Been on vacation for a week now!! First day brought my two dogs and I to Bettendorf, Iowa. The next day, My Mom, Festus, Flint and I loaded up again and made our way to up around North Loop Nebraska. It was pitch black by the time we got there and the GPS lady told us we had reached our destination. HA!! We couldn't even see any lights ANYWHERE!...We had little to no cell phone reception.....We did know the name of the road so we finally found where we were supposed to be so we were fine. We arrived to anywhere from 5 to 10" of snow. I will post some pictures when I get home, lots to tell about...I will be going to a corn maze sometime this week as well as the FUTURE home of Captain James T. Kirk of the Starship Enterprise!! Pictures to follow at some point. Oh yeah, I got a call from my brother who is doing chores for me right now and everything is fine, like I hadn't even left. See you for now.............

Well.....my fantasy football team is now officially in LAST PLACE!
I started off the season with all the scrubs the league had to offer.
All I can do is pick up a little bit better scrubs one at a time.
It sort of sucks losing a game by 80+ points.
With BYE weeks coming up, it is tough finding players
that I can use in place of the BEST of the Worst.......
At this point, just looking forward to next season is
my best option so it would seem

Why is it we humans get pets?

Why do we feel the need to to enrich our
lives with these four legged creatures?

They always leave us by the time we
are just getting to know them.

Why is it we allow ourselves to get so
attached to something we know will break our heart?

WHY?

Long time no post!! Things happen and sometimes one just does not feel like posting to the world.

I went to some fair shows with the goats this summer. They got some ribbons and a few of them came home with some Reserve Grand Rosettes.

This is Husker Haven Moon Pie. She was not even supposed to be here! I had no intention of breeding her mother, but sometimes (like I said earlier) things happen. I knew I ha not taken her mother TO the buck and I knew he was locked up. The only other explanation I had was I had a buck kid from the previous year around and he must have had a good day is all I can say. So along came Moon Pie. She is 3/4 Saanen, 1/4 Nubian.




I actually had another kid that is also 3/4 Saanen and 1/4 Nubian.
Her name is Husker Haven Compass Rose. Same circumstance. This past kidding season a friend of mine came over and helped me get all the buck kid taken care of, We wormed everyone and got them all up to date on shots and got them disbudded.

The last fair I went to was in Lima, OH. The fair ended on a Saturday and I wanted to help out my friend. I told her I would come back up to the fair grounds Sunday and pick up her goats and take them back to her house for her. I wanted to pick up a buck she had at home so that he couldn't bred any of her does. Containing him is like trying to contain Rudolf !!! Anyway, on my way back up the fairgrounds It was very foggy that Sunday morning while I was traveling the back roads to the grounds. About 1/2 way there I noticed and larger sized cardboard box in the ditch. Strange, since the road had a curve in it and was surrounded by tall corn fields. As I passed the box , I just happened to look in the mirror and a little head popped up over the top of the box. I had some choice words to say and hit the brakes. I tried to back the truck and trailer up and keep my eye on the box and the sides of the road I decided I was close enough and put it in park. I got out of the truck and walked into the ditch. Quietly called "Come here puppy"........out of the box came a chocolate brown puppy. Poor skinny little guy!



I took him home and got him fed and everything. I kept him separate from the other two house dogs by keeping him in the bathroom. I figured cleaning up the linoleum floor would be easier. The next morning the bathroom floor was cover with blood and whatever. I thought I was going to hurl. I called the vet and told them I was on my way. They ended up keeping him for a week on IV's, he was Parvo positive. I should have taken a different route back to the fairgrounds, but as fate would have it, I didn't. The vet did take a lot off of my bill and I greatly appreciated that. When I finally got him home he stil had to be kept seperate from the other dogs for at least a week. I decided to put him in the barn with the goats. He had his very own 12'x'12' pen and to keep him company, I put a buck kid in there with him. For two weeks everyting was great, then one morning I went out to do chores and opened the door to total mayhem!! Blood on every wall, all over the fencing, water trough, feed pans.....I knew exactly what had happened. The puppy just wanted to play....everyone was fine, except loss of blood and some shredding of ears. I took the puppy out and he now will live in the stock trailer until the vet says he is ok (he has a re-check visit set for the 30th of this month), then he can get a flea bath and get his medicines taken to keep him healthy. He will then also be allowed to come in the house, maybe he'll stay out of trouble that way!

Here is the latest picture of him, the cloud around him is caused by his ever wagging tail!



I named him Dillon, I figured, I already had a Festus hanging around here, I had to have a Dillon : )

That is all I have for today, have to get working

Last weekend I managed to get the pasture fence hooked up to the barn so that I can get the goats out into the pasture, so that is good. Now I don't have to walk the goats around to the end gate one by one.

The weather this past weekend was AWESOME. I managed to get the head stanchion painted for the milkstand. I still have the drop-down pieces to get cut and attached and get the rubber mat laid on it then it will be complete.

The second part of my day on Saturday, I spent getting the tractor set up for mowing. I pulled the mower deck out and tipped it up to make sure it was all cleaned out. I got two of the three blades off and sharpened them. The third blade would not come off, I ended up just using a file and sharpening it that way. I know it wasn't as sharp as the other two. Next was to get it under the tractor and get the PTO hooked up. What should normally take about 5 mins to do, took me about an hour. For the life of me I could not get the gears to match up. I was covered with grease, Festus was covered with grease. I might have used the milkstand as a bench, because it appears to have grease on it as well. I guess the rubber mat will cover that up. I got it hooked up and as I drive the tractor out of the barn, I'm not sure but I think I could faintly hear some music playing. it sounded something like "Taaa Daaaaaa".

I always start along the highway and work my way north. For the past five years or so I was working on sort of a wildlife area clear in the back, with nothing but native plants and such...for the past three years the deer have eaten every tree and bush I planted. This season, I am planning on setting trip wires and dynamite, something akin to Carl Spackler of Caddy Shack fame. Not that i don't like deer mind you, but if they would just wait and let the plants get a start BEFORE they eat them maybe they would be able to regenerate. I had plans to put in a dry stream bed, or maybe scrap somewhat so that I could get a little wetlands back there. It's already damp back there when we get rain, scrap the top might just help keep it longer, bringing in wildlife...But they have to give it time and as many deer as I get back there I should open up a "weedy, woody & nut crop" walk thru...at least maybe then They would get only what i want to give out, it wouldn't be a "take at will" type restaurant. At least until it gets established and can support more.

Yesterday I had a set of Nubian twins born. One boy, solid black with a little white top-notch and a girl, sort of the roan color with white ears and a bunch of spots of white throughout. I might have one more to kid yet a Saanen. She looks like she is making a little udder, but maybe she just thinks everyone else is doing it and she didn't want to be left out. If she is bred, it was a mistake, because I never put her in with the buck.

Just getting the "BIG" milkstand finished up. Should get it painted this weekend. I need to finish putting the head locks in place but that is about it. Get the kids weaned one bunch at a time and I'll be ready for soap making........wonder what time I'll have to do that?

I was sure surprised when I got home from work yesterday! Husker Haven has never had anything with spots before. But there he was! Sure wish he would have been a she but that part is out of my hands. The two doe kids born weeks ago were a bit on the small side but all the rest of the nubian kids have been nice sized kids.

Even though this one is a buck, it at least tells me that two of my does have the potential to produce some spotted kids. I have at least one more nubian to freshen yet...This kidding season is not even over yet and I am already looking forward to next year.

Twin girls born this morning
They really are still alive, they only "LOOK" dead They are only about 10 mins old. I brought them in the house because I had to go to work and didn't want them to freeze (being a little too damp still). Gave them colostrum and left them in the tub with the dogs sleeping bag. They are both fairly good sized kids.

The count : 10 buck kids 5 doe kids

I believe I still have 3 does yet to kid.

Meet the newest addition at Husker Haven. Six month old "Zeke" Don't ask me about the name, I allowed my brother to name him. I might have to think about the ramifications next time I allow someone to name anything here. He is a little unsure of the LGD's in the pasture and is really not overly excited about "Lucy" llama either. He actually kicked her twice this while on his meet and greet session this past weekend. Leads me to believe he'll be OK with Lucy, but I really am not sure about the knee surgery's he has planned for the LGD's in the near future. I am think a lot more Meet and Greet sessions are in order. Kids are boucing everywhere you look here as well. The good thing is, I have a 70% to 30% buck to doe ratio goign this year. With only four more does due (I hope no more surprises), I'm hoping to keep the same ratio going. I haven't gotten any really good pics of the kids, as it is hard to catch them as they dart to and fro.

And So it Starts..........the 2009 Kidding season

The season is a little later for most I guess but I wanted to have kids that weren't frozen when I got home form work so I bred them for a little later kidding dates. Kids were on the ground when I arrived home Tuesday evening, twin bucks. Out of all my Nubian does that were bred this year, I was hoping that she would have a doe. Had I wanted a buck out of her it would have taken me YEARS to get one. I guess bucks are OK, should be able to sell them both as a breeding animals. I might have some more kids when I get home from work today.



Sorry, the pic is not the greatest, my camera isn't doing real well these days. I'll get more pics when I can.