Friday Ramblings

Being a day for self analysis and review, there are some thoughts that come to my busy mind such as:

* 78 days til Spring!
* We'll acquire aproximately 2 more minutes of daylight daily and some days 3!
* Ground Hog's Day is now NEXT month! Maybe I need a count down banner for this too! After all, the price is right - FREE!
* In spite of January having 31 days, NEXT month is the shortest month and a "quick step" to Spring. (Still 78 days)
* My kidding season is getting closer! We looked at the does today and we pondered over the looks of the belly on a few hoping we are looking at pregnancy being the cause. We are mid way into the 5 months of gestation on a couple IF they bred when we thought they did. It also makes me ponder on the possibility of a doe's pregnancy being similar to a mare's in some ways. It's been proven in mare's that some are more reactive to the testoserone of the male fetus in the last half of the pregnancy. Also some mares can be more aggressive and will act in heat late term. I wonder if goats do the same! IF so, that MIGHT be why a couple of the does were so obnoxious today! I even YELLED at them and banged my pitchfork against the wall and then pointed it at them. It had the desired response and they did stop, but geez!
* It's time to switch to the new calendar for appts and notes.
* Getting the seed catalogs is EXCITING and make it worth getting the mail (compared to a zillion medical bills)!
* I think the romper room does are dancing to the song that goes: "ding ding the witch is dead..." refering to the herd crab, er queen being moved to the other pen. Isn't that song from the Wizard of Oz? I'm not good at songs and the movies they are in, their titles and such. You also don't want to hear me sing but I do subject the milkers to some singing when milking them.
* 2 weeks more of IV's and MAYBE he'll be done. (This and the dressing changes takes about 6 hours a day! Plus he's to be off his feet so I'm doing extra foot work. He was granted a short visit to the barn if driven there.
* 2 weeks and they will take the stitches out. Diabetics have to have them in longer and don't do as well with tiny, neat and precise stitches in their feet so they get wide spaced and big ones so IF the foot abcesses there is an easier escape route so it's caught faster and easier to treat than another hole in the foot. Neuropathy means NO feeling in the feet or a horrible stinging and painful sensation in the feet all the time. Both take away the early warning signs that something is amiss.
* 2 more weeks and then I can get the chicken trade done with a nice gal I met online. Her mom wants BROWN eggs and the hens she has don't lay the medium or dark brown eggs. So we're making a trade and her mom will have some darker brown eggs and be happier. I'll be happier too as my single hen of the breed doesn't have a mate. I'm hoping to hatch a few of her eggs as she's a really nice little hen and soooo pretty.
*2 more weeks and I can go get the other chickens I'm buying from a friend. I already got some Cochins and a couple Orpingtons from her and am getting the rest of her Orpingtons and a few others she wants to sell to reduce her flock.
* It's time to start a few more new things here on my blog that I was waiting for the first of the year to do. It's finally time!
* It's time to start the garden planning in more depth and make some decisions as to what else to try growing and where.

Wow, with just a few moments spent pondering this new year and life, and I can already see I'll be BUSY! It might be a new year, but being busy isn't new!