Emma had TRIPLETS!  Two bucklings and a doeling.  Unfortunately, the first buckling presented completely wrong.  He was bent in half mid-back.  No way was he going to be born.  Emma tried, evidently, for a good part of the day to birth him but I wasn't there to help and he got completely stuck.  I tried to push him back and re-present him but didn't have the strength to do so.  I called my neighbor friend and she came down and was successful in birthing him.  The first, stuck buckling was already dead from the stress but the second buckling and the doeling were birthed alive and healthy.  Both of them were presented wrong as well.  Emma's just given me singles in the past so I didn't think at ALL she was planning on giving me triplets.  Because of the difficult presentation, Emma was paralyzed in the hind legs. 

That was two weeks ago.  She had made some progress and we had battled pneumonia and everything else that goes along with an incapacitated animal.  I got her up and massaged her legs and did everything possible to help her for these past two weeks.  The vet looked at her yesterday and said there was nothing more we could have done and nothing more we could do.  She said Emma's prognosis was very poor.  The vet said maybe a year for recovery and even then it didn't look good.  I decided to spare my beloved doe any more pain.  She cried out each time we stepped away and she fell from the paralysis.  I put her down. 

Sometimes we have a good outcome and a few times we don't.  Unfortunately, this wasn't a good outcome.  We make tough decisions when we have livestock.

Thank you, Emma, for this year's buckling and the doeling and all the wonderful milk for the past three years.  You were a pretty lady.  I'm sorry I couldn't have helped you more.

   

I'm so very embarrassed.  I post regularly on FB but have neglected my blog!  I've been busy (as usual).  My raised log beds were an amazing success.  Permaculture is fabulously amazing and a lot less work!  I don't know why I waited ~17 years (ok, all my life) to build them.  I guess I was too stuck in "traditional" row gardening.  Who shoved me over the line to freedom?  Well.  Jessica Diemer-Eaton for one.  Jessica and her husband are amazing folks.  They do wonderful presentations amazing things and show how the Woodland Indians here in the area would have lived, harvested and put by in the way of local foods.  She has small intensive plots of garden that seem to work well for them.  Here is a link to Jessica and Mark. 

http://www.woodlandindianedu.com/aboutus.html

Very wonderful. 

Secondly, the Community Gardens at Purdue University.  These gardens are rented square foot spaces by the students and their families that attend the university.  Some of them have casual gardens and some have intensive plots that feed themselves nicely. 

The Community Garden folks use re-purposed branches fallen from trees, binder twine, etc.  FOUND items.  Absolutely lovely.  I decided since I have mature Eastern White pines that we had to cut for goat pasture, I'd used some for the beds and incorporate the saplings we removed for larger trees to flourish for the trellising.  I grew Tepary beans (from the Southwest - specifically from http://shop.nativeseeds.org/collections/tepary-beans), pink beans, ojo de cabra (eye of goat from the markings on the beans), glass gem corn, green Oaxacan green dent corn (I got just a few ears but they are gorgeous) from Gurney's (http://www.gurneys.com/product/oaxacan_green_dent_corn), all kinds of tomatoes and a multitude of peppers.  I don't think Gurney's has Oaxacan green dent corn currently, but it's available on the web. 

I happened on a recipe that I morphed from ANOTHER recipe I don't care for.  Mom always used to make a cucumber/onion frozen relish with sugar and vinegar that I don't like.  However, I realized that if I replaced the cucumbers and onions with thinly sliced peppers and added oregano, garlic, thyme and whatever struck my fancy?  I had WONDERFUL relish to add to sub sandwiches!  It freezes well and is amazing.  

This is just a quick "HEY I'M HERE!" and I'll follow up with more asap.