Potamus and the Patch

That's a Harney County sunrise. It's hard to keep the windshield clean with 35 miles of dirt road between home and the highway.

It was time for my 8 week trip to town again. Our truck has been broke down since the last trip 2 months ago and unbeknownst to me, the boss hauled it in for us some time ago to a shop so it could be repaired. He was also kind enough to loan us his truck so we could hook up our horse trailer and head out to get our errands and shopping done as well. We had to pick up straw for bedding, livestock panels to make feeders with, and a young Nubian buck, as well as replenish the pantry.

We headed out the door at 5:30 in the morning as my first Dr appt was at 12:00. That would give us time to have breakfast and maybe hit the feed store before I had to be at the hospital after our 4 hours of driving. About 20 miles down the road, the truck started to choke up. Randyman managed to get it going again and we continued on. All the way to Burns Junction...about an hour or better from home. There it quit completely. We pulled over and waited about 30 minutes before we realized it was NOT going to come back to life. 

TheMan put in a call to the boss ( a truly awesome guy ) who along with one of his sons ( another truly awesome guy ) hooked up a flatbed trailer and drove 2 trucks to come rescue us. I don’t know too many people who would drive over an hour away to bail someone out early in the morning on a cold, cold day. It was 9 degrees out. It was also 9 degrees inside the truck by the time they arrived.

I looked on as they unhooked the dead truck from our trailer, towed it around and pulled it up on the flatbed,  (really, it was a super impressive feat, the way it was accomplished. ) left us the extra truck so we could hook back up and be on the road again. It was awesome. The only downside was the heater in the extra truck didn’t work, so it was STILL about 9 degrees.

We made it to town 2 minutes before my first appt. Everything was white. 

Every tree, every single thing, was covered with ice and frost. I called the goat guy and told him we’d be there the next day as we’d be totally unable to get any errands done.

My second appt was pretty close to the first so I spent most of the day there. We left the hospital at about 5:30 and went to get something to eat. We then got a room for the night.

Next day, we started going down the list of errands. It was snowing a little and there was ice hanging from the wires underneath the dashboard of the truck. It was NOT a real comfortable situation. Hours later, we found out our own truck was ready to pick up, so we headed that way. When we got the bill we almost had a heart attack. Add to that fact that it was EXTREMELY high, they only accept cash, no credit cards. Again, Randy called the boss, who is unlike anyone we have ever met...he called in to his bank to have them make out a cashiers check so we could pick our truck up. We headed back across town to get it and agreed to split up so we could get the errands done faster. I climbed into my warm truck with the heater on full blast, grateful tears rolling down my face, thinking of how some people really live what they believe, while others only pay lip service to it. Our boss and his family, are of the former.

Later I jumped back into the loaner truck, as it was late and we had no time to switch the trailer before picking up the goat...who was supposed to be about 6 months old…just barely old enough to maybe get Anniegoat bred this winter. Turns out he is, maybe, 2 months and I suspect he had not been weaned. Slightly misrepresented, but I took him. He is cute, so we tossed him in the trailer. After taking the boss’ loaner truck to a spot we could leave it, we switched the trailer onto our own, grabbed some dinner and headed to the auto parts store to buy another plug for the trailer as we had no lights. It was so COLD!

I bought a big chamois and some tape and taped it around the little guy to make a blanket as it was cold and windy inside the trailer. Randyman arranged the strawbales to make him a little cave and we headed on home.

It was late when we got home so we left the little goat, we named “Patch” in the trailer overnight with some water.

Next morning I took him out to put him in with Annie, who immediately attacked him. I got Potamus to go in the pen where he would live, to protect him. He was TERRIFIED of dogs! Thin, frightened, traumatized, he was reactive and frightened beyond anything I have seen. Potamus went and laid down in the shelter after I had held the goat to try and make introductions. I put feed in the shelter, hoping Patch was hungry enough to approach Potamus. A wise and intuitive guardian, Potamus played dead, but would open his eyes every couple of minutes to make sure Patch was all right. He was determined to win him over. 

* note the open eyeballs when Patch isn't looking...

 I went back to check him a couple of hours later, and this is what I found.

Two goofuses that had to clown around...

It didn't take long for Potamus to win him over. Now Patch is so attached to him, he won't eat unless Potamus is near him.

I put Annie back in with the other critters and am working on a diet that will suit Patch as I don't believe he was fully weaned yet, and he has a few problems from it. Meanwhile, Bruno watches over the little band of sheep and Potamus keeps Patch safe and feeling loved.

Life is good.