Voting, loose goats, puppies

The Texas primary was yesterday. I did not take a lot of time to investigate candidates, but I did enough to get a feel for the right way to vote in the primary. There were sample ballots available online, so I printed one out to have copies for me and Mama as we prepared to vote. Since I had done my little bit of research, the selections I made were used by several other people as they voted. I hope I made the correct choices. Anyway, Mama and I met at the farm and drove to Chico to vote. She had been on the phone ordering chicks for herself and three other people while she waited on me. The Chico library had been conscripted for service as our voting site. As we arrived in the tiny town center of Chico, it was hopping place. I am not sure if there are ever that many cars parked on the square that borders the small parklike area set aside for “downtown” Chico. Zack and Alissa, who now are registered Chico voters, were just leaving as Mama and I got there.

The voting machines used a dial to select a line within the electronic ballot. It reminded me of a part of an activity board we once had for our toddler children. You put your finger in the depression made for that purpose and spin the dial to select the position on the display to highlight a block, then press “enter” to confirm the selection. It took a moment to get the feel of the device but once we saw how it operated, it was pretty easy to use. While we were in line one of the volunteers and Mama started talking about her bad knees. The volunteer provided Mama with the contact information of an acupuncturist in our area. She told Mama that the treatments her husband had gotten were very effective in managing the pain he had had with his knees. We were done and back at the farm in about forty minutes. Mama went out to feed and I started dinner. I tried to boil the dumplings Alex had given us Sunday, but I got them way too done. They were mush when I tried to retrieve them from the hot water. We were able to eat some of them, but certainly not all.

Right after dinner, I got on the computer and began working on emails related to our business. Mama was sitting at the table playing her word game as I worked. I was so engrossed in what I was doing that it took me minute to register why Mama was laughing. The Nubian goats had escaped their enclosure and were in the back yard. They were so excited about their escape that they were jumping about, butting heads and scrambling all over the yard. When we went out to see how they had gotten out we discovered that our earlier discussion about replacing the back fence was more timely than either of us had thought. They had simply run under the fence at an area where it was loose enough to allow them to do so. They went back into their enclosure easily enough, but I had to take the time to put wire panels against the weakened fence to hinder them getting back into the dog’s yard. Fortunately, all the dogs were inside at the time of the escape. We have lost two goats because the dogs did not tolerate the interlopers in their area.

As I was getting up this morning, I noticed a lot of lights on in the house and back yard. By that I knew Victoria was up with Kira and the birthing was near. At first, I thought Mama was up also, but she was unaware of the developing situation. She had gone to bed at a very early hour and was still enjoying her rest. I started my normal morning routine and sure enough Victoria was working with Kira; who was obviously in labor from the nervous way she was acting. Victoria said Kira got her up numerous times last night to go outside to relieve herself. That is how it always begins with her. Kira has herself all cleaned up and ready to begin nursing the pups. So, sometime today we should have puppies.

It is anyone’s guess as to how many.