4/28/24

Today is a hot day out. The hot days are coming too early this year. I hate that it is already hot outside. I stayed inside doing stuff that needed to be done. Ronnie and I did go out to feed. It was still hot. The first thing I did was get Noma in the pen. She seemed a little grateful about being in the pen and able to eat her own food and water. It was such chaos, I did not get a picture of her getting in the pen. Willow and Mattie went in with her and then Ronnie and I had to get Willow and Mattie out of there. It did happen. All is well. 

Mattie and Willow are definitely stuck together like glue. They will not leave each other’s side and they are not happy with Noma being in the pen. In fact, they are mad about it and want to stay close to Noma’s pen. 

The coop chickens do not know how lucky they are to be the coop. They may try to dig out, but they are in the coolest area of farm, as long as they stay out of the dog house. 

It is rare that you see a small group of hens with two roosters, but we do have that here on the farm. The roosters to fight on occasion, but for the most part, they do pretty well. 

The dogs were not happy about being outside in the heat. I was not too thrilled either, so I understand. 

The goats were fighting and carrying on like they normally do. That was a good thing to see. 

Snowflake is doing well out with the rest of the chickens. She does still come into the shop to lay her eggs. 

We had another incident with Saverine. I looked out and she had laid down and she was not moving. After a minute she lifted her head, but she did not look good. Ronnie and I went out and he put the lead rope on her. I was able to drench her in case she had colic again. She did walk around for an hour or so without a lead rope on. It was almost a year to the day when she had colic last time. Saverine was mad about all attention and refused to be lead around with the lead rope, Ronnie tried multiple times. We watched her closely for a few hours. She did get pain meds also since it was obvious she was in pain. She continued to get up and then go down and get up and go down. She was uncomfortable. I felt so bad for her. She was having bowel movements and passing gas, so if it was colic, it was a mild case. Saverine was moving around with the other horses between her being up and down. Takua and Spots wanted to stay close to her I hated to leave her alone, but before we went to bed, she was down and Takua was standing over her, protecting her. I was praying she would be okay. The last time Ronnie went out to give Saverine more meds, Jelly followed him all the way to her and all the way back. 

Willow and Mattie were literally scratching each other’s backs tonight. It was quite funny to watch. 

The cats were all hanging out in the pasture. It looked like Onyx was looking for ground squirrels or something. 

Jeb is so weird. For some reason, he likes to lick my hand. It is just weird. He sure is pretty though. 

Spots came over and let me pet her tonight. That does not happen too often, so I was excited about it. 

As Ronnie and I were working with Saverine, I looked over and saw a stray cat sitting in the area with the donkeys and cows. The cat just sat there and acted like it had been there many times. Once the cat figured  out we had seen him, he took off to another pasture. I  am now wondering if that cat is what happened to Chloe. I still hope she is sitting on eggs somewhere, but who knows. 

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4/27/24

My friend comes over on Saturdays to help us with chores and what ever needs to be done. It is so nice to have help. While we were working outside, Bubba was watching us from the door. He looked so cute. I guess he was getting some fresh air. It was hot air, but he did not seem to mind. 

I went out into the pasture to get some buckets and noticed Saverine acting a little different. She is sticking to Takua like glue. I know she does that sometimes, but this looked different to me. Takua let me pet him which was nice.

Onyx was happy taking a nap under the table.

Spam sat up and watched us while we were headed to the pig pen. She looked a little prissy, but it was so cute.

Jasper has decided to not stay away from humans today. It was unexpected, but that is big progress.

It was a warm day. It was rather hot really. Alex knew exactly what to do and that was get under the fan in the shelter. That is exactly what he was doing. I could not blame him. 

Mattie and Willow just want love and attention at all times. That is all they want, but they can be demanding about it. Those two are stuck together like glue. 

Jasper surprised me again. He even came up to me. That is major progress.

The pig pens got cleaned out. The pigs get judgy and just want to watch what we are doing. It sure makes me laugh. 

In the other pig pen, Brutus was cooling off in the mud. Our mud looks a little awful to me and smells worse, but they love it. Darla ended up going in when Brutus got out of there. All the pigs are going fine today and the pens are cleaned. 

The sheep were actually were under the fan today, too. Keep in mind, it’s still just April. I sure hope the summer is not like last summer, but it is looking like it is going to be that again. 

The donkeys wanted to watch what my friend and I were planting. Ned was giving me the side eye for a minute. They all were very interested in what we were doing. 

We did get everything planted that we bought to plant. I hope this year we get some produce. 

The donkeys and goats were out in the pasture later. They love being able to graze in open spaces. 

It did look like the rain was going to start as Ronnie and I were feeding. The clouds were rolling in. 

Ronnie and I did try to get Noma in the pen today. It is time to get Willow off nursing. Norma was not going to cooperate, but we tried.. 

I put the sunshade back up in the female goat pen, but it looks like Cinderella is trying to tear it back down with her horns. I wonder how that will turn out. 

Yeller was laying out on porch this evening. He was as tired as the rest of us. We did get a lot of things accomplished though. 

It did end up storming later in the evening. There was lots of thunder and lightening. We needed more rain than we got, but it was better than nothing. 

4/26/24

It was a beautiful morning. The horses were all looking so pretty in the sunlight. I even caught one of them eating grass from the other side of the fence. I have seen them looking over the fence, but I do not think I had seen them eating from the other side of the fence. It was an interesting thing to see. Those big long necks eating grass like that. 

It was such a busy day. On my way home, I saw fire trucks at the end of the road. There looked to be a fire in one of the wooded areas. That is pretty scary with every thing being so dry and we are in the land where the wind never stops blowing. 

I had not seen Jelly in a day or two, but I did see him today. He came out to greet me. 

Bubba is really looking sickly these days. It makes me sad to see him declining. He is still jumping on stuff and acting like he is happy though. 

Ronnie and I do not get out much. The farm and working take up most of our time, but we were able to go out with some friends and had a great time. Lots of laughs and good food. It was much needed. 

4/25/24

It is the end of April and the grass is already dead. Not a good sign for the summer months coming up. It makes me nervous. I did watch the horses grazing on their hay this morning. Horses are so beautiful. They just help to calm you. 

I am desperately trying to catch the sheep doing one of their gymnastic moves. Of course, they never decide to literally kick up their heels while I am trying to take their picture. I will keep trying though. I will get it eventually. 

Mattie was trying to take Waldo’s food. Mattie could not get to the feed trough because of the fence. I find it funny that Mattie was wanting their food. 

I watched Willow trying to get some branches down. She did not succeed. I am sure she will eventually. 

Noma is still wanting to eat with Alex. I wish I knew what that was about. I have no idea. I would think she would be okay with eating with Mattie and Willow. It is apparent she does not want that. 

The goats, sheep, and chickens are all doing well. They have no new complaints. 

The pigs are all doing well also. They are having the time of their lives down in the pig pens. 

Mattie got upset with Jasper trying to take his foot and he was defending that food. Donkeys do kick to defend themselves and Jasper almost got himself kicked. Jasper finally decided to just go get a drink of water instead of trying to get the feed. 

Melody was sure making a mess of dust with her dust bath in the shop.