A couple of new things.....

It's been a week, or so, of "new" around here.....

First, there was a "new" (to us) car for Deb. We have been looking for a used Ford Taurus for about a year now. We never even look at the "off brands" - we're only interested in quality - and that means FORD. The local Ford dealer found a Taurus for us in Lincoln last week, so we brought it home.

It's a darker red color, so it goes well with MY pickup......

The first "mission" we took the car on, we brought back "Yani" our new LGD.

She has been well worth bringing her here, in just the first few days.

We heard her barking one morning, and looked outside to check. Sure enough, there were 6 goats out by the end of the driveway. Yani was barking loudly, and looking in their direction.

Luckily, the "not-so-bright-at-times" goats, showed me right where they got out so I could fix it.

Yesterday, I picked 2, 5 gallon buckets of Elderberries for jelly and wine. Neither of us had actually MADE jelly of any kind before, but I have made wine out of them. We ended up filling 24, 1/2 pints of jelly, and a couple of pint jars. Deb had never had it before - and probably doesn't care for it - but I like it a lot. We have more then we can use in 5 years but, at least we know how to make it now.

I started a good batch of wine in a large "pickle crock" we have. It has been awhile since I've made wine of any sort, but I haven't made Elderberry since High School.

I remember 3-4 friends from school that I shared it with back then. It was really good and well liked.

(I can neither confirm nor deny underage drinking........)

I am thinking of giving some to a couple of my High School buddies who really enjoyed it. I'm POSITIVE they would love to have some more.

Also in this past week, I bought some hay equipment! My neighbor and friend, has decided to retire from the hay making business. In order to make SURE he STAYS retired, he sold his equipment.

I now am the proud owner of a New Holland 469 Windrower, a New Holland 273 Hayliner Baler, and a bale basket "accumulator". Hopefully, I will get to use them again in a few weeks.

Deb and I really appreciate his generosity and help with EVERYTHING around here.

This morning, I had to take our new Boer Billy - "Buckingham" - to the Vet in town. He has been limping for a few days now. I could not find ANYTHING wrong with him, so decided it was time for a doctor's visit.

When I left, Yani, was out by the goat shed barking and looking toward the creek. I couldn't see anything out of the ordinary, so I headed to town.

The Vet dug around on Buckingham's toes for awhile, until she finally found the sore spot. There was nothing stuck in it, it was just a soft spot. I have heard it called "Tender Toe" by some.

Now I have to soak his toes in Epsom Salt, twice a day, then coat his foot with a Copper Sulfate mixture to harden the toe.

Hopefully it will work in short order.....

I KNOW it's not gonna be fun trying to soak his foot twice a day....

When I got home, Yani was still off to the side of the goats looking off into the brush. I counted goats and came up with one short. I figured out which one was missing - the instigator and trouble maker, naturally - Bunny.

I went into the Jungle to look for her. Yani got up and led me right toward her. I stepped over a small "bump" in the ground and looked into the creek bed. There, through the trees, I saw Bunny - and a little white "fuzz ball" sitting next to her on the ground.

The baby was still wet, so he couldn't have been very old. Yani had been barking before to tell us that the baby was coming. She knew at least an HOUR AND A HALF before it arrived (and probably longer....). I saw Bunny at 8:00 am when she ate breakfast with the rest of them. Yani was barking at 8:15, I left for town at 9:30, with Bunny accounted for and no baby. When I returned at 10:45, we had a new kid on the ground.

This one was totally unexpected. We had THOUGHT Bunny LOOKED pregnant, but never gave it a thought because we lost our Boer Billy. We started counting backwards on our fingers and toes to figure out just WHEN the baby came to be.

Not like a goat kid has to be "legitimate" or anything......

Back in March, we bought 6 Kinder goats, one of which is a Billy. We have him in his own pasture next to the rest of the goats. The first few days, he stayed with the others. We missed it, but he evidently had had a party with Bunny.

At any rate, he picked a good "partner". Bunny is part LaMancha and part Boer - leaning more toward the LaMancha side. She has been a good mom in the past, so she shouldn't be any different this time.

Here is a photo of Deb holding the new arrival. I thought about calling him "Snow White" but, he being a he, and all - "Sleepy" or one of the other 7 Dwarfs might be better....



We might keep this by for a companion for the Kinder Billy.

We'll just have to see how it goes...