windthread

recent posts

about

121

i haven't taken time to go to the laundromat.  so i washed these in a bucket in the bathtub and  hung them up at 7am.  not quite dry.  so…for another day now.  maybe a visiting Alz B day.

IMG_6348f

 

and it's done.  ,  all the disbudding.  all the uhhhh possibilities that go along with disbudding. 

IMG_6330f

Lucky Star's doelings, Starling and Celia.  Yes.  i have named them, a little.  they are standing in the Guinnea Hen Palace,  staring out at their mother who is acting like she never saw them before in her life.  so, again,  a dab of Vicks to her nose, to their foreheads inbetween where the stinky burnt hair and skin is.  now…everyone smells the same.  Vicks.  and so ok.

IMG_6334f

 

this is what it looks like close up.  their heads are shaved.

 

IMG_6339f

 

IMG_6346f

she tried hiding under the picnic table.  but that didn't work.  so she gave in and resumed her responsibility.

i took a Long Nap after we got home from the Vet and after all the Water Tubs were filled and after the little ones were recovering all slitty eyed in the straw and their mothers chewing good cud.  i took a nap with the oscillating fan 

mooooooooving

this way, that, the sound of it.  and i woke, after about an hour, and it was one of those glorious moments when i don't have a single clue of where i am, who i am, what i am.  for a single crystal moment

so much in these past few days to ….feel.  to ……know.   so so Much.

 

Posted in

33 responses to “121”

  1. Valerianna Avatar
    Valerianna

    Oh, I bet that is a relief, to be done with the disbudding..

    Like

    Reply
  2. Nance Avatar
    Nance

    Oh I am sure it’s a huge relief! Those little ones with their bad hair cuts! They look a little embarrassed… But that. Is just me, projecting! Who thought of the Vicks? Brilliant! Jenny? Or is it goat woman wisdom? That sounds like t he title of a cloth, grace! xoxo

    Like

    Reply
  3. Nance Avatar
    Nance

    Oh… And I am so surprised that your pants didn’t dry in that heat!

    Like

    Reply
  4. kat Avatar
    kat

    The title of a cloth, or, better yet, the title of that book?!
    We got some blessed rain here – even left puddles! Have you had any Grace? The rain broke the heat, and it is so lovely out tonight – cool, even.
    Love these little babies of yours, and glad you were able to give the disbudding to another –

    Like

    Reply
  5. Mo Crow Avatar
    Mo Crow

    (((Grace)))

    Like

    Reply
  6. Saskia Van Herwaarden Avatar
    Saskia Van Herwaarden

    different language, slight differences in culture, misunderstanding; I only today understand what disbudding means, I thought it meant castration, balls buds were linked in my mind, incorrectly so.
    I’m glad it all went well for you and what a brilliant idea using vicks!
    and another thing I notice in your writing, you mention having to go to the laudromat and I recently spoke to a French woman who had lived in NY for a while and she didn’t have a washing machine in her apartment, in fact she explained to me many people in the States don’t own them, especially in rented accomodation due to liability. In Holland owning or having a washing machine in one’s home is a must, I work in the customer service dept for a major German co. (marketleader in washing machines) and people are on the phone every day in a state of panic when their washer is on the blink, they literally say to me: I cannot live a week/few days etc without it!
    It would seem like a small thing, but to me it just goes to show how we often take things for granted and cannot imagine life could be different until you step into a different country/culture that from the outside looks similar, huh.
    Not sure I’m saying anything really, just wanted to share it anyway

    Like

    Reply
  7. patricia Avatar
    patricia

    the vicks–brilliant idea. new one on me. wonder if it could be used with humans? yesterday morning I was picking up Logan–very early. his mother was leaving for work. the weather channel was on. she gasped and pointed to the screen. 114 degrees in Phoenix. siestas called for without a doubt. much love to you. there is a sense now that things have settled–are settling. you, dear Grace, are herd warrior supreme.

    Like

    Reply
  8. Minka Avatar
    Minka

    All is well. That nap sounds delicious and well deserved. Green on the trees looks lush and the shade wonderful, I remember the endless dry and endless heat of the Midwest summers. And the babies! I can only guess what transporting them to the vet was like. How do you get them into the truck? That alone, would be beyond me!

    Like

    Reply
  9. Minka Avatar
    Minka

    Lucky Stars doelings are such different sizes.

    Like

    Reply
  10. Marti Avatar
    Marti

    All’s well…the disbudding is done, Celia and Starling, good names and there is a settling in quality to these last photos. Yesterday we had temps reading over 105 even though acuweather for Rio Rancho said 99. I’m learning to venture out before noon and hibernate during the day until the evening. We have a good thermometer attached to one of the pear trees that Rich checks several times during the day. After dinner, we sat outside and in the space of I would say 30 minutes. gale force winds came, knocking things around, we could see lightning in the distance and rain clouds but then the vistas here are vast so while it seemed near and we thought we could smell rain, it didn’t come but the temps seemed to drop about 10 degrees in minutes…there is a drama to the weather here, the winds reliably coming at night, some nights very intense, knock you out of your shoes winds, other nights, soft breezes…I will say that the weather is never dull here! And next week, I will be gone for two months to the land of fog and cool ocean breezes, San Francisco and what an adjustment that will be from this…

    Like

    Reply
  11. patricia Avatar
    patricia

    i’m remembering now. that primal landscape. the sense that at any moment, back lit by lightening, a dinosaur might lumber across the horizon.

    Like

    Reply
  12. Julie Avatar
    Julie

    there were many mothering days when I tried ” hiding under the picnic table, but that didnt work so I gave in and resumed my responsibilities” too. I am confused: who did the disbudding, you and cyndi?

    Like

    Reply
  13. Julie Avatar
    Julie

    never mind. i read again and it was right there.

    Like

    Reply
  14. jude Avatar
    jude

    shaved heads and maybe a bit of responsibility chopped off as well. this is all so real. thank you. growing up at home we only had a picnic table. a big one, dad built it. i have it now. i remember the spilled milk used to find its way between the boards. mom used to crawl under to mop it up. or maybe not?

    Like

    Reply
  15. grace Avatar
    grace

    yes oh yes and oh YES. it is dreaded. but everything
    coming with immediate examples: how i am thinking of
    finding Buckwheat a new home and how so close to impossible that will be because of his horns. how horns so limit Goats that are not free range.

    Like

    Reply
  16. grace Avatar
    grace

    well…i got it from Jenny, yes. i don’t know where she
    got it from? Maybe Fias Co Farm, Molly?

    Like

    Reply
  17. grace Avatar
    grace

    ohhhhhhhh………SUCH LUCK!!! your rain. puddles. eeee.
    not a drop here. nada. maybe later today…at which
    time the new shelter in the Way Back will be tested.

    Like

    Reply
  18. grace Avatar
    grace

    yes…maybe i could have wrung them out better….
    and again…mornings are very cool. heat starts picking
    up at about 10 am

    Like

    Reply
  19. grace Avatar
    grace

    i Love this. assumed similarities….
    i don’t have one here because i don’t want one. first,
    it would take up too much room. and too, there’s only me.
    when i had kids, i always had one. And, there is the
    huge temptation to want to wear something and run a
    whole cycle with too few things. water here should be
    truly seen to be a precious comodity.
    actually, not really ever thinking about it before, i think most or really a Lot of households in the US have
    washers and dryers. probably most everyone in the Spirit
    Cloth world does. and a lot of apartments in cities have
    communal laundry rooms.
    maybe a certain percentage of low income persons don’t.
    here, my laundromat is frequented mostly by Navajo people from up in the Alamo reservation. they have VERY limited
    water. and then young families just starting out.
    and the Dis Balling…that is yet to come. but not nearly as traumatic. there’s a little tool that expands a kind of thick rubberband. slip it over the little testicles and release. over the next while, they just dry up and
    eventually fall off. can be cut too, but this method
    seems to work ok..so i’ll stick with it.

    Like

    Reply
  20. grace Avatar
    grace

    hang on to that title…not yet at all. more rearranging
    to do. gotta get Real.

    Like

    Reply
  21. grace Avatar
    grace

    i put them in an animal transport crate. all 3 fit into
    one. that part is easy.

    Like

    Reply
  22. grace Avatar
    grace

    yes. as are her 2 bucks. 2 regular sized, 2 small.
    having 4 does it, i guess. funny, the first and last
    born were the little ones. the two in the middle,
    average size????

    Like

    Reply
  23. grace Avatar
    grace

    yes…that wind…isn’t it wierd? not common now either.
    Soon the monsoon rains will begin if all goes as it can,
    and that shifts the whole of it all. i am sorry you
    will be in San Fran for those. by the time you return
    we will be through the Heat, the incredible Electrical
    Storms. i will miss you.

    Like

    Reply
  24. grace Avatar
    grace

    me too

    Like

    Reply
  25. handstories Avatar
    handstories

    congratulations to you and them!
    there are days I’d like to stay under the table….I once heard of a mother who climbed up a tree and said she was on strike.

    Like

    Reply
  26. grace Avatar
    grace

    i had a friend whose large family had a huge picnic
    table her father made too. it was a beautiful sight to
    see.
    and yes. it’s all so real.
    love….

    Like

    Reply
  27. grace Avatar
    grace

    yes. today it’s the “shelf” in the Guinnea Palace…
    they are like little pirrannas (sp)

    Like

    Reply
  28. Dee Avatar
    Dee

    whew! hard to imagine that castration is easier, but it sounds that way. How many goats are you tending these days? I cannot imagine how you even keep them all straight! Your description of that moment of waking from a nap and not knowing where you are was spot on… and reminds me of how much your consciousness is tending this way, even when plugged into your surroundings.

    Like

    Reply
  29. beth Avatar
    beth

    A well deserved rest for all. And that is now behind you.
    What could be cuter than a baby animal? I couldn’t believe that one standing on his mama’s side. Motherhood resignation if ever I saw it…

    Like

    Reply
  30. Saskia Van Herwaarden Avatar
    Saskia Van Herwaarden

    ah, so our washer cultures are more alike than I had assumed! it’s to do with money and/or in your case choice.
    (extraordinary that I based my assumption on so little information, however we live and learn)
    oh, I loved your description of waking up and for a nano second not knowing where who or why

    Like

    Reply
  31. grace Avatar
    grace

    that Waking….i have done that since a child. it is
    the most amazing sensation,
    a kind of alert awareness connected to nothing but
    the awareness…very beautiful

    Like

    Reply
  32. grace Avatar
    grace

    13 does, 4 bucks and 6 babies. as i do things with them,
    walk among them, feed them just sit around them i say
    their names to them. they look up.
    oh i Wish. i wish it would be true, that my consciousness
    is tending this way…oh, how i wish

    Like

    Reply
  33. grace Avatar
    grace

    sometimes there will be all six of them climbing on her.
    the other mother isn’t into it.

    Like

    Reply

Leave a reply to Saskia Van Herwaarden Cancel reply