Our Little Angel

Angel

Once again, I missed it!!  Sweet Candy, my yearling doe, was due November 1.  Lo and behold, she delivered in the cold two days before her due date.  I had left the ranch to attend my son's last regular season football game.  Sweet Candy was looking big, but she was eating normally and hanging with the herd.  Nothing seemed to be happening.  Midway through the first quarter of the game, I got a phone call from the lone child at home.  Sure enough, Sweet Candy had delivered twins.  The babies were tiny and fragile; the white doeling was alive and well, while the black buckling struggled for air.  My daughter tried to revive him, but he quickly faded.  The game was a blow out on our part, so I cut out during the final minutes of the first quarter to rush home to the new family.  I placed the wee doeling in the warm shelter and had to catch mom to get her in.  We decided to call the doeling Angel, a fitting name with her white fluff and blue eyes.  Mom and baby are warm, snuggley, and doing incredibly well.

The Maternity Ward

Erudite and Sweet Candy in the birthing shelter.

Last Thursday my yearling doe, Sweet Candy, gave birth for the first time.  She had twins, a boy and a girl.  Sadly, the little boy did not survive.  I've been struggling with his death.  I was gone the night Sweet Candy delivered, I keep wondering if her buckling would have survived if I had been there to help.

This morning, I headed out to the goat pens to give them some hay.  Webi and Sweet Candy are currently in one pen with their babies and Pipsqueak, my wether.  The other two does, Dauntless and Erudite, have been moved in with the bucklings for breeding.  I was putting hay in their pen, when I noticed Erudite looked very wide.  I walked behind only to find a swollen back end and what looked like a full udder.  Not too sure who the daddy is, and I'm shocked I completely missed her pregnancy.  I quickly moved Erudite back to the "baby" pen.  This led to a hasty division of my large shelter where Sweet Candy and her doeling are.  Sweet Candy and Webi delivered out in the cold, Erudite will deliver in a warm clean shelter.  I'm not taking any chances!  Once again we're on baby watch.

Meet Teddy!

Teddy the morning after his birth.

Teddy at 1 week old.

Yes, I am incredibly late with our big announcement; meet the first Big Buck Ranch baby! Teddy.  Teddy was born in a mud puddle on October 2, despite the fact that I had thoroughly cleaned both shelters.  My darling hubby named him after Teddy Bridgewater, since he was born the night the Green Bay Packer massacred the Minnesota Vikings.  

Teddy comes from an amazing gene pool.  His mom is BOHICA ACRES WebiGayle and dad is 5280 Farms Eli.  Mom may be golden, but dad is a pretty black and white.  I plan on registering the cute little guy as Big Buck Ranch Zeus.  The birth went smoothly, and Webi did a fabulous job.  She is being awful to milk, but Webi is a great mama!

Anxiously Waiting!!

Webi earlier this summer.

The first Big Buck Ranch Nigi babies are arriving any day.  My beautiful blue-eyed blonde doe, WebiGayle, is due Monday.  I am on birth watch!  I keep peaking out the windows at the goat pen, looking for any changes in my girl.  This will be her third kidding, so I'm confident in her birthing abilities, not so confident in my ability to help.  I'm sure I'll have an update soon!

Random Thoughts of a Stressed Mommy

Lately life has been a tumultuous series of ups and downs, chapters ending and chapters beginning.  The month of August was a blur, I'm not sure if September will be much better.  There have been events that bring me great joy, great sadness, and great frustration.  For every blessing there is a battle that ensues.  I'm exhausted, and still feel the effects of the cold that hit me three weeks ago.  I need to keep pushing forward, looking for the good in every situation, relying on the amazing people in my life that keep me grounded.

Palisade Peach Time

Mmmm, it's that time of year in the great state of Colorado that Palisade peaches are ripe for the pickin'.  There is really nothing better than biting into a ripe peach, juice running down your chin and arms.  Yum!!!!

Today, I decided to puree some peaches that I had frozen, so I could make jam with them.  I was antsy and only thawed them long enough to easily get the skin off.   Taking the peach pits out, I put the frozen peaches into my food processor and let it go to work.  I ended up with a delicious thick, frozen treat!!  My kiddos and I were thrilled with the yummy, cold sorbet.  A perfect healthy snack on a hot afternoon!

Simple Sugar Free Peach Sorbet

A New Journey

At the moment I'm going through a great awakening, a period of self discovery.  It may sound selfish and self serving, and yes I am a very selfish person.  That said, it is time to break free from the shackles of the past a reemerge as a kinder, gentler soul.  I have lived my life in the past, hiding behind false ideas, false images, false personas.  I do NOT have to the person the world wants me to be, I am my own person.  I love critters big and small.  I love being outside, getting dirty, working hard.  I love being creative and testing limits.  

I want to be present in this life; not a spectator, which may mean life isn't always easy, it isn't always fun.  I need to accept  challenges as part of life.  We live in a world so tuned into being happy all the time, no bad should come, full of fast food get it now pleasures.  There will in struggles, tears are okay, frustration is okay.  It's time to sit back and enjoy the journey.