Rabbits, welding, sort of, Max

The minute I got home yesterday Mama told me I had a mess to clean up. Our female rabbit had one baby. I do not know if it was larger than normal, but it seemed to be a very large and underdeveloped. She had it outside of the nesting box we had set in the cage for her. It was kind of a mess to deal with having dried and stuck to the cage. I am not sure what happened, but it was a disappointing outcome on our first attempt at breeding rabbits. Mama and I had discussed getting rid of the rabbits and now I think we are settled on that. We tried. Rabbits are not for us right now.

Once I was free of honey-do’s I moved onto other things. With limited daylight, I chose to get the welder and generator set up to do the welding on the fence I had moved behind the shop. It took some time to get everything set up. but I did manage to get the fencing welded into the new position. I am not a good welder, but I can get by doing non-critical work. The company I work for recently hired a man whose past work history was almost exclusively in welding. I will look the welds over when I have more time and more day light. If I determine that I need some professional oversight, I will ask him to help get things done properly. Otherwise, I will let it stand. In the fading light of evening I mixed up some cement and filled the hole the post was sitting in to complete the chore. The next step is to weld the gate to the post and finish stringing the fence across that end. One side of the enclosure is done. Two sides have pipe fencing to which we will attach some field wire like I did in the paddock we have for our myotonic goats. Within a couple weeks I should have the area ready for our pigmy crossbreed goats to move into.

I was up against the clock because Mama and I had set aside the evening to go to Sam’s. There was nothing urgent we needed to get but the list was inclusive enough to warrant the trip. Of course, we not only got the items on our list, but we managed to find several other items we discovered a need for. We rarely get out of Sam’s for under $100 – last night was no exception. I have to admit, the front of the store smelled wonderful with all the Christmas trees set out for purchase. Mama is holding off on buying ours until the window gets installed properly. The second attempt to make the correction to the initial incorrect installation will happen on the 14^th. Mama has been very displeased with the company that installed these windows. But, she has been extremely pleased with the windows themselves.

On the way home we were scheduled to pick up Max. Mama was wrestling with very conflicting emotions concerning bringing Max home. She was worried about how the bigger dogs would handle her. She was worried about the training issues we would have. She was worried about taking Max from his initial family. On and on. When we got to the house to get Max, Cheyenne’s mommy helped get everything ready and we were give toys, feeding dishes, treats, shampoo, beef flavored toothpaste, doggie treats and a bag of food that will last for months. Cheyenne was happy to see the dog go but it was easy to see that the mommy was not as thrilled. Cheyenne told Mama that when her daddy comes home and finds Max gone he will go to the bathroom and cry. You can imagine how Mama reacted to that. When we finally headed home, Max sat on Mama’s lap and whimpered the whole time. Mama felt like she was traumatizing the pup by taking him away from everything he was used to. Introducing him to the other dogs was uneventful – as expected. Housing him for the night was easy since Victoria had bought a crate for Kira to be confined in as a punishment for her getting on the furniture in our absence. We just repurposed it for Max.

This morning, since I was the first one up, I went to the crate to let him out and he growled at me – only slightly. I let him be for a few minutes to allow him to remember where he was and tried again to let him out. He would not come. I finally left the crate door open and went about my business. It was full ten minutes before he came to me and I was able to lead him outside so he could do his business. He is fascinated with the sliding glass door and easily went outside. I had to walk into the yard to get him off the patio. He was doing fine until a rooster crowed and he ran back into the sunroom. I had to re-crate him before I left since neither Mama nor Victoria was up.

It will take a few days to get him in a new routine, but he seems very intelligent and willing.