TRF welcomes Tiger Puff Ring Tail, AKA Puff.   She was adopted to keep Dolly company after the unexpected and sad loss of Nanny Goat.  Dolly has been lonely and depressed since she went missing.  Tiger Puff is a very sweet mature kitty, and an expert hunter.  Yeller has taken up residence in the goat barn with his buddy Scout, leaving Dolly all alone.  Now, she has some company. 

The boys are out exploring their world close by mama Alita's side.

Up at 5:30 am to hunt turkeys.  We heard a few gobbles, saw some turkey tracks and a hen, and many other beautiful things..

like a squirrel in a tree

A patch of a million ramps

An awesome waterfall

And the many blessings of mother nature.  Here you can see more evidence of the name - "Tangle" Ridge Farm.

Alita's boys have some nice Nubian ears.  They are long, and hang softly down beside their head. One of the boys has light silver ears, and the other has more black on them.   Kobalt, their sire is a 4th generation Mini-Nubian.  Alita with her cute helicopter ears is a first generation.  I'm not sure how the math comes out for them, but their ears look very nice.  

The lambs have cute little ears too, but they have tags hanging on one.

Our Easter weekend was a little out of the ordinary this year.

It started with the birth of Alita's twin bucklings

And ended with this weird looking egg.

In between, it was full of moving buildings.  First we took apart the old chicken coop/ barn and relocated the pieces to the top of the hill where they will be put back together for some future use.  Next, the trailer porch was hooked up and pulled up the hill for the goats and donkey.  The old porch is all that's left of the original trailer and was the favorite place for the goats and the donkey and dog to relax in the shade.  It also provided a nice shelter from rain.  Left below is large piles of very fertile chicken/donkey/goat compost for the garden.  This wasn't exactly how we wanted to spend Easter weekend, but it had to be done to make room for the house.  This week, we hope to start digging the footer.

Alita had twin bucklings this afternoon. Everyone is doing well

Breaking one inch thick ice in mid-April just doesn't seem right.  I hope it was the last time I'll have to do that this spring.    Blueberries are starting to bloom - covered to protect from the frost - and then uncovered this morning...

Lambs are growing well, especially the dorper cross black and white single of Julia's and the first two from 1118.  They are even starting to eat a little feed with the big sheep. Sadly we lost one of the triplets unexpectedly, possibly due to not enough nutrition.  Old nag looks a little ragged these days.  I'm afraid taking care of three babies was too much for the old girl.  Everything I read says its expected to have a small percentage of lamb losses each year, but its still hard when it happens.  Of course the goal is to lose as few as possible.   

Stay tuned..more pictures will be posted soon.

Another busy weekend, as usual.  A small area was fenced at the new goat barn for the goats and the donkey.  When the grass and browse start growing, their area will be expanded to include the entire hillside.   It was a small feat getting them all up the hill. Primrose went first, easier than expected, followed by Ember.  Both of them trotted easily up the hill.  Below, Alita was bawling for her friends, so she went next.  (still no baby kids) Kobalt was not happy about being led up the hill.  It took both myself and Connor and a lot of goat wrestling to get him moved.  Scout wanted nothing to do with a leash, and sat down like a 150 pound rock saying, 'Not me'. He got to ride up in the back of the gator.  The barn and area is not perfect, and will need some tweaking.  It had to be done to get the house site area cleaned up and prepared for digging. 

The chickens had been in the coop long enough so they could learn their new home.  They were more than ready to come out.  The poultry fence was put up, the end of the building was screened, and the door was opened.  Out they popped through the hole one by one.  They were obviously loving the sunshine, exploring their new space, they eagerly scratched and dusted themselves in the dirt.

Connor and Callie had their first class in 4H dog obedience training.  They learned to SIT  STAY  HEEL and DOWN.  For their first class, they did pretty well. Now its time to PRACTICE :)

Jako is becoming a good little farm dog.  He follows us everywhere, and frequently gets into mischief and messes.  He has had more baths than a puppy should have.  He loves to dig in the dirt, eat sheep poo and chase anything that will run from him.  He rides in the gator, or sometimes runs along behind when he is too stubborn to jump in.  Already he has a mind of his own and is going to be too smart for his own good.  Its a good thing Connor is taking Dog Obedience training in 4 H this year.

Little Dolly loves finding a soft spot and laying in the sun.