Mennonite Relief Sale 2011

3 weekends ago (I think it was) we went to the Mennonite Relief Sale here in Hutch. It's basically a big eating/auction/silent bidding/eating/buying/congregating/eating thing. Once a year at the fair grounds people donate tractors, furniture, quilts, etc. and it's all auctioned/sold off for charity.




Good food- we ate apricot, strawberry and peach and cherry pie for breakfast since we missed the "Feeding the  Masses" pancake breakfast but all was good because pie is okay in my book for breakfast once in a while! Jeremiah also decided we needed "New Years Cookies" which are more like mutant cake doughnut holes with spices and raisins and other than the coke we used to wash it down, it was a pretty healthy breakfast (bwaaaaahahahah).



We sat and watched the quilt auction for a while- beautiful work! We looked through all the garage sale goodies and found some fabric and embroidered vintage napkins. Rachel found a pink 1950's apron.

It was a lovely spring day. Spring is finally here. We made it through the first winter. Phew!

CBB's & P.E.T.A

I've decided, CBB's (Crappy Bottle Babies) aren't that bad. It was never the babies themselves, as I said, it was the act of bottle feeding. I brought it upon myself, I KNOW!

I think I've got 2 of them sold though and the other two will stay here but rest assured, I will not be taking any other CBB's on on purpose!

They've come to not be so bad though. Now that they are eating hay well enough, I think they are finally keeping their bellies just full enough not to mob me every time I come out whether or not they just had a full bottle 5 minutes before.

The urge to always jump though is still there and pinching noses seems to have curbed that. They still do it but I learned trying to teach them not to jump and nip while I have a bottle in my hand while they are (apparently) starving (because I starve them you know!) is not the best time so I wait until they are full and then pinch them if they try to nip and jump. They finally get the picture...for the most part. PETA would be all over that I'm sure! I wonder how PETA supporters raise their own kids? They probably all have bratty heathens running around because God forbid they discipline with a firm hand...or maybe human kids don't matter and they beat the hell out of them! That's neither here nor there though.

Speaking of PETA and disciplining though...as I said in my last post, Saturday we had electric fence on the brain. To date we still had not let the goats into the pasture. I trust them about as far as I could throw them (some farther than others ::grin::) not to get out of the fence without the zapper on so we waited.

We turned it on Saturday and the dang thing was arcing off into the air! We thought the tube/sleeve insulators were bad and I may have gone off a bit on the guy at the farm store. Sorry about that! The only thing he could recommend/advise was that the tubing may be bad and to bring it back in. Apparently he didn't know A. what it was exactly (50' of tubing (like a hose) that you cut to length so little did he know if we would have done that, it would have been in about 200 pieces!) and B. that would mean taking down our whole fence...the one we just put up...over spring break. NOT GONNA HAPPEN DUDE!

In the end the fencer is just too much for the length of wire we have for right now but I am not about to go out and buy a smaller fencer to hold us over until the rest of the wire goes up so Jeremiah fixed it temporarily (A.K.A. Jerry Rig, Honky Hook-up, etc.). That brings us to Sunday afternoon when we FINALLY could let the goats out. You're going to love this (or not, depending on who you are). In order to teach the goats to stay the hell away from the wire -as it's more of a psychological barrier than psychical one- we had to let 'em learn the hard way. How did we do that? Leading them to it with grain, pouring it on the other side and letting them find out themselves they don't want anything to do with the fence...pasture=good...fence=baaaad. So, one by one each of them got a nice zap and that was the end of that. They decided it wasn't worth it and happily went to eating on the right side. Goooood goaties!

The CBB's aren't as smart though, B5 especially. I was out there yesterday and that dummy must have hit the fence at least 3 times. Every time they do, you hear a yelp (in baby goat language), watch them run away, turn around and look dazed and confused like, what he heck just happened?

P.S. PETA would be happy to know we spend our weekends and evenings burning baby goat heads...on purpose...just in case you've been reading and wondering why there are hairless brown rings on the tops of some of the kid's heads. We burn them with an iron to prevent horns from growing. We're mean like that.

Confetti and Kazoos

Dear, where to begin??? What did I post about last, fencing? I've got a good story about that but first, the past 1, 2, 3, 4, 5??? I don't even know how many days, has been a whirlwind! 5 DOES KIDDED!!!! Do you want to know how many bucks I got from those 5 does??? I can't count that high. Kidding, we'll let's see...

Granite's 2 spotty bucks (no does!) And I spent the night in the barn! ALL night. In the barn. It was cold! In the barn. Ug, then she didn't even kid until 7:20. In the morning! After I spent all night. In the barn. Sleeping on the hay.


Ariel kidded on Thursday night. I was there. Sort of. Her udder filled tight Thursday (usually a pretty good indication kidding will happen that day). She wasn't due 'til Saturday. With these bottle kids I am out at the barn 50 times a day feeding it seems so I was keeping an eye on Ariel. I fed all the adults their hay around 4 PM- usual time. I checked on her at milking time and bottle time around 8 and figured it would be that night. Jeremiah and I watched CSI. Round about 9:30 something told me to go check on her but I flicked that demon (or angel, however you want to look at it) off my shoulder and finished CSI. 10 o'clock rolled around and we drug ourselves out in the cold and sure enough, she had had her bubble, as Rachel would say, and out flew a tiny tiny little doe kid. Hizah! A doe, finally! Then out popped a buck...no confetti and kazoos for that one. They're both cute though...and small.

We moved Ariel to the back of the barn with the heat lamp and there she stayed with Granite and her 2 huge spotty bucks for the night...not happily either. Granite was in a bad mood with the new room mate and her "two brats".

Then, let's see...chore time Friday morning and Loli wasn't lookin' too hot. I got Drew on the bus in time to run back out and catch a kid...er, pull a kid. Those first fresheners don't always have an easy time...2 buck kids. DEFINITELY no confetti or kazoos. So, at that point, the last 4 does had had just 2 doe kids and 7 buck kids! Good grief.

Saturday we had electric fence on the brain and imagine this...we had to go to town...again! I checked Toddy (who was due 2 days earlier) and she had looked like she would kid for 3 days so I wasn't about to sit home and watch paint peel waiting for her. By the time we can back the poor dear was under the feeder with 2 hooves sticking out. I had to practically drag her to the back of the barn and then those CBB's (Crappy Bottle Babies) are always getting in the way so I had Rachel and Drew put them in the dungeon (A.K.A. the separation/safe pen) so I could work.

I had to pull Toddy's kid too, er help, however you want to look at it. What do you think? Break out the confetti and kazoos? Nope! DAMMIT! ANOTHER BOY. I think I cried. Maybe it was sweat, I can't remember. Fortunately for him he's so cute! After Granite's 2 buck kids and it going pretty much down hill from there Jeremiah said, "drown them"...he was kidding...I think.

Anyway, the highly anticipated (by me) yearling, Mea, was taking her sweet time. She was due Saturday. She kidded LAST night (Monday). It's not unusual for them to go over, especially if only carrying singles but any longer than 5 days and you do want to take action. We went to Wichita last night. I debated whether or not to go but hoped for the best. We didn't get home until almost 9 and I hadn't milked yet or fed the last big bottle to the CBB's (more on them later). I had locked Mea up in the back of the barn (A.K.A. the maternity ward) before we left and she was nice enough to let me finish up feeding the last CBB before she started pushing and guess what???? DOUBLE KAZOOS AND DOUBLE CONFETTI, maybe even balloons too and perhaps even a visit from Ed McMahon himself! TWO DOE KIDS! WOO HOO and I think it's even worth a YEE HAW!

::SIGH:: So, I'm reeling at the fact that the buck gods were too kind to me this year (though I wish they wouldn't have been!). I do have 2 of them sold (one spotty buck kid of Granite's is going to a breeding home and Fleur's boy (Johnny B 5 as we lovingly call him) is going to be a pet whether). As for everyone else, well, I'll do my best. "Agouti", Toddy's little single buck kid, well, I just don't know...he's too cute and quite honestly, he may be registered. I seriously doubt Jeremiah will be duped into thinking he's our new LGDG (Livestock Guardian Dog Goat). He really is a nice looking fellow, but anyway...such is life.

As for the doe kids, well, I feel like being selfish because I got so few! I do have one doe left to kid but she's not due for another 6 weeks or so so it feels like kidding season is over, just like that.

What's the final count you ask? Well, let's see...Bonnie's 2 boys ("Piddle" and "Puddle"), Fleur's one boy ("Johnny B 5") and 2 doe kids, ("Dawn" and "Willow"), Freedoe's 2 buck kids ("Birdy" and "Birdy's Brother") and one doe kid ("Chee Doe"), Granite's 2 buck kids ("Spud" and "Spot"), Ariel's buck kid (B I lost track of whatever #) and doe kid ("Scarlet Tide"), Loli's 2 buck kids (B? and B?+1), Toddy's buck kid ("Agouti") and last but not least Mea's 2 doe kids ("Ada Monroe" and "Ruby Thewes" and if you recognize those names from Cold Mountain, you'd be right. We love the movie! But you have to do the Southern accent when you say them otherwise it's just not the same.) So, yes they almost all have names, freezer boys too. Don't ask Jeremiah who's who, he couldn't tell you.We have to name them we decided. The kids can't tell who's who otherwise and sorting them becomes an issue when you say, "the brown one" and nearly all of them have SOME brown!

Bucks: 11 (!)
Does: 6

What an upset. Oh well, better luck next year.

And I'll leave you with some photos...