Reed Ranch- Cute & Tasty

January 13, 2008

Today Asa and I worked in the barn. We gave all the goats their vaccines. Several of them are pregnant and I for sure thought they would have had babies by now. We also made some new hanging feeders out of PVC pipe. This allows them to eat up off the floor. Which they prefer. They told us one day. They also asked for electric blankets but we had to tell them no. (For those of you who know the book Click Clack Moo). The girls were outside with us. Quinlyn really didnt want to be outside. She gets so cold quickly. We were out for about 10 minutes before lunch and she had gotten her mittens completely soaked. She was heading for the house and no one could stop her. Asa had to run the store real quick so we all went inside. Her hands were so red. She wanted to stay out side but wouldnt tell me her mittens were wet and freezing. They hurt as they started to warm up.

After lunch we went back outside. The girls were entertained for a while with their magnetic wands. They use them to search for nails in the ground. We have demolished several items and they end up in a big pile. We have gotten rid of all of the debris but nails and screws are sometimes left behind. Especially when there was roofing involved. They were having fun picking up the nails with their wands. They love to hear them click to the magnet and they cheer "I got one!". Once that excitement wore off I had Addisson pounding nails into the bottom portion of the porch we tore off. We are going to use it as a goat shelter but it is laying by the barn now. There were nails sticking up from where the post were so she bent them down. She loved being able to use her new hammer. She also learned how to pound nails from the ones she collected. She took them and hammered them into the porch too. It was keeping her and Quinlyn busy and I didnt think the goats would care if there were many nails in the wood so I let them have at it. When Asa saw he was a little annoyed. He told them to stop because he was going to use that for the goats. Oh well, They were having fun and learning too.

All the hammering was happening outside the barn while we were waiting for Asa. Back in the barn the girls were helping me get the syringes ready for the vaccines. Addisson is a huge help. We started with the baby goats. Addisson catches them and brings them to Asa. He holds them while I give them the shots. Then Addisson marks them when we are done. Quinlyn was outside the fence and she would hand me the supplies. It was working quite well. Addisson loves when we give the goats their shots. She says "those goats arent going to like this" We finished the babies in no time and moved on the the ladies. They are more difficult. Quinlyn was going to hand us the supplies inside the pen. Addisson is the blocker and helps Asa catch the goats for these ones are much too big for her to handle. Then when we are done she marks the goats. I had several syringes and needles in my pocket already. Quinlyn had to wait outside the pen. She wouldnt leave the our bucket of meds alone and kept moving it. It ended up spilling because she wouldnt listen and just leave it on the ground where we had it. It wouldnt be so bad if it didnt cost $100 plus. The medicine doesnt come with a cap. Once you open it you have to seal it yourself. I had it in a Ziploc in a cup. It was stabilized pretty well but not for being tipped upside down. OOPS. She got yelled at and ran off and went outside. Asa went and got her and talked to her and gave her hugs and kisses. She felt bad but was very sad. She said "her daddy hurt her feelings!" With lots of tears. He didnt even say much to her. He just said she needs to listen and do what we tell her. She came back for a short time and then wandered off. She had headed back outside when we told her not too. It took a while to coax her back inside. But she eventually came back in with some stern tones from her dad.

I forgot to mention she had already gotten in trouble by me before we had started the vaccines for spitting at her sister. And during all of this she had to poop so we had made another trip back to the house to go to the potty. I told her we are not staying in the house we are going to go back out to the barn. She didnt like that much. Addisson had to pee twice during all of this and she peed another time. If they didnt have to poop I gave them the option of either peeing in the gutter or outside. They both chose outside.

So we are in with the lady goats and Asa, Addisson and I have a goat cornered. Asa tries to catch it and it runs to me. I tried to catch it and hip check it into the fence and try to block it. This goat wasnt the smallest goat but it wasn't very big. It knocked me off balance and I was the one who got checked backwards and ended up laying flat on my back in all the goat poop. YUCK. At least it was by the hay feeder so there was lots of cushion and most of the poop filters to the bottom. Addisson thought it was the funniest thing. These things usually happen to Asa not me. My hat even flew off my head.

Once we were all finished we had spent several hours in the barn. We all got showered and had dinner. Everyone is now in bed and I sit here typing with the lingering odor of barn. All of our clothes smelt like barn and the odor is penetrating the house from the laundry baskets. Tomorrow it will be top priority to get the clothes washed. Plus everyone's jackets.