doozy of a day

What a doozy of a day! Temp high was 65 degrees, blue skies, crisp, and a little breezy. I love Fall but rather me and old-man winter part ways, mostly has to do with caring for the farm animals, such as their water freezing.


SweetPea loves to play buttin' heads with her Mama, June. BigJune is much heavier than SweetPea who is one-year old now. I guess Calinete was the referee.




Good news! Tootlelu is better, she has a long way to go, but we are seeing her make some progess. All my second guessing about ole Dr. Beckworth was for naught. I need to take those bandages off, that was from the other night when I was trying to tape up the ankle. Instead of dragging the hoof all the time, now she is correcting some times.

Here are Toot's sister, CoCo, and her Mama, Clara.

My spoiled-rotten Gabbi and 16 yr old Henry. Later, Caliente did a head butt to Henry, getting him out of the barn area, and he said, "yes ma'me" and left.

The Pearl Guinea's got a treat of some pumkin today.

A beautiful bouquet of wild flowers.

Bourbon Red Turkeys, Franklin and Frannie.

Cahoot, Deets, Cubby - "Where's Mike? it's time for supper."

Doe girls - "Where's Mike? we're hungry."

Sundance - "Is Mike coming?"

TootleLu - "I don't hear Mike."

I found BigMike in his new recliner, watching football, and playing bridge on his laptop.

Okbridge

There was a happy ending, I kicked Mike out to the barn, and everybody was fed and put to bed.

25 years ago, at 28 years of age

25 years ago, started at 28 years of age.
can you imagine working at the same place for 25 years?
I’d like to screw my wiser, more experienced 53 year old brain onto that 28 year old body that I had and start over. ;-)

Fall at the Pond, Vet Comment, Daily Food Journal

I found this response online from a Vet answering someone else's question, saying her goat was dragging her leg.

It does sound as if she has some nerve damage in the leg. It can either be a sciatic or femoral nerve problem. Sometimes these nerve problems will slowly over time correct themselves. As long as she is able to get around and she is content to eat and drink I would let her do as she chooses.

I did email with a NC State Vet but he wouldn't commit to anything. Each evening we bring TootleLu out and stand her up with the weight on her leg and she'll usually stand there a minute, getting her bearings, before she begins to walk, dragging that foot. I also hold her and try to massage her a little. She seems to feel OK now, and her appetite is good.
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I don't want to bore ya with this diet stuff, but it sorta helps, keeping me motivated, to write about it a little bit. Thus far today , and plan to finish with 23 total points.

Yogurt 2 ******Yoplait thick & creamy nonfat 100 calories
Gazpacho 4 ****Harris Teeter
chicken filet 3 **dipped in BBQ sauce, Chick-Fil-A, chargrilled
Fruit cup, lrg 2 *Chick-Fil-A
Yougurt 1 *****One Fiber
chicken filet 3 **dipped in BBQ sauce, Chick-Fil-A, chargrilled
Fruit cup, lrg 2 *Chick-Fil-A
1/2 sandwich 6 *before bed high fiber bread
23 total points for today

bridge, diet, shoes, Toot's ankle

One of our main attractions around here. This is a photo of the Grandfather Mountain Bridge. I didn't take the photo and don't know who did, isn't it a beauty?

The Mile High Swinging Bridge was built to give visitors easy access to the breath-taking view from Grandfather Mountain's Linville Peak.

The 228-foot suspension bridge spans an 80-foot chasm at more than one mile in elevation. Surveys show that the journey to the other side is always considered the highlight of a trip to Grandfather Mountain.
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This diet business is a real drag man. I've always eaten a fairly healthy diet, my problem is portion control, I haven't been able to push away after the XL Round 1.



And exercise, not too keen on it. Oh, a couple of lifetimes ago I used to play a lot of tennis and hiked these mountain trails but now I like to just hang out with the critters and nest. But, bought a new pair of walking shoes yesterday, Nike Air Alvord VI, they seem to have good cushioning which I need, my heels get really sore walking on asphalt. At the Rams Rack shoe store, because I donated $1 to Breast Cancer Research, I got 25% off, total $48.

I've always like yogurt and I've now discovered this Thick & Creamy Yoplait, like a fruit pudding. 100 calories, no fat, 2 weight watchers points. Previously I was fantansizing about french fries, now it's mashed potatoes. I know, not good for a big girl.

One of my friends lost a bunch of weight and she says she ate a lot of cottage cheese. Do you know that cottage cheese has never passed these chubby lips? I just don't like the looks of it.
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I still think TootleLu needs a cast of some kind, if anybody has any ideas let me know. CrazySheepLady suggested an air cast which I think is perfect but how do I could get one? for a goat? a dwarf goat? I bandaged the ankle last night but she just drags the leg. If she is going to use the leg, I want her to come down on the hoof, or just use three legs. The Vet said to keep her stalled up for 6-8weeks which we basically are, but she can still get up and move around in the stall. Like in the photo, this is how she wants to walk, with the ankle bent back, that's not good. Are you up on your goat orthopaedics?

**Update
Joanna: A picture is sometimes worth a thousand words. In this case, it is obviously something is very wrong, but I can't tell from the picture exactly what the problem is. Did the veterinarian you saw tell you what he thought was the problem? In this respect, your small goat should be like a dog and a veterinarian who works with this type of problem (goat vet, or a dog or cat vet) should be able to diagnose the problem and help you. Since I don't know what the problem is for sure, I can't say whether a cast would help. It is possible that there is nerve damage. Thanks and good luck. Kevin Anderson.
--
Kevin L. Anderson DVM, PhD, Professor, Ruminant Medicine
Department of Farm Animal Health and Resource Management
College of Veterinary Medicine, North Carolina State University
4700 Hillsborough Street, Raleigh, North Carolina 27606
Office: 919-513-6245 Fax-919-513-6464 Kevin_Anderson@ncsu.edu

DVM Update on TootleLu

We went to the Vet in Jefferson (NC), 2 hrs roundtrip, not counting office-visit time. Mike drove and TootleLu rode in my lap going over. We also took Sundance, and she rode in the back with him on the return. Dr. Beckworth thinks Toot has trauma to her ankle/leg, maybe fell off something onto her back and has a bad sprain. We do have a lot of things to jump on sitting around, and like I said previously, we call her our acrobat. Doc said to keep her confined for 6-8 weeks. The other girls are just gonna have to take turns babysitting her in the small stall. Dr. Beckworth didn't put anything on her ankle but I'm thinking I wish I had a customized boot for her - as in, if she stood up to walk, she'd have to stand on the hoof rather than the ankle folded over. He gave her a shot in the hip, and we'll see if that helps.


When we arrived back home, boy was she hollering for her buddies.


I have taken Sundance to the Vet twice now to have him checked out. The Doc examined his poop, blood, took his temp, listened to his lungs, and says everything is fine. But, Sundance is a puny squirt and always has that disheveled look about him. I made an appt to get him castrated, Dr. Beckworth doesn't believe in banding. Poor Sundance. Then we'll have two wethers and I'm only willing to sell in pairs anyway.

mostly goats

Nigerian Dwarf Dairy Goats

SweetPea


SweetPea's daughter, Gabbi. She still gets a bottle of milk a day, I know, spoiled. SweetPea and Gabbi are pesty, lovable, drive-ya-crazy, can't-live-without-em pets.


The goat girls love to get on the deck and eat pumpkins.


I was trying to coax Franklin on the deck, he usually does whatever I want him to do, but he says we should all kick off our shoes and walk in the dirt.

Duffy hiding back there, and his 5 Wheaton Marans hens.

Cubby and Cahoot

Unfortunately have to end on a sad note. 4-month old TootleLu is not well. We set her on the deck this afternoon so she could move around some for her lungs.

She moves a little, and then lays down, and she was the one we called our acrobat. CoCo, her sister, looks on.

Gypsy, TootleLu, CoCo, and Franklin

TootleLu is somewhat paralyzed in the rear.

She can use her right leg a little but the left leg is dead. We are treating her for meningeal worm. And I'm drenching her with activated charcoal in case she ate something she wasn't supposed to.

TootleLu is alert but you can tell she doesn't feel good (may be due to all the worming medications I'm pumping in her). She is eating and I saw her pee so I hope she is drinking enough water.

A Vagabond Song

A Vagabond Song by Bliss Carman

THERE is something in the autumn that is native to my blood—
Touch of manner, hint of mood;
And my heart is like a rhyme,
With the yellow and the purple and the crimson keeping time.

The scarlet of the maples can shake me like a cry
Of bugles going by.
And my lonely spirit thrills
To see the frosty asters like a smoke upon the hills.

There is something in October sets the gypsy blood astir;
We must rise and follow her,
When from every hill of flame
She calls and calls each vagabond by name.
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I especially love the line -
There is something in October sets the gypsy blood astir.

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There was a local gal, Hazel, who was one of those folks that was so smart she was insane. Hazel could recite Bliss Carman poems verbatim and then pass out on our public transportation buses. Hazel was mostly homeless, a hopeless alcoholic. She had tussled strawberry blond hair, her skin was usually badly bruised. I suspect she was somewhat of a "working" girl for little income. Hazel was very knowledgable on any subject matter.

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Do you remember the Bob Dylan line? "Its All Over Now, Baby Blue" includes the lyric, "The vagabond who's rapping at your door/is standing in the cloths that you once wore."

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Hazel died a few years back.

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Thanks Hazel for the Bliss Carman verses, you always entertained me, I thought you were a hoot. Cheers because I have fond memories of ya, I dig out The Vagabond Song every Fall just for you.

Salads for me and the girl goats

I'm sitting here eating a Chick-Fil-A Chargrilled Chicken and Fruit Salad with the Berry Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing on top. Except that I wish cooked chicken tasted and felt like chicken I remember from long ago, it's good and Here's a review Mike and I got on the scales this morning, he's lost 4 lbs and I've lost a whopping 1/2lb. And I was just getting on his case last night for confessing to eating 3 McDonalds cheeseburgers - "but I didn't have fries or sweet tea!" Why does life seem sooo much easier for men than women?

Here's Clara eating her salad. Every late afternoon after I get home from work, I let the goat girls out on "my" side. All summer when the garden was lush and green, the goats didn't give the garden a second look, but now that it's drying out, they just can't wait to get to the garden. They just amble around loose, no fencing, rarely getting out of my sight. Shake a little of grain in a plastic cup and they come running.

One of Clara's daughter's CoCo.

Again, Clara and CoCo

Gypsy and CoCo will be leaving us in a couple of weeks. I feel like they are going to a very good home, the young couple has been working hard to get good housing and fencing on their property. We had 4 girls born to us this Spring, and we'll be keeping Gabbi and TootleLu (didn't get their photo's yesterday).

One of the turkey girls followed us to the garden, Bourbon Red hen.

SweetPea with a mouthful of a dried corn stalk.

Look at that squash plant that has popped up.

June, Gypsy, and Cali.

Cali