We had a great weekend out our way and a glorious Saturday! In the afternoon Uncle Steve, Aunt Karen, Aimee, their bunny Toby, their Boston Terrier dog, Grammy Gay and Papa Gay all came to the barn for a little fun. We took the chickies outside to start getting them used to fresh air and also got in a few horse rides. This was Aunt Karen's first time on a horse in at least 10 years, I think. What fun!
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While waiting for things to open up this morning after I had the office ready for 8:00, I scanned through some recent "Photo of the Day" pictures on National Geographic's website. This photo stuck out to me and I thought I would share it. The photographer, Susan Michel, has my congratulations on a very neatly formed picture and a very cute subject matter! This is Milo and he's on my wish list today. He's about a week old and he's a tri-color registered Myotonic goat with blue eyes. He'll be ready for a new home away from his Mama in about 3 months and I'm really wanting to bring him home to the farm. What do you think? Fainting goats, anyone? Wooooo! Mom and Dad went to Thomson this morning to pick up the tin for the main roof on the barn and it looks like Uncle Richard has a good bit of it up already by this afternoon! Grammy Gay sent us this picture update from her cell phone just now while we're all still at work. Good job, Uncle Richard; I think this looks wonderful! Ok, so I'm running a little late for St. Patty's Day... We've been sick out our way and are slowly recovering back into the land of the awake and not perpetually loopy on cough medicine. :) Other than dragging in to the family business and trying to do some work, we haven't really left the house. Well, that, and to feed the animals. That gives us a good excuse for a teensy bit of fresh air! In the spirit of the missed "green" day, I'm posting these two pictures that Grammy Gay sent me yesterday of her and Papa's little house in the meadow (down the hill from the main farm). Beautifully green and lush looking, isn't it? I can't wait until everything's sprouted out that way everywhere! Ok, so today thus far has been pretty awful. Jason and I are both very sick (we think with strep throat ) and are on antibiotics, but because my co-worker is sick too I had to come in and work both yesterday and today. (whine, whine - I know, right?) Today, my throat hurts so badly and is so swollen that I can barely get any sound out and a major part of my job is fielding quotes and orders on the phone. Makes for a painful, exhausting day... Mom and Dad came in for a while, then went to pick up some soup for us to have for lunch , which was sweet and a huge help. While they were out, they apparently stopped by Tractor Supply because when they came back into the office they had a whole cardboard "house" full of baby Bantam chickies! to take back to the farm: the cutest little things ever to wear feathers! They moved them into a big cardboard box near my desk and put a heat lamp over them and I am listening to them cheep and chirp as I try to work and it amazes me that such a little thing can turn the world right again and make my heart lift, no matter how badly I feel. Did you ever just look up at God and say, "You did a great job," in the middle of the day? I did, today. Took the day off from work yesterday because our vet, Dr. Margot Greer, and our farrier, Erica Chase, were both scheduled to come out in the morning. We hit the barn about 7:00 a.m. and Margot showed up about 7:40. Whew! Whirlwind morning! Everybody got a general health check and their teeth looked at to see if dental work is in the cards for the upcoming months. All good, except that Sassy will need a filing on one side sometime soon. Biscuit and Gravy got their shots and we were so proud of the fuzzy little buggers! They stood so well and are learning to walk on the lead line amazingly. They are SO smart! Not to mention cute... Mom and I both adore their fuzzy, soft, tiny little muzzles. Perfect for a smooch or a scratch. Sassy-frass got her shots as well, and a new coggins drawn and although she was a little bit nervous, Margot handled her perfectly. Good sounding heart, too! I was thrilled to hear it. <grin> Everybody else isn't due for their shots and coggins again until November, so we were set. Next came breakfast and a funny trip with Mom driving the Yukon and me trying to man-handle two hay bales into the back of it on top of a tablecloth for the picnic table. I bet I looked awful funny trying to scale the leaning tower of bales over at White Oak Ranch! I half climbed, half slid back down with the two prized bales tumbling down before me! I managed to get them into the back of the SUV, but I'll be quite thrilled if Josh (my brother) goes and gets a whole truckload for us this afternoon. Woo-haa, those things are heavier than I remember. After unloading those, we took a grooming break and spent time with our babies. Sassy is unbelievable... I've never seen a horse as woolly as she is. Mom took one side with the shedding blade and I took the other with the dog shedding brush and the fur flew! Enough hair for another mini donkey or pony, I think. She's looking better but needs another 4-5 sheddings. I snapped the above picture while Mom was brushing Victor. He's so photogenic! Everybody enjoyed the scratchies and the love-bug hugs and stood great for Erica. A little donkey wrangling to get Biscuit's hooves done, but she's already incredibly better from when we first got her. All in all, a good experience, but an exhausting morning! We rested all afternoon, but the sick still got me. I think the whole family is down for the count now... Cross your fingers that blog pages aren't contagious! Ta for now! Monday, 3-15-10. It was quite a weekend at the farm, I think. We're all happy about the time change so that we'll have more light in the evenings, although the McCorkles (me in particular) forgot about it and missed church on Sunday! Of course, after such an eventful Saturday it's somewhat understandable. See, Saturday morning, Mom woke me up by calling to tell me that Bill was down in his stall and colicking. I don't know that I've ever gotten to the farm as quickly! Colic can be very serious and even deadly in the worst cases, so we were a bit frantic. A controlled kind of frantic because by the time I got to the farm Mom had Bill caught and was walking him around with the halter and had the vet on the phone. Good Mom! You get a gold star! That is exactly what you do first and very likely kept the colic from escalating into something worse. We walked him up and down for about two hours and finally he settle down and stopped wanting to roll on the ground. We think it was gas colic and he seems fine now. We love our Bill! Also, Saturday, I wanted to work with Sassy some and on her coat. As you can see in the picture she is VERY woolly still and shedding like a cream colored snowstorm. She's quite patchy and no matter how much hair comes off there seems to be way more underneath! I could make a sweater... I had quite an adventure and another hour and a half of walking to catch her. She'll learn, though! I out-stubborned her and finally she stopped walking away and turned to look at me like, "Fine! Just go ahead and catch me." And of course, I did. I think it will take several times of following her until she stops and then there won't be any more trouble. Too many people have given up on her in the past, I think. Sunday was slow because we all started feeling a little under the weather, but at least the sun's out today! Prayers for Mom and Dad because they have sore throats and coughs. Enjoy the pictures! |
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