New Friends on the Farm

I'm pretty sure you've made some new friends during the first few weeks of school. That's wonderful! I hope you have a lot of fun with them!

We got some new animals this summer. Our favorite animal is a new puppy!

Here is Mishka!
This is the day we brought her home on June 30.

Here she is two weeks later.

We are so happy with her! She loves being on the farm. Scout is her favorite friend. They like to work together to bring the goats into the barn when it's time to milk.

I'll try to get a video of Mishka and Scout herding the goats or the cow. We're trying to teach Mishka some tricks, too. You can follow along as we teach her and as she grows. We love having a puppy again!

We also have a new buck on the farm. A buck is a boy goat.

Meet Teancum!

Teancum doesn't belong to us. He belongs to our friends. Their little farm is too small to keep a buck along with their other goats so Teancum lives in our pasture. 

He's easy going and pretty friendly so we like him here.

Lilly is 1 1/2 years old.
She'll grow a little bit more this year.

We also have a new doe. A doe is a girl goat. Her name is Lilly. 

We named her Lilly because she talks a lot! Do you have a friend that talks a lot? We have a little girl who visits the neighborhood and she talks and talks and talks and talks..... I don't think she knows how to listen because her mouth is always going!

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JJ isn't new, you probably remember her from last year. She is nine years old and she's having some trouble. She limps a lot because her front ankles hurt so much. We took her to the vet, who said she had arthritis and maybe a small tumor that we'll have to watch.

I think it's so interesting to look at x-rays, don't you?

When JJ comes out to the barnyard she wears some braces to keep her from
getting sore and limping. She also gets some special pain killer for dogs,
it helps with the swelling from the arthritis and it helps keep the pain down.

People can use aspirin, Tylenol, or ibuprofen for pain and swelling. Dogs can use aspirin, but they can not use Tylenol or ibuprofen because those medicines will make them very, very sick!

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Sometimes there are happy, fun things on the farm. And some days things don't go as well. One thing I've learned from working with the animals and working outside is that I can do anything that I think I can!

Every week last year we tried to do something nice for someone else every day. 

This year I'm going to remind myself that I can do anything that I think I can. While you're learning and growing and trying new things in school, I'll be learning and growing and trying new things, too.

Kicking the Bucket

Welcome back to school! I hope you had a great week and that you made some new friends.

I just love walking out to the barn in the evening!
It's a beautiful time of day!

River was NOT my friend last week. She decided to kick the bucket full of milk. Twice!

What a mess!
Just because a fly landed on her leg.

I had to clean the barn, the milk stand, and me. I had to wash all my clothes including my shoes and socks! A gallon of milk is a lot of milk to clean up!

She was on restriction for 2 days.

Animals don't think through their actions, they just respond to whatever is happening. Sometimes I need to train them to not react to flies sitting on their legs, which is what happened to River. She had to learn that moving her leg a little was okay, but kicking the bucket because of a fly was NOT okay.

She's fine now.
She learned to stand nicely again and not kick the bucket.

She's a happy goat again, and I'm glad I don't have to clean up so much milk.

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I cleaned the feed room this week, too. It took a few hours to sort through all the stuff we had piled around.

We got a new set of shelves, and got rid of the old mis-matched shelves.

Piles and piles of stuff!

I don't know where to find the things I need because we've been piling where ever we have a spot.

Everything I need is up on the shelves.

I know where everything is!

I know it still looks dusty and dirty. It's much better than it was before. I'll clean off the barrels and the drawers over the next few days.

I love having things organized and easy to find. I can work so much better when I know where my equipment and tools are!

We'll be working on other areas in the barn and the garage this fall. Keeping things organized is a challenge when we have so much work to do every day. It's worth the effort to do it a few times a year because it keeps things in good repair and reminds us of what tools and equipment we have and where we have it stored.

I hope you have a great weekend. Maybe you're getting ready to clean up and get a spot organized so you can work more efficiently, too!