As it goes...

At last the radio fencing is complete and the Polarbears are back on duty. The sheep were ecstatic to see them and it wasn’t a day too soon, as I went out to visit, just in time to see them go after an ENORMOUS coyote that was headed for the sheep. 

Sushi had her calf the next day. It’s a little heifer and she did a great job. She delivered her with no problems and mothered up like an old pro. She was protective of the baby without being aggressive towards me. I separated her and the baby into the alleyway that runs between the 3 pastures. There is plenty of feed there, but she can’t hide the baby away from me or make it impossible to move her to the milk room...which is my biggest challenge. She DOES. NOT. WANT. TO. GO.  I have no idea why she is so reluctant to go there, with or without the heifer. She has had only good experiences there and knows she gets goodies, but it’s a rodeo every morning. The odd thing is, once she is there and locked into the stanchion, she is perfectly behaved. In fact, she is the best and easiest cow I have ever milked. She never moves her feet, swishes her tail or anything. I don’t get much for my efforts though. A half gallon is the most she lets me have, although she has not yet ‘let down’. This is both good and bad. Good, because it means when I have a flare and cannot get to the milk room, it is safe to just skip that day. Bad because...well...we don’t get much milk for ourselves. That might improve though, once the baby is old enough to lock in for the night.

Meanwhile, the coyotes were attracted to the small amount of blood in the pasture from Sushi’s calving. The Maremmas were especially active that night and the subsequent couple of nights, but being back on duty has effectively repelled the coyotes and the calf and sheep are safe.

The ducks are quite large now and I hope will start laying eggs in the next couple of months. The 40 meatie chicks will be residing in the shed with them in another week or so. 

I’ve been dying to ride all summer. Mister has finally put the weight back on that he lost being in with the cavvy, and the swelling and bruises on his body from their attacks on him have all but disappeared.  

Because of SushiMoo's reluctance to go into the milk room every morning I used him to force her in a couple of times. It seems that she, like myself, is just NOT a morning person. We fight and push and cajole to get her in the stanchion, but in the evenings, she is waiting at the gate and once it is opened, she races to the milk room and into the stanchion of her own volition.

For now, I am healing up from an autoimmune attack on my leg. I spent the better part of a week with a very painful knee, the size of a watermelon. The swelling is down now and I am simply trying to recover the strength to get back at it. Luckily, sales were slow last week and there is plenty of inventory in both Soaps and Whipped Tallow for sale in the Etsy shop

EmmaLou was out cruising around….ever the ham…

The garden is finally giving me veggies….

And Potamus is surrounded by his sheeple, a very happy guy.