Sniffle, Cough, NetFlix, Reading, Moving Cows,& "Calving" Goats

The title pretty much sums up this week.

The sniffling and coughing pretty much hit night before last landing me on the couch for the day yesterday. I really hate being sick. If you could enjoy being sick I guess it would be OK...but even with Netflix movies...which I moan about wanting to have a day just to watch movies when I am not sick, it just isn't the same. I can't even remember what I watched...Oh yes a movie about a priest that was in Hawaii and lived at a leper colony. It was good....although somewhat depressing as he ended up getting the disease and dying. DH wonders why I am drawn to depressing movies...I have no idea. Then I watched an episode of "Hoarders". Again I am not understood...I just tell them it keeps me inspired to keep the house clean. :)

Kindle Report......After more then a month of ownership..I like some things about it, and some I don't. I finished a book yesterday and I just went online and downloaded a new one. Very fun...but could be very hard on the ole pocket book if you let it get out of control. I have to limit myself to one or two new books a month. Yesterday I downloaded Joel Rosenberg's " The Twelfth Imam." It hooks you from the first chapter and I am loving it so far. I think I paid around nine bucks for it and if I had bought the hardcopy it would have been twenty-six dollars. But....I just can't get used to not 'holding' an actual book.

So this morning DH asked me if I would mind helping him move some cattle to another pasture. He was gona saddle my horse and everything! I looked at him with bleary eyes, dripping nose and commented that we were under a red flag warning (wind), a fire warning and a "no precipitation" warning. I was pretty sure I had TB and was not going to go get on a horse and ride in the wonderful morning breeze that we were starting to experience. Call me not punchy. I don't care.

But I did tell him I would drive the feed wagon(pick-up) while he and Youngest rode behind and pushed. That seemed to please him so with wads of Kleenex in my pocket and two Tylenol under my belt we were off.



These little darlings are the focus of our morning. This is the time of year when the ranch goes "off" chinery( I have no idea if I am spelling that right). It is this scrubby little plant like a very miniature oak tree has little acorns and everything, that grows out here in the big sand pastures. This time of year when it starts to bloom it is poisonous to cattle and they have to be moved off of it. After it comes out good the cattle can be moved back and it makes good feed for the summer. Usually they have the crew come over and these girls go across the highway to wait till they brand the calves and the chinery is all bloomed out and they move them back. But this year they decided to move them just down the road to another pasture.And the boss just told DH to get it done if he thought he could..so we did.



How the west was ever won without a feed wagon I will never know. Cows are greedy. They know there is feed in the big bin on the back of the pick-up.And they want it. I know this is not the root'en toot'en cowboy way...but it works. Especially when your "crew" consists of one sick grumpy woman and one scrawny kid.



Scrawny kid coming down yon fence.



This is the boss and he is mean. :) Not really.



This is my attempt at modern art photography ...I am going to title it..are you ready? Remember you saw it here for the first time ever...The Lone Gate Post(coming out of a cows head). Impressed? Well you should be. Hum, maybe I shouldn't quit my day job.

In honor of spring I am going to show you rolling hills of wildflowers, honey bees and birds tweeting merrily.



Alas this is the only green thing I could find. A Yucca. The state flower of NM. No joke. Actually when they bloom they are pretty. But it will be awhile and if it does not rain they won't.

Oh to the great goat "calving". Now I know that goats "kid" and cows "calve". But to a cowboy who is more used to cows then goats it causes confusion when the time of birthing comes. So Sunday evening my good milk goat Ole Blue decided to deliver forth her kids. Youngest comes in with the grand announcement that she was calving, oh I mean kidding. He had been keeping close watch for days. So far only one kid. I knew there had to be more then one, she was huge! We all wandered out and sure enough there was a very little weak kid. I went to the house to get Blue a drink of warm water mixed with molasses, a goat tonic. When I returned DH was shoulder deep in goat uterus and pulling. He pulled one, then another, then another. Four. It was unreal. Poor ole Blue was so confused. She just kept looking and would lick one then another and had a horrible look on her face. They were all small and weak and we didn't give them much of a chance. DH said it would be best if we just left them alone for about an hour and see what happened. We did and when we went back Blue was laying down and not looking so great. DH said he thought she might have another one in there, so he went in for a feel and sure enough there was another one! That made 5. I have raised goats for a long time and have never ever had more then 3. I hope this never happens again. And I am sure Blue does as well. We are bottling 3 and letting 2 nurse. And so far they are all still alive. Two have leg problems, I read it wasn't uncommon with that many due to the lack of room to grow right. But they seem to be getting a tad better.



Blue and family.

I am thinking it is nap time now.

God Bless and Happy Trails
RanchWife