Skeeter D. as the Brain
So, I was wrong about both June Carter And Loretta Lynn as to their due dates I had figured them both a week later than they actually happened. And I am glad I was wrong.
First off my wife did not have to worry about a birth while I was out of town on Saturday. All she had to do was feed the boys ( Big and Rich) twice. When I first noticed that Loretta had given birth she already had the baby cleaned off. I had just done the 4:00 feeding last Tuesday and sat down on the milking stand when I looked over at Loretta because she was making a different noise than she had been previously. And there was the little one.
Loretta was kind of obsessing about licking the baby and was really aggressively licking her belly and especially the umbilical cord. I tried dipping the umbilical in iodine, but that did not help. I finally figured out that maybe she was dehydrated and gave her some molasses water which she drank right down and then more plain water until she wouldn’t drink any more. I also made sure she had some hay and a little grain since I did not remember her eating that day up to that point. I have to say that all of the food and water was within sight and easily reached, but she would not leave her baby at all and I finally had to put the baby on her udder to get it to eat, and then hide the baby under the milk stand so she didn’t keep fussing with the umbilical. I think she finally was able to leave the umbilical alone after the food and water kicked in. She also tried to consume the afterbirth, and while she ate most of it, I finally took it away and buried it.
She seems to be doing much better now though having only one kid means I have to milk her out so she does not get mastitis like Rosie did. That is also helpful in that I can feed tat milk to Rosie’s boys and save a little on the milk replacer. Besides Skeeter D. and Dolly now like to hang out together separate from the boys. I think they are having girls only slumber parties under the milking stand.
So tomorrow I turn 56. Not a big milestone though it has now been a full year since I retired from Boeing. I think I like this better than working IT. Today was spent doing various things that have been on my to-do list. With the help of Alex, her friend , and my daughter we 
moved the chickens out of the winter palace and back to the summer residence. I think they will enjoy being back out in the sunshine, and it will be easier to work on their “chicken run” with out them in that space by the shop.
I also got the Elvis tractor running. It had been sitting all winter since I did not have to ever use it to clear the driveway. In fact most of the winter the battery sat in the shop and so it took a while to get it recharged and once it was back in the tractor it took a few tries for all of the connections to fire. But, once I got it running I cleaned up a small bit of the compost and moved it to the garden area.
The garden area has been roto-tilled once and I need to till it again once more before I can rake it into beds and rows and start planting. I also got the goji plants and the lavender trimmed and cleaned out from all the fall leaves. Maybe I will get some berries on the goji this year.
I even made it to church this morning since the service was at 10:00. I have not been to church since before Easter due to having to bottle feed Rosie’s boys. It was nice to be back. Well time to get some rest, I have goats to feed, and milk in the morning.
Let’s start another year, shall we?