Can I RELAX Yet?

This last week was Mother's Day week. I'm a florist. It was hell. Mother's Day is pure insanity for a florist. People assume Valentine's Day is the craziest of the year, and it really isn't. I get wire orders over my computer from 1800 Flowers and I always have to shut it down one or two days before the actual holiday. I just run out of flowers and time. I end up getting three or four hours of sleep a night for five or six days and arranging flowers until ten at night. Normally I would get a good two week break afterwards, but I have a full schedule of classes my last term of college with the same professor and she is a slave driver (and a complete moron.) All I know is that this coming weekend I am just going to hang out with my horses and my goats and relax in the sun.

I got some photos of my boys all clipped up. I am very, very happy with how Gizmo is coming along. He is now registered as Tualatin Acres Opera Ghost. He has a white mask that reminds me of the Phantom of the Opera, one of my favorite movies.

He still has a lot of growing to do. You can see the wrinkled skin over his shoulders. It is really loose and it feels like a puppy that needs to keep growing into himself. He is nine months old, so I expect him to gain a little more height and fill out through his yearling year. He is uphill and has nice length and depth of body with a level top-line. His biggest fault is a lack of a brisket, which he gets from his dam, but if he also gets her beautiful udder genetics I'll be happy. He isn't really good at setting up, so I'm lucky he behaved this well. I think he was a bit tense and could have looked a bit better, but I'm happy with this shoot. He has super correct legs when viewed from the rear, perfectly straight in every way. I see so many bucks who at least toe out, such as Tomahawk. Unfortunately I didn't have the opportunity to show him (or Tom) at the Megabucks show because of the holiday and my job. I don't know if I will get to show him this year, since all of the other shows I'm planning on are doe-only. In any case, I am ridiculously excited about his future kids! Plus he is a loving little doll.

I was able to get a good photo of Tomahawk. He looks much nicer than he did going through his funky growth stage. Yet there are some things I don't like about him. I love his length of body, which really doesn't show well in this photo. He is uphill and very sharp over his shoulders. His dam definitely improved on his sire, but you can still see his sire's major faults in him. Mainly a lack of rear leg angulation and a steep, kind of strange looking rump. And then there is the fact that he toes out behind. Not much, it is very slight, but it still irks me. His dam has a pretty nice udder and I think he is a good herd sire for someone with plenty of does strong in his weak areas...but I just don't think he is right for my herd. I have several very nice does coming in and hopefully a new buck kid soon. I don't have room for too many bucks, so I am selling him.

Sherry gave birth on the very first of the month. I was honestly not expecting it, but then it is hard when you have no clue on a due date. The evening before, her ligs were pretty mushy but still there. I figured she would go the next day some time, but wasn't concerned about that night. She still had some filling to do in her udder as well. I clipped up her udder and when I put her away her ligaments were tighter. I got up in the morning and stepped out on the deck and saw a kid in the pen. I immediately wondered how Westley got out. I had put Jolie's kids up for the night with Dakota's kids so she could fill over night. Jolie's kids were continuously in Sherry's pen and the little kid was just as big as he was and marked similarly. I then realized the colors were off and ran down to the pens. Sherry's ligs were coming back and she had passed the after birth. The kid was already dry and bouncing about and half of Sherry's udder was deflated from being nursed on. She gave me a single doeling. I was surprised by a single out of a doe that had quads every single year, but was very happy for a little girl. She is absolutely gorgeous. Level, dairy, elegant, beautiful legs...I'm just beside myself over this girl. And with dad's flashy white to boot!

I have been calling her Fae. The first thing she reminded me of was an elf with her huge ears. You can't tell in this photo, but they are like airplane wings. I thought elf sounded dumb, but fairys are pretty and have pointy ears. So Fae it is. I think she will be Roc N Ewe Faery Lights if I am correct about the ranch name that needs to be used. Definitely my most exciting keeper of the year.

Lady is growing like a weed. All of Dakota's kids are. They are six weeks now, and only a couple of weeks until two of them go to new homes.

These kids are great examples of what Tomahawk can produce when crossed on the right does. Lady is long and level and very refined. I adore her pixie-like little face.

-Dakota's buck kid, Tramp, says hello...-

My first reservation of the year panned out in a beautiful doeling. She is such a strange color, but I'm ecstatic. She is a traditional buckskin, yet the black markings are diluted to a dark red. She literally looks apricot colored. It is very awesome. She was my second choice doe, but now I'm very happy when hearing about her udder that my first choice doe didn't work out for me. I have at least a month to wait for my next reservation to kid. I've also been offered a pure black doe bred to a gold and white buck with moon spots and blue eyes. I definitely plan to accept should she decide to sell to me. At this point it is tentative as she hasn't made a final decision. She also offered to allow me to use the same buck to cross on a few of my does, which would be more than amazing. If it all pans out, I will have photos next post. I should have pictures of my new doeling in the next week.

And some clipped photos of Sherry. Now this is the evening before she kidded. So she is starting to get posty and is dropping out her rump, although its not super noticeable in this photo. I am very happy with this doe. She may have an old school, blocky head, but I like her build. She has great capacity, a smooth top-line is uphill and she is wide and deep. She also has a very nice udder, although I will have to work at it to get it full to capacity. She only had a single and I haven't milked her at all yet, so her production isn't very high at this point. She is really lacking in the brisket department, but she is a very nice girl. I'll breed her next year, hopefully to the gold and white buck I mentioned. After that she might just turn into a very friendly pet as she will be an older girl.