Preparations

Such a busy time of the year. Is everyone as busy as I am? Maybe you're busier, although I don't envy you that. It's been go go go since we got home from Thanksgiving. The illness combined with the driving all night to get home really knocked me out for almost a week and a half. Naturally this is also the time when my business is at it's peak and I'm required to have Christmas sculptures finished. I've decided I'm doing things differently next year. No more working my fingers to the bone (quite literally) right up until Christmas. This is supposed to be a fun time of the year, a time to celebrate with family. It's a time to be joyful, not utterly exhausted...falling into bed every night. Next year will be different.

There is also a big event getting ready to happen. Well it's a big event to me anyways. Our Nubian goat is about to have her babies. She's got about two weeks left until the big day. I'm actually quite anxious (nervous?) about this. It's the first time something has been born here....that is if you don't count the one cockatiel that hatched from the clutch of six eggs. Anyways, I'm super excited! Dym, the goat, is getting wider and wider each day. She's always starving and will literally knock you over to get to food (as would most pregnant women). The dilemma was where was she going to have the kids. She has a small stall in the horse shed that I lock her in nightly to keep her safe but it just wasn't the kind of place to give birth. First of all there are no lights out there, no electricity, too small....the list goes on. The place I wanted her to stay was in the shop. Now you must understand that the shop is divided into two sides. The uninsulated side is where the hay is kept along with the mower. The insulated side is Sean's side. He framed it out, sheet rocked it, painted it. The works. It's his place to play with all of his man toys. It's nice in the winter because of the insulation it stays fairly warm in there. If it's 12 degrees out (which it was last night) then it's probably 35-40 degrees in the shop. Water doesn't freeze. SO...you see where I'm going here? I pleaded my case that poor Dym can't have her kids out in the freezing cold (think 12 degrees and having babies). She needed a nice cozy stall full of straw that was away from drafts. I worked on him and he finally agreed to letting me build a stall in his side of the shop for Dym. He's such a sweet guy. So yesterday I went out and built an 8 X 8 foot pen for Dym out of left over deck wood and welded wire. Then down went a sheet of plastic, some shavings and a bale of straw. Isn't it stunning? It's not much to look at but Dym sure likes it!

 

I feel like I'm fairly ready for this birthing experience to happen.  I've asked poor Jennifer (the goats former owner) so many questions she's probably sick of me by now. That along with the internet and books galore have given me oodles of info on birthing and raising baby goats. Let's hope I'm ready and let's hope Dym knows what she's doing....cause I'm afraid I don't.