Monday March Madness

Before Valerie left for her class today she asked me to check on Bambi for her. Valerie had noticed that her udders were pretty full and that she was likely going to have the lamb today or tonight.

I was working away in the house and thought I had better go out and check on our mama-to-be. She was in the corner of the stall and I could see that she was starting the signs of a baby lamb to come. But a watched pot doesn't boil! Am I right? I figured I'd go back in and get some more work done and come out to check on her soon.

About 15 mins later Michael drove Valerie home. I could hear the garage door. I figured Valerie would go check on her lamb. And she did. Michael came running back in and said, "Did you not notice the baby lamb?!" 

I mean, seriously, I was just out there! So he grabbed some clean towels and we all went out to wait for the second lamb to appear.

We waited a couple of hours. Valerie even had to stick her hand in to check.


Turns out that there was only one.

Bambi welcomed a good sized ram lamb into the world this afternoon. (He is about as big as Ettabelle's two ewe lambs who are about two weeks old).

Beware the Ides of March

It was actually just before the Ides of March that the action started. Michael was still out of town and it was a Saturday morning - not the kind where you get to sleep in. (But those are to be cherished when they happen.) It was the kind of Saturday morning where I got up early to get Valerie off to her livestock judging competition before getting the yard ready for a troop of Girl Scouts who were going to come over that afternoon to camp out and practice all their "camporee" skills. Anyhow, Rex was just off to work at the paintball park for the day and I was just about to have some coffee when Valerie traipsed into the house wearing her muck boots over her baggy pj bottoms, "I had a dream last night that Ettabelle was having her lambs and when I walked out there to feed the sheep, there was already a lamb there!" We knew Ettabelle was expecting twins and that there was only one out. So we rushed back outside to check on her progress. I threw some clean towels to Valerie and ran around collecting extension cords and started to scramble for the heat lamp and rig it up in the barn. 

Instead of driving to the livestock judging competition Valerie was in her barn delivering livestock (baby lambs) and texting people about what she should do. She still had not fed her market sheep yet and Ettabelle seemed to be doing well, but she still had the afterbirth to deliver. So, Valerie felt a little conflicted about bailing on her livestock judging team. But I say in matters of life and death (and fortunately this was life) she is excused. Ettabelle delivered two healthy little ewe lambs on Saturday, 11 March. One is white with black spots and the other is black with white spots. They both have their mother's markings on the face. Cute! Cute!

At 2pm that day the scouts started rolling up to the house with their gear. We pitched tents and they started in on their activities. 

There was knot tying and tent pitching.

 There was practice for the trivia event.

 They made "walking tacos" for dinner.

 Candle light dinner!

 There was a campfire and s'mores, of course!

They had to practice flipping pancakes over a rope tied at a height of six feet. Always a valuable skill.

 More knot tying and tent pitching ...

They also had a "team challenge". Here the girls had to get from one side of the spider web to the other side without touching the ropes. Once a girl came through a section of the ropes, that section was off-limits to future girls trying to get across. Just watching them discuss the possible ways and try to implement their ideas was entertaining.

Sunday after the scouts left, I took a nap in the grass under the forsythia blossoms and occasionally woke to see frolicking little lambs. I knew then that all was right with the world.

Spring break we stayed home and watched after our own critters and the neighbor's critters. They went to Hawaii this year. So, we borrowed their dog. Josie is a wonderful girl. She can come back any time. 

She makes a good alarm clock too! (Thanks for the tip, Cee Cee!)

Michael came home and Valerie ran off to another sheep show. They were like ships in the night, just missing each other. 

Here is Valerie with some of her show mates:

I was hoping that Valerie would take some time and clean her room over break. That was a dream that has yet to come true. She blamed the smell on the mice. 

I should probably explain the mice.

A while back Valerie was supposed to do a science experiment. She and her friend decided they would get some mice and split them into two groups: Junk Food Eating Mice and Health Food Eating Mice. She would teach them to run a maze and see if one group had better success than the other. She tried getting all female mice about the same age from the pet store. At first a few mice died. She got some replacement mice. Then they started chewing through the cardboard barrier in the cage that divided the two groups. They were eating all of the food and making a big smelly mess. Then they wouldn't actually run the maze but would occasionally escape and run around the house. I picked one up out of the cat food bowl one day. Then there was the one under the piano ... 

Anyhow, the mice were in their cage on top of the rat cage, stinking up her room (according to her). The pet store said they would take the mice back. So, while Valerie was at school last week, I asked Michael (our senior mouse wrangler) to help put the mice in a box. I would bring the mice with me to pick up Valerie and then she could return them to the pet store. Michael peered into the cage full of mouse nests. How many did she say she had? She told me there were four. 

Michael extracted the first mouse and plopped him down into the box I was holding. The next mouse more of a challenge, quite a hopper! The third mouse was just crazy. He was digging around looking for the fourth mouse when he said, "Oh no. We have to put them all back." My jaw just dropped. I could not imagine why we would have to put them back. Why?? "Because," Michael lamented, "I don't know which one is the mother." 

Apparently while digging around looking for the fourth mouse, he found a nest of seven baby mice. Also, it should be mentioned that one of those adult mice looked awfully fat. Anyhow, we had Valerie come home and deal with it. She transported all eleven mice to the pet store and confirmed that the other fat one was indeed due to go at any day. Also she verified that one of those mice was a male. Uh, yeah, at least. 

Speaking of due any day, Bambi is still pregnant. Last winter the ultrasound technician thought Bambi was about 5 days apart from Ettabelle. We are now thinking she was like three weeks apart from Ettabelle. So, we are still on baby lamb watch!

This weekend I'm going to Girl Scout Camping Certification on Saturday and First Aid Training on Sunday. I am going to take a nap in there somewhere. 

Remember, March roars in like a lion and out like two baby lambs!

Not So Silent Spring

It's true. It's been very quiet on the Tifftown news feed. Sometimes we are so busy living life that there hardly seems a moment to document it! Also, I confess to being "one of those" people who watch others drop around me each winter with all the viruses that seem to stream through schools, offices, grocery stores and the general public and say things like, "I never get sick!" Well, that kind of hubris beckons for some karmic comeuppance. This year it was my turn. Influenza kicked down the door of my immune system. And before I could repair and replace it, every virus running through town came through and looted me. So, when there was a moment to catch my breath, I was quite literally catching my breath instead of writing about the goings on over here. I've spent a good deal of time sideways on the couch or at the acupuncturist trying to deal with the craziness visited upon me.

But I would not have you all believe that I didn't have bouts of wellness that allowed quite a few adventures over here. I will recount them for you below. And I look forward to a gorgeous, busy spring filled with good health and fresh air for us all.

Our first adventure this year was the girls' road trip to San Francisco I took with Valerie, Amira & their friend Madelyn. We kicked our day off with dim sum at Yank-Sing (in honor of Cee Cee and all the wonderful lunches we had there while I lived in San Francisco. I'm paying it forward). We walked all over the entire city from Rincon Center to Union Square to Pier 39 and then finished with dinner in North Beach. Amira was wearing her new fit bit and clocked over 20,000 steps that day. And it was a fair day in the middle of many rainy ones for us. Perfect! I don't feel like I can ever turn down a trip to San Francisco. Our back up plan if it was raining was to spend the day at the California Academy of Sciences in GG Park. I love that place. Well, maybe next time.

January also brought us a visit from Michael's cousin, Kendra along with her mom, Leslie and her young daughter Isadora. (We did miss Markus!) It was cold and damp while they visited but that did not stop us from having a great gathering with strolls through the Upper Park and much faerie house building and story telling from Isadora. Here are the cousins gathered here.

Here's Michael, Amira, Kendra, Alan, Isadora and Leslie next to the creek in Upper Park. We had to catch some vitamin D anytime the sun came out.

Amira and I attended the women's March in Chico together. It was a fun mother-daughter adventure that culminated with lunch at Priya Indian Restaurant. Nom, nom, nom!

February first Amira and I hit the wet ground running as she tried to meet her sales goal of 250 boxes of Girl Scout Cookies. She sold door to door, out front of super markets, on-line and at school. She exceeded her goal. So, thanks to everyone who supported her effort. She is really enjoying her Girl Scout Troop. We'll be looking forward to a Camporee in Redwood City in April and June Jamboree when school gets out. Yes, I'm known for being a five star hotel camper, but I will suck it up and sleep outdoors with the scouts this year. But the understanding is that I get first shower when I get home and I'm likely to drain the hot water tank getting all of that nature off me. Actually, we have all the scouts coming over here next weekend to work on their Camporee skills. We'll be camping in the backyard. That will be so difficult knowing that my nice warm bed is just a few feet away. But at least I will have access to decent coffee in the morning.

In other news, Amira saved up a lot of money on her own to attend the Twenty One Pilots concert in Sacramento. This was her first concert and I was honored to be a part of it. On the plus side, I actually like the band. So I enjoyed the trip too. She knew lots of kids from her school who were going to attend the concert as well as her favorite "YouTuber". I tried to explain to her how large Sacramento was as well as how many people the venue would hold. I tried to explain that she should not get her hopes up to see anyone unless they were seated very close to us.

As we walked near the Capitol building in search of dinner I was admiring the camelia blossoms and oranges still on some of the trees. It was colorfully stunning. Amira started to jump up and down, "Tay! My friend Tay!" Across the street from us stood one of her friends with her own mom also strolling through town in search of a place to have dinner before the show. So, we hooked up with them and had dinner at a Hawaiian seafood placed called Coconuts. It was pretty awesome. Here is a photo of Amira and Tay. And, for the record, she also found her favorite YouTuber and got a photo with him. He was sitting a section over from us. And after the show another mom I know with two more of Amira's friends found us exiting the seating area (heading for the concert swag center!) So, I stand corrected. She pretty much ran into everyone she thought was going to be there.

Valerie has been very busy (as usual!) Below she is seen with her friends Sarah and Josh. Valerie took first place in an impromptu speaking competition. She will be attending the regional competition in a few weeks. We are very proud of her! Sarah and Josh also placed in the Creed contest and will be going on to regional competition too. (Josh's mom is Valerie's sheep mentor. Sarah's mom has been coaching these guys in livestock judging). Go team!

 Here's the livestock judging team down at UC Davis. Judge those critters!

 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, we have been watching spring bloom everywhere. The almond blossoms have come and gone but we still have the forsythia and quince. Our artichokes are preparing to make a show. Our red buds are ready to bud. I love this time of year. It's like a fireworks show. Just as the magnolia blossoms pass we know the dogwoods are just around the corner. 

Just look at those artichokes, Kevin! Pretty soon we'll be eating them every night with dinner. And when we can't stand anymore, they will bloom into huge purple thistles. The ones pictured below are volunteers. They are pretty amazing.

Yes, there is still plenty of poultry in the back yard. This is one of our more feral hens that hatched out last tax day. With all the rain this year, these birds have been loving all the worms that have been washing up. It's been a good year for them. And now with the days starting to get longer (and the sun starting to shine) we are getting more eggs again. Of course, Michael is now off traveling to support all of these adventures. He is our number one consumer of eggs. He is gone for most of March. Right now he is in Geneva and then goes straight from there to Las Vegas before coming back home. Don't worry honey, we'll save you some eggs and take care of the ranch and not break (too many) things while you are gone. (Michael is the number one poultry farmer and fixer of all broken items on the ranch. He is also the number one wage earner and father-husband extraordinaire!)

Valerie just brought home her market sheep, Summit. He is the one peering over the fence. Her friend Madelyn is raising her market lamb at our house too. Hers is wearing the blanket. Valerie will be taking Summit to shows this spring to prepare for the Silver Dollar Fair in May where he will show and go to auction.

Buster!! Could she be any cuter? I love when I walk by Rex's room some mornings and I see her up on his bed with him still sleeping. Of course, sometimes she is just up on his bed when he is not even home. Rex says she has been eating his bed. Maybe it is pica? Well, mostly she is an attention hound. She loves to be pet - a lot! And she sure wouldn't turn down any treats you bring her way. 

Here is Rex getting ready to go to paintball practice. It's winter, so he's wearing a shirt. 

Rex is still loving playing for the Norcal Kings. They recently went down to Southern California for another tournament. Below is a great action photo (taken by someone else!) of Rex and his team. He is number 12 and is the second one from the left, running toward the camera. It's hard to tell them apart in all that gear.

Rex has trained Ramon to beg. At night when we sit down to dinner, Ramon runs over to the side of the cage and stares at us. Rex tells him to "ring your bell!" Ramon runs sideways across the branch and rings his bell and comes back over to the side of the cage for some spray millet. Then, if we ignore him, he runs back over and rings his bell and runs back to the side of the cage. He's so adorable that it's hard to ignore him. I think he knows that. He is spending more time on my desk during the days when I work from home. It's important to have an office pet. Of course, I let his wings grow out so he is enjoying some flight -- right back to his cage. He loves his toys and his bell so much. He has toys and a bell in my office on the desk, but it's not the same I guess. In any event, he is a pretty social guy. He will sit on our shoulders and give us little kisses. He is a kind and gentle bird who sings along when Valerie plays the piano or Michael plays the guitar (depending on the song. He has his favorites).

Bambi & Ettabelle are back. They are each due with twins within the next couple of weeks. Bambi doesn't look very round. Ettabelle looks very round. I just hope that Valerie is home when they give birth. They are due about 5 days apart, as I understand it. 

Our plum trees have just passed blossom time but our nectarines and peaches are putting on quite a show. Spring is such a treat around here.

Pretty soon I'll be planting my potatoes. I've already put in my order for sweet potato slips. In April there will be a flurry of planting in the garden (that looks bare now). It will be the season of hanging laundry out on the line and weeding, weeding, weeding. And camping. And sheep showing. And, as always, laundry and dishes and cooking. That never ends.