Hooves, Paws, Teeth, Tractors and Cuds....

I had some help this past week - some actually "helpful", and others annoying, but all of it unsolicited.

The "annoying" part came from the cats and cows. The cats didn't really join in, they just sat back and told us how to do things, then zipped across in front of us a "opportunistic" times when we least expected it. They also rearranged parts on the workbench.

I wish they'd CLEAN it while they were there, instead of playing with stuff....

Mostly, they holler about wanting fed more than twice a week......

The NERVE of some people.

Then, the cows got into the act. They all stand outside of the barn door, waiting (impatiently) to get in to be fed. If I am taking too long (in their minds...), they start knocking at the door.

"Knock, knock...."

"Who's there"?

"The COW....".

"The cow, WHO..."?

"Don't mess with me - I weigh 900 pounds, I'm hungry, and I can squish you like a grape".

If I am too slow at getting the door open, the offending cow (take your pick, they ALL have it figured out) bounces the door, causing the chain and hook to dislodge, and allowing the pointy faced cow to stick her nose in, open the door, and waltze right in.

I snookered them this week, though - I installed a different door latch - one that holds the door tight against the barn.



So, now they knock on the door, pause, knock louder, then LOUDER, then.....

Grumble because they have to wait.

Poor bovine.

I DID actually get some GOOD help from Honey the other day, though. I still can't lift much, so I wheel a bale out to the cows with my "Bale Buggy" cart. I just roll it up to the feeder, cut the twines, and put it in. I've gotten to the point where I can even just roll the bale off the cart, and into the feeder - then cut the twine.

Honey saw me rolling the bale one day, and decided to lend a hand....er...hoof....er CUD. I had one end of the bale, and Honey grabbed the other end. She lifted most of the weight straight up. All I had to do was flip my end over the feeder. When she let go (with a mouthful of hay), the whole thing dropped right into where it belonged.

I wish she'd help every day....

A couple days later, Yani lent a paw - or teeth. There I was, minding my own business, skinning a deer in the barn, when I feel a huge tug on the fur.



She sure was adamant about getting the skin off. I suspect her motivation was me taking too long, and her wanting a good, fresh bone to chew on.

I also had help on my tractor! Last Saturday, I got a phone call about 2:00 PM. It was a friend who said he was in town, and wondered if I needed help on anything, he said he'd be going right by, so it was no problem to stop.

We went to the barn, and tore into the F-12, and took the transmission completely apart. Right down to "bare bones". I just need to clean the "muck" out of the case, clean all the parts, make some gaskets, then start putting it back together -

if I remember how....




Now I have more parts laying on the bench for the cats to play with....

Polar Bear Loose In The Barn!

And the cats don't like it!

It was a miserably hot July around these parts, so our resident "Polar Bear" (YANI), took to disappearing during the daylight hours. Instead of toasting outside in the hot summer sun, she hid in the shade of the barn, or one of the other sheds - only to come out at night to terrorize the world.

Even though it's been nice lately - highs in the mid 70's, lows in the 40's and 50's - Yani has been keeping pretty much inside the barn to sleep during the day.

She works "night crew", so tries to "cat nap" unmolested while she can.

Lately, we've had some extra milk to give Yani and her feline buddies, so she sticks close to her supper dish during the day, too. Unfortunately (for them), the CATS like to stick close to it, too.

I think they are just trying to antagonize Yani, though - I fill a pan for them, too, they just feel the need to bother the Polar Bear's food.

It's funny how it goes down - Cat and Yani play, snuffle noses, and generally clown around together, until Yani gets tired and tries to go lay down behind the tractor in the barn.





Sooner or later, the cat will nonchalantly - almost accidentally - sneak over to the dish, and start stealing milk.

This, of course, will get Yani's attention - even if she is asleep (those cats are noisy eaters). She hears the cat, gets up from her comfy spot, and goes out to threaten her "buddy" with bodily harm if the slurping continues.



After a few seconds the cat gets the message loud and clear, and decides that discretion is the better part of staying alive.



Of course, this "game" goes on 3 or 4 times, until Yani gets REALLY tired of getting up and chasing them off. She figures that the only way to keep them pesky critters out of her food is to either:

(A) Finish the food off
(B) Finish the cats off
or
(C) Face guard the dish.



The cats are thankful she picked "C" and not "B"....

Grandpa And The "Cookie Monster".....

This whole thing started 2-3 months ago, when we received 6 CARTONS of "Small Dog Milk Bones" from a friend. We gave 4 of them to Deb's dad, since we knew he bought them for his dogs. Our mutts - on the other hand - would sometimes eat them, sometimes not - it depended on their mood, I guess.

The LGD - Yani - would eat them, but usually only if they were in her food. So, needless to say, they weren't being used up very fast....

Until "Grandpa" (Deb's dad, Robin) came over to help out while I am recovering from surgery. Ever since he got here, he's been carrying some of those "cookies" in his pocket so Yani could get one ever-so-often.

Last night, Peaches, decided she wanted to be a "Cookie Monster" while she sat next to Robin, on the couch. We found out that she's pretty good at it, too.

Peaches sat there, getting attention, and having fun, when a whiff of "cookie" hit her. Like Toucan Sam, she followed her nose - right up to Robin's T-shirt pocket. She dug, clawed and scratched, then dove her face right inside to grab her prize. Then, she hopped off his lap, and sat down to chow down on her goodie.

As soon as she finished, she got up to get another one. She dug, and clawed, and came up with another treat. This time, however, she sat down beside Grandpa, and just played with the cookie for a bit. So, not wanting her to waste it - or bury it on the couch - Robin took it back.

This is where the "dog-vs-man" thing came into play.....

Dog wanted cookie, man wanted to play with dog's mind.

Well, Peaches tried to get that treat out of Robin's hand several times - she clawed at his fingers, whined, barked, and even gave a few sad looks with her "puppy dog eyes" - none of which seemed to work. Finally, right in the midst of clawing at his hand, Peaches lunged for his shirt pocket, dove in face first, and ceremoniously jumped away with another cookie.

I guess she got tired of playing - and Grandpa not giving in - and decided to take things into her own paws (or teeth, as it were...).

This one, though, she ate so Grandpa couldn't steal it back.

It's fun to see them think things out and invent ways to get what they want.

KIDS these days.....

I Guess I SHOULD Be Used To It....

My whole LIFE has been like this.....

First, being the youngest of 5 kids, there was always someone trying to tell me what to do (I was in my 40's before they got the message and quit trying). Then came school, and all them teachers trying to learn me stuff - and grading me on the results. Do this, do that, do it right or we'll keep you around another year so we can do it some more...Not to mention the football, basketball and other coaches telling me what to do.

Then came the US Marine Corps. It was nice when I reached the point where I was the one telling other people what to do, instead of the other way around. It didn't matter though, there was always somebody higher up the food chain that you.

There have been others through out my life who have wrassled with me over what to do and where to go - various jobs, a few customers, relatives, and even a couple friends.

Last night, however, was the last straw....

There we were, sitting in the living room, watching a DVD on the telly. I was minding my own business, paying attention to the good guy cop solving the murder-mystery, when I was pounced on by a little Red Rocket Missile Mutt.



She jumped up my chest, stuck her nose right on the tip of mine, and DEMANDED attention.

I, of course, gave her some attention, which added to her playful mood. My lovely wife recognised the situation, and hit the pause button so I wouldn't miss any critical parts. After a short, 3-4 minute, "play time", my attacker settled down on my chest to just look at me with her ears up.

Then, something out the window caught her eye, so she began to stare out at the blackness of night. It must have been interesting, because she was adamant about staring it down, whatever it was, like a bear.

Thinking that I'd get her out of her stare down with (possibly) her own reflection, I began to make odd-ball noises and started making kissing sounds to her.

That's when she did it - she told me to shut up.

There I was, giving her attention, and she treats me like that.

Right in the middle of the kissing sounds, she breaks away from her engrossing whatever-it-was, gives me a DIRTY look, lifts her hand, puts it on my lips - then goes back to staring out the window.

We couldn't believe what we had just seen. It was one of those "wish I had a video camera" moments. The little mutt. She's getting too big for her britches, for sure.

First goats, cows, and cats, telling me what to do, now the DOG gets in on the act.

I guess I found out I'm lower on the food chain then I thought...

Con Artist....

Every morning and afternoon, I head out to the barn to do the milking. I take a stainless steel milk pail with me, that is pretty easy for the bovine to spot from a good distance away. They also hear the filter/strainer that I have on the top, clanging around to announce my trek to the barn.

Cows can HEAR supper time.....

They have learned and adapted enough to associate the sight and sounds of that bucket with food. All I need do is open the back door, and rattle that bucket, and those greedy cows start heading for the barn door and the milking stand - or, rather - the feed pan.

Of course, at least ONE of the cows has other ways of detecting me. On several occasions, I've noticed that Daisy will be watching for me to come out the back door. This usually happens when I'm a little bit late, and she's hungry. The thing is, though, she's never SURE its time to be fed until she sees or hears that bucket. Then she KNOWS it's time for food.

Envision Snoopy and his "happy dance" at suppertime....

Awhile back, I made the mistake of giving Peaches a little milk fresh from the cow. I really didn't have much choice, though, the jar was full and I still had about a 1/2 cup left over. I figured she'd enjoy it.

Yup, she did.

Now, the little con artist sees me come in the door with that pail, does a little "happy dance" of her own, and zips to the kitchen in hopes of getting some.

The first thing she does, is stand up on her hind feet, tap my leg with her fingers, and look up at me with that" PLEASE - give me some, or I'll DIE", look. The sad "cry" whining she does is just for added "effect"....

Then she stands up and begs for it:



I'm a sucker for a pretty face - especially one who has that sad, puppy dog look in her eyes...

So, yeah, I cave.

She sees me get the yellow dish out of the cabinet, and goes into a different "happy dance" - now one of expectation, instead of just hoping. I swear, her tongue is working before the dish even hits the floor.



Autumn, during this whole affair, just sits idly by, letting Peaches do all the work. She's MORE than happy to share in the "spoils", though - and Peaches lets her.



Peaches's evil plan doesn't work all of the time but, like I said, I'm a sucker.

She's so all fired up about that pail, maybe I should try teaching her to go get the milk herself, and bring it to ME.

She's TRYING To Get Me Into Trouble...

After we lost Rascal last week, it's been a different mood around here. You can't replace a good dog like him, but you can try to fill the void.

This past Saturday, we got wind of a litter of Dachshund puppies not far away from us - and at a price we could afford. We decided that it was "now or never", even though it was a little soon for us. We were glad we did, though - we came home with a new baby girl -

Peaches:



She has been getting to know us and has started creating havoc by terrorizing our toes, and keeping us awake at night because she wants to play.

It's been 8 years since we had a puppy in the house, so we have to strain to remember what, when, and how to do things - and we need a nice, LOUD bell on the tiny little beast to let us know where she is.

She has even started to play with a tennis ball - something Autumn never did decide to do. Our Doxie we had for 12 years (Crystal) always loved to play "chase" with the ball. Peaches is too small to grab the ball in her jaws, but she can grab a mouthful of "fuzz" and carry it around that way. We're both hoping that she continues to enjoy playing with it.

Her big sister - Autumn - is still a bit grouchy over her arrival - and a little "upset" about Rascal's "disappearance", but she is slowly coming around - this morning, she actually gave Peaches a kiss on the nose, and snuffled her a bit. She'll still have her "moments", but she'll get over it, especially when Peaches is big enough to play.

This morning, I was in my office with Peaches. I had her on a small pillow on the "pull out" board on the my desk. It's just about the right size for her - for now.

There I was, minding my own business, when I caught the little terrorist red hand.....er...Red PAWED. Right in front of me, while I watched...



She was trying to tear off the "Do Not Remove Under Penalty Of Law", tag from the pillow.

The little monster is trying to get me throwed in jail!

When I confronted her, she tried to use her cuteness to deny the whole thing:



All this after I gave her steak for supper last night....

At least I got photographic proof it wasn't me.

Rascal

24 January 2002 - 10 September 2010

My Little Buddy

You'll be GREATLY missed....

It Was Bound To Happen

Sooner, or later, if you mix goats with a goofball LGD, things just naturally take place. Not that goats are necessarily a "bad" influence but, when the dog is a little on the "impressionable" side, you just never know what can happen.

Awhile back, I took a photo of one of the goats - Carmel - curled up nice and comfy in one of the in-side-out pickup tires I have for hay feeders. They get nice and toasty, even on an overcast day. The goats will climb inside, curl up and nap for hours in one.

Well - this afternoon, I went out to the barn to check on things. Instead of going out the door to where the goats are, I used the door to the "cow" pen. One of the first things I saw was a tire feeder with a white "puff" inside. Knowing that I have a couple of Does getting close to kidding, the thought crossed my mind that it was a couple of Boer Babies.



I SHOULD have known better.

I thought to myself, "Naw, that CAN'T be who I THINK it is!" So, I opened the gate to the barnyard where the tire lay, and crept closer, camera at the ready. I figured that it was only a matter of time before Mister Light Sleeper would wake up and hop out of his comfy little bed, so I snapped photos as I inched forward, just in case he was dozing heavily this time.



There is just "something" about a dog, all curled up, that I can't resist. My guess was, since he'd worked the "night shift" last night, he was catching up on his "beauty sleep" in the afternoon.

They do a LOT of snoozing during the day, so they can be awake all night to chase goblins.

At any rate, I managed to get one final photograph before he heard the camera click, and woke up enough to give me a dirty look, after which, he went back to his snoozing.



I wished I had a little Teddy Bear to toss in there with him - he looked SOOO comfy.
The big, bad, Guard Dog, curled up with a stuffed bear - now THAT would have been a picture....

As it was, seeing him curled up inside a 17" tire off a pickup, was good enough.

I almost felt bad for him when Lady and Hobo (the two pups we kept) saw me and came running. Instead of running to me, they pounced on their dad instead, ending his nap.

I almost felt bad.....

ALMOST.

Dead Dog, And The Punishment Closet

Yesterday, I had to run into town on an errand. Nothing major, just a quick run to the grocery store. I was gone a little over 20 minutes.

When I got home, the oddball LGD - Shadow - was laying right in the way of me getting up to my parking spot. What's worse, he REFUSED to be moved. I honked - with little effect....

Ok the horn on the truck is dead. It only makes a pathetic little "squeak" sound that's barely audible. It shouldn't matter, though, I figured - he's a DOG, he can hear it.

Apparently not.

The mutt just lay there, so I swerved around in hopes of missing him, and went on up the hill.

Things were normal until, about 30 minutes later when I looked out the window, and saw this:



Hit me with the Nitro - I'm having a heart attack!

Stupid dog! I done told him to move.

Then, I decided to zoom in - and noticed how the tire tracks go UNDER the fur ball, not over the ribcage:



Every day this nut snoozes in the SNOW, instead of inside the barn. We've seen him out there, laying in a drift when it's 10° out. As long as the wind isn't blowing, he's out there. He enjoys winter WAY too much. One of these days he's gonna give me the "Big One" that Fred Sanford fretted about.

Unless I get to him first....

Since we have the LGD puppies, we need to get them used to the goats and cows that they will grow up to guard. The cow part is easy - they're already in with them. Today, I added a couple goats.

Neither of which, were pleased with their new living arrangements.

I decided that Sally was the best candidate for the job, since she likes to "play" with the gate. This would be one easy way of getting her away from her "toy". Since her best buddy is Annie - it wasn't hard to decide on who would accompany Sally in the pup pen.

It was only a few short minutes before they both were BEGGING to be let out. They promised PROFUSELY that they'd be good for the next 20 years, if I'd only get them away from those "things".



I hate to see a grown goat cry - but WAAAAAA!

There is a job to do and, by golly, I put my hove down and they were gonna DO IT! No amount of crying was going to dissuade me from their mission.

***NOTE*** Crying goats can be LOUD. Sometimes you have to go in the house, put on your headphones and turn the music up in order to get away from it....

The crying finally stopped after about an hour, but rose rather quickly again when I had to go back outside to check on things.

When the pups heard me, they came bounding out of their room...



...and began to investigate their new friends...



...neither of which were interested in meeting THEM. I got plenty of "greetings", though. If looks could kill:



I got the old "I HATE You" look from Annie. I also have a photo of what Sally did, but I can't show it - it's that bad.

Suffice it to say - even though goats only have two fingers, I got the message...

We'll see how the night went when I go out tomorrow morning. I expect all to be well.

Once the goats figure out how comfy warm the little fur balls are, they'll cozy right up to them.

I just hope I don't find them laying in the driveway, curled up to a goof ball dog.

Medical Emergency In The Barn...

So -

WHY do food companies put TEN Hotdogs to a package, and only EIGHT buns? I've never been able to figure that one out. It would just make good sense to have them even.....but, then again, maybe it's a ploy to secretly get people to buy more packages of buns...

By rough calculations, you'd need to buy 5 packages of buns, and 4 packs of Hotdogs to equalize things out. That would be enough hotdogs (40) to last me about 5 years - since I really hate the things. They're better cold, right out of the fridge, then cooked.

My wife, on the other hand, LOVES Turkey dogs. She could eat them for lunch just about every day. Of course, this still doesn't solve the Bun to dog ratio - one or the other would be frozen, dried, or spoiled, at the wrong time, before you caught up. Thus - a simple solution....

Dog food.

This, while seemingly wasteful, doesn't really bother us. Hotdogs are still relatively cheap, and buns are not. Besides, the dogs (real, four footed ones....), enjoy a good "people food" snack every once-in-awhile.

Since we had some "other" items that would be "snackable", it was decided that the "outside" dogs would get to enjoy this round. So - I gathered up my wares, and headed to the barn to hand them out. I didn't bring anything for the goats, but they "lined the rails" anyway, in hopes of getting treats.

They were all disappointed, although Romper did come out to the water tank while I was lighting the heater. She was POSITIVE I had goodies. She was not amused when the only thing I had was a box of matches. She trotted off, scowling, when I offered her one.

I decided to give the pups and mom most of what I had - including the two extra hotdogs, so I opened the gate to their "room" in the barn, and stepped inside....

and right onto the paw of one of the pups we want to keep.

I immediately hopped (ok, MOVED...) off her little hand, but the serenade of yelps had already started. Reaching down, I picked the poor little youngin' up and cuddled her, hoping her crying would stop. She slowed down a bit, but - unfortunately - still continued.

At this point, I reached into the bag of goodies, produced a hotdog, and broke off a piece for her.

Who would have thought that Hotdogs had medicinal qualities? They're a gol-durn MIRACLE drug! The pain must have stopped instantly. At least, she forgot about it in favor of another piece of dog....

I dolled out what I had, then went about the morning chores.

Later on, I was outside getting a hose ready to fill the stock tank. All the pups came out to watch, but stayed on top of the "slope" on the side of the barn. I've seen them all along the barn, and about 1/4 way down that slope, but NEVER at the bottom of it.

The snow we've had in the past days has become hard packed, and can be quite "fun" at times - one wrong step, and things can get interesting.

I was seconds away from "interesting"....

There I was, standing still, when my hip decided to give out, which caused a chain reaction like a game of dominoes. One second, I was standing there, smiling at the puppies, the next, I was sliding and heading face-first toward a gate.

Gate 1, Hillbilly 0

I got a nice crease in my forehead, then bounced, only to land on my back, in the snow. After what seemed like hours, but was actually only about 4-5 seconds, I rolled over onto my side to attempt getting up. I was stunned and pleased to see the poor little girl who's fingers I had stepped on, about 3" from my face.

She had ventured down the slope to see if I was alright. It was the first time I'd seen ANY of them at the bottom. I guess she was just returning the favor from earlier.

I was almost disappointed she didn't bring me a piece of Hotdog....

But, then again, I had just received a knock in the head....

Barn Gossip

Sometimes, I wonder what the goats, cows, or the pesky cats are thinking.

Other times, I don't have to wonder - they make things PERFECTLY clear.....

This morning, I trudged out through the new fallen snow, to give the critters their morning fare. Just when we hoped winter was winding down, we wake to find 6 more inches of the white powder on the ground.

Stupid Ground hog.....

I found Shadow out playing in the stuff:



He's got a reputation around the barn of being a bit of a "nutcase" so the cows just roll their eyes and go back to eating hay.



Even the cats are starting to think he's a little off, they just don't tell him so they can manipulate him for their devious intentions.

The goats are ALWAYS gossiping about someone - usually ME. They plot and plan, especially in winter, when they are too afraid to venture outside and get their toesies wet. They have nothing better to do then sit around all day and THINK.

This morning, I pass through the barn, bucket of food in hand - and headed outside to the feeder. It was kinda nice, I got to the feeder, cleaned snow out of it and actually dumped in the food WITHOUT BEING MOLESTED.

The goats just piled into the doorway, trying to guilt me into feeding them inside.

It took but a few seconds to realize their plan had failed....They all came bounding out through the door on a hit and run, "gobble" mission.

While they were at the feeder, I go about rubbing backs, patting necks, and giving them a "once over". It was during this that I noticed something odd.

SOMEBODY WAS MISSING!

Cookie, one of our two newest Does, had decided to skip breakfast! This is unheard of in the goat world. Breakfast (actually ANY meal...) is the most important meal of the day! A goat missing food is like a Polar Bear at the beach in Figi - it just isn't done!

Since there were no "goat tracks" further out, I figured that she had to be in the barn. I entered the barn and rounded a corner into a room and saw this:



Yani and her puppies are in the far room in the corner, and Cookie was standing there, talking to Yani over the gates in the barn. They had a pretty good lengthy conversation, Cookie stayed like that for about 10 minutes (that I know of.

I finally asked her "What are you doing?", and she turned around, gave me a dirty look, then hopped down.



At that point, Yani hopped up again like she wasn't done telling her story.



I almost feel like I interrupted something special between these two. Maybe they were bonding in a way we can't understand, and I blew the whole thing right out of the water, and killed a budding, wonderful, and glorious relationship...

Then again, it's probably just a case of two women gossiping over the back fence....

We're Being WATCHED...

Not that we aren't used to nosey people....but these had especially long noses.

Last night about 5:00 pm, we started hearing our "footloose" LGD, Shadow, barking loudly. Since he seems to have free roaming capabilities, he surveys the entire area of our farmstead.

He was SUPPOSED to stay in the fences, but boredom, a pregnant - then nursing - wife, and snowdrifts higher then said fences, have lead him to spend evenings and nights roaming the premises.

Sometimes this can be annoying - like when he drags old deer skins from the burn pile, and into the front yard. He seems to stay put on the property for the most part, although I HAVE caught him on the road in front of the house. When he saw ME, he headed for the safety of the barn....

Sometimes, him being on "the loose" can be a VERY good thing. Last night was one of those times. We've heard his barking before, but this time it was a little different. He seemed more "urgent" or "meaningful". Even our two Dachshunds picked up on it.

We figured it might be a good idea to see what all the commotion was about. We looked out the patio door of the house and soon saw what all the fuss was about.

Two visitors were standing on the top of the hill above the house and spying in on us.

They even stayed long enough to be photographed.



These photos were taken through the glass door, in fading light, but still turned out pretty good.




Shadow stood about halfway between the spies and us, looking over his shoulder and barking. He knew what a coyote was, and didn't want to take on two by himself.

He did grow some bravery when I went outside with a rifle, though. As soon as he saw he had "back-up" he ran up the hill to chase the intruders away.

Which effectively ruined any chance I had of making sure that particular coyote didn't make a return trip.

It will still be a few weeks before the pups are old enough so Yani will get back to her night duties - We're giving her "maternity leave", weather she wants it our not. I don't want to take the chance of something happening to her while the pups are still helpless, so they spend the nights closed inside a big room of the barn.

Shadow spends the night going in and out of the fences. I've watched him in the moonlight, and I've seen him in with the goats and out in the driveway at different times during the night. I never have been able to catch WHERE he gets over the fence, but I know he DOES.

Sometimes he's a real goofball, but others he's a pretty smart guy.

Speaking of goofballs:



Ya build 'em feeders, and all they do is lay in them. Actually, when it is cool out, but sunny, these tires heat up pretty good and make the perfect lounge chair - if you can squeeze yourself into it....

Strange Bedfellows

That crazy cat is at "it" again!

I've seen some dastardly things coming from her in the past, but THIS takes the cake! Evidently, her plans for 'world domination' are still thriving - and doing rather well. Maybe she thinks this is just the first step of many.

Shadow, for his part, is pretty young and impressionable. He's like a college kid - free to romp around and "feel his oats", but doesn't know a whole lot about how things work, especially when cats are involved.

She's working on him HARD to come over to the Dark Side. Having a head full of mush, he is ripe for the picking.

Ever seen the movie "The Graduate"?

Think of the cat as Mrs. Robinson.....

Tractor Buddy is corrupting my dog.

Here is what I found this morning as I pulled the pickup into the driveway to the barn:



I took this through the windshield in case they took off before I could get a good shot. Trust me, though, they were pretty brazen about things, and gave me PLENTY of opportunity to photograph their affair.

Even AFTER they knew they were being photographed, they continued in their brazenness:



It was only when Pest arrived that Shadow disappeared in a flash:



Tractor Buddy tried to act innocent, but her guilt shone through. Pest was SURE that DOG was in the area.



Once again, nothing could be PROVEN.

Although, I'm of a mind to make sure Pest and the other cat secretly get ahold of these incriminating photos....

Conniving Little So-And-So's......

Here we have the "Trouble Twins", Sally and Annie. These two were the main culprits in the "Bowling for Goats" incident from yesterday:



Even when they aren't the ones IN trouble, they are likely the ones CAUSING it.

Take this morning, for instance - I have begun feeding Mabel a "half flake" of Alfalfa at each milking. She enjoys it, but I have to get her eating it before I put any grain in the trough, or she goes for the grain. So, the fist thing I do in the morning, is check the puppies, then toss the morning Alfalfa ration into the stanchion feed trough.

Then I feed the goats, and open the door for Mabel (and Belle) to come trooping in. I have been keeping a watchful eye on the Trouble Twins (especially the Black "Sheep", Sally), because they like to try and sneak through the gate while I have my hands full of hay for them.

Usually, I catch them with nose, or half a head out of the gate. Most of the time, I can tell they are just messing with my beadie little mind, but every-once-in-awhile, they think I've let down my guard enough to let them zip through.

They have NO IDEA that they are "marked" goats and I NEVER let my guard down when they are near. Problem is, they are adept at coming up with new, different and exciting ways of irritating me.

So, there I was, hay in hand, coming through the gate - keeping a watchful eye on the Demo-Duo (short for Demolition...). They KNEW I was watching them closely. I could almost hear them whistling into the air, doing their best "Who, ME? I ain't doing nothing...", innocent look. They even stood about 8' away from the gate acting like perfect little Angels.

I shoulda known.

If they are acting THAT innocent, some diabolical plan was afoot.

All seemed well, nothing was amiss - or so it seemed.

It took me a few minutes, but on the next trip into the milk room - I saw the results of their plan:



They kept me busy while SASSY snuck out the gate.

By the time I found her, she'd eaten a pretty good sized hole into Mabel's hay. It was odd, too. Instead of standing at the stanchion like normal - she climbed onto the goat stanchion, then bent down to get the hay.

I chastised her, took a couple photos and sent her back to the "hoosegoat".

Mabel came in, and pretty much 'demanded' extra rations - WITHOUT goat spit. I don't know why, but Mabel has decided that she has to get EVERY last leaf of hay, and kernel of grain. It must be "good to the last drop" (speck), because she leaves her feeder polished, and wet with slimy cow spit.



When she is done, she heads to Belle's pan to see if she left anything good.



From there it's a slow trudge out the door, down the hill and to the hay feeder, where she stuffs her face all day.

The life of a cow....

I also found Shadow's "Security Blanket" in and odd place this morning.

Over the past few weeks, he has taken to sleeping out in the driveway, or up by the house. I think the warmer weather fooled him into thinking it was Springtime. This morning, I found him a tucked into the hay in the barn, snoozing away.

Since he's "on the prowl" all night he has kept the coyotes at bay, even the ones who have thought it ok to venture into the yard. They have quickly learned to make a hasty exit.

I guess it's a boredom thing. He's found his way over to the burn pile where I put a skin from the last deer we had this year. I haven't been able to burn the pile yet, so he figured the skin was fair game.

We woke up one morning a couple weeks ago, to find said skin laying in the middle of the yard. It changes places from day to day, and several times DURING the day. He doesn't chew on it, just carries it around and lays by it.

With the weather turning colder, and the wind blowing harder - the wind chills have been down into the single digits - Shadow probably figured that it would be more comfortable to lounge in the barn, and wanted his blanket with him. Since he comes and goes to the barn as he pleases, and I feed him in there, I made a hole under the door so he could get through. It's not much bigger then he is, but works.

Evidently, it's not big enough to get a stiff, frozen, security blanket through:



Ultimately, he must have decided that snuggling in the hay was more important then snuggling his blankie, so he left it where it was and napped without it.

Poor guy, he'll probably be scared for life....

Sure Foot

The last few days have been pretty nice - some high temps in the 40's, with low temps hoovering around the freezing mark. At any rate, the ground is one big mud pit, and a lot of the snow we had has gone "down the creek".

Most of the past 8 or 9 days has been spent in a cloudy, foggy, dreary, haze. Even the big drifts are diminished greatly. They have gone from "waist high" down to low ridges on the ground. If you step in them, you sink in a pool of slush that lies underneath them.

That is, until this morning.....

We awoke to temps in the upper 20's and a pretty good breeze out of the northwest. Mabel was waiting for me, so I grabbed my milk bucket, and headed out to the barn. I was only about 10 feet from the house when I spotted Shadow and Tractor Buddy by the front porch. They also saw ME.

The cat headed for the barn where she expected me to serve breakfast, while Shadow came bounding toward me. The warm weather had reduced the 4' drift in the front yard to a 1 1/2 foot tall slope that was about 15 feet long and 6 feet wide.

I'll never know what was in the dog's mind (other then breakfast), but he came running toward me at full tilt. When he hit the slope of the drift, instead of sinking in and getting traction, all four wheels went out from under him and he slid across the frozen drift like a bullet car over Bonneville Salt Flats.

The next thing he knew, he was lying in a heap at my feet. I guess he ended up WHERE he wanted, it just wasn't how he had envisioned GETTING there. He collected himself, stood up, and shook himself off.

Dogs don't blush, but it's sure easy to tell when one is embarrassed.

Instead of following right behind me to the barn, he kinda hung back a bit. Maybe I shouldn't have laughed so hard at him....

I went about the morning routine of feeding the critters, and milking the cow. The trip UP to the turkey hut was uneventful, but the trip BACK wasn't.

I always make sure to feed the dairy goats first thing - they are the biggest whiners in the barn. It takes them about 2 minutes to inhale breakfast, and another 2.593856245 seconds to start complaining about starving to death.

Well - today was no different, I feed the Loud-Mouth Ladies, then headed for the chickens and turkeys. Of course, by the time I reached the turkeys, the Milk Maids had finished stuffing their faces, and headed up the hill to pester me into giving them more. They hit me just as I was finishing up with the feather dusters, and latching the door.

All they saw was a bucket in my hand - they didn't care that it was empty. They ran out in front of me as I headed back down the hill toward the barn. Two of them - the Kinders - Sally and Annie, were in a "funny" mood. I guess they were all excited with the thought that more food was heading toward their trough.

They started kicking up heels, standing up on hind legs, and romping around. At the end of one particularly "happy" jump, both of them hit a small patch of ice on the frozen ground.

The wheels went out from under BOTH of them and they slid about 10 feet down the hill. Bad thing was, they ended up running over a gaggle of three other goats standing by the hay feeder.

It looked like a strike from "Bowling For Dollars"....

Five goats all sprawled out at the end of the "lane". Nobody was hurt (ok, some pride was a little dented), and they all got up grumbling. The three innocent victims giving evil glares at the two culprits, and the two goofballs looking around with "Yeah, I MEANT to do that", written all over their faces.

I just wish the chickens would have been gaggled around the feeder instead of goats -

Now THAT would have been a sight to see.

No WONDER It's Cold In My Office!

Actually, Deb's office is colder in the winter.....

Her's is on the north side of the house, has no carpet, and was hard to insulate. I offered to switch, but she'd rather freeze to death...

MY office, on the other hand, is in the southwest corner of our house, is covered on the west by and enclosed porch, and on the south by the kitchen. I also have carpet, and a better heat vent.

The dog's bed is also in this same - small - room.

Every once-in-awhile, my office DOES get a little nippy, though. Usually it's in the middle of the night when the furnace is turned down and I can't sleep. During these times, I don't bother to get dressed (it's like, 2:00 am...), so I keep a blanket handy to wrap up in while I fight insomnia and back pain at my computer.

Lately, I've come back into the office later in the morning and thought it was still a little cool, even though the furnace was going full tilt. I started finding said blanket partially on the floor, covering the heat vent.

At first, I thought it was MY fault - that I'd just tossed the blanket aside and accidentally covered the vent.

Amazingly, I found out that it was no accident....SOMEBODY decided that just laying on the heat vent wasn't good enough!

I caught the culprit this morning, though. The first thing I saw when I got to my office was my blanket laying on the floor - and a "lump" over where the heat vent is:



My mind had already formulated a theory as to WHO the culprit was, but I decided that I needed to uncover the evidence and take photographic proof.



I guess that the last few days of sub-zero weather have inspired Autumn to take drastic measures in order to keep warm.

Who would have known that a Miniature Dachshund could soak up SO much heat....

I Just MIGHT Be A Redneck.....

This morning dawned cold - around 15° - with a windchill below zero...

This afternoon, it DID warm up nicely, though - to just above freezing.

I figured that around noonish was a good time to fill the stock tank and other tanks I have for critter waterers. There I were, figuring out what hose went where, and getting them hooked up. I had drained them last week before the snow, and had them ready to go, except hooking them up. All of a sudden some movement caught my eye.

I looked up and saw at least 8 deer marching up the fence row on the north side of our property. They were right across the fence from our cows, and 60 feet from the barn. I quietly called Deb on my cell phone, and asked her to bring my camera out to the front door.

I snuck out of the barn, and headed for the house - all the while hoping that I'd get a photo of the deer trouping by the barnyard.

It was a mere 3-4 minutes when I returned, camera in hand to find the deer still standing along the fence, talking to a couple of goats. I raised my camera, flexed my finger, started to pull the trigger on a photo when IT happened....

In the split second before my finger hit the button, I was drawn away by one of our goats jumping INTO the stock tank! It was our all red, young Boer Billy. He immediately went under - TOTALLY submerged. His head came up and he was standing in ice cold water half way up his back.

I couldn't believe my eyes! I shut the camera off, then headed to the rescue. Between, getting through the barn, curious goats who wouldn't get out of the way, ice, and snow drifts, it was probably a good 4-5 minutes before I got to him, and a bit more before I got him out of the tank.

I brought him out, set him on the ground (snow) and he was cold enough already, that he couldn't walk. I collected him up and got him into the barn. I got him dried off and in a stall with deep hay/straw, but it didn't seem to be enough. After calling Deb's dad, we decided to bring him into the house to warm him up.

I went to get him, while Deb ran his bath water......

I can remember having baby pigs in the oven when I was a kid, but we never had a goat in the bath tub....

I picked him up, and hoisted him over the edge, He STARTED to put up a fight when he realized that he was getting wet again, but settled in REAL quick when he felt how nice and warm it was.....



Our two Dachshunds wanted to be involved, too. For a minute, or two, we thought they were going to jump in with him, but they managed to stay dry.



At any rate, we got him nice and warmed up, then dried off again. He even knelt down in front of a heat vent for a bit. We decided that he will spend the night on the back porch - just to make SURE he is dry and recovered. He's in our utility room right now, eating - and drinking Colloidal Silver water.

He stood, wrapped up in a blanket for awhile, then decided to explore a bit. We decided that the crisis was over for now, so headed into the kitchen to give me a hair cut - or a "trim around the sides" - as it were....



Deb was zipping along, cutting hair like nobodies business, when she gave the clippers a funny look. She cut a few seconds more, then said - "These clippers are making a funny HUMMING sound". Just as she shut the trimmers off, we heard the mysterious "humming" sound - it was coming from the goat in the other room. If you ask her, Deb will tell you that the clippers WERE making a funny noise..... The only thing I have to go on is my eyewitness account of the incident, and the fact that she was laughing so hard she couldn't see.

THAT ended the hair cutting for the day....NO WAY was I letting a hysterically laughing barber near MY head with sharp objects..... I'm just glad we were almost done, and I didn't end up with a "Reverse Mohawk" or something...

I guess the whole thing boils down to upholding my reputation as a Hillbilly....

Like they say - "You just MIGHT be a Redneck Hillbilly if -

"You give a goat a bath in your own bath tub"

Taking a shower together would be a WHOLE 'nuther meaning, however.....

Slow News Day

Not much going on around the old Hillbilly farm today - just a slow, cold, dreary day.

We MIGHT be getting several inches of snow in the next two or three days, though. I guess THAT is news. I'm sure the goats can't wait - I know I can hardly contain my excitement.....

Oh well - it's December - if we couldn't stand the cold, we'd move south.

(I'm sure a few folks would be glad to see it - then the property values in the area would raise.....LOL!)


Yani and Shadow are happy, though. Those long, thick hairs make summer kind of unbearable, but they make the winter pretty nice.



Yani is tired of "sweating" in the heat. It's getting to the time of year she LOVES. She can SMELL winter coming, on the breeze....



Then again, it might just be the smell of cow pies wafting in from the bovines across the fence....

Yesterday, we got a call from another hunter (it's Black Powder Deer Season, now). He told us that he had a deer for us and would bring it over. We ended up starting on it at about 3:00 pm, but were done by 6:00. We even cut up a few pieces for me to smoke later on. I can't wait.

So far (we MIGHT get more...), we have 6 deer in the freezer. We're thankful that friends, neighbors and other hunters think about us when they go out chasing wild critters in the bushes. It sure helps the pantry when we get a call about free food.

Besides, it's WAY easier then actually going out and freezing my hind-end off, sitting in a deer stand, waiting for something to troop by. I even have a brand new deer rifle I bought a year and a half ago - and I've not even FIRED it.

Deb has an on-going "contest" with her dad in Missouri. Every year, it's the same thing, since they don't hunt, either - they have friends who bring them deer, just like we do. When Deb hears that we are getting a deer, the FIRST thing she does is e-mail her dad to tell him.

Last year it was nip and tuck for awhile, but we eventually prevailed with 6 deer - her dad only got 5. This year there is little hope for him. As it stands today, we are once again at 6, and her dad is lagging FAR, FAR behind at a measly ONE deer.

Deb told me this morning that - IF we get another deer, we might have to take it to them intead of doing it ourselves.

I don't know for sure if it is a case where (A) She is taking care of her parents, (B) Feeling sorry for her dad, since he is SO far behind, or (C) our freezer is getting full.

It's a pretty heated rivalry, so anything is possible.....Although she is really good at (A) - in THIS case, I'm willing to place my bet on (C)....

Besides, I've seen the freezer....