The Good Life

Kidding season is not for the faint of heart: there is plenty to do between giving birth, taking care of the moms and kids, bottle feed the babies, milk the does and feed the goats, sheep, lamas and chicken. Tonight, Derek and I are on the night watch, just like last night and our last check is at 2 a.m.  so it is easier to stay awake until 2 and then go to bed. We don’t have to get up early tomorrow so hopefully we will sleep in. The last couple days my clothes I’ve been smelling like milk (thanks to the kiddies for spilling milk all over every time!) so it is about time to do laundry. And I also smell like goats. Well I can’t really smell myself but Derek smells like goats so I assume I smell like goats too : )

The hardest thing for me so far is when we take the babies away from the moms: for days they just moan and cry and it is the sound of ultimate suffering. I am not kidding, this is just horrible to be around the moms, especially when you have several going nuts for days. I hate it and I try to give them attention: I talk to them, give them little back rubbers, etc. It works for a little while until I walk away and they start going crazy again. Poor goats!

This morning I had to help for another delivery but unfortunately, the baby was dead when it came out. It did not come out fast enough and suffocated (the umbilical cord broke while the baby was still inside). I keep trying to think of what I could have done differently but I can’t think of anything. I guess it happens sometimes and there is nothing we can do. The bright side of the story is that the mom “Fleezy” had two other healthy babies so that made me feel a little better. Another little guys did not make it through the night either: after fighting 24 hours for his life, he gave up. He had liquid in his lungs, which happens sometime when you bottle feed them and they don’t really suck, it goes in the wrong way. What a day today!

Sunday morning, I had another great delivery experience where I had to go in and help pull the kid out and everything went well. It was a great feeling to relieve that goat “Silly” whose been trying hard for hours. It is also amazing to see how goats are different: some of them have a maternal instinct right away and others don’t really care much for the kids. I guess it is kind of similar with our people. “Silly” is a great mom.

Few days ago, a sheep just had triplets (2 black and 1 white lamb), which is rare for sheep, and it was interesting to see how Mother Nature works. We witnessed natural selection at its best; let me explain. We started noticing that one little gal was  not getting much attention from the mother and was always put aside. When we tried to hook up this little gal to the mom, the mom would reject her, pushing her away and making weird noises.  Ed told us that sometimes the mom knows that she does not have enough milk for 3 kids so she just picks one, usually the weakest, and ignores him or her until death. It sounds horrible but it is also pretty amazing to think of how smart animals can be. Why endangered 3 lives when you can just cut one short right away and save the other two? We then removed the little gal and put her with the other baby goats and we bottle-feed her. She is doing fine, adapting to her new life with her adopted brothers and sisters. Life goes on.

One of the goats, “Fantasia” is been having trouble for the last 48 hours. All the signs show that she is ready to have a baby except that nothing is happening. The poor thing looks very uncomfortable and she is not eating. Being organic, we are very limited as far as what we can give the goat to make things happen. I had to force 4 capsules of evening primrose oil into her vagina, and it was not an easy thing to do. As I am writing tonight, we are still waiting for something to happen… The funny thing is that vets in general don’t know much about goats, and what to do with them. Let’s not even talk about organic remedies: they don’t know anything about that. Vicky was telling me that regulations for an organic dairy farm are really tough, with silly rules, and that there is only 1 or 2 per states, in only 1o states. It makes me upset that they make it so hard for farmers to be organic.

We’ve had snow for the last couple days and I am surprised because Sunday and Monday where sunny and “warm” (about 40 degrees) and I thought that spring was here. We had a nice day off on Monday and went for a nice walk in the snow. We also went out for pizza in the only pizzeria in town and it was very good.

I’ve been thinking about the life of a goat: have babies and give milk. I do feel sorry for them as it feels like slavery but they seem to have a good life and are happy most of the time (except when we take the babies away…). We should have yogurt and cheese withing a couple weeks. Can’t wait for that.

We also started milking the goats by hand this week: we milk all the moms that we took the babies away twice a day. I am not too fast at milking yet but I am improving. Derek already has his favorite goat, “Silly” with enormous teats: the other kids have to really fight Derek to get access to them! It does make a difference to have a goat with tiny or big teats though; especially in the amount of time you spend milking her.  And it also depends on the goats you have to milk because some are easier than others.

We also got the milking parlor (where we milk the goats) and the milking room (where we store the milk) ready for production with  a spring cleaning and fresh coat of paint. But the kids, milking an taking care of the animals are taking most of our time. Friday, Saturday and sunday we are “on duty” which means we are responsible for the goats: we start at 6 am to feed all the animals, the babies, milk the does and check every two hour on the does, and do the secong milking at 6 pm. It is a long day. We split the responsabilities (day and night) between 6 people so we end up doing 3 days and two nights.  And when we are not “on duty” then it does not mean that we have the day off as there is always something to do around here. 

Last week after seeing the cute little lamb, I debated whether i could eat lamb again or not. Well, few days ago we had a leg of lamb for dinner, that I roasted with rosemary, and i made a curry dish with the left over. Everybody liked it but i did not care for it: i disliked the smell  and the taste so it looks like no more lamb for me.

Okay, I have to stay awake one more hour before I have to check on the does…I think I can do it.

CC

Hi everyone,

We got lots of snow this week:  8 inches a couple different days, and it is beautiful outside. The last couple days have been warming up and it is starting to melt. Derek went cross-crountry skiing for the first time this week and the half frozen baby lamb that we found Saturday in the early morning is doing great; we just put her and the mom out with all the other sheep, in the outdoor pen.

On a eu beaucoup de neige cette semaine et c’est super beau dehors. Ces derniers jours ont ete un peu plus chaud et la neige commence a fondre. Derek a fait une premiere tentative avec le ski de fond et il s’est bien debrouille. L’agneau qu’on a trouve a moitie gele se porte bien et on l’a mise avec sa mere, dehors avec les autres moutons.

The first kids showed up on March 1st and three kids were born within an hour. Two births happened on their own and two others needed help. I had my first hands-on experience as far as delivering my first two baby goats, and one of them was kind of an emergency. Honestly, I am surprised that the baby was still alive when it came out. The head was out and normaly, you should have the legs and the head comimg out, so without help the baby was not going anywhere. We tried to pull on the head but nothing happened so we tried to push the baby back inside, with not luck. I would call this delivery a traumatic experience  for the mama ,as it was hard to watch her go through hell and suffer so much, and for me, as I had to stick my hand in her vagina and try to find the baby’s leg while only the head was sticking out. I was under a lot of pressure because I knew that if I didn’t do it right, the baby will surely die. Being inside the goat vagina was bizarre and there is not much room in there to do anything. Plus, she was trying really hard to push me out of there. After what seems like an eternity, I found the leg so I wrapped my hand around the hoof to protect the mom’s uterus and slowly brought the legs outside. And then the baby was out. You have to be careful to not tear the uterus when you try to pull the legs out . Right after I was done with this goat, I had to go help another one. This one was not as traumatic: I went inside her to make sure the baby was in the right position ( which is usually head and two front legs first) and it was so I just had to pull the legs and the baby came out. The mom was just having a hard time pushing and the baby would not come out. I guess it happens a lot with the first time moms because they don’t really know what to do.

Les premiers bebes sont arrives et on en a eu trois en une heure! Au total 4 meres on accouche, 2 accouchements se sont passes sans probleme, et deux avec des difficultes. La deuxieme naissance etait un peu dur, pour la mere et pour moi: pour la mere car elle souffrait beaucoup et pour moi car j’ai du l’aider pour l’accouchement et c’etait dur mentalement. D’ailleurs, je suis surprise que le petit etait en vie apres tout ce drame: seulement la tete etait sorti et rien ne se passait pendant plusieurs minutes.Alors j’ai du mettre un gant et je suis alle a l’interieur pour essayer d’attraper la petite patte et de la faire sortir en premier. C’est pas facile d’etre a l’interieur du vagin d’une chevre car il n’y a pas beucoup d’espace et elle essayer de pousser pour te faire sortir de la. En plus il faut aussi faire tres attention de ne pas abimer l’uterus de la chevre. Bref c’etait laborieux!Ca arrive souvent d’avoir des difficultes pendant les naissance avec les jeunes meres car elles ne savent pas trop comment faire.

All the moms so far have been good moms, cleaning their babies, being affectionate and letting them nurse. I guess sometimes they are not as cooperative and they don’t really care about their babies. The mom and the kids stay together for 3 days before being separated. I am not looking forward to it because it is going to be heartbreacking I am sure. Although I know human feelings don’t apply to animals I am sure a mom is a mom, and it does not matter if you are a goat or a human. Separation is happening tomorrow so I have a full day to get myself ready for that. 

Jusqu’a present toutes les meres ont l’instinct maternelle: elle leche leurs petits, s’occupe d’eux et les laisse se nourir. Quelques fois, il arrive qu’elle rejete leurs petits. Ici, a la ferme, on laisse les petits 3 jours avec leurs meres avant de les separer et j’imagine que ca va etre difficile, aussi bien pour la maman et le bebe que pour moi. La separation est pour demain alors j’ai 24 heures pour m’y faire.

As far as what we do with the kids, well, everybody is not fortunate. We are going to keep the girls of the best adult moms and the rest is going to be sold for meat, as there is a big demand for goat meat amomg the Mexican community. I know I don’t like this side of the business but I am not fighting reality: as cute as they are, they are going to end up in someone’s freezer! I understand and accept it but I still don’t like it. Night shift is tough as we have to get up every 4 hours to check for new birth and feed the babies. We try to get them used to the baby bottle so they are ready when we take them away from the mom and they know how to feed themselves. Anyway, waking up at midnight and 4 am to go from a warm bed to the cold  night is pretty radical, especially when you are only half awake. Every time I go out on a night watch I pray for no new born so I can go back to bed as soon as possible!

Pour ce qui est des enfants, tous n’ont pas la meme chance. En effet, tous les garcons vont etre vendus pour la viande, qui est tres apprecie dans les communautes mexicaine, et seulement certaines filles (celles dont les meres donnent le plus de lait) aurant la chance de rester; les autres aussi finiront dans le congelateur. Je n’aime pas trop ca mais bon, c’est pas mes oignons. Se reveiller toutes les 4 heures la nuit n’est pas tres facile, surtout de sortir d’un lit bien chaud pour aller dans la nuit noire et glaciale. Je prie pour qu’il n’y ai pas de naissances la nuit afin que je puisse aller me coucher le plus vite posible!

Here’s some new pictures. Enjoy!

Voici quelques photos. J’espere que vous aimerez.

CC

P.S. We just had our first triplets a couple hours ago and it was an easy birth (meaning the goat did a good job on her own). The last baby came out with his butt first, which is not normal, but everything was okay. We were ready to take action if necessary. Pictures to follow on a later blog.

P.S. On vient juste d’avoir des triplets il y a deux heures et c’etait une naissance facile, pour la chevre je veux dire, car elle n’a pas eu besoin d’aide. Le petit dernier est arrive dans une mauvaise position (fesse en premier) mais tout s’est bien passe. On etait pres a intervenir au cas ou. Je mettrais les photos un peu plus tard.

Today is Sunday, February the 27th and it’s been snowing all day and it is cold. We are not doing anything special for Deezie’s birthday, just feeding the lamb and trying to keep the fire going in the fireplace.

Here’s a bunch of pictures I took this week that I would like to share with you.

Have a great week!

CC

Yesterday was a very special day, full of emotions: a little lamb (a big girl to be more specific) was born sometime during the night, one of the coldest nights since we’ve been here (it got down to below 0 degree when she was born)…. Here’s the story.

During the morning chores, I was refilling the water for the lamas and the sheep when I noticed a lonely sheep standing by a tree, about 40 feet from me. I could not see very well what was happening (I guess I need to have my vision checked!) but I thought I saw something lying on the ground. I watched the sheep for a couple minutes until I saw a movement coming from something on the ground and that’s when I knew it was a new born. I rushed back to the house to let Ed know and grabbed a towel to wrap the lamb in. Derek jumped over the fence and went to fetch the one that was still alive-the other one froze to death. I carried her down to the house, wrapped in the towel while trying to warm her up, which was not easy as I was cold myself. In the house, we started a fire, put her by the fireplace and started massaging her vigorously to try to warm her up. She did not look too good: the end of her tail was frozen and her legs were so cold. She was very weak and could not even hold her head. We gave her an energy boost. She stayed in the house for a couple hours, in hope that she would get better. During that time we went to catch the mama and isolated her in a pen; she was not happy that we took her baby away. Inside the house, the little gal was warming up and we gave her some colostrums milk, which is fatty milk that the mom produces the first week or so after giving birth and baby needs it to get strong. It does not taste good (Derek tried it!) so you don’t want to use it to make cheese. Then we took her down to see her mama and it was very touching to see them reuniting and talking to each other. The little one was still very weak and at this point she would not stand on her legs so we put her under a heat lamp. After few minutes, she stood up and went to lie down in a corner. We put her back under the heat lamp because it was cold and she was still shivering. You don’t want to separate the baby and the mom for too long otherwise the mom might not recognize the baby and refuse to feed her. We checked on her every hour or so and she seemed to be doing better every time but she still wouldn’t drink the milk out of her mom’s teats so we fed her milk (that we took from the mom) with a syringe the whole day yesterday and tried the baby bottle today. We did the feeding at 8pm last night, Ed did the midnight one and Derek and I are did the 4am one. It was hard to get out of bed into the cold, dark and snowy morning and it takes practice to find your way with a headlamp! But it was worth it to see this little gal drink her milk. We caught the mom against the wall and Derek forced the baby to drink out of the teat. It was a miracle when she started sucking on it; such a little/simple thing that made me feel so happy. It is good for the baby and for us so we don’t have to feed her every 4 hours in the middle of the night.

Anyway, it was a very special experience because I got to feed her while she was on my lap.  She is getting stronger every time I see her. I did not even mind that she pooped all over my pants or that I had colostrums milk running down my sleeves or that my fingers were numb from the cold: this moment will be with me for the rest of my life. Sometimes, you gotta do what you gotta do and not even think about it twice. I am not sure when this little gal was born but she is a lucky one, a real survivor. She is a tough little one and she made it through 2 nights and a full day. The power of life is just amazing and she taught us a good lesson about life. I keep praying that she is going to survive and be a healthy lamb. And no, I don’t think about a rack of lamb or lamb chops when I see her; she is too precious for that and she fought so hard to stay alive that she deserves to live. Hopefully, the owner will keep her : )

Hier etait un jour tres special pour moi: la naissance d’un agneau (une fille) pendant la nuit, la nuit la plus froide depuis que nous sommes ici (a peu pres moins 20 degres). Le recit suit.

Pendant que je remplissais la bassine d’eau pour les lamas et les moutons/brebis, je me suis appercus d’une brebis qui etait toute seul, eloignee des autres. Je ne pouvais pas tres bien voir mais j’avais l’impression qu’il y avait quelques choses par terre, a ces cotes. Et puis j’ai vu quelques choses bouger et je savais a ce moment qu’il y avait un agneau par terre. J’ai couru vers la maison pour aller chercher Ed et une serviette pour enrouler le petit agneau dedans. On a ramener l’agneau a la maison et on a allume un feu pour essayer de la rechauffer. On lui a donne le lait de sa mere mais elle n’a pas beaucoup bu. Elle etait tres faible, sa queue etait congelee et ses pattes tres froides. Elle etait tres faible et ne pouvait meme pas lever la tete. On l’a laisse pres du feu et on est alle chercher la mere pour la mettre a l’ecart ; elle n’etait pas tres contente qu’on lui est prise son bebe. Quand on est revenu, la petite etait un peu plus chaude alors on a decide qu’il etait temps de la mettre avec sa mere.  On ne veut pas separer la mere et l’enfant trop lentent car il est possible que la mere ne le reconnaisse pas et ne veule pas le nourrir. La reunion entre les 2 etait tres touchante mais la petite etait toujours faible et ne tenait pas sur ses pattes. On  l’a donc mise sous le lampe chauffante. Apres quelques minutes elle s’est tenue sur ses pattes et elle etait trop mignonne. On allait la voir toutes les heures et elle allait un peu mieux a chaque fois. On lui donnait a boire le lait de la mere a l’aide d’une seringue hier et aujourd’hui on a essaye de lui donner le biberon. On s’est leve a 4 heure ce matin pour la faire manger et heureusement elle a tete sa mere. C’etait pas facile de sortir du lit a 4 heures du mat surtout quand tu sais qu’il fait froid, qu’il fait nuit noire et qu’il neige. Mais bon ca vallait le coup. Quandon est retourne a 12h aujourd’hui, elle ne voulait pas teter alors on lui a donne le biberon avec le lait de sa mere. Trop mignon.  Si seuleument elle tetait toute seule, on auraitt pas a se lever en pleine nuit.

C’etait vraiment une experience tres speciale que je n’oublierais jamais, specialement quand je lui ai donne le biberon. Je me moque d’avoir de la merde partout sur mon pantalon, ou que mes doigts soient geles ou meme que je doive me lever a 4 heures. C’est juste un moment inoubliable. En tout cas, elle est bien chanceuse d’etre toujours en vie. Je prie pour qu’elle devienne forte et soit en bonne sante. Et non, je ne pense pas a elle en terme de cotelettes d’agneau : elle est trop mignonne et speciale pour cela : ) 

Everything is still going well here but it is a bit colder this past week; it snowed all day yesterday and tonight is going to be the coldest night since we’ve been here. Everyone on the farm went skiing today and cross-country skiing is the big thing to do around here with miles and miles of trails. We are thinking about renting some skis and try one of these days. I haven’t skied in 15 years! I guess it might not be the right time to break my leg.

Tout se passe toujours bien ici mais il fait un peu plus froid cette semaine; il a neige toute la journee hier et ce soir ils annoncent tres froid. Tout le monde est parti faire du ski aujourd’hui et le ski de fond est tres populaire ici avec des kilometres de pistes. Un de ces jours, on va louer des skis et essaye d’en faire pour quelques heures. Ca fait 15 ans que je n’ai pas skie et peut etre que ce n’est pas le moment de me casser une pate!

So far this week, we’ve been focusing on trying to get things done for birthing, with the first kids showing up around March 4th. We should be getting around 100/120 kids, all the way through April so the busy season is coming up! We built some pens for the mom and the kids to have some privacy for the first few days and got everything related to kidding and birthing cleaned up and ready for the big day. We also made sure we had some heat lamps and heated buckets ready for them as well. Bring them on, we are ready ( I think).

Cette semaine on se prepare pour les naissances, et les premiers bebes devraient arriver le 4 mars. On devrait avoir entre 100 et 120 bebes chevres, jusqu’au mois d’avril, alors on va pas s’ennuyer! On leur a construit un enclos pour les premiers jours apres les naissances afin qu’elles puissent etre en paix avec leur bebes. On a aussi des lampes chauffantes et des sceaux chauffant. On est pret pour les naissances, enfin je crois!

We started participating with the chores in the morning which consist in feeding the sheep, goats and chickens and collecting the chicken eggs. First, we start with feeding the bucks (they do stink!) and the sheeps with hay. Then, we move the goats from the upper barn to the lower barn to give them some grains (which we do once a day now and will do twice a day when we milk them) and also give  them a chance to excercise. Then, we bring them back and feed them some hay and put clean straw on their bedding.  We are starting to be more vigilant, especially withthe ones who are going  to give birth first, and look for unusual behavior such as restlessness, heaving breathing, isolation, refusal to eat, etc. We also have to check their rear everyday to make sure everything is normal. One young mother had a miscarriage the other day so we need to keep track and give appropriate care when needed.

On aide le matin avec les corves qui consiste a nourir les chevres, moutons et poulets et ramasser les oeufs. On commence par nourir les boucs et les moutons; ensuite on emmene les chevres dans une autre grange afin de leur donner des grains et ca leur permet aussi de faire un peu d’exercise. Ensuite on les ramene dans la premiere grange et on leur donne a manger. On rajoute aussi du foin par terre tous les jours afin que ce soit plus confortable pour ces dames. On est a l’affut de changements dans le comportement de celles qui sont enceintes comme agitation, refus de manger, respiration saccadee, etc…Et il faut aussi regarder leur derriere tous les jours pour voir si tout va bien de ce cote la. Une jeune mere a fait une fausse couche la semaine derniere alors il faut etre vigilant si jamais elles ont besoin de soin.

Getting acquainted with the goats is not always easy because they can be really sweet and charming but they can also be a pain in the butt. They do test your patience throughout the day and I do get frustrated sometimes.  This morning was a bit more challenging getting the young ones to the lower barn because goats  can be pretty sturborn and they don’t like to be told what to do (I guess it sounds just like me)!

C’est pas si facile de cotoyer les chevres tous les jours car elles peuvent etre si douces et charmantes mais aussi tres chiantes. Elles savent comment depasser les bornes et j’avoue que quelque fois je perds ma patience. Ce matin, c’etait pas marrant d’essayer de faire bouger les jeunes chevres en direction de l’autre grange car elles peuvent etre tres tetues et n’aiment pas qu’on leur dise ce qu’elles doivent faire. Un peu comme moi en gros!

A couple days ago, when i went to check on the goats in the afternoon, I was surprised too see the baby lamb (no name yet but I think it is a boy) outside the pen.  As I got closer, I could see that he was scared and that the mom was not too happy to see me. He did not try to run away from me so I grabed him and put him back with his mom, on the other side of the fen. It was a very special moment, as it was my first time holding a week-old lamb in my arms, but his coat was not as soft as I would have expected it to be. He’s a cutie, wait until you see his picture.

Il y a quelques jours, j’etais surprise de voir le petit agneau (qui n’a pas encore de nom mais qui est un garcon je pense) a l’exterieur de son enclos. Quand je me suis approchee, je pouvais voir qu’il avait peur et que la mere n’etait pas tres contente de ma presence si pres de son petit. Il n’a pas essaye de se sauver alors je l’ai attrape et je l’ai remis dans son enclos, avec sa maman. C’etait un moment tres special pour moi car c’etait la premiere fois que je prenais un agneau dans mes bras, mais sa fourure n’etait pas aussi douce que ce que j’aurais pense. Il est trop mignon, attends de voir les photos!

Yesterday I made some chunky applesauce with the apple from the orchads, with just a sprinkle of cinnamon and it was delicious. This week’s highlights for dinners were: rosemary roasted chicken, enchiladas, butternut squash soup and some hot chili that I could barely eat because I made it so spicy (I used tequila peppers , which are new to me, and they were hot!).

Hier j’ai aussi fait de la compote de pommes avec des morceaux et de la cannelle: c’etait si bon! Les bons petits plats de cette semaine etaient: un poulet roti avec du romarin, des enchiladas, de la soupe au potiron et du chili qui etait bien trop epice a mon gout.

Derek dried some walnuts and almonds this week. Dried nuts are very tasty and they are much lighter. I was told they are also easier to digest. Derek got busted for eating Vicky’s private stash of nuts so he had to replace it. It is not a hard thing to do just time consuming. Derek loves nuts, what can we do about it? He also spends hours cracking walnuts, which is very relaxing according to him, and everyone is happy that he is doing it.

Derek a fait secher des noix et des amandes cette semaine. Les noix seches sont plus legeres et plus facile a digerer il parait. Derek a mange toutes les noix de Vicky alors il a du les remplaces. C’est pas dur a faire mais ca prend du temps. Selon Derek, craquer les noix delassent. Tant mieux s’il aime ca comme ca tout le monde en profite. Cet homme adore les noix, que voulez vous faire.

Okay, that’s it for now. I will try to stay warm today.

C’est tout pour maintenant. Je vais essayer de ne pas attraper froid.

CC

Hi/ Bonjour,

Everything is going well for both of us in Northern Washington and i love being in the North Cascades. It is absolutely gorgeous and i don’t even mind the cold so much. Okay, i have to admit: i have so many layers on that it is hard to move around…but i like it!

Tout va bien pour nous dans le Nord de l’etat de Washington et j’aime beaucoup les Cascades. C’est super beau et le froid ne m’embete pas du tout. D’accord, je l’admets, j’ai tellement de vetements que je ne peux meme pas bouger…mais j’adore quand meme!

We are staying in the home of Ed and Vicky, the owners of Sunny Pine Farm, and we are really living the life up here. They are both very nice people and very knowledgeable about lots of things i don’t know about so learning is more than just limited to goats; I am thrilled to be learning about drying and preserving food, pruning fruit trees, and cooking awesome dinners with delicious organic food along with taking care of the goats.

Nous logeons chez Vicky et Ed, les proprietaires de Sunny Pine Farm, et nous menons la belle vie ici. Ils sont tous les 2 tres gentils et ont une bonne culture generale, et j’adore apprendre des tas de choses, en plus de l’elevage de chevres. Notemment, je decouvre les joies de secher et conserver la nouriture, de tailler les arbres fruitiers, de cuisinier des repas fantastiques  mais aussi j’apprends enormenent concernant l’elevage de chevres.

We went hiking in the snow today and it was amazing; we saw 3 bald eagles, which are my favorite birds, and it was very peaceful.

Nous avons fait une randonnee dans la neige aujourd’hui et c’etait incroyable; on a vu 3 aigles (mes oiseaux preferes!) et c’etait si tranquile.

We haven’t worked with the goats much so far, except for hooves trimming and cleaning up the barn, but the busy season is coming up in a couple weeks when the kids are coming and we have to bottle feed them every 4 hours. That should be interesting, especially at 2 a.m. when it is 7 degrees outside. I guess i have a couple weeks to get ready for that. By the way, hooves trimming is a hard thing to do where you have to clip and file the hooves  while wrestling with the goat to try to keep it in place, which is not an easy thing to do. I had a lot of trouble doing this task, which unfortunately needs to be done every month or so.

On n’a pas enormement travailler avec les chevres encore, sauf pour tailler les sabots et nettoyer l’etable, mais d’ici 2 semaines, on ne va pas s’ennuyer car les petits arrivent et il va falloire leur donner le biberon toutes les 4 heures. Ca devrait etre interessant, de se lever a 2 heures du matin quand il fait -10 degres….Bon, j’ai 2 semaines pour me faire a cette idee!

Here’s some pictures. More to follow when i get a chance.

Voici queques photos. J’en ajoute plus des que je peux.

Be Happy!

CC