It’s raining today. I know that it’s suppose to, it’s April. But the facts are such that I’m home alone, Terry’s working, Ben’s with Courtney and I, well, I’m here – alone. My house is clean (enough), I’ve played in the barn, dinner’s in the crockpot, my taxes are done, the phone is quiet, so I decided to start this long overdue blog. Easy enough, right? I love to write and post photos, so this should be a breeze.
NOT!
Maybe it’s the program, but more likely the user. I cannot get things to line up the way I intended. I want a photo here, but it shows up somewhere else, there are too many blank spaces, yada, yada, yuck.
So as you look through my newest entries, be kind. Be patient. Or tell me how to do it!
Let’s see if I can bring you all up to date. We’ve had several crias born this winter. You can check them out here somewhere. I have a catagory for crias – babies, then so far I’ve posted Monty and April. That in itself took most of the day, and I thought I could get through all of them today. Yeah, right. All I can say about that is, “check back”.
It’s shearing time. We’ve done a few of our own, but mostly when Terry and Ben are home at the same time, we’ve scheduled dates for our customers, and have been working ours inbetween. Terry does an excellent job and I’ve been able to get some nice show fleeces. On our newest herdsire, Rusty, we even did the “DO”. You know, the fancy hair do that the “big guys” get. You’d be impressed. When I can, I’ll post a photo of the before and after.
It’s also breeding time here on the farm. Lots of breedings going on. Last year I bred in the winter and had winter babies. This year, yeah, not so much. I want early spring babies instead. Cria watch in the snow and ice was, well, not so fun. But those babies are all growing up and learning to lead. Now that’s been a hoot! And I must say that all of them are so very smart that they actually enjoy putting on their halter and going for their walk. There are 7 of them to walk each day. April’s not in training yet other than to “stand”.
Feeding time is a blast right now. I let all of the kids out into the center isle and put their food dishes toward the barn door. They gather around and eat, then play, then eat, then run, then eat then check out to see what the “big guys” are doing, then eat, then show off… I enjoy having them under foot, but they are also in training and don’t realize it. They are use to people walking around them, touching them and talking to them while they play. This group of crias has been so much fun and each has their own personality.
Pablo, for instance, is a “pill”. He’s not afraid – he’s curious and he always wants to see what’s going on and to mimic the actions of the “older males”. He’s polite, but likes to play hard. Diedra on the other hand is a sweetheart. She loves my approval and looks over at me to see if she’s doing things “right. She loves to have her ears rubbed. Za is definately the Empress. She won’t play too much, but regally struts around the barn. Flash is timid, but coming out of that somewhat now. Courtney and Monty are being weaned and just want their moms, but are managing quite well. Copperhead likes to play if somebody else starts it. And when they’ve been couped up because of the rain, they run through the barn like… well, you think of an anology. It’s like the Indy 500 and Bumber Cars combined! Tally’s cria loves to run and buck sideways! He needs to be named after a PBR bull! I think I’ll start calling him Bodacious! Why not, he’s the right color, acts like him and it’s still regal enough for a top herdsire plus this kid needs a name.
Enough time on this for today. I’ll try and do a better job of keeping this up.
But it’s also show season. White River’s Court Jester (Courtney) is making her show debut at the Kentucky Classic next weekend. I’ll let you know how that goes.
Hugs & Hums
Stacy
