I love my treadle

Vintage Singer Sewing Machine

BIG FUN!

So I finally got around to trying out the treadle machine -- I sewed a few seams, and tried out the new buttonholer Lisa got me for our anniversary.

It's awesome.

The machine runs through 6-8 layers of denim like butter. The buttonholer is a marvel of engineering -- that a machine with no zigzag ability could make a perfect buttonhole (straight or keyhole) is awesome.

I'm very excited. :-) Now I'm going through the other attachments that came with the machine: hem rolling foot, variable width hemmer, ruffler, binder, tucker, width guide, and a couple of things I'm not sure what they are yet. :-) My goal is to try each of them out and get them to work.

My next project is a collared shirt -- I'm going to try to make the whole thing on the treadle (I may cheat and finish the seams using my Kenmore with zigzagging, but other than that...)

Big fun. :-)

Birthdays, Anniversaries & New Semi Formal Clothes!

Yesterday was our 5th wedding anniversary and the day started out great... I got to sleep in! Shawn got up and fed the dogs and the goats and I slept til almost 11am!! Jess and Kyle were awake before ME! That was a real treat!

We ate lunch out at Baton Rouge and I had yummy prime rib for lunch! Jess had her avocado sandwich she likes and Shawn had a giant chicken caesar salad and Kyle had a giant chicken tenders salad. Was a nice treat.

Jess bought herself a new digital camera with some of the money she got for Christmas. Her cell phone camera works, but has some storage issues that were getting to be annoying. She tried it out last night and it seems to take nice pics. I think she posted some of the test pics to her album, for anyone interested.

We also went to see "Enchanted" at the theater, the kids saw a different movie, "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" that we were not interested in seeing. "Enchanted" was a fun movie and we both enjoyed it. I highly recommend it to anyone that likes light, fluffy and a bit sappy entertainment.

We had shake n bake chicken for dinner, Jess had sushi... twas yummy.

On Friday, we all braved Bayshore Mall and had lunch at the mall at the Thai place. We had to really fight to get seats, it was so busy! Then Jess and Kyle went off to look at stuff and Shawn and I started dress shopping. Poor Shawn having to go dress shopping on his birthday! But apparently he didn't mind and having him outside the dressing room was a huge help to me... getting into "girl" clothes can be quite a challenge with mile long zippers and hooks in the back!!

I think I tried on 20 - 25 different dresses in 2 stores. In the end, there were a couple that were absolutely hideous... a bunch that would've done if there'd been nothing else and two outfits that we liked.

We ended up choosing a matching black velvet skirt and top that when you put them together, really look like a one piece garment. The skirt is long, almost ankle length, very straight and has an unusual hemline. The hemline itself is straight, but the velvet part is cut jagged (I suck at descriptions!!) and between the jagged pieces are a black nylon type material that is see through. It looks much nicer than my description!!

The top is also black velvet and has long sleeves and what I would call a "boat" neck. It could probably be worn on or off the shoulder, but I only tried it on, so I'm not positive.

So its a way less revealing outfit than I feared I'd have to wear... it goes almost to my wrists, down to my ankles and only my neck and a small amount of chest are revealed. I also bought a matching black velvet cape to wear over it, instead of a coat. (I didn't want to spend the $$ to buy a dressy coat for only one occasion!)

The best part of the outfit was the price! The top and skirt were both marked at $80 each, which I thought was *enough* but certainly not horrible. Then we got to the cash register and each piece was on sale for $40... then I also realized I had a $25 gift certificate from that stores reward program, so I used that. When all was said and done the skirt and top were under $70 total!! We went to the other store to buy the cape and it was only $40, so I really lucked out!

I was really happy though with the experience, we were all done in less than 2 hours!! I can hardly believe that.

The goat babies will be 6 months old on New Years day and they are doing really well again. Ernie's owie is pretty much all healed.. he's eating well again and they are both being their crazy selves. They are getting really close to being able to get up on top of the shelter without help... close, but not quite. We've been helping them up there when we go out and they run around and do crazy goat dances on top and try to push each other off. Big goat fun. I think they are enjoying the milder weather a whole bunch... I put some of the hay they waste into a pile in their yard area and we often see them laying outside in the pile of unacceptable hay, just chewing cud and enjoying being outside.

The dogs are enjoying having the kids here for extra attention, even if it means there is no room on the couch for dogs! :) Poor pups having to give up their seats for *humans*! :)

As always, I'm sure I'm forgetting something, but that's all I can think of for now!

The vintage singer

I cleaned and oiled the Singer this morning.

It's pretty sweet. :-)

Christmas Is For Giving.... Boxing Day Is For....

TAKING!

We are officially thieves.

This afternoon we went into Kanata to the movie theatre and saw National Treasure 2, with Nicholas Cage. Very enjoyable movie and a good outing.

As we were leaving Centrum, we passed where they were selling Christmas trees this season and noticed there were a couple of trees just laying around, abandoned. I'm not sure which one of us suggested we take the trees home with us for the goats, but we drove around the block to get back to the area where they were.

We pulled up near where the trees were laying and all went out to look at them. There was a large one, a medium one and a really small scruffy one that wasn't even good enough to be called a Charlie Brown tree.

We loaded the large tree into the van and went back for the medium tree. With a bit more effort we got most of it stuffed into the back of the van, but enough of both was sticking out that we couldn't shut the trunk.

Luckily we carry bungee cords for just such as occasion. We bungeed it down as best we could and then off we went! We made it home without incident and unloaded the trees. We cut off a couple branches and gave them to the goats right away... they think it is delicious!!

So even though we were thieves... no one seemed to care ;)

More On Christmas & Semi Formal Woes!

I posted a few more Christmas pics to the FHH Christmas 07 album. We took a pic of the turkey I cooked to prove we didn't starve to death on Christmas ;) Most of the newer pics are off Shawn's phone, so there's a different perspective going on... which mostly means there are some of me... blech.

The turkey turned out well... twas tender, juicy and tasty. That said, it still wasn't as good as my Mommy makes, but maybe with practice mine will be passable. I also made garlic mashed potatoes, just for something a bit different... they were yummy. I also made a large batch of gravy so there'd be enough to serve with leftovers. I saved the pan drippings from the beef tenderloin (didn't make gravy that night because I made those cheaty baked potatoes with cheese) I just added water to the beef drippings, cooked everything off the pan, just like I was going to make gravy and then just didn't thicken it. After it cooled I poured the au jus into a measuring cup and saved it for the turkey gravy. It made it extra tasty and added some good brownness.

I didn't make anything else, no veggies, no dessert. We had large salads at lunch time and Jess isn't a big dessert eater and I knew Shawn and I would pig out on meat and potatoes. Besides, the more dishes you make, the more leftovers there are and with only 3 of us, we didn't want to be eating leftovers for months :)

Last night around 9pm, we left the house and headed into Ottawa. The whole point of our trip was to drive past parliament and see the 300,000 lights they've put up. So we did that and they are pretty nice. Our tentative plan is to go back down later this week when Kyle arrives, they have a center block open house, where you can wander through and see all the Christmas decorations and then go up the Peace tower and see the outside lights and view of the area.

While we were down that way, we crossed into Quebec (always an adventure) to see the Chateau Cartier . The reason we wanted to see where that was, is on Jan 12, Shawn's work is having a semi formal event with dinner there, as their belated Christmas celebration.

Now, were you reading carefully? SEMI FORMAL... did you get that? Ugh... yes, semi formal. Now those words mean different things to different people. Depending on your age group and stuff, that might just mean "not jeans".... but after asking around, Shawn found out it means suits for the men (tuxes are over kill, but maybe some of the company's founders might wear them) and DRESSES for the women. And not just a dress... a semi formal dress. I suppose its an occasion where owning a little black dress would be useful.

Shawn and I have been joking between ourselves and him with some coworkers that semi formal in Dunrobin means clean coveralls and you knock the shit off yer boots. (Formal, you'd put on new clean boots). Actually, originally, before I found out it was semi formal, I thought perhaps I'd wear my new jeans, the ones I bought and have been kinda saving, not wearing and abusing day to day. Guess they won't be quite right.

I also have a nice pair of black dress pants, paired with a nice blouse that had a sheen to it or something would likely *do* but apparently pants on women at these events are very rare. Me being me, I would rather not be over or under dressed, I really would rather not be noticed at all!!

I already own a nice pair of black mule heels I can wear... but now, I have to go... *gulp* DRESS SHOPPING. Oh Lord, kill me now. I'm going to attempt to find something to wear while Jess is still here and Shawn is off work so I can have as many people as possible laughing at me during the experience... I mean as many opinions as possible ;)

I've already been looking at dresses online and found a few I think would be appropriate, but their stock is iffy... never mind buying a dress online and the fitting issue.

This one is my first choice, the price is awesome, but also because of the price, their stock is pretty much gone.


My second choice is this one, but I'm afraid it might be TOO formal, given the length etc and the price is a little more than I'd like to pay. They still have some reasonable sizes available though.

Actually, I really like the igigi.com website, they have lots of helpful information, like "find your shape" and then for each dress, they say which shapes it looks best on.

My plan is to go shopping locally... then if that fails, take a chance and buy something online. We'll see how that works out.

The other big dilemma is accessories... like is it ok to wear my denim ball cap with those or do I need to break out my nice John Deere one?? ;)

Merry Christmas!

Good Morning and Merry Christmas!

It's been a very good Christmas here so far!! We had delicious roasted beef tenderloin last night for supper! We exchanged gifts amongst ourselves... both Jessica and Shawn made some beautiful presents. I won't go into detail right now though!

I took a few videos this morning of the dogs opening their presents, for anyone interested.

Dogs Opening Presents

Dogs Eating Presents

Merry Christmas Wishes


I also posted a few stills to the FHH album.

It's a warm and sunny day here, the sun coming through the window feels very nice!!

It's a strange day though and a bit sad, not spending it with my parents and my sister and her family. Miss you guys.

Merry Christmas All!

Delicious Smells

Merry Christmas!

It's Christmas Eve, and all through the house, there is the delicious smell of roasting beef tenderloin. Mmmmmmm.

It's making me quite hungry. :-)

Ernie's On The Mend

Most of you know that our little goat, Ernie has been under the weather for a couple days. It started because I'm a bad goat owner that didn't switch his blanket to the bigger size soon enough. The dog blankets I use have elastic leg straps and poor Ernie's inner thigh got an abrasion and small cut before I noticed it digging in last weekend.

As soon as I noticed, I switched him to the bigger blanket and stopped using the leg straps. I cleaned it and put blue spray on it and kept an eye on it. Of course, he wouldn't leave it alone and picked at it until it got quite a bit bigger. It never looked weepy or infected... I used my horse clippers and trimmed the hair away to make it easier to clean and so hopefully it wouldn't itch him quite as much.

I also started taking his temp once or twice a day, just in case. Well, as animals always know the least convenient time to need vet attention, Saturday morning his temp was up. Now in all fairness, it wasn't *quite* a fever yet, it was 103.9 F. Goats normal temp is between 102.5 and 104 F. But I do take their temps somewhat regularly, just for a baseline, and 103.9 is high for HIM. He also was not that interested in eating his grain, which is very unusual for him.

So I called the vet clinic and told them what was going on... normally, I might've just waited it out a couple days... but goats are really susceptible to infection and die quickly... they also get pneumonia easily and die quickly. Since I wanted to avoid that, I wanted to act quickly. I called at 11:45 am and they said they could see him at 12:20pm, so I agreed and quick loaded Ernie into the dog crate and into the van. Jess and Shawn stayed home with Bert to keep him company.

Both goats screamed for about 5 minutes when they were first separated, but then both settled down just fine. Ernie traveled very well in the car.

One of the less obvious big problems with moving far away from home is the fact that you no longer have any relationship with a vet. They don't know your experience or anything.... this becomes a problem when something like this comes up and you just want to pick up a bottle of penicillin and get the dosage and a few needles and syringes from them. They aren't real quick to agree to do that. Hence the in person goat visit.

Now the regular goat vet was out of town, so we saw the dog vet. She told me she'd never given a goat a shot before... oh great, we are in the same boat! She gave him a tetanus booster and a shot of penicillin and we went over how to give IM shots. Its the same as giving horses shots, so nothing much different, but I wanted to be sure, also. I don't want to make anything worse!!

Ernie, of course, had the biggest, longest pee in goat history on the floor of the exam room. I managed to pull him away from the heat duct before he peed down the duct... no one wants to smell THAT forever!! He also left a big pile of goat pellets that I used the urine soaked paper towels to push into a pile. Charming animal. :)

He was a really good boy though... he was nervous about being there and wanted to stay very close to me. At one point, one of the clinic cats came over to him. I was a little worried that the cat might scratch him or scare him or something, but the cat just sniffed the goat and the goat just looked at the cat.... then suddenly, Ernie opened his mouth and bit the cat right on its spine near its shoulders!! The cat went "YOW" and jumped straight up in the air and then ran off. The goat jumped. I jumped. The receptionist jumped and peeked over her desk and shrugged her shoulders. I mostly tried to keep from laughing hysterically.

Anyhow, so we were all done there and headed home. The goats weren't as frantic to see each other as I thought they might be, but seemed happy enough to be back together. Ernie's temp was back to normal this morning and has been normal all day.

*break in posting to watch tv*

It's now almost midnight, we're just in from doing night feed. Checked Ernie's temp again and he's bang on normal still and was very excited to get his beet pulp and grain tonight. A couple hours ago there was a thick fog and it was really creepy out. Now its windy and the fog is gone and the full moon is shining so brightly its like daylight out. Crazy extremes.

It's still wet out, but no longer raining and the wet parts are starting to freeze. There's actually a flash freeze warning for most of the province tonight. Its an odd combination.. .some of it is just wet... some is ice and some is slush that's getting crusty. I already put out some sand/salt so when I walk out the back door in the morning I hopefully won't go flying!

Anyhow, it turns out I still need to do some Christmas shopping tomorrow and I'm hoping to pick up a bottle of epinephrine from the vet to have on hand, just in case... hope I don't ever need it. Goodness knows if you ever do need it after giving a shot, your day is gonna suck. But at least if you have it on hand (in case of an adverse reaction to a shot of penicillin, for instance) you have a chance of saving your animal. Otherwise, you'll never even get the call to the vet *placed* before they are gone.

I know many people give shots without having it on hand and never have a problem, but if you've ever seen a reaction, you know how horrible and how friggen fast it happens and how glad you are to have it in your pocket. The equine vet I used before we moved out here used to keep a syringe of it drawn up everytime she gave any shot. She had experienced reactions before and she estimates that you rarely have more than about 90 seconds to administer it and still have a good chance of a good outcome. She always said that for every 10 seconds after the 90 seconds, the chance of a full recovery dropped dramatically. That's always stayed with me and now it creeps me out to give shots without it being handy.

So that's the plan for tomorrow... Christmas shopping and a bottle of epi. Super fun :)

Another little tidbit that I was reminded of today... Pa, (my mother's father) used to keep some beef cattle and we were as involved as we could get, as kids! Sometimes, Pa used to stand at the gate and just stand there and look at the cattle. As a kid, this seemed really stupid and boring and why couldn't we do something more fun. I remember asking him what he was doing and he said "I'm listening to the herd". For years as a kid, that never made any sense. As I got older though, it made lots of sense. Just by standing, listening, observing, you could tell if anyone was in distress, off their feed, coming in heat, ready to calve, etc.

I know it seems really obvious, spend time with your animals, know what they are normally like and then its easy to tell when they are "off" or not quite right, etc. But for me, it has always been something really profound... perhaps more so since I thought it was so cryptic and stupid when I first heard it. But with my little goat being ill this weekend, it served me well... I noticed he was not quite right before the situation became life or death... just by listening, noticing and paying attention. Thanks Pa!

Oh and my sister and her family bought a herd of 29 Boer goats today. They arrived safe and sound! I'm so happy for her and I hope she ends up liking her goaties as much as I like mine! Congratulations on the new herd guys!!

I guess we should head to bed, its late... I know I'll have a hard time sleeping tonight with the bright moonlight on the snow AND the wild wind.... some sleep is better than none, I think.

So Much To Say, So Little Time & Energy!

So much has happened since the last post. Where to start?!?!

My parents and Jess arrived last Saturday around noon, in spite of the threat of the big snow storm... it didn't get started here til Saturday night and mostly happened Sunday. They arrived safe and sound and we had a great visit. Daddy could only stay til Monday as he had to get back to work on Tuesday.. wish he could've stayed longer, but we had a pretty good visit even if it was way too short.

Mom stayed on with us until yesterday and then flew back to Toronto via Westjet. We enjoyed having her company for a few extra days and were sad to see her go too.

The big storm brought us 37 cm of snow and actually caused our furnace to quit. Not the best thing ever when you're entertaining guests in the middle of a near crippling storm, lemme tell you. It wasn't long after the heat quit that I realized I hadn't checked the intake / outtake pipes for the high efficiency gas furnace and figured they were likely blocked from all the snow fall.

Shawn went out to check them and sure enough they were blocked. He set to cleaning them and then we tried the furnace again.. .still no go. Figuring it was likely some safety switch that was activated when the pipes blocked Dad, Shawn and I went down to the furnace and poked around, took both covers off it to see if we could find some reset switch.

I ended up calling the company that installed the furnace 2 years ago (their sticker was on it) and left a message with their answering service (it was Sunday afternoon) and was told they would call back within the hour. A service technician called about half an hour later and I did my best to explain what happened.

He told me that we could try a couple things on the phone, but that if they didn't work, I'd be out of luck as the company's owner was not allowing the techs to go out on calls due to the weather. They had already got the service vans stuck a few times and he was calling it a day. Mostly the fix in the end was just to shut off the power to the furnace and then power it up again. The important part is that it WORKED! We were only without heat for about an hour or so... not bad!!

I was thrilled with the tech for helping and he seemed pleased that he had helped me and didn't have to feel bad about not being able to go out in the storm.

Monday morning we started digging out... the snow removal guy we hired had come Sunday night, but it had drifted back in over night and covered the driveway and was about knee deep. Shawn, Daddy and I went out and started cleaning... Shawn and Daddy started with shovels while I got the snow blower out... the snowblower needed a bit of help from a bucket of hot water to get the tines turning and that took some time but we got it going and then it worked wonderfully.

After we cleaned out enough to get out, we all headed into Kanata to Cora's for breakfast. We were all starving after all the work! From there, Daddy headed home.... we took Shawn to work, even though he was late... and Mom, Jess and I went to Farm Boy.

So far this "winter" (umm, isn't tomorrow the FIRST day of winter??!!) we have received 75 friggen cm of snow. Crazy... and apparently not typical which is kind of a relief really... but then again, why did it have to do this the first winter here???

Jess has been trying to make friends with Ernie and Bert and they are starting to believe maybe she's not a predator after all! ;) They are not always the most friendly and forth coming with people they don't know. They aren't mean or anything... just stand off ish. They were much better meeting Mom, Dad and Jess than any of the other people that have come to see them before... they didn't just behave like livestock, which was nice!

Today, Jess helped me muck out the goat shelter and made many trips with the sled to the manure pile. It hadn't been cleaned right out in about a week and was overdue for a good stripping and rebedding. We also went out and did some Christmas shopping, but I can't post details, I don't want to be the Christmas ruiner!! ;)

Tonight, we went out to Carleton Place to the Eating Place for dinner... twas very good... Shawn and I had the turkey dinner, Jess had spaghetti. It's always a little like going home... not quite as good, but also not quite as far! All the trees lining the main street have lights on them and it looks very pretty, almost magical.

Shawn is now done work until Jan 7, 2008... he's pretty happy about getting some time off for Christmas this year... its pretty neat!

Not sure what we're up to this weekend yet... something, I'm sure, I just haven't gotten quite that far, yet.

We're looking forward to Kyle's arrival next Thursday! That'll be awesome :) It's an extended Christmas this year... having Christmas with my parents early and Christmas with Kyle late! :)

We've all been wiped out tired the last few days and Jess and I both napped yesterday afternoon. She slept in big time today for the first time since she arrived home.

I know I've glossed over and missed stuff that happened this week. There's just too much to say! :) Anyhow, now I'm tired and I still have to feed my goats their last meal of the day and all the other things that happen before bed! Busy busy!

ONE MORE SLEEP!

I posted a few pics to the FHH album, but don't be afraid!! That snowing and blowing was going on for just a short time, I just thought it would be fun to tease our visitors about the weather :)

They are not forecasting any snow for tonight or tomorrow... tonight is going to be hell cold again, -18 C... with windchills - 27 C. Lovely. Tomorrow will be very cold with highs about -14 C so DRESS WARMLY!! I am so not joking!! :) Hats, scarves and mitts are a MUST!!

Anyhow, I have a couple thousand things I should be doing... Looking forward to our visitors tomorrow... hope everyone isn't too excited to get a good sleep!!!

Follow Up From Earlier

I went out and blew snow... it started on the 2nd try... might have gone on the first if I didn't pull like such a *girl* the first time! ;) It ran really well and was very kind and patient with me, being as I was just learning to use it!

It went through some deep snow, some was deeper than the blower housing part (the part with the blades in it, I dunno what else to call it!) and it still went through... taking full blower widths at a time (because I was moving snow where snow had not been moved yet this year) and doing a great job! On those really deep parts, I did make a 2nd pass to tidy it up, but it was pretty darned good even after the first pass.

Much of what I did today was blow the snow over areas that are just grass underneath, so kinda tough going, but we took our time and got through it all, no problems! I am pretty impressed and happy ... helps that its all powdery snow and not heavy and wet, it would've never made it through with that heavy wet slushy snow!

I took a few pics and I'll post them to the FHH album shortly, for anyone that wants to see snow... we have a bunch of it! It'll show those of you that will be visiting in the next while what you're in for... and for those of you not able to visit, it'll give you something to mock the visitors about. ;)

I also have a few pics of deer that I'll put up... there were 3 of them just around the corner from Shawn's office on Monday night, just hanging out... I pulled over to see them and they just stood around for a while and let me take pics from the car.

Tis The Season To Forget To Blog...

Fa la la la la blah blah blah!

As usual, we've been busy... the weather has been cold and we got more snow yesterday/last night. Must've have been about 4 inches ish. Enough that my plan for today is to go out and try using the snowblower. I already went and filled up the gas can (it was empty from all the grass cutting!) and now I'm just waiting for the wind to die back a bit.

Our snow removal guy was here last night and did his usual good job, so that's not needing to be done (even though there is some nice drifting in the driveway with the wind!). Its all the OTHER parts... the path out to the goats... the path to the manure pile.... under the tarped building where I park the van.

I'm very tired of trudging through mid calf to knee deep snow! It's exhausting and its taking a real toll on my knees and hips. So assuming I can get it started (we haven't started it since June) I'll work away at that today.

I went to the feed store yesterday and picked up 2 bags of grain for the goats, another bag of stall dry and 2 bags of pickled sand. The snow clogs the eaves over the back door, then if it melts at all, drips down on the concrete steps and freezes... figured it was time to put something down so we wouldn't die going out the back door!

Our fake tree is up, but not decorated... Shawn helped me put it up last weekend. It came pre covered with white mini lights and I'm thinking I might add some coloured lights to it this year, if I get time, I missed those last year.

We're, of course, gearing up for our company this weekend and are very excited. We're still reminding the powers that be of our request for NICE CLEAR WEATHER on Saturday... so far, the forecast looks ok. *crosses as many body parts as possible*.

I opened up Jessica's room and the guest room yesterday... they were mighty chilly and really cooled off the whole upstairs.... I'm hoping the temps will equalize a bit and then be bearable with portable heaters while our company is here. It's a little like camping here at my house!

Over the last few days we've got all our Christmas cards and packages mailed off... a little later than we like to, but sometimes these things just happen!

The dogs are doing fine... enjoying the snow... the goats are fine too, growing a bunch and hating the weather! I haven't spent as much time with my goat babies lately as I'd like... been too busy getting stuff done.

Shawn is off on Friday, so he can help me get the last minute stuff done around here... like vacuuming and grocery shopping. I'm looking forward to his help! :)

I'm still waiting on a bunch of package deliveries in order to finish my Christmas shopping... luckily, I have everything that's necessary for this weekend and then there's still a whole week and bit after that for stuff to arrive, so I'm not panicked...yet ;)

I'm quite certain I'm forgetting stuff again... but that's about all I can think of right now, so I better bundle up and get ready to start snowblowing... hope that works out ok!

Goat Videos

I sent out an email to some people that I thought might be interested in seeing videos of our goats, but I may well have missed someone so I thought I'd post the links here too. If I forgot to send you the email and you wanted to see goat videos, my apologies!!

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=WOZXYQ7b1io

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=Xz54j8i6ja0

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7eHEBlDm7w

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=zXfDMlGCO9c

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=iwpBQN_5dqY

Long Time No Update!

Almost a week since an update, good grief! I blame the weather... we've had a good bit of snow here... the last storm brought about 25 cm... they forecasted 40 cm, so I'm a little disappointed, but that's ok. It's also been cold and we haven't seen the sun in days... well until today... its finally sunny out and today, I don't feel near so blah as I have for days! Funny how that works!!

I finished caulking all the windows last week... and that helped some.... last weekend Shawn and I installed that plastic film stuff over all the upstairs windows (except the one over the hot tub, which needs to get done yet)... everything you need to install the plastic comes in the package. Tape, plastic, a cutter tool and a tape measure. You put up the tape, cut the plastic, stick it down and then turn the hair dryer on hot to remove the wrinkles. It has worked amazingly well! We'll do the downstairs ones yet too.

The goats are doing ok.... they are annoyed by the weather and have been staying inside their shelter a fair bit. They are both wearing their fancy blankets. I bought two more blankets in the next size up last week, in purple and Bert is wearing one of the new ones... Ernie is still in the smaller size, but I did notice its getting shorter across the back. (It takes a very cute goat to pull off the colour purple and Bert does a great job!) (I got the different sizes in different colours so in the dark, in the cold, in the wind, it would be easier to tell which blanket goes on which goat!)

The Rogers guy is supposed to come out today and do something about the coax cable running across our driveway. Its a huge pain in the ass... moving it because the snow removal guy MIGHT come... so like 6 or so times a day we're out there moving it out of the way and tying it to a post or moving it back so we can have internet access. Pretty classy. Obviously there's no way they are going to get it buried now til spring, so we're just looking at them installing another length and running it up the fence line, behind the stonedust pile, around the white and red sheds and across the new fence line and down the side of the house. This means we'll have to walk across it, but no one will need to drive across it ... not the snow plow that would chew its into a million pieces. Hopefully it works out the way I hope... because otherwise it might just drive me nuts.

Speaking of the snow removal guy... he does a great job!! He generally comes in the evening, between 7 - 9pm... but he did comes the other day after the big snow around noon. We managed to get out to get Shawn to work that morning (Monday?) but getting back in was a real trick... and technically I should have just been stuck. It was so deep the bottom of the van was scraping the snow. A Hagey lecture came back to me, an oldie but a goodie, about EASING the car through the deep snow... don't try to give it much gas... blah, blah... I'm sure you all can recall this particular lecture ;) Anyhow, to Daddy's credit, it did work... I eased it back and forward and back and forward, finally getting all the way up the hill and was able to pull straight under the tarped building. Who knew Hagey lectures could be useful? :) I may have to re examine my entire childhood now ;)

This weekend we have some stuff planned... Friday night we're going to the Centrepointe theatre and we're going to see the Nepean Choir, A Festive Noel with the Northwinds Brass. Should be fun.

Then Sunday night, we're back at the Centrepointe Theatre to see the 22nd Annual Festival of Carols, presented by the Salvation Army.

We're looking forward to having an excuse to go out... I like time alone, but with winter and stuff I start to feel a bit stir crazy and going out and seeing neat Christmas musical performances is fun. Its very different now that Shawn is the only other human I see regularly... unless I go out shopping or something!! Not that I had a big social life before we came out here, but we did have regular enjoyable visits with my parents on Friday night... and my family on Sundays. I did also interact fairly regularly with people at the boarding stable... nevermind not seeing my girl daily now!!

That's the thing when your kids are out of public school... you don't automatically get to go and see different performances, though I imagine and hope they will be in my future again... getting to see shows my daughter is involved with!! :)

The dogs are doing fine... they love this weather, the freaks! Buddy often forgets how old he is and runs around crazy in the snow.. then comes in, lays on the couch for a while and when he gets up his shoulder is a bit stiff... nothing horrible... just the mind not aging with the body. They do enjoy being able to just run out the back door... as do we... when its cold we just stand at the door and watch them and don't have to freeze! :)

Oh Shawn and I made vanilla fondant last night... twas easy and fun! I found vanilla bean at Bulk Barn and I put a whole bean (cut up with scissors) into the fondant. Of course, its very rich and you can only eat a bit at a time, so this batch will likely last us a while and I won't be in a rush to make another. It's really just pure sugar :)

I'm probably forgetting stuff, as usual... but that's all that's coming to me for now. I should go out and check my goats and wait for the Rogers guy to arrive. Super fun.

** Updated at 2:30pm... The Rogers guy arrived around noon and ran a big long cable around like we wanted. The signal strength is of course slightly less, but it should get us through winter. Now the cable is just a minor tripping hazard in 2 places, instead of a snow blower hazard... I'd really rather trip and fall than have one of my main means of communicating with the outside world severed!! Priorities! ;)

While I was waiting for the Rogers guy, I also got my Christmas cards written, stamped and ready to mail off... Shawn hasn't done HIS yet... but I did mine *neener neener*. ;) I'm going up to the post office later, so I'll get them sent off early... yay :)

I also wrapped a couple presents, but I'm not telling anymore than that.. .secret Christmas stuff you know.... don't want to RUIN Christmas!! ;)

Need to go clean my goats... I trimmed their feet a bit this morning, but I don't feel I did a good job... I brought them up to the white building to do and they both had way too much fun in there, jumping on the stack of hay and doing all sorts of things they really shouldn't. Ernie was entirely unable to stand quietly while tied... so while I managed to get his feet trimmed, I had a hard time doing Bert's with him leaping and jumping all around me! Brat. Next time I'll enlist Shawn's help... or maybe we can get a "goat stand" built sometime soon... maybe TWO :)

News... Not Sure If It's Good Or Bad... But It's News

Not sure what this may mean for us... if anything... but it is indeed news. The complete article can be found at:
http://www.emergis.com/newsroom/News/2007/nov29.aspx

TELUS acquisition of Emergis creates leading electronic health care solution provider

• Emergis supports TELUS' $763 million cash acquisition offer

Vancouver and Montréal, November 29, 2007 — TELUS (TSX: T, T.A; NYSE: TU) and Emergis (TSX: EME) announced today that they have entered into a support agreement pursuant to which TELUS has agreed to make an offer to acquire all the outstanding common shares of Emergis for $8.25 cash per common share (the “Offer”) by way of a take-over bid. The Offer represents a premium of 17% to Emergis’ average closing price on the Toronto Stock Exchange over the past 30 days, 19% over yesterday’s close and values Emergis’ equity at approximately $763 million on a fully diluted basis.

The Board of Directors of Emergis (other than Pierre Ducros, a director of both TELUS and Emergis who was required to abstain for independence reasons) has unanimously determined that the Offer is fair and is recommending that its shareholders accept the Offer. Emergis’ financial advisors have provided opinions to the Board of Emergis that the consideration payable under the Offer is fair from a financial point of view to its shareholders.

As part of the transaction, Emergis’ directors, officers, and certain shareholders - Crescendo Partners II L.P., and Libermont Inc., a company controlled by Chairman Jean Monty - have entered into lock-up agreements with TELUS pursuant to which they have agreed to, among other things, tender all of their Emergis shares to the Offer. The locked-up shares represent approximately 22% of the outstanding Emergis shares on a fully-diluted basis.

TELUS has invested in strengthening its healthcare and financial services capabilities in the last several years, building teams with deep industry expertise and delivering innovative solutions. The strength of TELUS' national sales and marketing capabilities will drive growth in Emergis' solutions, particularly in light of the complementary nature of the parties’ businesses and customer bases.

Despite significant investments, the healthcare industry is in the midst of challenges that are of historical proportions. “If we are going to answer the escalating demand for healthcare excellence and affordability, Canada must invest strategically in healthcare information management systems,” said Darren Entwistle, TELUS President and CEO. “At TELUS, our goal is to become the leader in healthcare transformation in Canada.”

Emergis’ complementary expertise, applications and customer base will strengthen TELUS’ existing industry solutions. These assets, combined with TELUS’ world-class network, extensive IT infrastructure management capabilities, and credibility with business customers across the country, should accelerate growth in this sector.

Emergis has a strong presence in both health claims processing and pharmacy management systems in Canada, with industry leading applications and services. Emergis’ electronic health record systems for the exchange, integration, sharing, and retrieval of electronic health information, are considered best-of-breed.

The healthcare system is strained by rising costs and ever greater demand due to age-related chronic conditions, expensive new treatments, and higher consumer expectations. Emergis’ electronic health records and health information systems, combined with TELUS’ cross-Canada network and hosting capabilities, provide a platform for healthcare transformation in Canada.

“The private sector has a vital role to play in helping Canadian healthcare providers and payors continue to modernize,” says Joe Natale, President of TELUS Business Solutions. “TELUS and Emergis will provide an advanced set of health information management systems to automate and integrate health records and health claims. Together we intend to promote the development of the electronic health record and create a stronger information backbone that helps healthcare providers work together more effectively for the benefit of patients, providers and payors. We welcome the addition of the key management and deep talent of the Emergis team to the TELUS organization.”

Emergis’ services in the finance industry, which include mortgage processing, point-of-sale transaction processing, and cash management offer customers the economies of scale to meet increasing customer service expectations and cost pressures. This enhances TELUS’ focus and the customer experience for financial services firms across Canada.

“Our team is very excited about joining the innovative TELUS team. Combining our proven capabilities with TELUS’ customer base, strong brand, and financial resources positions the Emergis team to lead the development of solutions in the electronic health claims, electronic health records, pharmacy management systems, consulting, security and financial business process outsourcing in Canada” said François Côté, CEO of Emergis. “This is a great opportunity for our people and for the customers of both organizations.”

“The board unanimously recommends that shareholders accept this offer. I am proud of Emergis’ strengths and I would like to thank the board members, executives, and employees who have built this company,” said Jean Monty, Chairman of the Board of Emergis. "In the last three years, Emergis has re-energized and refocused its business under the guidance of a substantially new Board of Directors. With its experienced management team headed by François Côté, the company is now well on its way to capture the leadership of important elements of the Canadian health IT sector. Over the past three years our share price has doubled and this transaction will place Emergis in the hands of a shareholder dedicated to accelerating its growth and capitalizing fully on its capabilities.”

The Support Agreement provides for, among other things, a right to match any superior offer, customary board support and non-solicitation covenants, and the payment to TELUS of a non-completion fee of $15 million.

The Offer is not conditional on a due diligence condition. The Offer will be open for acceptance for a period of not less than 35 days from mailing and is conditional upon, among other things, valid acceptances of the Offer by Emergis shareholders owning not less than 66 2/3% of the outstanding Emergis shares (calculated on a fully-diluted basis). In addition, the Offer will be subject to certain customary conditions, relevant regulatory approvals and the absence of any material adverse effect with respect to Emergis. TELUS may waive the conditions of the Offer in certain circumstances. If its Offer is successful, TELUS has agreed to take steps available to it under relevant securities laws to acquire any remaining outstanding Emergis shares. TELUS expects the transaction to close in the first quarter of 2008. The Offer is not conditional on financing. TELUS expects to fund the acquisition initially using availability under its existing or new corporate credit facilities.

J.P. Morgan Securities Inc. is acting as financial advisor to TELUS, and Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP is acting as legal counsel to TELUS. Desjardins Securities Inc. and Genuity Capital Markets are acting as financial advisors to Emergis, and provided Emergis with fairness opinions. Stikeman Elliott LLP is acting as legal counsel to Emergis.

Investor webcast and conference call
TELUS and Emergis will hold a joint investor webcast and conference call to discuss the transaction today (November 29, 2007) at 11:00 a.m. EST. The webcast can be accessed at www.telus.com/investors; the conference call dial in number is 1-888-458-1598, code 65789#.

About Emergis
Emergis (TSX: EME) develops and manages solutions that automate transactions and the secure exchange of information to increase the process efficiency and quality of service of its customers. Emergis generated $170 million in revenues in 2006 and currently employs approximately 1,100 people in offices across Canada including: the Longueuil, Québec headquarters and offices in Mont-Saint-Hilaire, Ottawa, Toronto, and Calgary. Emergis has expertise in electronic health-related claims processing, health records systems, pharmacy management solutions, cash management and loan document processing and registration. In Canada, Emergis delivers solutions to major insurance companies, top financial institutions, government agencies, hospitals, large corporations, real estate lawyers and notaries, and 3,100 pharmacies. Emergis' shares are included in the S&P/TSX Composite Index.

About TELUS
TELUS (TSX: T, T.A; NYSE: TU) is a leading national telecommunications company in Canada, with $9.0 billion of annual revenue and 11.0 million customer connections including 5.4 million wireless subscribers, 4.4 million wireline network access lines and 1.2 million Internet subscribers. TELUS provides a wide range of communications products and services including data, Internet protocol (IP), voice, entertainment and video. Committed to being Canada’s premier corporate citizen, we give where we live. Since 2000, TELUS and our team members have contributed more than $91 million to charitable and non-profit organizations and volunteered more than 1.7 million hours of service to local communities. Eight TELUS Community Boards across Canada lead our local philanthropic initiatives. For more information about TELUS, please visit TELUS.com.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This news release contains forward-looking statements about TELUS and Emergis that are intended to be covered by the safe harbour for “forward-looking statements” provided by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements other than statements of historical fact included in this news release are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements may prove to not be accurate and readers are cautioned to not place undue reliance on them.

Statements that address activities, events or developments that TELUS or Emergis expects, believes or anticipates will or may occur in the future are forward-looking statements. These statements include but are not limited to those regarding: completion of the proposed transaction; strategic plans and expectations; business and financial prospects; expected efficiencies and economies of scale from the transaction; future financial or operating performance and cash flows, including improved growth and returns; and statements regarding strategies, objectives, goals and targets. There can be no assurance that any transaction between TELUS and Emergis will occur, or will occur on the timetable contemplated in this press release.

Such forward-looking statements are subject to inherent risks and uncertainties, many of which are difficult to predict and are generally beyond the control of TELUS and Emergis, that could cause actual results to differ materially from the future results expressed in or implied or projected by the forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include but are not limited to the risk factors disclosed and identified in TELUS’ and Emergis’ public filings made with securities regulatory authorities in Canada (on SEDAR at www.sedar.com) and the Securities and Exchange Commission in the United States (on EDGAR at www.sec.gov), as applicable, and also include the following risks, uncertainties and other possibilities: valid acceptance of the Offer by holders of 66 2/3% of Emergis’ outstanding common shares not being obtained, approvals or clearances required to be obtained by TELUS and Emergis from regulatory and other agencies and bodies will not be obtained in a timely manner or at all; anticipated benefits, efficiencies and cost savings from the business combination or related divestitures cannot be fully realized; costs or difficulties related to the integration of Emergis’ and TELUS’ operations will be greater than expected; and business and economic conditions in the principal markets for the companies’ products and other anticipated and unanticipated costs and expenses and other risk factors relating to Emergis and TELUS.

The forward-looking statements included in this news release represent TELUS’ and Emergis’ views as of the date hereof. While the companies anticipate that subsequent events and developments may cause their views to change, they specifically disclaim any obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this news release or any other forward-looking statement, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time by or on behalf of either of them. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release should not be relied upon as representing their views as of any date other than the date hereof.

LEGAL NOTICE
This news release is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute an offer to purchase or a solicitation of an offer to sell securities of Emergis. No proxy solicitation regarding a business combination involving Emergis or offer to purchase the outstanding common shares of Emergis has been commenced. The solicitation and the offer to purchase Emergis shares will only be made pursuant to an offer to purchase and related materials that will be mailed to security holders of Emergis shortly. Those materials are expected to be mailed to Emergis shareholders on or before December 11, 2007.

Investors and Emergis security holders are advised to read these materials carefully when they become available and other offer documentation regarding the transaction to be filed with securities regulatory authorities in Canada, as they will contain important information, including the terms and conditions of the offer. Emergis security holders may also obtain a free copy of the offer to purchase (when available) and other related documents filed by TELUS and Emergis at www.sedar.com. When available, the offer to purchase and other related materials may also be obtained from TELUS, Attention: TELUS Corporation, Investor Relations, 3-555 Robson Street, Vancouver, BC V6B 3K9, Canada or Emergis, Investor Relations, 1000 rue de Serigny, Suite 600, Longueuil, Quebec J4K 5B1.

And Not So Usual... (post #2 for today!)

Talked to Mom and got the fondant recipe... need to get some ingredients to try it. Thanks Mom!!

Went out to muck out my goats... they were nutty... to the point I was getting annoyed with them. They spilled the muck bucket TWICE... both water buckets...sent my almost full bale of straw that was piled nice and neatly a flying... general pains in the butt!! It was cold... a bit windy... kinda unpleasant dealing with the goaty shenanigans.. it's really rare they are this irritating!!

When I was just about done, I was going to just dump the muck bucket and go inside, but then I decided to go sit in their shelter in the pile of fresh straw I put in. I was kinda tired and getting a bit cold, but I thought what the heck. So I go in and make myself comfy... it really is remarkably warm in there!!!

Of course my two little brats come inside and nibble me and climb on me... but that's fine... its enjoyable enough.. I like hanging out with them. The nibbling and climbing goes on for quite a while... Bert was especially social with me today... he's way less in your face than Ernie and is often a little more skittish than Ernie.

After a while, I'm no longer fun and Ernie has lost interest.. he munches some of the fresh straw and then lays down near my feet and starts chewing his cud. Bert is still really interested and is standing in my lap (no wonder my thighs have little bruises on them all the time!!) and he's schnuzzling me and mouthing. He starts to lose interest... Ernie gets back up and moves closer and lays down right beside me in the straw... right along my leg.

Bert then goes around the other side of Ernie and lays down between Ernie and the shelter wall... and they are both quite content to lay there with me and chew cud. Ernie tucks his head under my leg and under Bert's head and dozes off.

It was wonderful... we must have sat there like that for at least half an hour. I did take my camera out and take a few pics, I'll post them in a minute... they aren't great, it's hard to take shots like that, but it was so neat that they are so comfortable with me to just lay down and snuggle in the shelter.

Finally, my butt cheeks were falling asleep and I had to get up.... I was all the way out of the shelter before they got up... they came out and ate some hay while I dumped the muck bucket using my new sled (which is super awesome, by the way!!) and then hollered at me as I headed back in the house.

I love my little goats... even after they were little shits making a mess of all the tools and stuff. They really ARE just like human kids.... one minute they are driving you crazy and the next minute they give you an unexpected hug or kiss and all is right with the world again.

Just The Usual

Not much going on around here... today is very cold.. like - 14 C, with windchill around -22 C. My goat babies got their blankets put on this morning! The cold should be short lived though, tomorrow its supposed to be +4 or 5 C and maybe some RAIN. Lovely. Like just be winter now... this fall winter fall winter stuff is getting kinda old!! (I know be careful what you wish for!!)

Last night right after work, Shawn and I went out Christmas shopping. Mostly HE shopped and I killed time... he was shopping for me. I did get a Christmas present from him already though, but mostly because it was too big and awkward to hide!

How old am I?? Ok, OLD, let's leave it at that... guess what he gave me? A plastic sled... you know, the sort where you trudge off in the deep snow to some hill and zoom down in? A weird gift for an old broad, yes? Even weirder was the old broad ASKED for it for Christmas. Ok ok, so I haven't actually lost my marbles (just misplaced them temporarily... probably in some box!) Its actually to help me do my goat chores.

I always muck into a muck bucket, then trudge about 200 feet away in the deep snow carrying it to the manure pile to dump it... Now I can put the muck bucket on the sled and pull it to the manure pile. Or put a bale of straw on the sled and drag it down to the goats. I don't really plan to use it to zoom down a hill.

In fact, after receiving the sled last night, I was whining about how flat our land is and that I couldn't try it out. Well, I forgot that at the corner of the property (on the side with the neighbour, not the vacant lot side) that there IS a hill that goes down into the swamp! Umm, yeah, I don't think I'll try that... at least not until I'm SURE the swamp is frozen solid! ;)

This morning after I took Shawn to work, I made a quick stop at Farm Boy to get a loaf of bread, then I headed up to the Kinburn Feed store where my hay / straw supplier works to pick up the straw I ordered from him on Monday. I paid him for my 10 bales and told him I'd load it (as he was busy loading the truck with the fork lift) and he wouldn't hear of it.

By the time I went out and moved the van next to his truck and got the doors unstuck (frozen) he was there up in the truck moving bales to the back where I could reach them. I fit 10 bales in the van easily, I could likely get 15 or 16 in there before it would get too hard to stuff them in.

Once I was loaded, I thanked him and then headed home. When I got home I opened up the big doors to the feed room and moved the last few bales of straw from the last load out of the way and stacked the new ones up... I can pile them 5 high in that little building with no trouble. I put the older bales at the front, so they'll get used first.

I swept out the van with the broom, I didn't get all the bits of straw, but its not bad. Maybe tomorrow when its warmer I'll take the shop vac and get the bits around the edges of the mats.... today is too cold for that! I swept up the feed room and reorganized things a bit and then I was getting kinda chilly so I came inside.

I'll go out later and muck out the goats... let it get as warm as its gonna, first. At least the sun is out :)

Oh and my goats are finally starting to believe that beet pulp is NOT poison. Yesterday morning, I mixed some grain in with it and put a few raisins on top and they ate it up. I made them some more last night and they ate that up too. It was kinda cute cause the beet pulp mixture was a bit wetter and they were making adorable slurping noises while they ate it. Sounded a bit like Pixie eating her dog food, which is always kinda yucky sounding... but when goats do it, its not *quite* as gross! :) Besides, they aren't doing it IN the house, which makes a difference.

So not much happening around here... just the usual stuff.

Busy... But Can't Remember What We've Been Up To!!

I swear, I keep thinking about posting... but never at the right time... I'll think of something to post, say, when I'm driving... or remember that I haven't posted, you know, when I'm just about to fall asleep at night... that sort of thing. Getting older SUCKS!! :)

Anyhow, as always, we've been busy around here. We put up some more Christmas stuff this weekend... decorated the banister... cut some stencils and we bought some of that snow in a can stuff and we're gonna try that out on some windows. Both Shawn and I are a bit obsessed with the snow in a can stuff, as we always wanted it as kids and never got any. Now we're adults and we can do whatever we want, so na na na na boo boo! ;) I'm sure it won't be near as fun or exciting as either of us has imagined over the years though.

I think it was Friday when I went crazy with 3 tubes of caulk upstairs. I caulked around all the upstairs windows and the windows in the mud room. They are not the original windows to the house and they are really quite crappy. (I'd rather deal with leaky OLD charming windows that leaky not so old crappy windows.)

I think its helped cut down the drafts a bit, but the windows themselves also leak some, so we may try that temporary plastic stuff that you put on with a hair dryer on some of the worst ones and see if it helps. I need about another 3 tubes of caulking to finish the main floor windows, I just have to remember to BUY it!!

We also cleaned up the house over the weekend as we had some guests over to visit us and our goats and I really didn't want them to know that we live in a pig sty... oh wait, now the whole world knows!! ha ha

I spent today running around... went to the feed store and got more grain for the boys.. also picked up a bag of beet pulp for them (more on that in a minute) and 2 bales of pine shavings. Also talked to my hay/straw guy about getting some more straw... I've used 7 of the 10 bales that he brought me originally and I don't want to run out. He'll bring them to the feed store and then I'll pick them up there in the mini van... means I can get them when I want and not have to wait for him to drive down in the dark after he's done at the feed store in the evening. Suits me great :)

So I bought some shredded (not pellets) beet pulp to feed to my goats. Mostly, the point of the beet pulp was to offer something else to eat that would also provide them some extra water in their diet. It's winter and I worry they aren't drinking enough (although, they are drinking almost as much as when it was warmer, so I'm just being a mother hen.)

I brought it home and dumped it into a garbage can so it wouldn't get wet or allow the rodents in... and then I took a small amount (that's always KEY with beet pulp!!) and put it in a bucket, brought the bucket in the house, put in hot tap water (about 3:1) and let it soak while I mucked out their shelter. Came back in and it was nicely soaked and mushy, still warm, but not hot.

I took it out to them in their feed pans and set it out for them... they did think I brought grain and were very disappointed to find I put goat "poison" in their feed pans instead. Apparently beet pulp is repulsive. I even squeezed some out with my hands and tried hand feeding it and nope! absolutely not! Fussy goats... I left the feed pans with the beet pulp out there, thinking maybe they'd eat it later. NOPE.

I'll try again tomorrow and add a bit of their grain to it and see if that entices them. It's a weird texture and they don't have any older animals to show them that its ok to eat it.... and they ARE just babies that were just started on grain before they came here... but still!!! EAT IT ALREADY!

Goats have a reputation for eating everything... like tin cans and old boots... but with my goats, nothing could be farther from the truth... they are fussy!!! I bring out some lettuce leaves... perfectly fine, *I* would still eat them... and sometimes they gobble them... but should a leaf ever fall on the ground...NOPE, not eating THAT... its *dirty*!

Same with hay... they are bigger wasters than horses!! "Oh I pulled that out while looking for the tastiest fluffiest bits and now I can't possibly eat that... its filthy and not suitable for royalty such as myself!" Grrrr! Fussy buggers.

Yet, these same creatures think NOTHING of pooping in their water bucket... their feed pan or their hay feeder. Umm, hello, maybe you should think that through?!?!

Tonight Shawn and I took the projector screen and wrapped it in that plastic stuff that skids get wrapped in. We wrapped it about a thousand times in different directions and once we were satisfied that it was reasonably well protected, we put it in the basement, laying across some boxes so its not directly on the floor. It's kind of a "white elephant" in this house... no good place to hang it and use it... yet, we don't really want to sell it or anything either. So we'll store it for a while... maybe we'll come up with a plan of how we could actually use it. Who knows? At least its out of my living room where I eventually plan to set up the Christmas tree.

Besides going to the feed store today, I also ran around and did some secret Christmas things... bought a few gifts... that sort of thing.

I've also been considering making some sort of Christmas yum yum eat'em. That's Shawn speak for making something tasty. I thought about making sugar cookies and I haven't ruled it out. I have an idea that adding ground up vanilla bean might be yummy. The other thing I was thinking about was something my mom made years ago and I don't really remember what it was other than yummy.

I know it involved Eagle brand sweet and condensed milk and somehow you mixed that with something... maybe icing sugar and you ended up with little balls of tasty goodness... she sometimes mixed almond extract or peppermint extract.. and little silver balls or sugar sprinkles or maybe a nut went on top. They were very sweet and almost like fudge.

Again, I have this idea that adding vanilla extract and maybe ground up vanilla bean might be awesome. Maybe if Mom is reading this she will remember what I'm talking about and fill me in on the details that I've forgotten and maybe just maybe even have a recipe or something for me. (hint hint!!) :) And why did she stop making it?? Was it as delicious as I remember?? Wait.. Fondant? Is that what it was called??? Perhaps.

Anyhow... I'm not sure if I'll end up doing either of those things... but I've been thinking about it anyhow... weird for me for sure... I can roast meat and stuff, but I'm no baker! But being out here without access to all my mother's home baking sure makes me crave stuff like that!!!

Well that's as much as I can remember about what's been going on lately so I'll leave it at that for now! :)

Snow.. On The Ground!

Last night we finally got some snow! There's 3 - 4 inches on the ground and they are forecasting another 20 - 25 cm in the next 24 hours!! Being the first snow of the year, its very pretty... clean and picturesque. I'm sure the novelty of it will wear off quickly!

Of course, our internet cable is still across the driveway, no one has come to bury it yet... so we're all tucked into bed last night... the snow hasn't started.... and we're lying there all comfy and warm when I remember it's supposed to snow overnight and we have no idea when the snow removal guy will show up!!

So Shawn got up, put on his coveralls, went out and unplugged the coax, moved the "ding ding" and the rubber mats and then came back into bed.

The snow removal guy didn't come, though I imagine he will tonight or tomorrow morning. I remembered to park under the tarped building last night and there was nothing on the car this morning, which was nice!!

When we let the dogs out this morning, they were all excited when they saw the snow and Buddy ran all around crazy and biting and eating the snow like a madman. He loves the snow and does this every year... its funny to watch :)

Then we went out to the goats and took their gate off so they could come out. Being born in July, they've never seen snow on the ground before and both were very wary and cautious about it... they didn't want to step out. Finally Ernie got brave enough to come out, then Bert soon after... they both walked around with stiff, straight legs, not really knowing if it was safe to walk on or not!!

They were so busy exploring the snow that they even forgot about eating their grain for about 5 minutes (a really long time in "goat world"!) As each flake hit Bert's back, his skin flinched (as if a fly was landing on him!). We cut them some evergreen to munch on... put their hay and grain inside... they'll get used to it, I'm sure!!

The drive into work this morning was fine... we even saw a snowplow on our road before we left... the roads were just wet... some parts had a bit of slush on them, but mostly in Kanata... the roads closer to our house were in better shape than the ones near work!!

The traffic going in March road was thick and slow... anytime the road isn't perfectly dry in the morning, that's true... not sure why.... a fair bit of volume and a few people over reacting, I imagine.

Heard on the radio that TWO OC Transpo (Ottawa's bus system) buses were in ditches this morning... way to go guys!!

I'm going to upload some pics to the FHH album in a while, so look for those. That's it for now, though!

The Thing Works!

I tried the Singer out last night, just turning the balance wheel to try to get it to go. I found some manuals online for similar machines.

At first, it wouldn't go at all. The wheel would turn, but the mechanism seemed seized. I fiddled around for a while, wondering if I'd done something wrong. Finally, I got Lisa to help me. :-)

We took the locking screw and balance wheel off the machine to get a better look. We couldn't see much, although a little piece seemed like it was in backwards.

The manual I had had instructions on how to oil the machine, so we tried that, oiling all the points that are recommended (actually, we never did oil the bottom points of the machine, I realize now).

After a bit of oil, the damn thing works -- the mechanism runs as smooth as silk. Wonderful action.

The treadle takes some getting used to -- it's like playing with a yo yo -- you have to get the timing just right. But it works. :-)

If my modern Kenmore works as well as this Singer does in 70 years, I'll eat my hat. :-)

Today sometime I may try threading it up and running some real stitches with it. I'm sure the tension will need adjustment and all that, but that's to be expected.

All Sorts of Lighting

I haven't posted here in a while, but today seems like something I can comment meaningfully on. :-)

Today was the lighting installation day.

We replaced all of our outdoor porch lights (two in the front, two in the back). The old ones were nasty, rusted out, barely attached, filled with bugs and filth, and had barely functioning motion detectors that shut off when you were there, and blinded you as you were coming in.

The new ones are just simple lights from Home Depot, elegant black fixtures, a bit larger than the old ones (I think more in scale with the house), but importantly: they're installed securely, they're simple, and they turn on and off with a switch, rather than on their own whim. :-)

We discovered a couple things about the house when we were putting them up: the addition on the back of the house is insulated on the outside with blue foam insulation, which is nice. The old house, over the brick, has 2" framing under the siding. It may also be insulated between that: we couldn't tell.

It's just getting dark now: soon we'll be able to test the lights.

We didn't get to doing the kitchen/dining room lights (probably tomorrow). Instead, we installed Christmas lights.

Mostly we put them on some of our new fences: they should be really nice once its dark out. We also put some on the Red Shed Used for Storage Needs Some Work.

All in all, a really fun day. :-)

Update... New Pics...

I posted some new goat pics... some of these even have some of Shawn and I in them!! I do look really scary and I apologize to our more sensitive readers, but its been chilly here in Dunrobin and I've been cold!!

To enhance my look, we went to TSC yesterday and bought insulated coveralls... we each got a pair. Shawn had a hard time getting ones to fit, most of the bigger name ones had really short sleeves! He finally found a cheaper brand that fit reasonably well. They probably wont wear as well or be as warm, but he doesn't need quite the same level of heat that I do. His are a respectable blue colour.

Mine... well, they are warm. They are made by Dickies, which I LOVE having a tag on my boob that says so and they are ugly... that nasty baby poo brown colour (light brown and kinda orangey).... ever so attractive... NOT. But they are friggen warm... I put them on to go out and feed this morning and it wasn't quite as chilly as it has been and they were almost too warm. They are also very heavy and a bit hard to move in... I really feel like a kid bundled up in a snowsuit when I wear them!! Oh the fashion sacrifice, just to be toasty!! ;)

Yesterday we did a bunch of clean up work around the yard... loaded up all the rolls of fencing (one at a time) into the lawn tractor's trailer and hauled it over to another part of the yard, where it'll be out of the way once the snow flies. We put away the patio furniture that hadn't been used in a while... into the red shed for winter storage.

We also ran an extension cord from the red shed into the white shed to power my feed room light... I didn't bring out a power bar with me, so its still not switched, but now at least it works by just plugging it in. I used it last night when we fed and locked up the goats and WOW is it ever nice to have a real light in there. There's only a 60 W bulb in there now and it could take a 100 W if I thought I needed it brighter yet!

We also went up to Galetta yesterday (about halfway between here and Arnprior) and watched the horse sale for a little while. We did not plan to buy anything... and did not buy anything :) Its not quite as bad as the Tuesday sales at Kitchener, but not near as good as Carson's sale in Listowel.

Prices were low... lots of quarter horses broke to ride went through and sold for around $300 - $500. A couple donkeys went through also... they ranged from $25 (!!!) for an older donkey, that wasn't halter broke with horrible nasty feet to about $130 for a nice little donkey that was halter broke and about 2 years old. I was a bit tempted by that donkey, but sat on my hands and it was all over in a few minutes.

Then we went to TSC, as I mentioned before... then it was about 4:30 pm and I was starving so we went to Steve and Denni's (if you remember we went there this summer after the Arnprior fair when we were scorching hot and ate salads!) and had dinner... we were there so early we actually beat all the old people...there was about 5 or 6 groups of older people that arrived right around 5pm.

I had a hot turkey sandwich with mashed potatoes, veggies, salad and tomato macaroni soup. Shawn had baked lasagna with a dinner roll, salad and soup... we both had cokes and dessert was included... red jello (my choice) or rice pudding (Shawn's choice)... the total bill was $25.19! We love diners... good food... and cheap! :)

We came home... fed the dogs... fed the goats and then just hung around watching tv on dvd and doing some laundry.

Shawn has tomorrow off... yet another vacation day.... I think today we're going to do some electrical work... maybe replace the kitchen and dining room lights (we already bought the same fixtures as are in the mudroom and bathroom/laundry room). We may change these fixture out eventually when and if the kitchen gets redone, but for now, it'll mean more light in the kitchen... and we can get rid of that horrible broken fixture in the dining room. Baby steps.

We're also hoping to do some outside electrical.. replace the fixtures by the front and back doors... remove the friggen motion detectors that have a warped sense of humour and think its funny to randomly plunge us into darkness when we're moving a whole bunch right in front of them!! I'll be happy to just be able to turn a light ON with a switch and have it STAY on until I turn it off... oh the things that make me happy!!

I'm hoping that we'll also have some time and energy to put up some outside Christmas lights... we don't really know where to put them yet... our front trees are all way to big to really do a nice job on them... and its hard to attach them to the house... we're looking for easy and safe... nothing that requires a tall ladder or monkey like climbing on the roof!! I'll have to go out again and look and think about what would look ok.

So, if you're planning to try to reach me today... it might be tricky to get me on the home phone (it doesn't work if we've turned off the power!) but I'll have my cell in my pocket as usual, if anyone needs to reach us.

Ok, time to get to work!!

Kijiji Strikes Again!!

I am so addicted to kijiji... sometimes you only see junk... but sometimes you get a really neat deal!

Obviously we got all our page wire fencing from someone on kijiji... a couple weeks back I also got an awesome nativity scene, its made of olive wood and has a "made in Bethlehem" sticker on the back. (Imagine its a thing over there, making stuff like that to sell to tourists... but still its awesome!)

Tonight after supper we drove all the way to Renfrew (about an hour away... north... or west.. or whatever direction they refer to that as!! Towards North Bay!) and we bought a Singer treadle sewing machine!! And it still works apparently... we haven't tried it out yet. Shawn looked up the serial number online and it was made in Quebec in 1936.

It's very pretty and really neat. When I saw it on kijiji, I immediately thought I should get it for Shawn for Christmas. Then I emailed the seller and it took her until supper time tonight to get back to me (I guess she works all day?) and wondered if we could pick it up tonight and if not, she had 4 other people that also wanted it. So I obviously couldn't make it a surprise, so I showed Shawn the pic online and askedh im if he was interested and he said he was... so off we went.

The best part? It was $50. $50... yes.

Kijiji is awesome!! :)

Hello My Old Friend...

My old friend "Speedy Internet" that is!!

Last night we finally gave up on Bell's wimax unplugged service. It was just getting unbearable... sometimes working, sometimes not... but if it ever DID work... twas so slow. It worked better in the summer for some reason.

I checked on their website and apparently its not even a supported technology at our address... so its surprising it worked at all. Shawn and I phoned Bell to cancel it (it was in his name) and after quite some time, some stress and some craziness we succeeded in canceling it. We immediately had no internet access.

Then we decided to call Rogers... I know, I know, I swore I wouldn't, but there is no other reasonable option here... after talking to 2 agents, we finally got an "appointment" for installation today... between 8am and 8pm. Lovely.

Anyhow, they arrived just before 1pm... they didn't call first like I requested, but I was just cleaning up the goat pen, so it wasn't a big deal. It took them a while to make it go... the buried cable that crosses the lawn was not working, so they ran a new cable out to the big pole at the side of the road.

Now I have a very long coax cable running through the grass and across the driveway to the house. Apparently they sub contract out the burial work and they will show up... sometime... is their best guess. Hopefully before the ground freezes... or that'll be a big crappy poo poo thing this winter!!

So now we have internet again... and man is it speedy!! I can hardly believe it!! I'm happy again... I don't have to wait 15 - 20 minutes for each email to load! Yay :)

2 Obits

Obituaries - Nov. 10, 2007

LEHMANN, Helen Winnifred - Passed away peacefully, on Friday, November 9, 2007 at Forest Heights Long Term Care at the age of 89 years. Beloved wife of the late William Lehmann (1983). Loving mother of Donald and his wife Sharon of Powassan and Larry and his partner Auldene Quennell of Jacksons Point. Dear sister of Grace Frohlich of Kitchener. Sister-in-law of Mildred Asmussen and Rilla Lehmann both of Kitchener. Grandma to Virginia Herbert (Tim), Ken Lehmann (Linda), Kimberley Hicks, Terry Lehmann and Paul Lehmann. Great-grandma to 11 great-grandchildren Keeley Herbert, Brandon and Travis Lehmann, Kyle, Ryan and Amanda Hicks, Felicia, Dillon and Cassandra Lehmann and Omarai and Siraya Lehmann. Predeceased by her parents, Edgar and Edna (nee Holtzworth) Asmussen, son Billy Lehmann; daughter, Virginia Lehmann; brother, Howard Asmussen; brothers-in-law, Joe, Bernard, Rudy, Arnold, Gerard and Carl Lehmann and sister-in-laws, Anna Graff and Marie Bender. Helen’s family will receive relatives and friends on Monday from 2-4 and 7-9 p.m. at the Henry Walser Funeral Home, 507 Frederick St., Kitchener, 519-749-8467. Funeral service 1 p.m. on Tuesday, November 13, 2007 in the chapel of the funeral home. Rev. Katharine Edmonstone of Highland Road United Church officiating. Interment Woodland Cemetery followed by a reception at the funeral home. In lieu of flowers donations to Highland Rd. United Church would be appreciated by the family (cards available at the funeral home). Visit www.henrywalser.com for Helen’s memorial.

Obituaries - Nov. 10, 2007

GRAHAM, Ann Marie - Suddenly, in Guelph, on Thursday, November 8, 2007. Anna Graham, age 34 years. Beloved fiancée of Jon Halliwell of Guelph. Dear daughter of Laura Burt of Brantford and David Graham of New Brunswick. Beloved niece of Lloyd and Carol Lindsay of Guelph. Dear sister of Beverly Borman (Ken), Kathy Burt, all of Brantford, Michelle Menhennet (Chad) of Niagara Falls and Vanessa Lindsay - Botten (John) of Halifax. Loved aunt of David, Skylar, Shauna, and several other nieces and nephews. Loved granddaughter of Norman Field of Irish Lake and the late Margaret Field and the late Grace Lindsay. Resting at the Gilbert MacIntyre and Son Funeral Home, Hart Chapel , 1099 Gordon St., Guelph (Monday 2-4 and 7-9 p.m.) where a funeral service will be held in the funeral home chapel on Tuesday, November 13, 2007 at 1 p.m. followed by cremation. A reception to follow the service in the Fellowship Lounge of the funeral home. As expressions of sympathy, donations to the Guelph Humane Society or the Guelph Little Theatre would be appreciated by the family (Cards available at the funeral home or condolences at www.gilbertmacintyreandson.com)

Sad... 2 Deaths

It's an extremely sad day when there are 2 deaths that touch our lives.

We would like to extend our condolences to Kyle's family... his Great Grandmother passed away this afternoon at 2:43pm. We will keep Kyle and his family in our thoughts during this sad and difficult time.


I heard from Jessica this evening and she told me of the death of Anna Graham, the production manager that she learned from during her coop and volunteer stint with Theatre & Company. Her untimely death was actually in the local newspaper... I'll put the text at the end.

I know my daughter thought highly of Anna, learned tons from her and really respected her. I feel for her fiance and her family. What a horrible thing to have happen, I'm almost speechless.

To my daughter, hang in there, I know you have a very busy month ahead of you, with many projects, tests, calls, etc... You can do it... I know it seems overwhelming and horrible right now, but do it... it's what Anna would have done and what she would want... she would not want her death to make it hard for you to get through a very important time at school, attending a program that she helped inspire you to pursue. Do it for Anna. I love you, girl.


Link to the article

Wrong-way car kills woman

Ann Marie Graham was a former manager with Theatre & Company

GREG MERCER AND VIK KIRSH

Ann Marie Graham was 34.

GUELPH

A woman described as "a rock" in Kitchener's theatre community died early yesterday in a three-vehicle crash on Guelph's Hanlon Expressway.

Ann Marie Graham, 34, died after her car was hit by a man police say was impaired and driving the wrong way on the Guelph expressway shortly before 1 a.m.

For more than four years, Graham, known to friends as Anna, had been production manager at Kitchener's Theatre & Company, essentially running any production held at the company's King Street stage.

Staff at the theatre were so shaken by the news many asked to go home early yesterday, said Chris MacFarlane, who replaced Graham as production manager in February.

"Almost anyone who worked in theatre in this region would have at some point worked with Anna," said Brad Hutton, general manager at the King Street theatre company.

"She was everyone's rock, she was my right hand. This all seems surreal."

For Hutton, she was also a close friend, a neighbour and someone who could be counted on at the last minute to house-sit and walk his dog.

A memorial is being planned within the next month at the theatre, Hutton said.

"She was one of those people who always very positive, very upbeat, and extremely good at her job," said Cheryl Ewing, director of marketing with the King Street theatre. "She had an impact on a huge number of people."

A 38-year-old New Dundee man, Lance W. Fried, has been arrested as a result of the crash. He's charged with impaired driving causing death and driving with more than the legal limit of alcohol in his body, police said, adding alcohol was found in his Ford Explorer.

The driver of a third car involved in the crash was not injured.

Graham, a production co-ordinator for the Canadian Opera Company in Toronto, was engaged to marry John Halliwell of Regina.

It appeared Graham was on her way home from work when the crash occurred, Robb said.

Graham was deeply involved in the theatre community outside of Kitchener, too.

She was the Guelph Little Theatre's technical director and a board member for seven years.

Past president Rosalind Slater said Graham continued to lend her technical expertise to various productions.

Her untimely death has stunned many, Slater said.

"This is a real shock to the arts community in this area. We all know and love Anna."

Graham earned a University of Guelph bachelor of arts degree in drama in 1997, and stayed in touch with fellow students and professors like Paul Ord.

"She had a huge network of friends," the drama professor said.

She relished the performing arts, throwing herself into her work "with passion, energy, sensitivity and sensibility," Ord said, noting her talents extended from arts design work to, more recently, management and technical direction.

"She will be missed," Ord said.

She was a stage manager and volunteer for the Hillside music festival and helped direct and stage manage performances of productions by Guelph playwright Tony Berto.

"She was probably the most positive, can-do person I ever met in my life. She was beyond compare," Berto said yesterday.

Graham is survived by relatives in Arkell on Guelph's southern fringe and Brantford, including her aunt, Marilyn Field.

"(She was) a great young lady," Field said yesterday.

Field said Graham was raised in Arkell by her aunt and uncle, Carol and Lloyd Lindsay, before moving to Guelph as she grew into adulthood.

Yesterday, Field said the family was getting many calls from friends and colleagues wondering if the woman who died was "our Anna."

Field's husband, J.C. (John) Pennie, said Graham was a natural leader and a hard worker with considerable skill.

He said her life was snuffed out in a tragic accident that never should have happened.

"I think she had a great future," he said.

"She worked long hours and late hours."

The family, he said yesterday, is too devastated to consider funeral arrangements until today.

"They're still struggling with the grief," Pennie said.

A police investigation continues.

Anyone with information is asked to call Const. Lisa McGinnis at the Rockwood detachment at 519-856-1506.

Goat Coats & New Pics

It's been chilly here... no real snow to speak of YET, but a cold wind. My baby goats decided it was too cold to leave their shelter anymore, even to come out for food... I don't like them in there all the time, as I think fresh air is good for them (but what do I know?).

After doing some internet research, I found out its very common to put blankets on goats... most of the places you can order online are in the states and even with the dollar being worth something, I don't like the border surprises. So I decided that I would take a chance on Greenhawk's dog blankets.

I attempted to measure the goats for blankets and wow, was that ever difficult. Even with collars on, they wiggle and waggle and jump, you'd think I was trying to kill them!!

I decided that they are about the size of a medium dog and went off to greenhawk. I picked up 2 medium dog blankets and then tried them on this morning.

If measuring goats is tricky, blanketing goats is next to impossible... that is, until you get out the box of raisins! ;) Our really "outgoing" goat, Ernie (read, into everything constantly!) took to it ok, he mostly wanted to chew it frantically. Our other more reserved, quiet goat, Bert, was pretty sure I had strapped a predator onto his back. It took almost half a box of raisins to convince him otherwise!

Anyhow, the medium dog coats are *just* big enough for now... we may have to modify or add something to the belly strap at some point soon... there's a big jump in sizing between the medium and the large though, so they need to do some growing before the large will work. The dog coats have no buckles, so if they really want them off, they can probably work the velcro and get them off.

Once they had them on and were no longer freaking out, they came out of the shelter and started to eat the outside hay! Apparently so far, it works. Now I will not be surprised if next time I go out I find them naked and huddled in the shelter again!!

The pics are in the Goat Coat & Dehorning album in FH... enjoy :)

Fences & Dehorning

First off... I'm feeling better... not 100% yet, but darn close. I still have a few days of antibiotics so the healing trend should continue. Not sure that Shawn will be so lucky... he may need another trip to the doctor yet... we'll see.

Twas another busy weekend around here... Shawn pounded a bunch more posts.. all of them, in fact, except a couple corner posts that get done when the fence goes up, so no big deal. We also got a bunch of the fence up and secured... in the dog area along the back and up the side to the corner right behind the white building. We still have to come across and up towards the house, but that run of fence is over half done.

We also moved the goat enclosure a bit so they would have grass and leaves to eat again and give the ground a break where they've been all this time. Its a nice system the dog kennel fence and the 2 part shelter, makes moving the whole shebang easy and it takes us about 30 minutes to do it.

Speaking of baby goats, they went and got dehorned yesterday... it was very stressful for them and us!! We worried about them all day long. I called around 2pm and they told me they were awake and nibbling hay, but that they needed another hour before coming home. We didn't end up getting them until about 530pm, which was ok, the clinic is open til 6pm.

When we loaded them in the morning, they were very good and just jumped right in the back of the van and into the dog crate. (We used pixie's old crate this time, to save some time and effort first thing in the morning and they fit ok this time, but probably not again.. at least not together.) When we got to the clinic, I went in first to find out where they wanted them and then I went back out and we put on their leashes and out they jumped.

They were so good, walking on their leashes in a strange place... they just followed us, no problem. We put them together in a dog kennel, after I pulled out the newspaper that lined the bottom. It was just too slippery with the paper in and I didn't want them to EAT the paper either :)

When we went to pick them up, there were other people there too picking up their pets that had been there for the day, to have procedures done. We paid our bill ($127.56) that included both dehornings, the sedatives, the local anesthetic and a shot each of long acting antibiotics. Oh and a can of blue wound spray and taxes. I thought that was really reasonable.

Once the paperwork and payment was done, then they brought the boys out (after I made sure no dogs were expected to be in our path!!) and they lead them down a hallway around the corner from where we were. The walked kinda hesitantly as they were still kinda sedated... not their normal curious and energetic selves! Just before they came around the corner, I crouched down and called them and they both recognized my voice and walked very quickly over to where we were standing. They seemed happy to see us after their tough day!

They looked like little sad goats... their horns missing with silver spray over each area to help clot any blood and help prevent infection.

We got our after care directions and then started to leave the waiting area. In the waiting room they had various plants, hibiscus and some other tropical looking plants I don't know the names of. The goats were very interested in nibbling them, but we managed to get out before they got any of them... luckily as I think some of them are poisonous.

Out to the car we went... they didn't want to walk down the steps in the dark... and they were kinda wobbly still, but we got them down and out to the car. This time they couldn't jump in... they were tired and didn't have the coordination required so I lifted each one in and put them in the crate.

We headed home in the dark and they traveled pretty well. When we got home, we went and got flashlights and then unloaded them by lifting them out again... I didn't want them to hurt themselves when they were unsteady on their feet. We clipped their leashes on and headed out towards the enclosure. They both got really excited when they saw their fence and were enthusiastic to go right through the gate. (After we take them for walks around the yard and put them back in their fencing, neither ever wants to go through the gate and have the fun end.)

I tucked them right into their shelter with some hay and water... no grain until this morning, after the sedative had totally worn off and their tummies would be functioning normally again.

We went back to the house, exhausted and tired and hungry and we showered and ate some dinner. We watched a show on dvd while we ate. Then we decided maybe we'd go to bed early so we got ready to go outside and take the dogs out. I decided I also wanted to check on the babies before bed, to make sure they were ok.

We went out in our jammies, with coats and hats on, as it was raining. When we got out there we saw with the flashlight that Bert's one horn wound had bled quite a bit and he had congealed blood hanging in sheets / chunks from his face and his one eye was almost glued shut from dried blood. So much for going to bed early! I sent Shawn in to get some clean up supplies and I got a collar from the white shed to help hold him still.

I picked the chunks of partly dried blood off his face and then started to soak the dried blood off around his eye and pick off what I could. He wasn't thrilled with this process, but tolerated it remarkably well. In the mean time, Shawn and I got soaked and cold in the rain. I applied the blue wound spray to both of them. Bert's bleeding had slowed down to just a seeping bit of blood.

The whole time we were out there, in the darkness, cleaning up goat blood.. we could hear the coyotes not far off yipping and howling and moving around in the night. I don't know how close they were, but to hear them moving, they couldn't have been too far. Creepy.

We were all ready to go back in the house and then Bert scratched the site with his back leg and opened it up again. ARGH. So we untie the gate and I go back in and hold pressure to it until the bleeding slows down... I reapply the blue spray and then we get them locked up and off we go back to the house.

We were both really worried about whether they'd be ok or not, especially with the smell of goat blood and the coyotes nearby, but we went in anyhow and headed right to bed. I woke up once in the night and thought I should go out and check on them, but talked myself out of it because if they were resting quietly, I didn't want to disturb them and get them moving around.

I woke up early, about 30 minutes before the alarm and I got dressed and took the dogs out, leaving Shawn in bed. I started dog food and then went out to check the goat babies. I went into the white feed shed to get some hay and other stuff I needed and didn't see them peeking out of their shelter. I was a bit worried about what I might find when I got there. By the time I was done gathering everything in the shed though there were 2 cute little faces looking out and they were calling to me.

I took them some hay and a small amount of grain. Ernie's wounds looked good... Bert's one was ok, the bloody one from last night had seeped some more and needed cleaning up... but nothing near so bad as last night. They were much brighter this morning and really happy to eat.

I wasn't out there that long when Shawn came out to check his babies too. He was really relieved they were ok and we finished up out there and then came in, fed the dogs, made his lunch and then off to work we went.

I'll have to go out in a bit and finish cleaning up Bert's face now that he's had a chance to eat a bunch... he'll likely be a little more patient to stand still with a full tummy.

So, as of now, all is good and I hope they heal and recover quickly and without any further incident. I'm glad we had their horns removed, but it was also scarier than I thought it would be... whether they'd be ok and stuff. Maybe I'll take a couple pics of the boys when I go out and post them. It doesn't look very nice, but once its healed and the hair grows back, should look alright AND be much safer!! I can worry less now about losing an eye!!

That's it for now!