V - Day

My calendar said today was Big Animal Vaccination Day in big red letters and I was nervous. I had picked up my baggies of shots (that sounds funny, doesn't it?) from my vet clinic a few days earlier and had been stewing over them ever since:

While I've given shots on occasion to Chester, my donkey, and my goat boys, Pete and Reggie, I don't do it regularly enough to feel supremely confident about it. Here's Beau looking a bit concerned about the whole thing:

Bottom line, though, I was far less concerned about giving the donkeys their shots than I was about giving Kai llama hers.

You see, Kai and I came to an agreement many months ago: she approaches me and touches me whenever she wants to, but it is very much preferred that I do not touch her - under any circumstances - unless it is during the exchange of carrots. Today, however, was obviously not carrot day:

Fortuntately, my girlfriend, Lori, was very happy to lend me moral and physical support in my vaccination efforts this evening. Friends like this are invaluable, let me tell you :-) :

Because of Kai's tendency to rear up, spin and kick out when confronted with situations she feels uncomfortable in, we utilized the two green gates I have at the entrance of my barn to act as a sort of llama "chute":

The idea was that this would safely contain her, while protecting us and allowing me to easily inject her. Novel idea...until she kushed down and sat on her haunches:

But, a farm girl doesn't give up. A poke in my own thumb and a bent needle later, I managed to vaccinate my llama...while on my knees:

Next year, I think I will wait until after she has been shorn to try to do this. At least half of my battle was trying to weave my way through all her thick winter fiber to find her skin! Live and learn.

Phew! I think all of us here on Critter Farm can say we are mighty relieved to have B.A.V.D. (Big Animal Vaccination Day) behind us!


P.S. Just as an FYI...
The donkeys, Chester and Beau, received an "Equine 5-way plus West Nile Virus" vaccination. This shot is a combination of the 5 vaccines that are considered a must for all horses (and donkeys) in my area - Tetanus toxoid, Eastern Encephalomyelitis (EEE), Western Encephalomyelitis (WEE), Influenza and Rhinopneumonitis. It also contains the vaccine against the West Nile Virus. Kai received the standard CD-T vaccination which protects against enterotoxemia (overeating disease) caused by Clostridium perfringins types C and D and tetanus (lockjaw) caused by Clostridium tetani.

My guilty pleasure

I'm not a huge candy eater...

but I do love my chocolate:

Every year at this time, however, a very specific candy-coated chocolate becomes available in the stores that makes me swoon...

Oh my, it's just the perfect combination of crispy-crunch and chocolate. So good. And no one ever has to know that I've eaten almost the entire bag since I took these pictures.

Oops.

The secret to Oregon's pristine water

is NOT what I found in the goats' water bucket this morning:

Pete and Reggie were in a tizzy, wanting to tell me about it:

This will never do:

Here, boys, let me freshen that up for you:

Somebody needs to tell George, the barn cat, that he's got work to do up at the goat house. Stat.

From where I sat today

Despite the dark clouds, the rain showers, and the big tree I occasionally had to seek refuge under:

It's definitely spring in my part of Oregon.

The grass has started growing:

The big animals are being invited into the middle pasture again:

I found myself happily sitting in my green chair:

Chester was actively resisting his impulse to stomp anything smaller than himself:

Chesterrrrr.....

Don't do it, Chet!!

Good boy.:

Everyone was simply and happily doing their own thing:

I have an extra chair:

Want to join me?:

Weeding ...with "help"

- from George:

A trip to Morning Bray Farm

One of the really neat things about having my own blog is that I can jump forwards and backwards in time any way I want, telling stories completely out of order, and nobody can complain about it. Well, ok, sure, somebody could complain about it, but by the time they do, I will have already told my out-of-order story and felt quite happy about it. Ah, the power of having my own blog. :-)

Anyway, today, I want to tell you about my visit to Morning Bray Farm - which just so happens to have occurred two Saturdays ago. I never got a chance to post about it at the time because we were all so darn busy and things were happening so fast with Patrick.

But, when I look at the pictures from that day two Saturdays ago, pre-Patrick, I fall in love with Morning Bray Farm all over again and really want to share a few of the shots I took that day.

It may be my blog, but I still hope you won't mind...

When I stepped out of Carson's truck, look who greeted me first. It's Bernard...

He and I hit it right off. It wasn't long before we were comparing shoes:

Lots of important discussions are held over a donkey's back, you know:

Nigel..you shy sweetheart:

Nigel was quite interested in how and why Carson was climbing the fence:

Though it was ultimately Bernard who went in for a closer look:

Snack time is serious business around here:

Clearly, I interrupted:

Justina is a wonderful hostess. She brought us refreshments within minutes of our arrival:

And look - just in case I needed reminding where I was:

Because I asked nicely, Don was kind enough to do the "rake trick" with Bernard:

Bernard has a "thing" for scritchy-scratchy noises and will chase Don around if he's dragging something behind him. As you can imagine, it was even more delightful to see in person than when I saw it in pictures:

Auntie Linda had a team of assistants to help her with her photography:

Then we were thirsty. All at the same time. Don patiently waited:

Pretty Meggie had a number of complaints she wanted to alert me to on this day:

Leland was simply exhausted from all the farm work:

And Abigail, well, Abigail just pretty much took it all in:

Momma and Baby Boy are even more gorgeous in person:

Momma Justina asked Auntie Linda to check Fergus' teeth:

Then Bernard was kind enough to show Auntie Linda his teeth for comparison:

We had an amazing lunch. Outside. On their terrace. In March. I was in heaven:

Ellsworth is just as sweet as he looks:

He has the wisdom of the world in his eyes:

When it came time for Carson and me to head back to 7MSN, all heads were together in the hay bin again:

I love these ears:

Can you see them all in there?:

Don and Justina were so much fun to be around:

Now I just need to figure out a way to move Oregon closer to New Mexico: