I put on warm socks and pull my hoodie over my head, slip my jacket over that and zip up, grab my gloves. Standing at the french doors out back I can see frost everywhere. Winter is at her front door begging to come out to play. I step in my thick winter rubber boots and meet Sadie at the patio. She's always ready to go to work. Zues gets his zoomies and runs to the other side of the barn to bark at the cat. As Sadie and I step into the goat pen to head to the barn, Samson meets us half way. He and Sadie touch noses and Samson comes to me to be carried the rest of the way. Samson was either carried to our farm via some ones car motor or dumped here. He was found scared and alone in the barn and around. He was skin and bone and had a ton of lost hair patched and skin looked burned, scabby and sore. We did manage to catch him and assess him. He was healing well. some dewormer and food 2 x a day will do the rest. It took several weeks to win him over but now he is a fun part of our ranch. With only two barn cats left, he is welcome to stay.
I head to the barn, crunching the frozen ground. Funny how white everything looks but a deep breath in proved to be warmer than I expected. I grab our buckets and begin scooping feed and alfalfa pellets. Sadie does her normal walk about, checking the whole paddock area, then goes and lays down to watch me. The goats are less than patient and the geese are screaming not to forget them. The Ganders had started getting a bit annoying to the goats, chasing them off from places they were resting. Bored I was told. Not enough lady birds to keep them entertained. So they got moved to reduce stress on the goats. Of course there is no feeding any one until Samson got his breakfast, other wise he was under my feet. Penny and Annie squeal in protest that they are always last to be fed, but are happy now munching away. I break the thin layer of ice on the water buckets and head in.
This time of year can be harsh but oh so beautiful. With the trees baring their limbs and the ground covered in thier lost leaves. There always seems to be a peace in the air when its cold. Funny thing is, its going to be 72 degrees today! Texas is slow to settle into any new season. I enjoy a random warm day to catch up things needed to be done. Today, being Sunday, we will just sit and enjoy a bit of planning for whats to come this spring.
I head to the barn, crunching the frozen ground. Funny how white everything looks but a deep breath in proved to be warmer than I expected. I grab our buckets and begin scooping feed and alfalfa pellets. Sadie does her normal walk about, checking the whole paddock area, then goes and lays down to watch me. The goats are less than patient and the geese are screaming not to forget them. The Ganders had started getting a bit annoying to the goats, chasing them off from places they were resting. Bored I was told. Not enough lady birds to keep them entertained. So they got moved to reduce stress on the goats. Of course there is no feeding any one until Samson got his breakfast, other wise he was under my feet. Penny and Annie squeal in protest that they are always last to be fed, but are happy now munching away. I break the thin layer of ice on the water buckets and head in.
This time of year can be harsh but oh so beautiful. With the trees baring their limbs and the ground covered in thier lost leaves. There always seems to be a peace in the air when its cold. Funny thing is, its going to be 72 degrees today! Texas is slow to settle into any new season. I enjoy a random warm day to catch up things needed to be done. Today, being Sunday, we will just sit and enjoy a bit of planning for whats to come this spring.