The end of the Goat Era

I'm sad to announce that Sven our Lamancha goat died last evening. There are a million questions I am asking myself as to the how and why, but he'll never tell me now.

I helped Sven come into this world on February 16th 2019. His mom was having difficulty and stalled out during his birth. Luckily, I was able to save Sven and the mother passed away 24 hours later. He was bottle raised in the house and was given to me.

Here I bottle fed him on the porch and Charlie assited:

We had a wild ride and tons of fun. During his life here he caused us great laughter, great concern, and shakes of the fist and head. He was a dork, a pain in the butt, and very loving. After all, he was a goat.

He was pals with Charlie even though he was the size of a mini horse. He adored our pony Lil' Richard and could not stand to be out of his sight unless it was 20 below zero outside. Sven was a master at cleaning up weeds when he was in the mind to do so. Otherwise while staked out he'd simply voice his displeasure and walk in circles. 

Sven was terrified of anything that was a vehicle. He'd run to the end of his rope and flip himself, so generally I'd never put him near the driveway if I was expecting a package to be delivered.

He was a funny goat and a few times I've had people want to walk into his pen and pet him. I'd go in with them and quickly learned that Sven did not like other humans near HIS mom. He'd literally walk up and push them away from me. I guess since I delivered him and bottle fed him, he figured I was his mom.

I'll miss his goaty goat voice in the morning as he tells me it is time to put him out on a line to graze or feed him hay.

But farm life is all about life, love, tenderness, frustration, and death. It happens. I'm going to miss him but I won't replace him! He would have been helpful in cleaning up my flower gardens this fall though.

Good Boy Sven, you crazy wacky Goat!

We were the best of friends and some days the best of frenemies.

Snow Storm!

Our tiny cottage as viewed from the open pasture south of the house.

And here are the mules having their breakfast. It was getting hard to find a dry enough spot to feed them since we had approximately an inch of rain before the snow began to fall. The snow was super wet and heavy.

They watch me come out with the 'hay' sled and follow me to wherever I am going to spread their meals. The three older mules follow me away from the rest as I set out their grain in their pans. It is almost funny as to how routine feeding time has become.

Charlie loves snow. He just loves to romp in it and stick his head under large clumps of grass. His sniffer never quits when he is out and about.

Mr. Sven was not having any of the blustery weather. He watched out his goat 'door' and stayed inside with his hay and nice dry bedding.

Charlie and I walked up to where the hill starts on the driveway to look up the hill.

It looked like a fine day to stay home and let mother nature have her way. The winds picked up and we headed back to the house.

Water was standing everywhere under the snow and the ground was saturated.

That wet spot in the driveway is something I hope to get fixed next year. In fact this section of the driveway needs new gravel as it turns into a mushy quagmire each spring that is nearly impossible to drive through until it dries up.

That brings us to today which is Thanksgiving.

No visitors, no family stuff going on today. It will be the usual fair.
Hubby asked for Lasagna for supper.
Seems when the kids were young we had company and now that the grands are more grown up everyone has their own thing to do.

Photo from 2006 Thanksgiving.

Have a nice day, whatever you choose to do.

Goats, Campfire, and Cotton Candy

Saturday morning Daryl and his youngest daughter got up early and headed out to bow hunt.

Rich was sleeping, and the rest of the house was quiet so I grabbed my Nikon and headed out the door. I did have to go pick up milk at the little local gas station before the rest of the house appeared.

And why not enjoy the morning sunrise at the same time?

The photo is looking east from the ridge top across the Kickapoo River valley. New cell towers seem to always be popping up. I think they sort of ruin the pictures. I can easily erase them. However, they they are.

We eventually all gathered for a quick breakfast of 'whatever you can find to eat' and headed out to go to the Vernon County Fair.

As usual the last county fair in Wisconsin was packed with locals and visitors. There was the usual fair food that delights yet causes intestinal distress later. I didn't participate in the photography show this year. The time to organize my photos just wasn't there and my heart wasn't quite in it.
I did enjoy looking at the fair displays though. My favorite displays were those of flower arrangements, potted arrangements, and crafts.

I mentioned that I'd wanted to have a campfire in the evening. We could sit on chunks of wood and watch the full moon come up along with a nice small campfire.

The dogs and Sven joined us. It was an experiment which worked out very well. Charlie stayed very close and kept trading laps. Scout decided he wanted to go back to the house when the coyotes started to sing.

Sven hung out after he inspected the flames and decided they were not Goat-Worthy of tasting. One of the kids had a bag of Cotton Candy and Sven sought that out, grabbed it and walked away.
It led to a lot of laughter and the kids got it back.

They asked if Sven could try a bite. Yes he could. And Charlie wanted in on the action.
Sven's reaction was hilarious. He loved it. Of course! Who wouldn't like pure spun sugar?
From that point on, he kept circling and begging for candy until it was gone.

Sunday morning we took the dogs and Sven for a hike to the creek. After all, my friends can't seem to spend a weekend without going to the creek to check it out.

Apparently, Sven thinks that Charlie is HIS personal pal and other dogs need to leave his little buddy alone.

And of course, everyone including Sven enjoyed the creek. See him next to the Grace watching Daryl? He is a curious and fun companion to have along.

Sven browses as he walks and then trots up to the next person to see what they are doing.
Amanda set her waist pack down on some rocks.
Sven calmly walked over and picked up the pack by its strap then began to walk off.

A shout of "Sven! No!" doesn't faze him at all. He just gives you the Goaty Eye and continues.
I think the souls of goats are lovable imps.

How are the ribs? Wow, they were still terribly sore all weekend. Laying down to sleep and get comfortable is a challenge.

However.
I need to get over it and back into the swing of things.

I think I need a bit of goat 'lovin' and another campfire....

[taken by Grace]

Not the day I imagined

Sure I had planned an afternoon of bicycling along the Kickapoo River and doing some exploring.

However.

Things sometimes do not go according to plan.

The day looked cloudy and rainy, so I delayed my bike trip up the Kickapoo Valley and decided to work on other projects.

Here is Sven doing some of his work. I stake him out in areas that need a bit of cleaning up. He does his job well and tramples the other weeds he doesn't eat.
Right now nettles are his favorite along with tall grasses.
The only issue is that once he cleans this area up, you can see all the 'junk' and chunks of metal that Rich has tossed over the years.
This is on my list of things to clean up this fall. One small area at a time.

Projects....

This is a rocker I picked up at a rummage sale. It needs a new 'stay', but since they only come in pairs, I guess I'll replace both of them. I'm going to sand the chair down a bit and let some of the natural wood come through...or I will paint it. I'm not sure quite yet. It is a tiny rocker and suited for very small people. Charlie and I sit on the porch and rock a lot together in the evenings.

This old chair needs a face lift and...well, one leg is slightly shorter than the others. The paint is chipping off badly. So I got after it with some sandpaper and then ...

I thinned some white paint that is mildew and water resistant and 'whitewashed' it. I sandpapered sections again to smooth it out and decided to brighten up the areas I'd had painted red at one time.
When I am done, I'll coat it with a polycrylic paint and it should weather the porch better. Once the cane is worn out, I'll use it as a planter. This chair has really survived the ages! I've had it for about 27 years.

Just after I started with repainting the little spools, my neighbor showed up and it was time to get to work.

Justin began to saw and I began to stack. He was grateful for the firewood and I was grateful that he could cut up the downed tree.
The Honey Locust is very dense and hard wood so he dulled up one chain just cutting!
He showed me how to gas his saw up, how to change the blade, how it started...he even showed me his chaps that he wears. Apparently they are safety chaps that will stop the saw blade. He said they are warm, but a good safety precaution.
He said I could operate a small chain saw, like an electric one. I was skeptical. He is trying to convince me that I could even get an electric powered one with a battery. Lighter and able to do a lot of the work I needed done.
Hmmm.

Anyway, I started to stack and carry. The little stuff from the tree top went here.

And the BIG stuff.

I had to bring up from the bottom of the yard and toss over the little sand hill [left over pile of sand and rock from when the basement was dug for remodeling]. I'm hoping to hire someone to come in and smooth out that section of the yard for me in the next year, along with the other trees that are just west of the house getting cut down.

I told Justin I'd carry the chunks of wood and toss them where we could easily get at them to stack them in his trailer.
He kept saying, "That is heavy."

I replied that my Deadlift PR weight was 105, and if I used the Sumo Deadlift stance and a jerk to the waist ... I was able to pick up the small logs and carry them fairly easily. I had to think about how I'd been taught to lift and think it through more than once.
When we got close to the stump, I chose to roll those pieces up the hill and into the big pile.

We were pretty surprised that the tree was solid throughout. It was not rotten.
However the root system was so shallow it was a wonder that it hadn't blown down years ago.

Our conclusion was that perhaps further below the dirt, it could be rock and perhaps that is why it was so shallow? I guess, we will never know.

What about Sven? I moved him a few more times and he did a fine job of uncovering an old Snapper mower that was buried in nettles. He then stood on the seat of the mower and reached higher.

Oh and the last note for this morning.

After lifting and carrying all of that wood, I am not stiff or sore.
Amazing.

Equine!

Well, I finished clipping the manes of the mules. Tah Dah!

Sundance is dealing with strange items resting on her ears. Yesterday we just spent an hour dealing with plastic pipes on her head, straps of leather, a cardboard tube that she thought was neat to blow into and make noise.
She takes a bridle just fine, but isn't quite comfortable with hands and objects touching the base of her ears.
I didn't force clippers on her, but used scissors instead, we will eventually work up to the clippers.

She was calm and cool yesterday and not the panicked mule that I'd had the day before. We revisited some of the things I'd done in the fall. She recalled all of that work.
I need to make time every day now.

Lil' Richard has been trimming and fertilizing the 'lane'. I dislike mowing it so I thought I'd use him to trim along the fence and the hillside. It is working out well. I have to rake his deposits out, but it works out quite nicely for the both of us.

Fred, who is now about 35 years old enjoyed some time with me in the yard after his grooming and clipping yesterday. He is still doing well for his age, but has slowed down and his hips and back are showing age as well as the grey hair on his once very mahogany colored face.

He is not one mule who likes getting caught, but he was pretty compliant yesterday.

Teslin is still here and she enjoys her time out in the yard. She tends to 'think' about wandering off once in a while. Yesterday afternoon she surprised me by playing with Sven for a few minutes.

Mica got her mane roached last night also. She was her usual quiet self. But the trim makes her long ears and neck stand out much nicer.

She has taken Fred's place as the Novice Rider's learning mule. She is much taller than Fred, but is in some ways more compliant than he was.

After supper I caught up Siera and took her out for a sunset spin.

I had forgotten how comfortable my hand made saddle was. It always felt too heavy to put on her before. Um. I guess working out has really helped with that. It wasn't much of an effort to put it on last night.

And we watched the neighbor plant corn.

It was a great equine day!

Hope Glimmers

Sometimes things look slightly better with a glimmer of hope.

You know dreary days can be SO darned dreary! We've had endless bouts of gloomy and rainy cold days mixed with wonderful warm days. Those days involve me trying to mow the areas I can without floating the lawn mower.

So that leaves out the hills as the ground under the grass is so saturated I'd leave brown tracks. Hmmm. I may have to wait on the lane for the land to dry out. By that time the grass should be at least knee high.
But wait!

I know Sven can't keep up with it, and Lil' Richard is doing his best around the old tractor and vehicles...
So I may wait until the lane is nice and dry and let the mules in to clean it up all at once. Then I just need to spread the manure they leave behind.

Problem solved!
I may have to do that to the hill in front of the shed too. That will be a bit more difficult to organize, but since I am so good at temporary fencing, I just may do it.

May is proving to be interesting. I've really had good luck on the warm afternoons hunting morel mushrooms. I will probably go out this afternoon with my electric fence roll and string one line and then since I will be at the creek...I will do a quick hunt before walking back up to the house.

I know where there were some very tiny morels on Saturday, so I'd like to go back and see if they grew.
So far I've had plenty to eat and I've dried a lot for soups and stews this winter.

Rich's depression has lifted quite a bit with the help of Dr. S.
Wow.
We saw Dr. S yesterday and he said the difference was night and day. The Gnarly Witty and sometimes bizarre husband of mine was bantering with his psych doctor.
Rich's Pulmonary Function Test was no surprise.
Severe COPD.
Now we didn't get the official numbers but as Jim the Pulmonary Therapist who evaluated him last week said, some Pulmonary Therapy and better Oxygen delivery would make him physically feel better.

Community Care from the VA just called to make arrangements locally for PT for Rich. We know that Rich will never get rid of his oxygen tether and that for traveling he will need a constant flow rather than the pulse flow he has now. At home he is on a constant flow.
The 02 metering may have to go up too, but...they want to see if PT helps first.

The biggest hurdle will be getting some strength back.

But never mind that. The thought of Pulmonary Therapy gave Rich a glimmer of hope and a small sparkle in his eye. I knew it.
I knew that without lifting some depression that nothing would make him see hope.
We all know the end game of life. But if there is a small chance of still enjoying moments...it is worth the trip.

Whirlwinds...

Just this and that...

I've been hunting Morels like a mad woman.
Well, that and mowing the yard, trimming with the little mower and using the pony and goat for those impossible areas to get to.

Sven is in this photo near the light colored mule on the outside of the fence. He is trimming what I couldn't get with the mower.

I've been going to see MIL in the nursing home. She is sure that she is going home the very next day. She is fairly non compliant with the things she needs to do for her leg edema which is getting worse as her legs are starting to leak.

Our visits have been good, but it just means I need to pack more into the latter parts of the day.

Rich has been okay sort of. He is maintaining an slightly better attitude. I feel badly because I am running around like a mad woman outside doing as much maintenance as I can to catch up on these dry days.

This includes taking Charlie and Sven on Morel Hunts.

In two days I've gotten enough for two meals and have dehydrated some for use this winter.

I have been crazy busy this week.
But spring is quickly changing the woods...

And I have to remember to stop and take a breather and enjoy it once in a while....

And....
I'm off and running again...

Sven comes home...

Sven.

Well what can I say? Charlie thinks he has a new best buddy. They are nearly inseparable.

On our hike Saturday, Charlie went back across the creek more than once to 'get' Sven to cross to us.
Of course the Kenosha Gang was there and we all called to Sven. Sven cried a baby goat noise and Charlie charge across the creek to him.

Today I raked the yard to pick up more of the pine-cones and  debris left by the two day storm. I tied out Sven. Charlie stuck close by.
They were perfectly content to watch me work.

Sven was fine being tied out and only got frustrated when I went out of his sight. Later on the two of them lay in the sunshine together while I made lunch for us.

I dragged two sleds full of sticks and pine-cones to the brush pile and burned it.
Sven decided to nap.

After yard work they assisted me in checking fences and redoing the 'above' the creek fence section.

Sven decided to check out the hot wire by Mica and jumped into her paddock. Mules have a tendency to chase or hurt an unknown animal in their territory. Thankfully, Mica just nosed him and he ran out of her paddock, ducking the hot wire.

The rest of the day was spent on outside work and hanging sheets and blankets in the fresh spring air.

Now I have had goats before, but only used them basically for dairy and not for fun like this.
And make no mistake.
I am having a LOT of fun.

As...
is Charlie.

Here is to having best friends....

We don't have to be the same to be best friends. We can be as different as night and day. ~~ Charlie and Sven

A bit of fun with Sven and Charlie

And so the first great adventure with Charlie and Sven happened today. I figured to start them hiking together early.
Sven will grow to a full sized Lamancha wether.

Charlie is full sized at 7" at the shoulder and 10 lbs.