I watch Liese until she turns out of site over the hill, by now Caleb and Gabriella have wrestled Murph back in the dog pen and are headed off to help look for the pig, I see Bumble and Caleb in the garden, and Liese running to join them, They must have found it.
Back to tying the chain link down. Boo shoos Bessie out of the way so I can get to work, and finds more baling twine for the project. Bessie heads off somewhere, I guess now that I am between the pigs and the “calves” she thinks it’s OK to go get her after milking drink.
I see Caleb, Gabriella and Bumble bringing the pig, they get it in the field, goats are milling everywhere….the pig won’t herd into the pen..and we can’t hold the door open or the others will get out. Great, now what?…We corral it in the milking area, I call for a bucket of milk and put it down in front of the pig, it dives in…I call Caleb and tell him that we are going to have to drag it by it’s back legs..he just looks at me and then gets ready to grab it. I have a cut on my hand from the other day…I really don’t want to grab the muddy hind leg of this 65 lb pig…..OK GO!
We grab at the same time, and both get a leg!! The pig goes nuts..I mean nuts..it starts screaming and kicking and thrashing..its all we can do to hold on to it. I yell for the girls to get the door ready..one opens it the other stands ready to repel any pigs that make a break for it…..my leg is killing me and Caleb doesn’t look any better…we drag the pig into the pen, and none of the others get out…one of the girls slams the gate shut, whew!!!
Ohhh my hand though. The cut is burning, I look down and there is mud and who knows what else ground into it. Owww, I look around and see the bucket of raw unpasteurized milk sitting there…I wonder??? The people on the “Family Cow Forum” that I belong to insist the raw milk helps their cuts….I’ve got nothing to loose, in to the bucket goes my hand. I scrub out all the crud, and pull my hand out…it stops hurting..no way. It is like someone put numbing stuff on it, but it feels soothed…I tell anyone who has a cut to put their hands in the bucket and wash…especially Caleb. They find the same result.
Squeal, crash..Great the new pig hasn’t been told by Bessie to stay put and be quiet. it is trying to get out.
Sigh, back to tying off the chain link panel.
I bend over wanting to cry, my leg hurts, the stupid pigs are making things really hard trying to tie, they keep trying to eat the string..there..almost done…..SCHLOORP!! Wha?? Something soft and warm pushes me foreword..
I turn and realize that Bessie is standing there behind me. She has just given me a “love lick” Cows are really selective in who they lick (kiss), it is high praise and a sign of great affection. The kids get licks…kisses all the time, but I don’t so much. I just stop and stare…she stares back, blinking her huge brown eyes..Awww she is so sweet, I stop and hug her head and then she gives me a “neck hug” This is where you are standing next to her and she folds her neck back towards her tail around you and “hugs” you. Another sign of affection.
The kids all stare and then everyone comes up and loves on the wonderful cow. She is so soothing, such a peaceful soul full of love and peace. Really nice creature to be around. We just love her. leaning on her warm side I relax, we did it, despite hurting and all craziness we did it. My “little” kids were so great! I look up and out over the farm…..ACKKKK noooo the goats……all 16 of them are flowing out the “almost closed” gate..the one we brought the pig through. The buck (Billy goat) must have butted it all the way open. They head up the driveway at a run, they must be heading toward the fire station’s tasty hedges. The kids don’t even say a word, they take off at a run after them, Bumble close on their heels.
They aren’t going to be able to turn the herd. The goats have too much of a head start, nuts, they are getting too far ahead. Bumble surges ahead and turns the leader…he has to body slam her to get her to turn, but he does it. Now they are milling about, I yell to the kids to grab collars of goats, listing the leaders that roam first.
One of the bucks mills by me, I grab his collar and drag his sorry butt back to the field, The kids are bringing goats back as fast as they can…but the ones they are bringing are the easy ones.. of course, that’s what I did. I see one of the particularly wild ones heading toward the garden at a run…”Caleb!! get Creamy!!”
We have worked with her quite a bit, but until you get a hold of that collar its a no go. The poor kid turns and hobbles toward her, but she takes off at a sprint… a yellow flash streaks after her and the race is on. Bumble chases her all over the field, but she won’t herd, he tries his chest slam, but she turns back on herself and takes off in the other direction. He is running flat out trying everything in the book, but she is being naughty…I am done, I give him the “code word” at the same time Caleb does from up the drive….”GET HER BUMBLE!” The Rumble dives right in and “GRIPS” her…no easy task as goats don’t have fleece, just hair, somehow he has figured out how to bite and hold their hide without injuring them. It is a big no no in sheep dog trials, but goats are much “harder” than sheep, and this one in particular is really difficult.
Now the tricky part…he has to work her down from a run..if he just pulls back he will lose his grip, and if he bites down hard enough that he doesn’t lose his grip, he will literally rip a hole in her side. His technique is to run beside her holding on far back enough that she can’t get him with her horns, and he then makes himself “heavy” by running slower and pulling back slightly. Nuts, he lost her, she slipped him…but he puts on a burst of speed and dives right back in and grabs her again…it takes a while, but he drags her down to a stop…about 10 feet from me. What a good boy. She knows it’s over and just stands there while I get her collar. I tell him how good he is, but he is already gone to help the kids get the rest of the goats…
I put Creamy back in the field, and help Boo who is about to be drug off by one of the goats, bless her, she isn’t letting go, but the goat is doing its best to take off. I get that one from her and put it away.
Liese is bringing up the baby goats with swift kicks to their rears if they try to turn….”Caleb!!! quick, get Rudolf!!!!” Rudolf used to be nice, but he is getting nasty, not all the way there yet, but he is going to be one of those nasty billy goats you hear about. Right now, he isn’t aggressive..he would be in the dog’s bellies if he were, but he will run into you and isn’t careful at all around Liese, and he is heading her way……
Caleb sees this and about jumps out of his skin he almost gets Rudolf, but he loses him at the last second. Then Bumble is there, with all of his “Rumble” attitude, he tries once to herd the goat, but Rudolf gives him the slip…I guess Bumble is about done too, because he jumps up and lunges at the goat, who trips and goes flying into the ditch. Bumble leaps in after it, but it whips around and head butts Bumble hard, and takes off at a run up the fence line.
Bumble is only 1 year old, and still really a puppy. he tries really hard, and is an incredible dog, but he is really, really, young to be a “working” dog.
The bucks are really big, and he won’t challenge them, even young Rudolf. Well, today its over….he leaps up and takes off after the buck with fire in his eyes..as fast as he can and with a purpose that I have not seen before..I look behind them and see Caleb running after his dog, with the same look in his eyes. The goat has no give in his expression, so I run/hobble to intercept, and Caleb swings wide to keep Rudolf from going off into the field. Bumble is bringing up the rear, and the other goats are scattering out of his way fast. Rudolf looks at me, I guess I looked pretty serious too, I know I had decided that if I got a hold of him he was going straight to the butchering tripod….Anyway he looks at me and then back at Bumble, and then at Caleb, and chooses to dive at a run through the really “hot” multi-strand electric wire fence into the field.
We get the other goats rounded up with Bumble’s help, and put them away in the field. The kids get Bessie and put her in the upper field away from the evil pony, and head to the house to put the tools away. Gabriella comes with me to check on Sweetie one last time. She seems OK, so I head up to the house, while Gabriella goes and opens the hay mow for the goats, so they don’t try to get out again.
We just hang out for the rest of the day and relax.
I am really proud of the way all the kids handled themselves, they were so brave and hard working, I don’t think there was one person who didn’t have a pulled muscle, but all was well at the end of the day.
I am blessed.
I didn’t have any unpacked, but these blocks were in their box in the closet, so I went and got them out for her to use. We finished the lesson with her wanting to play with the set the whole time. She was so good!
“Anchor Stones are made almost the same way now as they were over 100 years ago. Ground quartz, chalk, linseed oil and coloring are mixed, then pressed into precisely shaped molds. Even the instruction books and wooden boxes that hold the stones are reproduced from the original packaging.”
any who, here are some pix of the kids playing and their creations. I’m not sure how old our set is, but It may be well over 100 years old, and has been really well loved. We think of the other children that have played with them and wonder about their lives and what they did while they were growing up. The children just love it..thinking of all the “other” hands that had fun creating with the stones and what they or their children might be doing today.
