Today in Pictures..and Georgia UPDATE! Any Minute Now!!!!!

Evening ya'll!

First let me thank Peggy and Liz BUNCHES for all the information on foaling! Such invaluable info! Also to Don for all the help with Georgia and for being so patient with me when I call to ask so many questions! I've truly learned A LOT from you all!

Doug does have Tonsillitis, he is on antibiotic, but the doctor told us until he has multiple recurrences its not time to remove them! Yea no surgery, but terrible for any child to have to

go through that many bouts of it! By the way I learned today that he is 4' 11" tall....he'll be taller than me before school is out for sure!
Douglas learned how and made the most awesome rabbit trap today! Thanks Norm for helping to show him how to use all the tools and create such a great project for school! Its perfect and a show in for an AAAA+

Georgia should foal within 24 hours! Somewhere between 2 and 4 pm today she presented with a discharge that's thick and stringy, tinged with blood...its called "springing". For two weeks now her bag has been full and tight, she HAS had a waxy build up on her teats, and the muscles next to her tail have caved in. She is rolling and licking a lot and her belly has dropped REAL low today. She is somewhat restless.

I will be checking on her every hour tonight, at this point the foal can come at any minute.

I am so excited!!

Diet week - lost 4 pounds already!!!!

Calf count- will update tomorrow I didn't go check cows/calves today with Norm and I forgot what he told me!

Hi Ya'll!

Couldn't think of a good title for my post! So hi ya'll it is! LOL

Its been a busy weekend. Cleaning house, checking cows and calves, pulling a calf on Saturday, worrying about Georgia foaling, grocery shopping, out to eat with friends, soap soap and more soap, feeding the furries, ummm I think thats all for me in a nutshell!

Georgia, as I've told you in my last post, is very very close to foaling! I'm just so excited but I'm worried i'll miss the action! I cant wait to see Radish when he is born....You know - HorseRadish! LOL That still cracks me up. Leah definitely has a sense of humor doesnt she!

I didn't know it but I've got a bigger saddle for King already over here at the house! DUH moment again! (I've had a lot of those lately) sometimes I wonder where in the world I left my brain.

I havent taken any pictures lately, been so cold I've hated to go outdoors. I sure wish warmer weather would arrive! I just absolutely hate the cold.

So I've done a lot of indoor chores one of which is making soap, my kitchen smells sooooo good right now!

I think that Pepper takes Sundays off from laying, so far the last several Sundays there have been no eggs...it is the day of rest ya know! Silly bird!

Calf count:

28 babies in all as of 6:00pm today.

Three of which we have lost...which I've already posted about, and 1 cow was calving when we checked this evening, baby hasnt came yet, but she is an old pro and should have no problems at all so we arent too worried. We'll get another calf count tomorrow.

I'm really worn out but getting the munchies...bought a lot of healthy food at the grocery, veggies and fruit to snack on. My goal is 20 pounds in 90 days....I begin exercising on the treadmill tomorrow, and walking outside when its warm. Thinking I'll dig up my weight watchers stuff too. I've gained too much weight! I'm not happy about that at all.

our neighbor came by today to give me the KY goat registry. She is weird. She never comes outside, has a daughter that has been home schooled but only seen out of the house on two occasions, she is painting for a portfolio, but the mom told us today how she tells the girl how to lay out things and decide what to paint and how. The mom doesnt paint....hmmmm can you say controlling? An artist should never have to be told how and what to paint. She felt she had to tell me all about goats however, she isnt really informed, her way is totally different than my friends here, whom have healthy and happy goats and MUCH more info on raising them. She said she tried to breed but never mentioned if she had a live birth..I dont think she did by the way she talked. I was NOT impressed one bit, in fact she was really WEIRD, did I say that already, well she is weird enough to say it again. She is one of those people who know everything, and controls the conversation and her way is the only way. I cant tell you enough just how weird she is. LOL Okay onto something else.

Well actually, I have nothing else, I'm so tired and hungry I'm gonna eat some carrots and head for bed. I've read blogs this morning, but Blogger didn't co-operate and let me leave any comments, I hope to get by tomorrow and speak my peace! LOL

Arent you lucky! ha ha!

See ya guys soon!

Love
Rae

Wilmoth Farm's Sunday Reading - *photos of Doug's duck hunting adventure not for the faint of heart**

Today was a really good day for Douglas! He went duck hunting for the first time with Donnie and Neil (neighbors and friends) and got a beautiful Male Mallard!!! Yea Douglas!! Below are some pictures of his first duck. We have him saved back and frozen until I can gather the money to take him to the taxidermist. He was so beautiful....still made me sad to see such a gorgeous dead animal! I loved this next one...TOOOOOOO funny!

Here you can see the beautiful colors of his feathers!

LOVE the next one too!

I havent written much about Georgia who is going to be a mommy soon. In our herds hierarchy she is last...well now poor Bella is with that bunch. We had a mare, a lovely tenn walking mare who foaled about 2 years ago. He baby was the one that kicked Douglas and severed the tip of his middle finger. Momma and baby got sold back in Feb. She wouldnt let Buck who at the time was a stud anywhere near another mare. Right after we sold her, both he and Georgia took a trip to the Amish to be broken. When they came back he was gelded. (The most gentle horse you will find even as a stud...he is only 4 years old.) Well in that month and half that he was able to mate....he got Georgia (who is about 5 or 6 yrs)!! So now we are looking at a baby due the end of this month to middle of Feb. We dont know the exact date since we dont know when she was bred. Anyhoo....now to decide what we are going to do, we have thought the last year about selling her, she is a very hot horse and I hate handling her at all, and she don't seem to like me either unless there is a fence between us. I'll let you know as we go...I wish I could have gotten better pictures to show her large barreled belly, but she wouldnt cooperate with the camera.

This is a pretty cool home made duck blind that some acquaintances have made to hunt over on part of our farm. So I took a picture of it.

My little guys are slowly getting bigger! I turned my camera off too soon, they ALL began jumping and kicking in the hay that Norm spun off the bail....too cute! Of course...I missed the shot. You can see how wet its been by how deep the mud is on their legs....N-A-S-T-Y! Is anyone besides me ready for those hot days of summer? Geez this winter seems so long! And we haven't even gotten into the coldest or snowy days yet! As of today we have 69 days until spring!!!!!! I am praying that these 69 days move along quickly!

We had a good weekend, as always with Leah home. Douglas was very sad tonight to see her go and cried most of the way home...my heart breaks a little more each time too. I wish I had some wise words of wisdom for him, but I'm trying to handle it gracefully myself.

The cattle are getting more hungry as calving time approaches. We will begin feeding silage very soon. They are in need of it, seems that this year pasture kinda disappeared sooner than usual. Its mud everywhere.

Typical Kentucky Winter.

The Bulls are getting along well, there are only 5 in a nice big paddock. They are lazy and fat. Except Amos, who was napping in the bail ring.

He appears a little thin. Of course he is the youngest Bull and as far as his rank in the bunch, he is last in line to the throne! We will need to begin feeding them some feed again along with their hay. The hard part is figuring out how to get it over there without going back and forth from the grain bin here at the house back across the street to them. It'll be somewhat of a hassle carrying 2 or 3 buckets of feed over every day. But guess if thats what we have to do...then we do it.

Leah changed Jacks halter today, he didn't appreciate the pretty new blue halter coming at him, so she cleverly placed the halter open across his feed and he placed his nose right through! She said he gave her no problem at all as she pulled it in place and buckled him up. I'll be working the next few days with taking the halter off and on getting him used to it.

King has a new halter too, a pretty maroon that will look nice with his red roan coat. He knows he is tall and thinks its quite funny to hold his head high these days when he is haltered or bridled. But once its on his nose (and thats a good reach for me! lol) he lowers his head right down....little bugger! He is really feeling good and looking so healthy! Its taken us since spring when I acquired him back to get his weight up to where it should be, and get his coat to begin to shine again. His eyes are no longer depressed and "beaten" looking and he has a beautiful sparkle back in them! He used to not care for attention one way or the other...he was indifferent, but lately he is really taking a turn! He appreciates the daily contact, and is seeking affection!!!! I love my old man and I'm so pleased in his turn around!

Pepper and Carrot are living quite happily in the same pen. I see the two of them often sitting out together. They both need some company so this works for now. The temps are falling into single digits this week, so I'll be moving them both back to the barn until it passes. Luckily neither of them care if they are moved back and forth...as long as fruit and cookies and veggies are given daily! The do miss each others company when they are in the barn, there is no good place to have them together while in there.

Levi is FINALLY (knock on wood) learning to stop chasing my car when I leave! That darned dog has driven me crazy about this. He absolutely hates to be tied out and pouts like none other when he is, so since he hates it so much, he has figured out to stop chasing me! YEA!

Leah and I checked out one of our barns thats not really used at all except for storage of tobacco sticks and a few pieces of equipment to see if we can turn it into a horse/goat barn...I'll post on that later tho. This is already long.

Norm is feeling good but achy. Being off the pain killers has helped him tremendously.

We are both back to feeding the farm by ourselves.

Before you can be old and wise, you must be young and stupid! - Nite, Rachel

Friday's Farm Report

Okay...I'm being brave and posting another picture of me....yuck! Everytime I see my picture I'm reminded of how much weight I've gained! My nose was never this fat before! Geez what happened???? Regardless I hope to post a picture this year showing weight loss - and a smaller nose! LOL

Today Norm has gotten back into the drivers seat a couple times now. I'm hoping that feeding will get back to normal with the two of us doing our own farm work! Its been 9 days post op, and he is doing well.

Today he and Josh moved hay back to where the majority of the cattle are. We will be getting by this year by the skin of our teeth on hay. Norm plans to begin feeding silage within the next week or so. The poor cattle need it. They are eating the hay up so fast its not funny.

As I announced earlier...we have confirmed that our mare Georgia is "with child"! From the dates she was with Buck before he got gelded we are estimating another 2 months to go. With this foal....I plan on doing imprinting which can only happen in the first 2 - 3 hours of life. It requires handleing him everywhere and doing all the things you expect him to do when he grows up. Holding his feet, tapping on and even going through the motions of cleaning his hooves, rubbing in and around the ears and nose, patting him, picking up feet, holding him down until submissive - its only until they stop struggling and it teachers him off the bat that humans are the dominate one. Imprinting is VERY important and makes a better horse thats more cooperative. Haltering and leading begins right away as well. Basically you do everything with the foal that you would do as he gets older. The only thing I worry about is his momma and how she will be with us handleing him. I dont like her...terrible to say, but she apparently had NO imprinting! LOL She is a very hard horse to handle...lots of fear and flight in her and she needs major ground work done by someone much more experienced than myself. But we'll see how it goes and its another exciting phase to update here on the farm! I'll post her picture when I get over there this weekend!

Tonight Leah comes home and Douglas has his first basketball game tonight at 8:45! Who in the world has basket ball games and practices late like this??? I hate this schedule!

Well time to run...I've got to go!