A doeling from this year. She was with the new buck to keep him company and went down real fast. Stopped eating, fever, died the next day. Vet did a narcrospy and found she died of anemia from worm infestation. That really surprised me because I wormed her, all of them actually. Apparently, the worms became immune to the wormers. The new stuff I had to use really smelled like insecticide. It is used to pour on cows backs. I put on two pairs of gloves, a raincoat, mask and goggles to use it. I also had Glenn help me draw the amount I needed. I really don't want to use it again because it was nasty especially since the slaughter withdrawal is maybe 60 days. I say maybe because it's not made for goats so they really don't know. If I had know earlier, I would have sold the slaughter goats and cut my loses. As it is, I may miss Ramadon.

On a good note, the others seem to be doing well. The other one that was showing the same signs of weakness is now running with the boys.

My hay supplier dropped off a wagon full of hay. They can't bring it down to the barn so I had to bring it down on the ATV with the rubbermaid trailer. I was able to fit 10 bales and bungie cord it down. It took two days (I won't let Glenn help because he's allergic - so is Gary) 144 bales. Man, did my hands get sore!

Does anyone have a Charlie Brown's Resturant near them? The one near us is really good but we took my mother-in-law to dinner (small dinner party actually)in their town. I got the horseradish crusted prime rib and it was about a third of the size of a normal portion. I asked to see the manager and he took his time coming (maybe hoping I'd give up?) He said he would get me another but everyone was almost finished with their food so I said I didn't want another one, I just wasn't going to pay for this one. It was a $18.99 dinner, I wasn't about to be taken. Glenn mentioned it to some other people and they said the same thing happened to them that if they didn't order the appetizer, they would have gone home hungry. I guess that explains why there were so many empty tables on a Friday night. I'm thinking of writing the company to let them know besides getting the free meal. I'm still upset with Glenn because his wasn't a normal portion either(not as small as mine but) but he wouldn't say anything.

Tomorrow is suppose to be in the 80's. I plan to clean and winterise my pond , get the driveway ready for sealing by filling cracks, and strip the rest of the stain off the deck to restain it. What I get done???? we'll see.

How's everyone else doing? Congrats to Mr S on his new job.

-- Anonymous, September 22, 2004

Answers

Dee, sorry to hear about your doeling. That's tough. I've used that wormer on my sheep (it's purple, isn't it? Recommended for cows?). It was weird because I was concerned that the color would wreck the fleeces, but it eventually was absorbed/wore off. Tricky business, this worming...

I also know how hard it is to move hay. I hope you have had a chance to heal up!

I've never heard of Charlie Brown restaurants. I try to stay out of most restaurants these days, although we did go to an Olive Garden a week or so ago (Mr. S. got a gift cert. for graduation from one of his tutoring students). It was actually pretty good. I find that my level of expectation for restaurants is usually too high, the food's usually not as good as I would cook (nor as healthy), and I have to sit in a weird atmosphere. However, there's some really fine restaurants fairly near (circa Seattle) and a great one in Monroe, but for the most part, I can't afford to eat at any of them. I have found that ordering an appetizer or two and a cocktail gives me the experience of the place with a lower tab!

Thanks for the congrats. I'll pass them on to Mr. S. He's spending a lot of time commuting, but he seems to like his job just fine.

-- Anonymous, September 24, 2004

Dee, I'm sorry to hear about your goat, but I'm glad to hear the others are OK. How were your sales for Ramadan? It looks like I'll be getting some sheep in the spring, so by this time next year I'll be hauling hay right along with you. :)

-- Anonymous, October 18, 2004

Sherri, Sheep, really?!! Very exciting (well, sheep aren't I guess, but getting them is!).

I'm going to have to spend more time with my sheep. They're getting really spooky around me because they don't see me that often (just feeding time). I miss 'em, but I've gotta go to work so I can feed 'em.

Are you doing a lot of spinning and stuff these days?

-- Anonymous, October 19, 2004

I've been doing some knitting, mainly socks so far. I just started my first knitting project using my own homespun yarn, it's just a simple cabled button-down vest. I've also signed up for a class on spinning yarn for sockmaking, the first class is on Sunday.

I've mainly been spinning Shetland wool and I love the way it feels. A cousin of Keith's dad owns a flock of Shetlands so I'm going to get a few animals from them. We're going to go visit them in a couple of weeks so I can take a look at their setup and figure out what I'm going to need here.

-- Anonymous, October 19, 2004