Nubian goat – 11:3 Restoration

WOW!! I think I’ll just get an apprenticed OB/GYN certificate… LOL!

School was out today, so we planned ahead to get some work done on the homestead/farm. We planned to reinsulate the overhead of the new house as parts had little to no insulation, and other parts had settled significantly from when it was blown in years ago. But, the job that I thought would take three or four hours became an all day affair!

We had five pregnant mamma goats this time last week. Unfortunately, on Sunday we lost a momma and three babies due to toxemia, but the rest of the week has been one delivery after another. Today was the culmination with kidding season ending with a bang!

Midday, we had to stop insulating because one of our girls was in labor with some difficulties. Turned out the first was a little girl coming breach. In five years this was our first breach delivery. It was an interesting adventure. The next two babies came without much event, though we felt like we had won the lottery! In the 10 sets of triplets we’ve had, this is the first time that we had three girls in a kidding!!

After Malkey delivered and things settled down, we went back to insulating in a mad scramble to finish before sundown and the beginning of Shabbat.

After we had all showered and were getting ready for dinner, Gunnar heard a soft moan from the barn Continue reading “Banner day at the Rambos!! Just Kidding!”

Today marks our fourth Yom Kippur observance since leaving the traditions of men behind, and it has been an interesting one.

As many of my readers know, we are in the unenviable position of being ‘homeless.’ The house we were renting was sold and we had to move out a month ago without having found a suitable rental or purchasable dwelling that meets a litany of requirements. Chief among those requirements is a few acres for our dairy goats. So, while we are staying with friends to remain close to my eldest son’s college for his daily commute and near my work, we have been forced to ‘farm out’ our animals. Five of our Nubian princesses went to the breeder and the five girls from this spring’s kidding, went a state away to be housed on my father-in-law’s farm.

We had hoped it would be temporary, but weeks have stretched into a month and the breeder called. What to do with the other five, but to transport them to my father-in-law’s (FiL) to keep the herd together.

Well, as timing would have it, my wife’s 30th high school reunion is this weekend, and my FiL is being ordained tomorrow as a deacon in the Baptist church… so, early last week I came to the difficult realization that we would have all of this going on over Yom Kippur. Then I got the call… My FiL let me know that we would spend Saturday (Shabbat/Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year) mending fences so the goats would have sufficient grazing.

Feel the angst? Yom Kippur in Babylon! Continue reading “Yom Kippur in Babylon”