We had a baby goat born on Ash Wends. with White muscle disease. (Low selenium) she is deafer than all get out and quite slow. Hardly holds her head up and way behind the other babies born after her (on international polar bear day - yes I was stretching for a holiday) :-)
Anyhow Ashley as we call her has started living in her own little pen made just for her. Hopefully some day she will eat grain like all the rest. Right now even though the younger ones are eating solids, Ashley is still being bottle fed. Tiring but not as much as the next critter I'm going to tell you about.
Springer is a kitten that was born on the first day of spring to one of the juvenile stray cats. Her mom dumped her in a mud puddle by where I feed. She was so cold I thought she was dead and I was going to dispose of her when she lifted her head. It took me the better part of that day to warm her up enough to feed her. You can't feed them before they are warmed because it shuts their kidneys down. She has to be fed every 2 hours 24/7. I'm exhausted. Normally I wake up several times a night anyhow, but it sure is hard to wake up and you know . . . move. Just about the time I was going to space her feedings further apart I decided to weigh her so I could determine how far apart and how much she should be eating. Darn it anyhow she barely weighs over 1/2 of what she should so for now I have to keep feeding her like normal every 2 hours. Now I have something called nutri-cal that I am giving her. She's so small that she can't be properly dosed, so the vet said to just put a tiny amount on your finger and give it to her. She is a calico kitty. Mama wasn't a very good mama. She dumped one other calico that I did not find in time. And she had a gray and white one that she put up in the rafters of the shed. What a pain being afraid of heights and having to climb up there and get it. The next day momma was on the other side in the rafters looking around so I think she brought it back. One more time I had to climb up there but this time I found nothing. It will not surprise me if it didn't fall down behind the shelves or something. If it did, it is a goner. Mama isn't hanging around anymore so I do not know for sure.
Today we had chicks hatch. So far just three. The two chickens that fought over babies last year are doing it again this year. Last year one of them won and stole the other one's chick. They both watched them though but one did from a distance. Crazy chickens. OH! I almost forgot! One of our hens started laying light blue eggs! Light blue! Weird isn't it? Ken Maynard has one doing that too. So we've been sticking light blue eggs under anything that sits on a nest because we are dying to figure out what kind of bird they are. Even the duck has light blue eggs under her. Pretty sure the clutch of duck eggs she has are not fertile since we lost the last male duck to a stray dog someone dumped. Fortunately the duckling we rescued from the fence is male (we think), but it will be a while before he can do his duty around the farm. He's barely learned he has wings and flies only short distances right now.
Today I am making some elderberry syrup for a facebook friend. She needs to build up her immunity and supposedly elderberry does that. I tried yesterday, but Poppy informed me that the water was brown again (like it was on Easter) and for the life of me I could not remember if I had used tap water or bottled water. Better safe than sorry, so it went to the compost heap. Elderberry makes good jams and pancake syrup, so I am really looking forward to it being finished.
Another facebook friend sent me walking onions a type of wild onion that spreads. And I bought some comfrey from a friend on the homesteading forum. Another friend of a FB friend is sending me more comfrey but of a different variety. Also bought some stinging nettles from another forum friend - that was the order from hades. First it got lost, so she sent it again. What I received was a fraction of what I ordered. So we have been working it out. Near as I can tell the post office damaged her box and unpackaged her stuff and sent it on in an envelope. At first I was thinking man I got burned, but I told her not to bother with sending it again because the one tuber I have is still viable. Man do I feel bad because I no sooner shot off the message saying not to send it when she sent me one saying it was sent and even gave a delivery confirmation number. I told her she has gone way above and beyond the call of duty and that I would be pulling my hair out by now. She has tried and tried and every time something has happened. I am going to have to make something for her and send it to her, she has tried so hard to make things right. It's rare to come across someone with those kind of business ethics and morals. So now you are caught up with what little herbalism stuff I have been dabbling with. Unless of course you can tell me why I ordered a 1/2 pound of juniper berries. By the time I had gotten them I forgot what I wanted to do with them. I've searched bookmarks, pinns, and files on the computer and still have come up empty handed. Even running a search for juniper berries has left me empty handed. <sigh>
Not sure if we will have a garden this year. Poppy hasn't tilled. And ever since he *fixed* my little tiller (because it was designed wrong) I can not get it to start. He finally weed wacked the vegetable garden two nights ago, and declared he will borrow a tractor and till it - even opened up the fence so he can get the tractor in. Unfortunately most of my plants that I bought have gone to waste. Broccoli. cabbage, cauliflower, collards, brussel sprouts, it is too late to plant. Ditto with the peanuts I think. And the potato's sitting in a bag on my counter. Most of the onion sets have died. And the garlic isn't smelling so hot any more. By the time it gets tilled it will really be triple digit heat here and pretty much to hot to plant anything. On the upside though - those Tabasco peppers we got from our tour of Avery Island several years ago have finally succeeded in sprouting! I have been trying for years to get those babies to sprout!
Well it is time to feed the kitten so we will have to chat more later.
Dirt
Granny
*****Since this is my first blog post I will explain the *Dirt, Granny*
My mother (R.I.P.) used to sign her letters and emails Lilacs - her favorite flower. So I started signing mine dirt. When my son was little he got upset with me for not paying attention to him while he was talking and I was gardening so I had to stop and explain to him that I loved him more then dirt. So that is how I always sign my letters and emails to him. Sometimes to other family members as well.
