Sublime Sunday, with baby goats!

I am keeping an eye on the new goat babies while their humans are out of town, just to make sure they are nursing well and growing as they should be. They are already starting to hop and play, which is pretty funny. They fall over more often than not. As usual, I got more blurry pictures than good ones, but I got a few.

They were napping when I got there, so there was quite a bit of stretching when they got up.

The little guy had a quick snack. It looks like he enjoyed it.

The kids have been nursing only on one side of Lucy's udder, which leaves the other side painfully full. I milked her out a little to relieve the pressure. Once the kids start eating in earnest, that problem will solve itself. They are still learning how the world works right now.

We leave the new mothers closed up in a separate pen with their babies for about a week after the kids are born. This promotes good bonding between mother and kids, and lets us keep a closer eye on all of them to make sure there aren't any complications that need our attention. Once they get to go outside, the fun really begins!

This early phase is so much fun, though. The kids are skinny little things with spindly legs, curious about anyone who comes to see them. The mothers are generally wary of strangers petting their babies, but Lucy knows me really well so she doesn't get concerned when I am there. I actually attended her birth, too! She is Carl and Leonard's sister, for anyone who remembers them.

After hanging out with the kids for a while, I wandered around the farm with the older dogs. The puppies who live there are busy tearing up my house, and I think the grown-up dogs are glad to have a break from them.

I may or may not have eaten a few strawberries. The ones at my house are still green, and these were so beautiful I couldn't resist!

I went into the hoop house to see how the tomatoes are coming along. I didn't stay very long, though, because it was like a sauna in there! Great for tomatoes, way too much for the goat girl!

I took the dogs across the dike road and down onto the dock, just to see what was going on over there. I caught a picture of a bumblebee dancing on a blackberry blossom.

Here are some little mystery flowers. I don't know what they are, but I thought they were lovely.

I took about 100 pictures of raindrops on things, but I will save most of them for another post. I will just share this one for now. I love that I can see the reflection of the rest of the grass in this single drop.

Have a fabulous Sunday, everyone!