The morning of my last Basic Medicinal Herbs Class I was busy preparing when Jeremy walked in and asked me this question. "Mom, what would be the worse thing that could happen the morning of your class".
My immediate response? "Did a cow die?" Seriously, what could be worse? Just imagine students pulling up and finding some huge dead animal laying in a field was the worst I could think of....what could be worse? The horse?
Jeremy says, "Think goats".
Me, "Did a goat die?". I'm getting seriously stressed right about now.
Now think, we have does due to deliver in the next week or two and remember all the trouble we had last year?
Jeremy, "Think boy and girl".
Me, "Did the buck and a doe die?" (I'm thinking of smacking Jeremy at this point as I wonder why we are playing 20 questions...we should be digging a hole or something!)
Jeremy, "Babies, Mom! Babies! Baby Girl had her babies this morning!"
World stops spinning and comes back into focus as relief washes over me. Still thinking of smacking Jeremy though.
I began to ask the normal questions...everyone o.k.? babies nursing? babies standing? Whew!
I didn't have time to take a peek as students would be arriving soon but I was SO glad it wasn't something that required a hole to be dug! I mentioned in class that we had babies born that morning and at the end of the class several people wanted to see the little ones.
There is nothing cuter than a brand new kid. Baby Girl had given us a boy and a girl - adorable! My students took a quick peek and asked if they could come back for a milking lesson. No problem! I'll teach anyone to milk that wants to learn.
I walked everyone back to their cars, we chatted a few minutes and then they were off. I decided to go back out to the barn and take one of the babies to visit my mama. She loves goat babies and I knew she would want to see it.
Jeremy went out with me so he could hand me the baby. He had created our normal "nursery" area where our new mama goats stay for a few days until the babies are on their feet and steady. He gave me the little girl and I headed out of the barn towards mama's house when I heard him call...
"Mom, I think you'd better come see this." My heart sunk. I had just asked where Mocha was...and Jeremy had said he'd look for her. Last year, Mocha was the goat that had so much trouble kidding. Terrible labor...screaming, thrashing...not normal in our experiences. We ended up doing an episiotomy in the field to help her pass the baby and she was so traumatized that she rejected her baby for a couple of days. I was prepared for the same this year....but we'd been inside all day because of the class.
As I came around the side of the barn it was very quiet....I asked..."Is she dead?" I didn't see Mocha...I didn't see anything. Jeremy came around the side of the barn with the biggest, most beautiful doe baby I have ever seen.
He had a huge smile on his face and told me that Mocha was fine and that this baby was running around all over the fields already. She looked like she was 8 weeks old! This girl had muscle tone! I couldn't imagine how Mocha did this without help. Her ears were droopy which added to her adorable look but they didn't take long to straighten out.
What a great end to a busy day! Some of my students are coming back for my next soap class and we'll have a milking lesson at the end of class. And, I'll be making cheese soon - yummy!
My next classes have been scheduled! On May 15th I will be teaching Soap Making Made Simple here on the farm and on May 22nd I will be teaching Basic Herbal Medicine. Both classes start at 1 p.m. So, if you are local, and even if you aren't, please email me (tnfarmgirl at comcast dot net) for more information if you are interested.
It amazes me how many people come from other states! I've had students from Florida, North Carolina, Georgia, South Carolina, West Virginia, Virginia, Missouri, Kentucky and of course, Tennessee. Hope I didn't leave anyone out!
Blessings,
TNfarmgirl
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How fun!! I am so jealous the babies didn't decide to come the week before at your soap class!
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