It's not very "winter"-like here with no snow but December 13 is pretty far into the year to call anything other than "winter". So here goes the "winter" update:
All the animals are doing well. The cat mysteriously had a large cut behind his ear when I came back from Thanksgiving vacation. It was a clean cut so he must have got his head stuck where there was something sharp sticking out. I thought about super-gluing the cut but decided he should probably get some antibiotics just in case, so we went to the vet. $400 later he had 8 stitches, a pack of antibiotics, and his immunizations for the year. That bill made me cringe big time but seeing as there are very limited options for vets around here, I paid it and went on my way. Tom and I took the stitches out after 10 days. The vet was going to do it for free but his office is two towns over and I didn't have time to drive home from work, grab the cat, and drive all the way back. Luckily Tom has a pair of stitch removal scissors and a pair of forceps (we live in the woods so this is standard issue First Aid kit stuff here). We didn't know how the cat would react to the stitch removal. I trussed him up in an old coat and sat on him while Tom cut and pulled the stitches. The cat purred the whole time and didn't even flinch once. That right there is why I spent $400 on my cat. He's a good boy!
The goats are doing fine. Lucy didn't come back into heat after the second round of breeding. I actually witnessed the buck do his thing that time so I am fairly confident that she is bred. I am going to do a blood pregnancy test next week just to be extra sure. It will be a bittersweet kidding season with only Lucy bred. I'll be happy not to be running around like a chicken with her head cut off but I will be sad to only have 2-3 kids to spent my summer with. The other does are too old or too young to be bred. Of course, I can't help but second guess that decision because Daisy (the yearling Saannen) is a damn huge beast right now. She's twice as big as my other yearling doe so every time she comes into a flaming heat I start imagining the kids she could have next year. There's still time so maybe I will find her a buck soon. Of course, I say that AFTER I gave away my buck and wether, which means any breeding for Daisy will be of the drive-thru kind. We'll see....
Emily and Tom are great! Emily is a crack up and never fails to entertain me with how her little brain works. Tom just finished teaching Timber Harvesting class at Paul Smith's College. The kids loved it and really enjoyed having an instructor with lots of experience owning his own business and cutting trees for profit. Tom had a great time too. He enjoys teaching and has a good personality for dealing with classroom situations.
I am doing well, also. My job has taken an interesting turn with me finding myself in charge of a lot more stuff than I used to be. It's fun and scary, all at the same time. I love the challenge! I have been making lots of goat milk soap this year. I had four craft shows/farmer's markets this fall. I sold a good deal of soap and enjoyed sharing the wonderfulness that is goat milk soap with the world. Yay!
That's the update for now. Happy Winter!
