Posts Tagged With: farm life

Why I Gave My Goat a Pedicure

My goat is currently styling the latest in white painted hooves and my lamb is showing off a french manicure.  I’d like to tell you it’s because I follow all the current fashions, or maybe because I’m using some great home remedy to protect against disease or something.  But actually it all has to do with the black mold in the bathroom.

Why I gave my goat a pedicure.

This color really goes with her outfit.

Our back bathroom has been disintegrating since the mid 60s, so the surprise was from the shock of actually falling when the shower tiles I was leaning against collapsed into the wall.  This led to the discovery of black mold behind the tiles and the complete destruction of that bathroom.  After much sanding, scrubbing, and bleaching we began replacing everything from the wall studs on out.  We put in a new shower, flooring and tile, added wiring for more outlets, and put up bead board.

Why I gave my goat a pedicure

The finished result!

We picked bead board that needed painting.

Yup, wait for it, it’s coming.

On one of the rare, few days that has felt like spring my mom and sister came over to fly kites with the kids.  There was lots of going in and out of the doors with Fanny, Harriet, and Lizzie leaping for joy to have company in the yard.  My mom and I were talking in the front yard when Brett came bursting out of the house to tell us all three animals were inside!

Why I gave my goat a pedicure.

Don’t let that innocent face fool you.

We followed Brett through wide open garage and back entry doors, to find Lizzie the lamb standing on my newly tiled bathroom floor, front hooves in the still-wet paint tray.  Of course as soon as she saw me Lizzie jumped up from her half-finished spa day, scattering newspaper in all directions.

I managed to get ahold of her collar, but this “little” lamb weighs close to what I do.  The best I can do is to pull her as quickly as I can off the back entry and out into the garage and slam the door behind her.

The goats were nowhere in sight, but I finally discovered them at the other end of the house by the bedrooms. They, too, were rather skittish so it didn’t take much to convince them to move.

Why I gave my goat a pedicure

She thinks she’s cute.

Moving in the right direction was a different story.  First we ran the circle that is the office and living room.  Next mom and I had to take opposite sides of the island to get them back to the entryway, and then, if you can believe it, we hearded them right into the closed back door and on into the bathroom!  Fanny managed to avoid the paint tray but Harriet not only stepped both front feet into the deepest part, she also skidded enough to slosh paint all the way up her hooves, completely covering both of them in primer.

Why I gave my goat a pedicure

She did such a nice job. I always think its harder to paint the right hand…

Thankfully Harriet is smallest of the three animals and I was able to pick up her front end and walk her to the re-opened back door and deposit her in the garage before running for a rag.

Fortunatly, all’s well that ends well and the back bathroom as well as the animals are all fine.

But the garage will never be the same again.

Why I gave my goat a pedicure

Advertisement
Categories: Animals | Tags: , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

The View from Here

A harvested field {DaddysTractor.com}

Yesterday the harvest crew descended on the field around our house.

This is now my front yard.

Could be a whole lot worse. 🙂

Categories: Family | Tags: , , | 2 Comments

The Whole Farm Life Thing

The Whole Farm Life Thing {DaddysTractor.com}

I didn’t grow up a farm girl.  Not even close.  So I’m kind of making the whole farm life thing up as I go along.  Like the goats I brought home a month ago.  One of my goals was to get Brett involved in 4-H so he could show the goats and maybe some sheep.  Little details– I didn’t even know how old you had to be to join 4-H.  But what better way to find out than just to show up at the county 4-H livestock fair and question poor, unsuspecting participants!

The Whole Farm Life Thing {DaddysTractor.com}

We walked around and looked interested and sure enough, several families stopped to talk with us.  (Love this about farm families!)  We found out about the “Clover” program which judges showmanship of the kids rather than the characteristics of the animals.  Its for kids 8 and under, so that will be perfect for us!

DSC_0006

Although they spent most of their time playing in a pile of sand behind the bleachers, Brett and Anna also watched a few classes go through the judging process.  Brett is all excited about teaching our goats how to stand properly for a judge.  He wants to start tomorrow.  I’m counting on YouTube to come through for me on this.  Feel free to leave advise in the comments!!

The Whole Farm Life Thing {DaddysTractor.com} The Whole Farm Life Thing {DaddysTractor.com}

Then we ate jumbo hot dogs (fair requirement I’m pretty sure) and played in the sand some more before coming home to leave a massive ring in the bathtub.

This farm life really grows on you.

Categories: Animals, Family | Tags: , , , , | 3 Comments

Blog at WordPress.com.