So, I wasn’t correct when I said nothing would happen while I was away.

Immediately after we lost Dulcie, we packed Maggie up and took her (temporarily, I hope) back to mom’s. Maggie has been a lone goat for a long time, now, and that is a bad situation. Mom also has a lone goat, so the idea was that they would be friends and keep each other company. Of course, it didnt quite work like that. They fought, like goats do, but Ivory is a LOT bigger. She’s a standard size goat. Maggie is a pygmy. So, once again, we scrambled to erect a solo barn and paddock right next to the existing one. Maggie lived there before, anyway, while we were there, but her accomodations had been dismantled in the time since. We put them back up.

The very next day, it poured rain. A lot of rain. And in the middle of the night I started to hear water dripping INSIDE. So at 3am, I was running about with the flashlight, shoving pans into the rafter space to stop the water from running down the walls. Then up into the loft to block and tape the leaking loft door, and get towels down to slow the ‘rain’ through the floor.

At 730am, the largest of the drip-pans fell out of the ceiling, dumping all its collected water directly on the floor. Awesome.

The loft door has since been plastic-ed and taped from the outside, and a whole can of large-gap sprayfoam has been added into the corner gaps at roof level. More time perched on a ladder. Yay.

My plants and trees desperately needed the rain, though. I was fairly certain a good number of them had parched and died, but since the rain, I am seeing some new leafing. The pawpaws and kiwi still show life and I need to get those planted. One of the blueberries is absolutely not alive and must be replaced. The thimbleberry has resurrected, but I think the apple trees are dead.

7 of my 11 thornless Honey Locust trees seem to be leafing out now, so that’s good. I dont think the asparagus is alive, but I put 12 strawberry plants in that bed and transplanted some of my lettuces.

The mowing has begun, also. When we came last year, it was mostly past the growing season, so what I mowed mostly stayed mowed. That is no longer the case. If I dont stay on it, the weeds and wildflowers will swalllw us up, and the mosquitos and blackflies will be even worse than they already are.

My broody hen is still sitting. No sign of chicks yet, so I’m not sure this is a successful sitting, but we’ll give her time. She has certainly been dedicated. I’ve only seen her off the nest three times.

The vet bill has been paid, the car has been repaired, the dog has been brought home to join us.

We’re back in the swing of things. Back at work, back to crazy. We never stopped, but I needed some time to process. Losing any of the animals hurts me. Losing a BABY is devastating. The only remotely good thing is that we noticed her condition before we left for the day. She had been fine and normal up to that morning, but went downhill FAST. In three hours she went from walking out of her stall under her own steam to dead. We had the vet out, but when the little ones get that weak, it’s only a 50/50 shot that they can come back from it. She at least died warm, held and loved rather than alone in her stall. Vet said she was weaned too early by at LEAST 2 weeks. So despite her hearty appetite, she didnt have the body fat reserves that she needed to support her growth. The lady we got her from has been working with goats for about 50 years, so I am surprised she weaned her that early and sent her out as ‘ready’. If I had known then what I know now, I would have bottle fed her for a while. Learning at the expense of lives is an awful thing. We won’t be getting any more livestock for a while.

In the meantime, Maggie and Ivory are only able to headbutt through the fence, so they both have to participate willingly, and not much damage can be done. Hopefully, Maggie will learn to be okay with another goat, so when we eventually get another, they can stay together.