goats, horse, kids

Spring Break 2023

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This past week was Spring Break for Quinn and Amanda. Quinn had their wisdom teeth out of 4/7, so Spring Break was mostly spent at home eating soft foods. I had to travel to DC for work, so Amanda went along. My 3 day trip was turned into a 5 day trip so we could do some sightseeing together.

Monday morning, Amanda and I hit the road to drive down. She was asleep within 30 minutes of leaving the house.

Amanda sleeping in the car

We made it to Baltimore in the early afternoon and went to the National Aquarium. Amanda enjoyed the Amazon exhibit and seeing the all the fish. But she was especially happy for ice cream afterwards. In fact, she ended up eating ice cream all 5 days.

Amazon exhibit at National Aquarium
Ice cream in Baltimore

Tuesday morning, we headed to Annapolis to visit the Naval Academy. It’s amazing how much prettier the campus is as a visitor instead of as a midshipman. Amanda enjoyed the tour, including me showing her where Anna and I met in April of 1996 at the International Ball.

Amanda at USNA in the Chapel
Amanda at USNA in Memorial Hall

We went for a walk in DTA (downtown Annapolis) and had an early lunch at Chick & Ruth’s deli. Chick & Ruth’s is known for the all-day breakfast/lunch/dinner menu and milkshakes, but it’s also where I took Anna for a milkshake the night we met. Amanda had a milkshake and was still talking about how big it was tonight at dinner.

Amanda at Chick & Ruth’s deli in Annapolis

I had a meeting after lunch, but then we headed to the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. Amanda particularly enjoyed the gemstone exhibit (she likes shiny things).

Smithsonian Museum of Natural History

I had told Amanda we were having dinner with a friend from the Navy, but I didn’t exactly tell her the truth about who it was. About 18 months ago, Mark and Tricia Gordon left Griswold for Mark’s orders to the Pentagon. Amanda and Olivia were best friends, so I had arranged with Tricia for us to surprise the girls for a get together. We couldn’t have done it any better – Olivia opened the door to find Amanda on the porch and both were completely in shock. They had a blast playing and painting fingernails throughout the evening.

painting nails

Wednesday I had to work, but we got finished early enough to head to the National Zoo in the afternoon (with temps in the low 90s!).

Is it a mirror?
The looonnnggg escalator up from the metro
Riding the metro

After the zoo, we met the Gordons for an evening at the Museum of Illusions.

Thursday morning we headed out on the metro early to get tickets for the Washington Monument. While waiting in line, there was an announcement up front that we couldn’t hear. Amanda went up and found a couple to ask what the park ranger had said. Long story short, Amanda’s cute looks were rewarded with the couple getting 2 extra tickets for us to ensure we go to go up into the Washington Monument.

After overlooking DC from the top, we rented some scooters and rode them to Arlington Cemetery. We did the tour and got to see the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown soldier.

Next, we headed back downtown and went to the Smithsonian Museum of American Art. Amanda spent almost 2 hours looking at all the paintings and portriats.

Since temps were again in the 90s, we called it done around mid-afternoon and headed back to our hotel. We both enjoyed the air-conditioning and crashed for a nap before dinner.

The drive home on Friday was uneventful. We did have a nice shopping excursion at Bass Pro shops. Once we got home Anna’s birthday was celebrated with sushi for dinner.

On Saturday morning, Alex and I ran the Traprock 17k trail race. Last year, he stayed with me throughout the race and we finished together. This year, he was a little less prepared and finished about 16 minutes behind me. He has decided more training is needed for our Ride and Tie plans this year.

Saturday afternoon, Quinn and Amanda helped me mark the courses for the CT Valley Driving Club. Saturday evening was spent at the West Greenwich Horsemen’s Association steak fry. Sunday morning, we loaded up Mojo, Amira, and Missy to attend the RI Federation of Horse Clubs Blessing of the Horses and trail ride. Originally, I was planning to drive Huey, but last weekend’s crash prevented that.

This afternoon, Anna and I went back to Arcadia to take down markers from the driving course we marked while Quinn and Amanda went to a 4-H meeting. When they got home, Rainbow was kidding. The kids handled it without us and Rainbow delivered a 10.4lb buckling and 10.0lb doeling. That brings our count to 5 does freshened with 6 does and 5 bucks; the next kiddings are in June.

That’s all for now!

endurance, goats, horse

March catch-up

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Time flies when you are are having fun. Or when you are crazy busy (which is always the case here) and realize it’s been almost a month since we gave a big update.

Anna and I attended the Eastern Competitive Trail Riding (ECTRA) Winter getaway in New Jersey. The weekend included a full day of AERC vet Susan Garlinghouse talking about distance riding nutrition, metabolic issues, supplements, hydration, and more. Saturday evening was a banquet with the other attendees. The only down side of the weekend was we had to drive to New Jersey. It took 2.5 hours to get home on Sunday but over 4 hours to get there on Friday afternoon.

While we were gone, the kids picked up Anna’s parent’s from the train station as they flew in for the first time in 3.5 years. They stayed for a week and a half. While they were here, we did manage to hitch Huey for some driving. We didn’t get a photo with all the kids, but we did catch Alex with Roland and Sylvia before they left.

On March 16th, Phaylene kidded with triplets – 2 does and a buck. The have our two classic colors of either black with white splashes and brown trim or just the black and red. At 8 years old, we aren’t sure if we will breed Phaylene again, so we are thrilled to get 2 does kids out of this breeding to E.B. Farms LL Regal. That brings Regals count to 5 does and 4 bucks out of 4 kiddings. Not bad for his first season.

Anna and I get fancied up for Sonalysts’ annual gala at the Mystic Marriot. This is an event that had been cancelled in 2020 and 2021, so it was a ton of fun to enjoy dinner, drinks, and dancing with others from work.

The February doelings are growing great and enjoying their time outside on a daily basis.

We now have 4 does in milk. 3 of them are first fresheners and 1 is an 8 year old. We have some really impressive udders in the barn right now, which is great to see, and we are getting almost 5 gallons of milk a day off the four goats.

Camellia – first freshener
Phaylene – 8yo, 5th freshener at 1 week fresh

Quinn is taking a Horticulture and Design class at school that’s actually a UCONN. This results in fresh floral arrangements regularly. Here is the one that came home most recently.

Anna has been working with Fiona almost every day. Her teddy bear dummy is the token rider for now, but that will be changing through April.

Temperatures hit 60F this afternoon, so we took the three big horses over to Arcadia for 11 miles of trail work. Anna rode Amira, Amanda rode Missy, and I rode Mojo.

We have 6 weeks until our first competition of the season and 1 goat left to kid. Hopefully it won’t be the end of April before we post next.

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Step back and refocus

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Life has been crazy. We will probably get to a big blog post this week to catch up on baby goats and life happenings, but after putting some hay in the barn this afternoon, I decided an evening by an outside fire with a cigar and beer was warranted. After all, it’s 51F in March and the peepers are singing. Rusty will keep me company. Maybe I’ll find some amazing insight. Maybe I’ll just relax.

goats, horse, kids, Uncategorized

Snow Day with a special delivery!

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Overnight Monday night into Tuesday we got about 7-8 inches of snow. School had already been cancelled for all the kids, Rob’s work event was cancelled and I was the only one who had somewhere to be (the dentist), so not a big deal. Turns out the dentist was still open and in business, definitely not calling in a snow day. So I got up early to take care of some chores and feed baby goats before I had to leave.

Early Tuesday morning our baby goat count was four. Sawfish Jasmine kidded last Friday and added two bucklings to Sawfish Camellia’s two doelings from the previous Saturday. Jasmine’s boys were named Chevy and Ford by the kids! Chevy is the solid black and red with a star like mama’s. He was 9.3 pounds at birth. The black with red and white markings is Ford, and he was a little smaller at 7.8 pounds. Jasmine needed my help with the first boy, but after that the second one came out without assistance. Jasmine is a smaller, slower maturing doe and a first freshener, so I am not surprised she had a little trouble with a 9 plus pound kid. They both presented normal (two feet, nose), which I am grateful for, being alone on the farm with Rob away on business travel.

Camellia’s doe babies Mercedes and Porsche continue to be doing well and Mercedes (the splashy colored one) in particular is a heap of trouble, hopping around the kitchen and causing mayhem. Porsche is a little quieter, but also a bit more solid in structure IMO. They started going out into the garage pens with heat lamps and will transition to living out there and not in the house. Eventually as weather and temperatures allow, they will move into our outside baby pen.

Chevy and Ford, minutes old
Chevy and Ford learning to stand
Chevy, Ford, Mercy, and Porsche from top to bottom
Checking out their new digs
Chevy
Mercy is the feisty one
Porsche

Well, enough of the update, back to the snow day. In the barn, I went to check on Sawfish Freesia, who had a March 2 due date, and she was showing some signs that maybe today was the day to kid. She was breathing heavier than normal, her belly had dropped low compared to yesterday and her ligaments were loose. Her udder was also full, but no discharge. I went to have my cup of tea and coffee, and when I came back to the barn, she had delivered two babies! She might be a keeper. Her mom LongvuTabula Rasa also had easy deliveries. One 7.8 pound doeling and 8.6 pound buckling. Black with tan doeling and black with red buckling with white splashes. We brought them inside to warm up. The kids named them Audi and Harley (I know, not a car, but he has the tough look, apparently). They are both long legged, and will likely take after their mom who is a longer and taller statured goat.

Audi just born
Harley just born
Audi and Harley just inside
Audi and Harley about an hour old here

All the goat babies so far are very similar in color. Freesia, Jasmine and Camellia all have the same dad, Idikka Yoshi (out of Barnowl Quartermaster), and were bred to the same buck, so the kids are very similar in look. Black and tan or red, with some sort of white marking. More splashy white on some, only a star or white tail tip on others. Several look a lot like their dad, E.B Farms LL Regal, especially Chevy.

Day old here
Audi and Harley day old
Harley

With babies settled, I went off to the dentist, Rob was working from home, and Quinn and Amanda tended to the babies and took care of Freesia. All is well.

Later in the afternoon, Amanda decided she wanted to try skijouring behind Mojo, so we cleaned the stalls and then got Mojo out. He was game, and besides it is good pre cart training, right? We are working on harness training Mojo to drive. Amanda got tired quickly and decided a sled might be a better idea. We also added a lunging aid breeching to help keep Mojo from stepping on the traces from his breast collar.

Check out some short clips from this adventure below:

Stay tuned as we are expecting babies from wonder goat Phaylene next in about two weeks. Think pink!

goats

Kidding Season 2023 has begun

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Sawfish Camellia started off our kidding season today with a super easy delivery of twin does. She was due yesterday and based on how big her udder got earlier this week, we actually expected her to deliver about 36-48 hours earlier. Amanda didn’t have school on Friday, so she set up a hammock in the barn Thursday night and did hourly checks on Camellia (Camellia is her goat). Unfortunately, the temperatures were in the 20s last night so she had to sleep inside.

Amanda sleeping in the barn on kid-watch

Throughout the day, we were checking on Camellia every hour. Around 1, Amanda came into the house and announced she saw discharge and kidding was imminent. She went back to the barn and called the house almost immediately to announce “there were feet “I see feet!” 15 mins later we had twin does at 7.1 and 7.2 lbs.

10 min old goat kids
10 min old goat kids

This year, we have shifted to all bottle babies. That means we are pulling the kids at birth and they are coming into the house for a few days before moving into a kid pen. We made this choice because the bottle babies are just always friendlier and easier to handle. It also means kids we are selling can leave earlier.

This year’s name theme is cars. The baby with a lot of white on her face is Sawfish AS Mercedes (barn name Merce) and the black and brown faced doe is Sawfish AS Porsche. The AS in their names is for Amanda Sawyer since they are in her herd.

This morning, Anna snapped a picture of Camellia’s udder while she was on the stand. Once Camellia kidded, we hand milked her for the colostrum for her babies. I honestly don’t think we have ever had a first freshener that was as easy to hand milk so fast after kidding. In the first 5 hours she has given us 2 quarts of colostrum and didn’t kick the milking bucket even once. Let’s hope that continues!

We have 2 more first fresheners due over the next two weeks. We will be retaining one of either Mercedes or Porsche and the other will be available for purchase.

hunting, kids

Tis the Season!

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We spent some time decorating outside today. This year we added a 20′ Christmas tree of lights. It looks really nice as the first snow is falling this evening.

Last weekend, the family picked out our Christmas tree and it has been getting decorated. It usually take 15-20 minutes of bickering before we find “the right one” which usually just means no one cares anymore. That said, I love the fact that we have so many cut-your-own tree farms around us and can have an annual tradition like this.

Also last weekend, Amanda participated in a youth Pheasant hunt at my gun club. While she gets to hunt over Rusty with me, this was a chance for her to hunt over a different dog and with other youth. She had a great time.

Shooting clays for warm-ups
Looking for the birds
Success!
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Making memories

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Tonight we played Trash pandas. With all the kids. Sometimes that’s what’s important. Amanda picked out the game at Walmart. It was cute. A little card game with a competitive streak. There was a little attitude about playing at first from some members, but it resolved. Rob got a picture of a raccoon on his game camera behind the house while we were playing. Coincidence?

fitness, kids, running

ISO: Good friends to join me for bad ideas

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Last weekend, Alex and Amanda joined me (Rob) at the CT Trailmixers Fall Fling trail race. It’s a 400 minute race around a 2.2 mile trail loop. You can do as many or as few loops as you want. This was Amanda’s first trail race. We left the house at 5:30 to get to the race and temperatures were in the upper 20s when we started. None of us had been training so we didn’t have high expectations. Amanda did 2 loops, Rob did 3, and Alex did 4 (just to do 1 more than Dad).

Amanda sleeping before the start
Waiting in the car to avoid the frigid temps
All of us before the start
Alex finishing his 4th loop
Finisher’s medal

It was great to race with the kids, but I made the choice to stop after 3 loops to avoid doing too much while under-trained. It was a serious wake up call for how much fitness I have lost; the scales show the lack of commitment.

Much to Anna’s chagrin, I am a very goal oriented person (and maybe a little bit cyclic). Without a goal on the horizon, I don’t commit to incremental work that would sustain my fitness and weight. So it’s time to set some goals and commit to the journey. This is generally known as my bad idea’s amongst my close running friends; registering for events when I’m nowhere near trained or ready.

  1. Twisted Branch 100k running race, August 2023. I have never run more than a trail marathon. I’ve been lurking on the edge of ultra-running, but haven’t committed to breaking through the distance ceiling. That ends in 2023.
  2. Traprock 50k. In 2022, Alex and I ran the Traprock 17k. It’s a tough course and there was no way I would have finished the 50k in 2022. I registered for this one because if I can’t do a 50k by mid-April, then I’m way off track for the 100k in August.

It’s likely that there will be other trail races on the schedule (like the CT Trailmixers Spring Fling – 600 minutes on a 2.2 mile trail loop). Alex and I plan to do some Ride and Ties and there are some other goals for 2023, but regaining my fitness has to be #1.

I see this in meme’s all the time and the truth has become completely clear to me recently. “You should sit in nature for 20 minutes a day… unless you are busy, then you should sit for an hour” – Zen Saying

horse, hunting, kids

Fall is for campfires

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My favorite part of fall is sitting by an outside fire on Sunday evening before the week starts back. The brisk New England temperatures and early sunset are a perfect combination to relax and get ready for the next week.

We took Fiona on her first trail adventure last week.  I ponied her off of Missy while Anna rode Amira.

This weekend we replaced the roof on the concrete building that used to be a chicken coop and is now a goat shelter. Camellia wanted to help.

Once the goat shelter was finished, Amanda and I went to the gun range. She spent the hour before sunset shooting my .300BO to get ready for her first deer hunt next weekend. Her accuracy was surprisingly good and she enjoyed the swinging plates because the give immediate feedback.

I’m trying to find ways to slow down and do more with kids before they are gone.

The story of our lives with horses. And goats.