Thursday feels like Friday. I wish!

I changed my first flat tire yesterday morning. Lucky for me I had the opportunity a few weeks ago when I was mired to familiarize myself with the jack and how to get it out of the car.

Unlucky me, I didn't know how to get the spoke hubcaps off the tire to get at the lugs.

I popped the center cover, and tried to prise the cover off, but it was obviously not going to come off. So I called a friend and ask him if he knew how to get them off. LOL.

He offerred to come by since he was on the road in a nearby town, but I said I would look for further instructions with the vehicle.

ONe the jack and spare(donut) cover, it said, "if car has spoke wheels refer to special instructions," with no indication as to where to find those instructions.

I finally looked in the manual in the glovebox, and it directed me to find a special key to unluck the hubs, which was in the glovebox. NOT in the glovebox!

I decided to search the boot, and did find the key, as well as my portable air compressor, which I thought I had thrown away, because I thought it was broken. I decided to try the compessor, and had to jack the tire up because it was so flat.

The compressor DOES still work, but air was pouring out, so I figured I had no choice but to put the donut on.

I took the key and tried to fit it in the hub, and it kept being uncooperative. Finally I had it lined up and engaged and cranked on it with a lot of torque, and when it let go, I sprung my wrist.

This was more than I could bear, and I threw myself on the dirt on my back, clutching my wrist and burst out sobbing with a verbal query to God as to feeling pretty sorry for myself.

A sudden light spatter of raindrops, a few hit me, and a breath of compassion, and suddenly I am filled with the fact that I can do it, and I do, I change the tire and put the donut on, and manage to only be an hour late at the farm.

Farmtalk:

It's been hide hair, and eyeballs at the farm the last two days, and oh, yes, Monarch came up terribly lame, so we did not walk the boys yesterday, and I irrigated his foot with hoof and heel solution.

First thing this am, I tackled one of the wethers, whose hooves were incredibly overgrown, and one had torn and separated from the hoof wall. What a mess, the poor gigantor (he's the biggest goat on the farm)shivered and kept putting all his weight on me, causing me to drop the foot, and him crash to his knee on the barn floor.

I was puffing and panting and cursing myself for taking on the job, green fresh goat manure from his feet....hooves are a gross job, no doubt about it.

Didn't help that I came out of the doctor's appointment lame as hell...Once those muscles that have been contracted are stretched out, they get sore afterward. I would have thought by today I would have been feeling grand, but an erratic sleep and active dream state weren't conducive to healing, apparently.

The good news is that Monarch was much improved on the sore foot today-the hooves looked fine, I think he took a stab in between the clews. I washed him thoroughly again and brushed Hjalmar, who is still releasing cashmere .

My own gang of goats need feet trimmed and the garden needs more work...there is the afternoon list. ;)

rainy day

I expected to have today off from the farm, with torrential rains forecast. Yesterday I combed one of the wild doelings-a 15 minutes clean up, and then moved on to the new goat, Emerson, a white fluff bomb; a huge wether.

Boss said she had done his neck and shoulders the day before so I started on his haunches, as she said to put that fiber separate. After evaluating it, she said to put it all together but save the britches separate. LOL. So I started combing in earnest.

Within minutes I had clouds of white fluffy cashmere in great gobs all over the place-me, my coat, the goat, and the fence as he was leaning against it on the off side. I quickly shed the fleece hoodie I was wearing down to cotton flannel ,and rolled up my sleeves so I didn't take half the goat home with me.

I spent over an hour on him and he looked like a different goat afterwards. Then Boss went to let the bucks out at Prescott while R and I went down to Jenny Nash to fix the shingles on one of the little houses. That went quickly, and we stopped to check out the upper section of fence. We have to put a couple fence posts in there, as the temporary ones snapped at ground level from the snow this winter.

Once back to Prescott, we found Boss down by the highway with two bucks near the road-armed with her broom and pan. Those two and the rest of the bucks recognized my car pull in and came running back to the barn when we arrived.

At the end of the morning, I left it with Boss that I would call her in the am regarding work, as rain was forecast. When I heard about the heavy rains, I figured I would be having the day off and contemplated crating the roosters and hauling them up to the livestock auction. Waking to torrential rain, staying in bed late sounded like a better plan.

However, when I called Boss to check in , she gave me the offer of hooves for the morning. Hooves are not fun, but I knew it would be a chance to get some tips and good experience at the hands of an expert, so I agreed.

I did four sets of hooves and did I leave there looking and smelling quite a mess!

I prefer to do the front feet by facing toward the rear of the goat, half kneeling, with the goat ankle resting above my kneecap. It's the way I was taught to pick out horse's feet, except standing in that case.

That position leaves my shoulder free against the goat to help steady them or hold them against the wall. Because of the rain, most of the goats were wet, so I quickly became covered in wet stinky goat. The free side the Great Pyrannees thought would make a great place to dry his face, when he wasn't trying to use my hair as a towel.

The goat hooves were tough as nails after the long dry spell we have been having, and I realized on the way home that I had earned a good sized blister on the ring fnger of my right hand from the clippers.

And the smell of a good old dirty hoof...goat or horse, those smell pretty much the same...

The deluge of rain continued all day-I can't tell you how much rain we have received but I bet at least 5 inches by now. The fields leapt to life today; driving to the store this afternoon my eyes ached from the emerald green where just days ago was plain dry brown.

The maples are in full bloom with a blush of red, so delicate.

Aprils showers bring May flowers. :)