, in a matter of mental lapse  according to my Hubby, I paid for her to have a goatie c-section when her first kid was so big it got stuck. She came to our farm bred so who knows what went on there. Any way...she was screaming and pushing and not making any progress. I could see she was having trouble.Waiting is hard in these situations. Finally a little hoof appeared! I felt around a little to make sure the kid was in the right position and thankfully it was! So I began to gently pull the legs....nothing..gentle tugging became more aggressive tugging. All the while Sweet Pea was licking my leg between screams like she knew I was helping and was thankful for it. Pea is not an affectionate goatie so this was a little surprising. Eventually and what seemed like forever but was in reality  only a few minutes I was able to get the head out! She a a big baby girl! This is Harley's daughter who has gone to his new herd of 10 girls! So here is the Midnight Expresses delivery,Little Big Head!  She will get a real name soon,but considering how her big head almost kept her out of this world Little Big Head seems to fit for now!

I was hoping she would have Harley's beautiful color but it was not to be. She has the longest hair of any kid we have had here though! Mother and daughter are doing well this morning! Just in case you didn't know baby goaties are one of the hardest things next to Big Foot to get a picture of! I took around 30 pictures and had about 5 that were not blurry! They just cannot be still!

She has no real name yet. It usually takes us a few days to pick out just the right name for our kids. Feel free to make suggestion if you want!

So the moral of today's story...screaming goats with over sized babies at midnight....oh heck, there is no moral! Except maybe,I will need a nap today for sure!

Ya just never know...

That is one of my life mottos. It is usually spoken with a slow,country accent and a scratch to the head! That is how it was this morning.You all know how it is when you are going about your quiet routine and there is like a huge elephant in the room and you don't even notice it until you are standing nose to trunk with it? Meet my elephant!

No....I do not own any enormous  Texas Longhorn steers or Belted Galloway cattle! It was so funny because I was out doing chores for several minutes before I noticed this little herd quietly munching away not a hundred feet from me. I blame it on weak morning coffee!

Sorry the pictures are a little hazy,South Texas humidity and all fogging up the lens! Well ,you can bet my heart skipped a beat,maybe two! That fence he is behind is meant to keep chickens in not steers out!Oh and that fence is over 5 foot tall in case you were wondering!

It only took a minute to figure out this was a gentle giant,someones pet. No, he did not push over the fence,the bighorn sheep we used to have back there did that.

I almost fell in love with these little "Oreo' cows which come to find out were a mix of Dexter and belted Galloway.Ummm..actually that one above is a bull!

The gate to this pasture was open,that's how they got in,so Hubby went and closed it so they would not get out in the road.Then he called the sheriff to report them and that we were keeping them up. At that time no one was missing them yet,but I knew someone would they were to tame and well fed to be just everyday range cows.

In just a few hours the owners came and got them. Because that pasture has not been grazed this year it has tall dead grass so that is why they came here. As everyone knows the state of Texas is about burnt off the face of the Earth so there is no grass anywhere. I am sure glad we sold our few cows last winter!
I was right ,these were pets and all had names and would come when called so it was easy for the owners to get them back home. I tell you all, I do not know why I ever start thinking life is getting boring!

It is getting to be that time of year again,the time I love,canning time! I really can things year round,like chicken,broth,soup and things I find on sale at the grocery store, but  I just love when the garden starts making! Oh, it is just a little bit right now but soon it will be lots! One thing I canned the other day for the very first time was spiced pickled beats from my garden!

I like to put things that only one person will eat in single serving jars. Only I eat beets. Ever heard the expression faster than greased lightening? Well that is how fast my boys run if you mention beets! I love beets,they have that nice dirt flavor and I love dirt! Not to eat it of course but I love the smell of it fresh turned,to sink my hands in it,to walk barefoot across the coolness of it....sigh....and the growing things in it too.  I am just an earthy woman what can I say,lol! I guess the right way to say beets taste like dirt is to say they are earthy!
I have also frozen a  gallon bag of sliced and battered yellow squash...because squash needs to be  fried or it's just too healthy!

And  canned 6 pints of green beans and frozen 2 gallon bags of turnip greens! Oh, the tomatoes are so close to getting ripe I can almost taste them!

 Of course,in true southern fashion,the biggest ones have already been fried!

The peppers are starting to make...this one is a chili..

I thought I would show you my Clary sage in bloom. Isn't it lovely!

It is a very useful medicinal plant and easy to grow.If you would like to read more about it here in a link.  So, are you canning anything yet?
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Scooter

I thought I would show you all some new and, of course, adorable pictures of Scooter! I think he is the prettiest of our spring kids! Just look at his face!

He is the sweetest too. Definitely a lap goatie! The Boy keeps hinting how he wishes he could keep Scooter. Every new batch of kids there is always going to be one he wants to keep! The  goatie boys have been banded and I am happy to report that sweet Scooter and his brother Pedro,who is pretty sweet too, will be going to their new home next week! A wonderful home at a friends house. They will have 2 boys of their own to spoil them and will live with 2 mini horses! I just love when I know the people who take home our goaties!

Here is Scooter snacking on some yummy bark!

Just like a human boy, he is looking around and hoping his brother and sisters don't notice he has found something yummy!

Uh-Oh! Too late!  Look who's coming!

It's sister Zippy! She can munch bark with the best of them!

I am linking up with Farm Friend Friday! I have missed it the last few weeks but I am making it this week! Go on over and check out all the great farm blogs,you'll be glad you did!

The Dolly Doodle Report

 It's me! The one and only Dolly Doodle here to give you an update on what has been going on around here!

I have been helping out my Maa a lot these last couple of days and it is hard work let me tell you! You see, when my Maa works around the farm she will take me with her. She puts on my harness and a leash and I go with her to help in what ever she is doing. Mostly the leash just drags behind me because I like to be with my Maa and follow her but my  Maa says she feels safer if she can get a hold of me if she needs too. I  go with my Maa all kinds of places except the garden. She never takes me there .....something about me being about as much use as a plague of locust out there! Well, I don't know what a plagues of locust are but they must be mighty useful if they are half as good as me!

I know you all are wondering what I have been helping with lately and I am going to tell you. Berry picking!

I am a very good goatie helper at berry picking! First I watch the house and when ever my Maa comes out I maaaaaaaa her name loudly and repeatedly so she knows I am ready to go to work! She says things I can not hear from where I am but eventually she says,"Alright Doodle!"  Doodle, that is what she calls me! Then she comes and gets me and off we go! You may be wondering how I help pick berries.Well , I don't really pick the berries I don't like them at all. I help by eating all the leaves, poison ivy and devil weed so my Maaa can 

 get to her berries!

Maa says she has to get enough berries to make jelly for Daaad. I don't know what jelly is but if she will throw some poison ivy or devil weed in there I will help Daaad eat it!

I help my Maa by making sure I am always eating right where she is picking.  So,I usually stand right between her legs and try to eat exactly where her fingers are so I can remove all the leaves that may be in her way....

This is my job right now. It is a very,very important job which makes me a very important goatie!  I try to tell all the other goats how important I am and that they should butt me less and let me have more of the grain but they are just the unsophisticated kind of goats and don't understand the importance of my work! My Maa says one day when I am a big goatie I will be a milking Nanny but until then I can be her helper. I sure hope Daaad wants lots of jelly because I  really love berry picking!

Happy Easter !!!

                             Happy Easter to all my friends!

Adventures in the Money Pit

 I know a lot of you out there are just beginning your spring but it is almost over here. We are supposed to hit 90* in the next day or so. Oh, and don't forget to add in the severe drought and wind that won't stop blowing at what feels like 100 mph. I feel cheated....I want my springtime goodness! I want cool,wet  mornings and abundant growth not dragging hoses in drenching humidity while every petal is blown from my wilted flowers by this relentless wind. Yes,I am whining! But seriously, Mother Nature,enough is enough!

For my newer friends who may not know, we live in a 104 year old dilapidated money pit. That  is fine with me...I get to live a hermity life in the country and have my animals and garden and not care if  an old bathtub sits in the yard or if the grass is mowed before I get a ticket. Plus, if I want to walk out to the shed naked there is no one to give hysterical blindness too! Not that I do that...not very often any how... When we first moved in I was on fire to get work done on the house...but after about a year I fizzled out. I decided I could live with a lot of ..hmm...imperfections, stained asbestos ceiling tiles don't really look all that bad after all right? Don't get in a panic..they are not really asbestos..I don't think. My Hubby is home for a decent amount of time from his adventuresome  life of  a globe trotting oil man so I decided it was time for a new home improvement project.  The Boy's bathroom. So I go and buy the stuff...new sink,toilette, I will spare you the picture of what the inside of the this toilette looked like but I don't think dynamite could have blasted out what ever was stuck in there! I tried everything short of battery acid!

A new mirror,lights,flooring...you get the picture.
Let me add Hubby is never thrilled at the prospect of home improvement. I ask him why  on  Earth he bought this place when it needed so much work and he hates home improvement projects. He replied,"Looked fine to me." Men!
I may have forgot to mention the previous owners did some home improvements of their own....a lot of them made the old place go from old home to death trap!  Just a few months ago the well quit working. We had the repair man out. He couldn't believe the tank hadn't exploded from the pressure! It was set up wrong and he said if it had exploded it could have torn through the house and for sure killed any one in it's path.  Made me feel real good considering I had been out there beating around on it with a wrench! Come to think of it, every repair man who has ever come out has just shook their head and   told us that what ever they were working on wasn't done right. I think this has a lot to do with Hubby's aversion to the home improvement projects, once he starts one he has double the work trying to fix the things done by folks before us. A lot of the previous folks  problems, I believe, had something to do with  the amount of beer cans everywhere and by everywhere I mean places like under the house,in the attic in the barns and sheds,under the chicken coop and well, you get the picture! I have nothing against responsible drinking. Heck I have been know to drink a bottle of wine now and again. In fact the government told me it was mandatory around PMS time for the good of mankind everywhere! BUT...there are some rules everyone should follow. Don't drive. Don't beat your kids. Don't have a case of Old Milwaukee and  re wire the AC unit. What makes a person down a dozen beers and  suddenly decide it is time to install  that new ceiling fan or build on a bedroom?

What started me writing this was Hubby walking through the house mumbling under his breath something about he wouldn't care if it just burned down to the ground and where are the band aids! I found him the band aids but told him to hush! He knows what the wiring is like in this house!

At this rate The Boy may be "using" the woods till next winter!