Overdue Update!

As usual, I've been busy lately and not posted. Just not quite enough time or energy in the day!

Jess is home from university and has started her hunt for a summer job so that she can afford to go back to university in the fall. It's so nice to have her home again!!

My mom made the big trip out here again and visited with us for a week. We had a good time, but took it easy. The weather was lovely while she was here... sunny and warm... we all soaked that up after a long long winter!! My dad picked her up on the weekend, he was only here for one night, but we enjoyed our visit with him as well, even if it was too short! :)

Things are really starting to look like spring around here... green grass... the trees are starting to green up... OTHER people have flowers... daffodils, tulips, etc... I have dandelions! Oh well, at least they add some colour.

We've been putting our goats out on grass, as the weather permits... we have two enclosures now. One is set up with the black rubber mats and the goat ghetto shelter, the other just has half of their winter shelter in it to provide shade and we move it around the property to give them new grass.

We just set up the grazing paddock at the end of last week and they spent a couple days in it... then yesterday I noticed there wasn't much grass left and they were starting to churn up the dirt by the gate. So last night we move the grazing paddock over a bit in the field to provide new grass. I'll put them out there later today and let them work away at the grass there.

The goats are loving the weather and the grass it brings! They go crazy when we take them out on leashes to move from paddock to paddock and eat the whole way! They really like it if we go past the trees and they can reach some of the lower new growth... they clip it off quickly with their sharp back teeth and gobble it up!

The dogs are enjoying the weather also, though they still spend most of their time inside.... they are not really outside dogs. Perhaps if there were comfy couches outside that would help :)

We did have quite a scare with my Buddy dog (shep x) about 2 weeks ago. He and Pixie were outside and started ramming about and wrestling... they had just started and weren't even really wound up yet when we heard Buddy yelp. Shawn and I were both standing right there, but neither of us saw what happened, except that he was no longer weight bearing on his right hind.

I stood with him for a few minutes and then checked his paw and his joints. Nothing obvious. No heat, no swelling. He was unable to climb back up the steps to get inside, so I had to carry him in. He laid down for a while and rested. It took him about 4 or 5 days to really start to recover from the incident.

The first night, I carried him up the stairs to go to bed... what a workout THAT is!! Of course, this happened the night before I was heading back to Southern Ontario, so the next couple nights Shawn had to carry him up to bed. I was pretty sure when I left that I would be coming home to put him down.

But he's mostly recovered... he's still slow to get up and occasionally a bit "off" behind, but he's still doing all his normal doggie stuff and he's now able to get up the stairs on his own, which is good. His big problem is his body is aging WAY faster than his mind... he still thinks he's 2, when in fact, he's almost 11.

I imagine this won't be the last incident we have with him, but I do feel lucky that this wasn't IT. I'm sure this dog will cause much more heart ache before the ends comes, damn him!! :)

I still haven't got my manure piles moved... maybe I'll get some time today to work on that, we'll see what today brings. I imagine they will still be there next week, for instance ... and if not, well then won't I be glad I waited? :)

Anyhow, I should go get some things done!
-- L