Thumbs up for sleeping in!

Maverick the barn cat

Blood tests for the goats

May gets her neck shaved so we can see her veins.

I think this is actually Hyacinth here. First you locate the voicebox (technical term!) in the middle of their throat then move to the side feeling for the ropey vein. Slide your thumb down the vein and apply pressure, making the vein bulge on top of your thumb. It's about the width of a pencil.

I used a 3/4 inch needle and very quickly, inserted it into the vein at a sharp angle. If you go in too straight, you can go right through the vein and out the other side. You will meet some resistance and it is hard if the goat moves. It is very helpful to have several sets of hands doing this.

I withdrew the blood as quick as I could. Once the goat moved and I got knocked out of the vein, the syringe would not move anymore. If that happened and I had not got enough blood, I would have to go get another syringe and stick them again because the blood would clot in the needle and/or syringe and it's no good for a second draw. You have to act quickly too because the goat loses patience in no time flat.

I labeled each of the vials and shipped them off to the Washington State University Diagnostic Lab for a pregnancy test. They are supposed to have them Monday morning, and I hope to hear back from them later in the week.

Rain again - Yeah!

So much rain last night. I am not complaining though, until our Christmas Eve downpour we had been very dry this fall. I had been watering my new berries once a week. Now we have standing water in the horse pasture. I think the rain collects there from the metal roof of our big barn. Collection tanks is on our short list of projects for 2011.

Nankeen cotton

Picked the last of my colored cotton today. A tiny packet of less than ten seeds made enough cotton to fill a large trifle dish and made a very pretty display. It was pretty too while it was growing. The plants made multiple blooms that were all different pale pastel colors. It would be a fun garden project with children because it grew easily and without any problems.

Spunky in the chute

Not a good pic, but it has a story. Spunky is in the sqeeze to have the cidr removed and get a shot prior to being AI-ed. The vet tech had the hydraulics turned up a little too hard and when he released it she fainted. It took a little effort to get her standing again poor thing. She was just fine, but she wasn't the brightest to start with and she needed all those brain cells :)

TGI....a latte!

Too dark to take pics of us loading cows to go to the vet this morn, so instead I took a pic of what made it worthwhile to get up before 6am on a frigid day. Thank you espresso maker, and thank you Paul!

Chilly hose!

This is what came out of the garden hose when I hooked it up to water my grapes this morning. Very pretty! It's just too much work to drain a 100ft hose sometimes.