Kidding around

The baby goats crack me up. Folks here frequently take in the baby goat therapy offered in the backyard. It is a real kick to be climbed and pawed and snuggled by little caprine beings. Hard to keep a straight face.

Amos and Able are lap goats. Alice has a hair fetish and Andy has affinity for climbing. Alarm is the most stand-offish though he is generally game for a goat pile.

Soon they will be too big for this fun, and we will regulate them to the back forty to take down the poison ivy population. I really won't want them to climb me at that point, despite their ridiculous cuteness.

Wood Firing Part Two

Its the latest project I participated in this spring, in between goat midwifery, kid-sitting and garden tending...oh yes, then there's our own child.

I cooperated with a group of potters in the area and was able to put a few pieces in the wood kiln. I had never done this before and was really excited to be a part of it. I spent one half day of prep at  the kiln, a 12 hour shift at the start of the firing and another couple hours doing cleanup after the firing/picking up ware. All in all, I think it was worth it. I'll download some pieces when I take photos.

For now, some more kiln pics...

Wood Firing

This is a wood kiiln. The right side is for straight wood...here's hoping there was plenty of ash. The left side was designated for salt. I'm very new at this and have yet to understand basic details, never mind the nuances. We started firng Thursday night and finished up late Saturday eve. The kiln will cool all week and on Saturday we plan to open and view the magic...or carnage as the case may be.

Speak of the devil...

Shortly after bemoaning the lateness of the remaining kids this morning, I got into the car to go to my friend's studio for a glazing session. We've got a group wood firing coming up and today was slated for glaze and wad prep.

Not a couple hours later my fella calls me at her studio to tell me the bubble had appeared. He was just leaving to go out of town and checked "just once more". Thank goodness.

Hedda did well. Out came Able, ready and rarin' to go, eager to eat with not so much as a curly toe, perhaps a partial product of plenty of room in the womb...no sibs. So we're done for the year. The fella is probably the happiest as he's been pulling goat duty at night out in the shelters. Soon we can all get some decent sleep...until the wood firing, that is.

Long Kidding Month

The month began with Ruffles giving birth to two does, Amos & Andy. She did it on the sly when we weren't looking so we missed the event completely. She did the deed unassisted and seemed to have no troubles.

Since then, Ruffles has been ill. She rejected one of the babies and stopped eating with gusto. We've been nursing her babies by bottle primarily and hope she turns around soon.

In the meantime, Sparky gave birth to two babies, a doeling named Alice and a buckling named Alarm. They are nursing from mother and coming along nicely.

Ruffles was a day late and Sparky was five days late. Now we are day four into Hedda being overdue. A late year to say the least. Hedda is bagged up and looking very pregnant and uncomfortable. Shouldn't be long now.

On the garden front we've got a few things up in this early Spring and the field is plowed. My fella bought a new tool for the tractor to get the job done and though I had my doubts as to its effective use I must say: Fantastic! It saved us lots of back work and time and did a good job doing what we wanted as well as we hoped.