It happened!! Alice is a mum again 🥰

It happened!! Alice is a mum again 🥰. Finally… after days of false alarms & stalking her… trying to cop a feel of her udder at feeding time (which, I have to say, I never managed).

Alice came from my friend Pam, I bottle fed her but she was always very feisty - had her own way of doing things, wasn’t cuddly, & could tell you to f-off with her ears! (Alice - not Pam!!)

Mike knew I didn’t want to miss this birth so he’d text her whereabouts & if we thought ‘this is it!’ I’d tippy toe to observe… then after what felt like an hour of nothing I’d have to move to wake up my sleeping legs. 

Alice was pregnant last year & had triplets, but being the ace farmers we are didn’t even realize she was in the family way till we heard the bleating of lambs! That was so much easier, I became obsessed with when is it going to happen.

But on Monday she went in the shed ~ her babies from last year followed & Forrest of course, Mr Nosey!! Then I watched as they all left her alone… I crept into the adjoining shed & I knew this is it. It was quite hard to watch her in that much pain. She pushed out a baby ~ it wasn’t moving & Alice wasn’t in a hurry to unblock anything or check vitals. I went in & checked the airways ~ & started resuscitating… I called Dr Higgins at the same time ~ he picked up & I bet he was in the middle of something major but still offered advice! Thank you! (I imagined him James Herriot style with is arm up a cow.) I kept going & going… Mike saw me from a distance on my knees with my head down & called out what are you doing? I turned my head around to answer & slimy sheep goo dripped off my chin… He look pretty ‘amazed’ & when I replay that scene - I can see why… I resembled a zombie feasting on the lamb…

The lamb was a male, so perfect, full term - I had found it extremely difficult to stop trying to kick start it to life. Mike asked me to leave them alone, that Alice was getting stressed out - so defeated & sad I picked myself up went inside.

Mike thought it was time I went back to check on Alice & when I did… there were 2 more beautiful lambs (both girls)! The total concentrated joy! I wish wish wish I could bottle that. It feels thick & heavy but in a really good way.

Dr McPeek answered lots & lots of questions! ❤️

Nature can make me go though every single emotion in a span of a few minutes. 

They are now 5 days old… So you have a lot of photos to catch up on!

I cannot not believe Stan the Man (the Dad) has done it again!! 

HAPPY DAYS!

fox den...

sooooooo… having traced Milky’s feathers to where I think the den is & sticking my arm, while filming with my phone, down a dark hole because, you know, that's the most sensible thing to do! ~ I decided to put the camera out to check for activity.

His mum has also been doing laps around the barn, presumably looking for her baby in the daylight.

Several reliable sources confirmed they thought they saw a fox in my video so I called the Wildlife Center & went to collect our friend.

It’s a boy, so the fantastic Mr Fox was brought home & placed near the entrance of the hole.

I propped open the door of the carrier & put out some of the food the Wildlife Center gave me… & just like that… this happened!

What a day...

Sooooooo… the baby fox slept in a cat carried on our enclosed porch. I got this morning to a pile of white feathers… 

At first I thought it was one of the geese but after looking around I found more & more different colored feathers… 

The geese are fine with their 3 babies in tow. 

The Wildlife Center called to schedule a drop off for the fox… off we went ~ it is 8 or 9 weeks old, very skinny but lively. I said I’d try to find the den… always better to go back to Mum.

When I got home I noticed vultures eating what was left of one of our chickens… 😩

Then I started tracing the white feathers… I’m pretty sure I’ve found the foxes home… & I know that the white feathers are MILKY!!! 😩

I’m so sad… we basically thought we were doing a good thing, who knows how long that kit had been stuck in the hole… but what we in fact did was attract the mum by putting it on our porch & she took at least 6 chickens, including our beloved MILKY!! When I figured all that out I felt sick…

Mabel is really depressed… The Elementary School asks for eggs to incubate every year & I’d begun collecting Mabel’s ~ I only have 4 of hers, but I’m going to incubate them because thats all we have left of MILKY…

I’m off to buy more Arlo cameras to put where I think the foxes den is… if it is where I think I can bring back the kit.

Nature is amazing & also very cruel… RIP MILKY ❤️ I know you had lots of girls, but I know Mabel was your favorite.

Lamb update...

sooooooo…  Alice is continuing to do a great job… the bigger boy & the girl are feeding well. She definitely has favored the largest lamb.

The little guy is not getting a look in & I’ve been bottle feeding him ~ he’s so happy to see me :) 

I was really worried they were getting cold so I asked on Facebook if anyone had any dog coats ~ check out how stinking cute they look!! I could play dress up all day! 

My friend Gus texted me & I said I was in my ‘she’-ep shed! ~ see what I did there!? & he answered Bah ha ha!! we really ought to be doing stand up… Gus comes over with all nice clean clothes ~ I handed him tiny guy who promptly did a sticky, stinky mustard poo all over his jeans 🙄🤢🤣…  I’ve been covered in the stuff for the last few days so I didn’t feel that bad…  

At a later feeding Alice was really antsy, I think she’d had enough of being chewed on constantly… she kept pushing little guy away. 

I left her out in the field ~ 2 lambs could keep up, but little guy couldn’t & when he did eventually catch up she pushed him away… He kept getting stuck on really small twigs. Mike brought him in ~ he’d seen enough, 

He’s gained a lb!! Now weighing in at 4lbs! 

We have names ~ the biggest is Bowie, the girl is Dolly & tiny guy is Ziggy Stardust. 

Being a newborn Mum is hard work!

sooooooo… I had this blog already to go & somehow I deleted it or did something to it. Obviously it was the best one I had ever written & I’ll never be able to remember all the wit & charm I put in…

We brought the triplets in the downstairs bathroom, (the warmest room in the house… go figure), all snuggled up in a box & blankets.

Much to the dogs delight I slept on the couch with one ear open waiting to be summoned by hungry bleats. I slept in a strange ‘s’ shape to accommodate everyone. Dutch was near my head, Peaches around my neck, Ringo behind my knees… I realised the next day I’m not as flexible as I used to be & also exhausted… no operating heavy machinery for me today.

The lambs got me up 4 times, ok one of those I just needed to check they were still breathing… they took a little colostrum each time :)

In the morning the biggest one was a lot stronger, had a nice lot of bottle, had seconds & was still bleating so we took him out to Mum. Alice heard him bleating & was replying!! It was really special… She gave him a good sniff then he went straight to the business end & started sucking & Alice let him… It was the perfect farm scene. Alice is a pro, she looked at me as if to say ‘I knew what I was doing all along, but needed a good nights sleep… how was your night SUCKER!!?’

And so we were left with 2.

A bit later in the day I repeated the same with the girl lamb & that worked!!

As much as I love being a sheep Mum ~ the real Mum is always best… I don’t want them picking up any of my bad habits plus I have my own kids to be the cause of therapry to.

Just a side note… what is this chicken doing?

WE DID IT!!! The third one went out to the shed too!

It’s chilly out so Pam had the great idea of making coats out of sweatshirt arms. If you see anyone in my family wearing something with hacked off arms I’d appreciate it if you just let that go.

The third little boy isn’t getting much of anything so he is all bottle.

Here they are!! Weighing in at Boy 1 a whooping 7lbs!! Girl 4lbs & tiny boy 2, 3lbs!! Boy 1 hogged all the tubes & nutrients & space inside Alice… I bet he came out first too.

Glenmoore Farm welcomes... triplets!!!

WHAT…!!??

sooooooo I’m running an errand & Mike calls me… it’s around 6pm so getting dark. He says he can hear a lamb bleating in our field ~ my immediate thought… Desmond is inside, probably lounging on the couch watching TV.

I said I had no idea & if he finds anything call me immediately ❤️.

Mike calls again & says you’re not going to believe this! I’m all ears eagerly waiting… he continues, I’ve found a lamb… it’s Alice’s… then I found another one & then another!! HAHAHA!! no way!! We both laughed, what a surprise!! what joy lambs bring, or any offspring!! except for spiders & most creepy crawlies… but that’s just my opinion.

Mike says he’s off to the store to get meconium & bottles before it shuts. We hang up & I’m thinking ‘meconium’, that doesn’t sound right… wait a minute meconium is the first poo, he means colostrum… !! I call & say don’t ask for that!

I rush home & call Mrs Edling on the way… because there’s only one sheep that can be the father… ~ Stan the Man!!! He’s a baby doll, very short legs & very old… but apparently still firing on all cylinders!! I really didn’t think he had it in him… He’s in the field smoking cigars blowing out rings.

Flynn had got Alice in a shed with all the lambs… I think she was in shock!! Next thing I call Pam, the sheep guru!! She explains what we should do & Mike, Gus, Flynn & I get on it… Alice wasn’t having any of it, no fresh milk for anyone :( I climb underneath with a bowl & start to milk her… managing to get a few drops out which I then get dirt in & we are no farther along.

After a few more tussles, hoof kicks, running around the field, failed milking attempts, trying to force teats into lambs mouths we call it a night… we feel defeated but still buzzing that this even happened!!

We start making bottles & they all took some colostrum… YAY!

They are so small & wrinkly ~ I still can’t believe Alice did this all on her own (the birth bit, I know how the other thing happens!)… we had no idea she was even with lambs in the oven… wheres the placenta? We checked our shoes before we came in.

HOORAY for all the happiness this brings & friends that know what to do!! & give the extra hands!

GUINEA FOWL

Ok ~ so I wanted some guinea fowl for several reasons but the number one was they eat ticks.

I bought fertile eggs & incubated them. I’ve not had that much success with them in the past & this was no different… 3 had splayed legs… after asking the lovely Faye she told be about making a sort of sling that their legs go through & putting them in the top of a jar. This worked amazingly well with one of them & their legs were almost perfect. I made a ‘PT’ bowl for exercise & this was going really well too… until our sneaky cat stole him from right under my nose :( I chased him but the deed was done… I was soooooooo upset. Then the other 2 died a couple of days later… urgggggggg ~ I went from thinking I could fix them to killing them.

So when I discovered one of the other chicks legs were wonky I thought it best to leave them alone. But they got worse & worse… they are a little less than a month old. This poor bird can get around but it would never survive free range.

Is there somewhere I can take it to get them fixed? I don’t mind driving ~ I just can’t spend loads of money… any veterinarian school? or similar…

SECOND ROUND

So Dutch did really well today with his second dose of chemo❤️. His test results came back and the lymphoma could either be type B or T. T is harder to treat ~ so we are relieved Dutch has B. Also his blood test show his lymph nodes are smaller ~ YAY!!! The vet called me with all this info, saying he is very happy with Dutch’s progress, he seems happier & much more alert & repeated that we could get a year out of him…I asked if he knew of any dog that has lived longer & he replied only one that lived for 3 years, but added that I shouldn’t get my hopes up as this was rare ~ I said they may find a cure within his year 🎉🎉🎉

Mmmmmm chick-fil-a for the Dutch ❤️

Dutch...

There are dogs… & then there are dogs.

We were asked to give Dutch & his brother, Turk, a temporary home August 2018. It was really bad timing because I had just had foot surgery so even though I am a sucker for most things animal I was no help & it fell on my husband Mike. But Mike being Mike was all for it & that is one of the many reasons I married him.

Dutch & Turk were outdoor working dogs but could not be contained & hated each other. Fights had to be broken up… (& I’m not talking a scuffle here)  calls from local places to come get these dogs were received very often. My friend was at a local pool when Dutch bounded through… she called me saying I don’t know this dog but it’s got your name all over it!!

Belinda from animal control ended up taking Turk away & that’s when Dutch very very slowly started coming out of his shell. He loved following Mike around the farm. Then we had a major breakthrough of him sleeping on the porch, prior to that he couldn’t be contained in a room without trashing it & I mean trashing it.

Mike did the porch up for Dutch :) & it became his room, he did chew the heck out of the new window sill because of thunder, but that was ok.

We began feeding him proper dog food & he started gaining weight & then it just happened ~ we all fell in love with him… this huge dog with an even bigger heart & eyes that just suck in your soul. We couldn’t imagine our lives without the goofball & he became part of our family.

Everyone that meets Dutch falls for him, he is the true definition of to know him is to love him.

Dutch is the kindest, most patient, gentle dog you’ll meet. 

He started to come into the house (this took about 6months of coaxing) ! & can open the door on his own, letting all the other dogs out which can be a bit annoying, but if my arms are full he’ll open the door for me!! 

& now we are here… the Hopewell Vet Group have been amazing as always & Dr Stults sent me to VSEC to get Dutch looked at by an oncologist…

My friend Dr McPeek has been translating the medical language & giving me support ~ I have a ton of positivity.

I called VSEC last night to make sure Dutch had settled in ok & the receptionist said let me get a nurse to check… then ended up having to go herself because everyone was petting him!! That’s the power of the Dutch!

& just like that…

the happy story has to end. The joy, amazement, the miracle of it all.

Elizabeth Taylor was an amazing mum, so dedicated. She sat on those eggs all day & night leaving them twice a day to drink, eat & have a quick dust bath. I actually thought for a while that maybe the eggs weren’t viable & Richard & Eddie were firing blanks… but then came the heart exploding happy day when there were 5 chicks!! - so tiny & perfect & in awe of their mum! 

I watched them being called & looked after… Taken to drink in a secluded spot, keeping up as best they all could - until this awful day… 

There were feathers… I followed the trail, hoping to find Elizabeth injured so she could get better & be the perfect mum again. But the trail was long & then there were more than feathers. 

Why did this have to happen? Why did ‘you’ have to take her? I know that she was defending her babies & paid the ultimate price. The price that any mum would make in place of her baby.

Nature never ceases to amaze & disgust me, so clever, raw, cruel… unforgiving.

The next few hours were spent finding the chicks… they had to be there ~ Elizabeth can’t have died for nothing… please.

Muiltiflora ripped at us, but I didn’t care, it was almost welcomed to stifle the heartbreak. We found 4. The fifth sadly didn’t make it.

Mike set them up on our porch in a brooder & we will do our very best to raise them.

worried...

So poor Seattle passed away & her twin, Denver seems really really sad ~ quite rightly so… but it’s heart breaking.

I found this while looking for information & thought how true:

Just as humans, animals love… and they mourn and grieve the loss of their family whether on 2 or 4 legs. They also bond in a special way with one or more, in particular. So, losing them can be devastating.

However, animals are resilient. They respond to empathy and compassion, loving and caring, and are comforted by soothing warm touch and words. They understand far more than we give them credit for.

Spend time with your grieving goat. It doesn't matter how many others are around in the herd. She has lost her special friend. Gently stroke her and comfort her. Talk to her lovingly. Tell her she will be OK. You all will be OK.

With time, she will feel better. Until then, give her the special attention that she needs.

And that’s what I’ll do.

The sad part of owning animals…

Animals are the BEST… they make me feel so happy, loved & the opposite of lonely ~ whatever that is… hang on I’ll look it up. Wow… there isn’t a word that describes what I mean... 

They have their own totally unique personalities & I consider most of the animals that live here my friends.

So when one of them dies it’s very sad, but I would rather go through the pain of loss than never to have had the pleasure of spending time with these amazing beings. I suppose that’s a spin on Tennyson’s ~ It’s better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.

When we bought the farm the first animals we acquired were 3 Angora goats. I found them on Craig’s list ~ the girl looking after them wanted to find them homes otherwise they would have to go to auction… Armed with notes that Dr McPeek had briefed us with the family piled in my amazing mini van & drove miles & miles. 

Arriving at our destination Mike took charge & handled the goats like he knew what he was doing (it was kinda hot!). He looked at all the things that Dr McPeek told us to look at & then glanced at my feet & rolled his eyes… Ok so maybe flip flops weren’t the best choice for barns & farms & goats & poop…

We took 3 Angora goats!! Now we had to get them home… Toyota could really do a commercial of what you can do with a mini van based on footage from our adventures…. A family of 4, 2 bales of hay & 3 Angora goats were merrily speeding along the highway… this is when you think I wonder what a police officer would make of this circus if we got pulled over! I’m pretty sure that’s when my van lost it’s new car smell, or any smell related to car at all… 

2 were twins & born Super Bowl Sunday when Denver & Seattle played ~ & named accordingly. The other was named something weird, I can’t remember what but I think it reminded me of a clown… Let me see if anyone remembers… Oscar did!! He has the memory of un elefante ~ her name was Patches. I’m a bit of a name person… if you know me that makes total sense & ‘Patches’ wasn’t doing it for anyone… My friend’s Step Dad had just passed at the time & I asked where he’d grown up… Brooklyn was the answer & Brooklyn is the name of this gorgeous goat.

These goats have been a source of mischief & amusement!! Getting stuck in places & things… like buckets, nesting boxes, tomato cages, shelves…

A major panic was had when I realised they only had bottom teeth!! We’d bought faulty goats & not been told… Somehow they’d all forgotten to grow top teeth… A quick call to Dr McPeek put it right ~ I didn’t know that ruminants didn’t have top teeth… Yes but Dr McPeek I’m talking about our goats not ruminants!! Ok so goats are ruminants, learn a new thing every day! 

So we have snow at the moment & it’s been around way too long for my liking… my ankle is moaning too making walking tough going. Seattle was all on her own the other evening, that’s not right for a goat… She’s not about to give birth so she must be feeling lousy. Mike carried her to the shed & we gave her fresh hay & water… When I checked in the morning she’d gone to the big pasture in the sky :( Very sad… The ground is frozen solid so a burial was out of the question. I have dabbled in DIY cremation… but that’s only small animals & I didn’t think Seattle would fit in the steel barrel… the last thing I wanted was a smell of cooking meat… I once cremated a pet chicken & didn’t get the fire hot enough… A group came to look at the barn…comments were made about the delicious smell of chicken & someone must be having a BBQ!! OH NOOOOO. I kept my mouth shut ~ how do you go about explaining that?

I double bagged her (which with 4 hooves & big horns is no easy feat). It was very sad ~ all the goats stood around & watched… I could hear then saying 2 legs bad!! then I dragged her to the gate across the snow. This bit was hard because the snow behind the gate had only been cleared to fit a human sideways, not the stiff wide package I had. Bending down to turn the everything sideways I came eye level with Forrest (our bottle fed lamb/sheep) who was very happy to see me & started nibbling my hair. Eventually we squeezed though the opening & I got Seattle in the back of my van, the same one in which she’d arrived :(

We went to the local vets who knew she was coming & the really nice vet cut her ear tag off for me. I said my goodbyes & will pick her up in a tin when I’m called… sigh.

check out alice's big sheep diapers!

sooooooo… i have been putting Forrest & Alice in our garden in the day time ~ but i bring them in at night because I’m scared they’ll get eaten. they are so friendly they’d probably go up to a coyote to make friends…

alice has this really annoying habit of pulling Forrest’s diaper off & her own in the night… they are in a pen but you can imagine the mess!

i tried her in pull ups but they didn’t want to stay on so someone suggested ‘depends’. today in costco i bought a box. they fit really well!! but they are a bit boring!!

where’s the sharpie?

that’s better ❤️😊

fingers & hooves crossed they stay on!

yeah chicks!!

sooooooo… we have a very broody hen. she plonked herself down on a pile of eggs & didn’t want to budge. so flynn & i moved her & the eggs to a box & relocated them to the garage.

& today… when i went to check… there were 3 chicks!!!!

ALICE...

sooooooo… our baby lamb Alice brings so much joy! When I got the text about her I ran to find Mike to tell him, he is not religious at all. He said well you know what this is… a year ago today was your Dad’s funeral & you have been so upset, he’s fixed this to make you happy… A chill went through me.

My Dad’s mum was called Alice & so was his favorite aunt, who had a small holding in a village in Audlem, Cheshire in North West England. That’s who he’d visit when he was on leave from the army.

My Dad also used to read me Alice in Wonderland, I love that book! I have just finished the book ‘The Hazel Wood’ which is magical & fairy talesque & the main character is Alice… Alice 3 times. Great book by the way.

Believing that my Dad may be behind this… Alice seemed the perfect name!

She was born the second twin & as is very common smaller & rejected by her mum.

Alice hasn’t completely grasped the sucking on a bottle thing & only takes very small amounts at a time. I’m doing my best to up her weight.

Peaches, one of our permanent fosters, (I don’t like to use the word foster ‘failure’, that word serves for nothing good) has taken a real shine to Alice & they have become good friends!

Bum in the air!

Snuggle buddys ❤️

I wonder though what Peaches will think when Alice becomes 10 times bigger than she is!

cuteness overload....

sooooooo… I know a lot of the news is doom & gloom etc but I have something super lovely to share & it will help take our minds off things.

As you know I lost Rocky, my bottle fed lamb, when he was a year old & I was sooooooo sad & have been pining ever since.

I asked my lovely friend, where Rocky came from, if anymore lambs need to be bottle fed I’d love 2.

I’ve stopped myself so many times texting her to see if her sheep have started lambing yet. But yesterday while I was in the middle of candling eggs & taking photos, a text message popped up ‘Bottle Lamb?’

I’ve never put eggs away so fast!!

Oscar & I rushed to tractor supply to get lamb formula & then straight to pick her up.

A BABY... what?

sooooooo… I have my feet up, finally ~ watching Family Feud before I go to bed & my husband, Mike, says a baby bird has fallen out of a tree. So up I get, before our barn cat thinks this tree is handing out snacks… On my way out of the door Mike updates me that it isn’t a bird but a baby squirrel. AWWWWW… (this is where I start to argue with myself, no you can’t keep it…!!!)

Upon arriving at the scene, I was expecting to see something on the ground ~ but it was half way up the tree. This, in my humble opinion, is not a squirrel… I thought it was a sugar glider… but I googled pictures of babies & it doesn’t look like that either.

What is this then, anyone know? It is as big as a large orange, huge eyes, wide flat tail.

a bridge!

sooooooo.... we have been dreaming of a bridge to get us to the island in the pond. Mike has been working hard on one & it was time to get it in the water...

here comes the man in waders...

Pixel was trying to help!

A hand was needed to line it up... so in I hop... with no waders... it was cold & there is something unnerving when all your nooks & crannies are getting filled with yucky pond water. At one point something touched my leg & then there were bubbles (the bubbles may or may not have been my reaction!!!)

seriously... how many people would do this!

well the first bit is done now! can't wait to see it finished!!!

mr & mrs smith....

sooooooo... mr & mrs smith lay 2 eggs in our corn crib every year :) (ok! i know she does the egg laying).

well... our beautiful corn crib has been in need of a little TLC & we have this awesome guy from twin hollow doing the repairs. only problem is he was meant to have come last september, but things got busy etc etc & so it's happening now... 

i knew he was going to start last tuesday & i also know it's round about now mrs smith lays her eggs...  but i was fingers crossed & hoped mrs smith would keep something crossed too that we could just get this out of the way first... but to my dismay she laid egg number one the sunday before & egg number 2 the following day...

egg number one

we could not put off this construction anymore so i gave a call to the wildlife center in titusville & my lovely friend nicole answered :) she said not to move them. put an old table over the top so mrs smith can still sit on them and in the event something fell through the eggs wouldn't get smashed.

did the table thing & explained to construction guy about the situation (yes all very normal really). reassured them that they wouldn't get attacked (although i really didn't have any grounds to say that, i still marvel that i have both my eyes!!)

day one was spent with mr & mrs smith staring down angrily from the barn roof ~ watching every move that was made. i could sense them watching even though i was in the house!!!!

day two ~ snow day

day three ~ i went over to check on progress & even though there was lots of loud activity i was so excited to see mrs smith nestled on her eggs!!! 

the eggs are in that door on the right of the photo

fingers crossed!! & we'll all be aunties & uncles again :)

anne vs the rooster

sooooooo... we have a dominant rooster named Liberace & he can be a real pain in the butt.

here's some of his shenanigans...

ha ha!

Don't worry it doesn't hurt him... I always come off worse :(