Chochi delivered!

Sleep is overrated... Too much going on.

Female Handler recalls seeing a vintage 1940's sign near the cappuccino machine on the Seacat ferry on Friday that said..."Have some coffee! You can sleep when you're dead." Yes, the sign was in English. The coffee bar was just to the right of the big screen TV that was showing a Ted talk for the one hour passage across the widest river in the world.

So many things that make you do a double take... Where am I again?

I'm a Maine Coon cat and I live on a farm in Colonia, Uruguay.

And as of last night, we more than doubled our resident goat population. For the time being, I am bigger than the new kids, but that will probably only be the case for another two weeks. They are testing out their legs today, and soon will get the hang of jumping and hopping. I've been down this path before but the dog, Nostra, is taking it all in with wide eyes. She's rather like a human mother: bossy, demanding, and always cleaning up after the kids. And when she does come in to find her bed, she conks out completely. But she's a dog, and these are goats, and one day the realization will hit her probably about the time that she's licking their behinds, that she cannot mother them for the rest of their lives. For the time being though...it's rather enjoyable to watch how consumed she is with attending to the goats. And truth be told, she's leaving me and my butt alone. We ought to have new kids every week....

Not even waiting for first light, Male Handler is checking the anatomy

And Canine Nanny...always vigilant

So the outcome from the births are: two white boys, and two honey girls.

Timi delivered!

Timi (the youngest doe) was in distress when Female Handler (FH) came out to see her an hour after she returned from a work week in Chile yesterday. She had obviously been going in circles from the looks of her rope. Once untied, Timi just wanted to go straight to the barn. Not knowing if Timi would labor for another hour or 30 (as was the case of FH's first born...), FH guided her to some choice eating spots. Timi was marginally interested and finally all three goats walked to the barn for the evening.

About 9:20pm, Timi let out a cry, and the Handlers' were out the door within seconds. Actually too fast, because they forgot their coats and had to come back in and grab them, and the camera.

A little white kid was born first and then a larger honey colored one. Sexes weren't identified until later in the evening, and even then incorrectly. Anatomy was definitely more apparent in the morning light, and "Blanca Nieve" (Snow White) became ....um...."Lunch". Fortunately we do not have a case of "Lunch1" and "Lunch2". So one girl and one boy.

I've witnessed two births already and wasn't interested in getting off the couch for this one. The dog, Nostra, on the other hand was very curious never having gone through it on the streets of Buenos Aires where whence she came. She was kept inside during the births, but was introduced to the kids today. Aside from initially making FH very nervous because Nostra kept licking her chops, a couple of stern commands was all that was needed to reaffirm that this was not HER lunch. Nostra actually came in very handy cleaning up after the kids including licking residual milk off their faces and cleaning up the clumped up little poopies that don't yet have enough organic matter in them to just fall off. FH may decide this was not such a good thing if Nostra later hurls inside the house on the rugs.

Nostra most definitely wants to play with the kids, and that will probably happen within the coming week.

Chochi is next...and is expected to deliver in the coming days.

And so begins Spring...in earnest, and the circle of life.

A touch of Spring

Altos del Perdido

Yesterday the Handlers and the dog went in search of Altos del Perdido in Soriano. Just the name alone makes the imagination run wild. In the 2014 Almanaque (Almanac), there is an article about the rural school there, Escuela Rural No. 85 and how the kids like to go play in the river near the school or warm themselves up on the rocks that are as big as houses. Some of the rocks have been found to have pictographs that date back 2000 years. The school also has a museum with not only antique school desks, farm tools and housewares on display, but also aboriginal artifacts that have been discovered from the region. In any case, the goal of finding the school was a good enough reason to go exploring.

Things aren't so well marked in the rural areas, and prior to leaving Cardona which is the nearest closest town, the Handlers asked directions at a gas station. They also had made a point to stop at the bakery, Panaderia Pio. They had stopped at this same bakery back in 2008 and knew it was a good one. Empanadas, tortas pascualinas, and alfajores to go.

After much driving, they found the school but there was a gathering of folks getting ready for an afternoon barbecue with chorizos (sausages) hanging on the line prior to cooking. Rather than stop and intrude, the Handlers decided to continue up the road where they found the same river written in the Almanac article. This is where they ate lunch and explored some of the rocks that are dotted through this region.

Quartz embedded in the rock

Obviously they were not successful in seeing the museum so a good reason to return in the future.

As for me, I wasn't feeling well, and enjoyed having the house to myself without the annoying dog touching my junk. I think it was the bird or the tucu tucu from Friday afternoon. My digestive tract is not working fast enough to move this through my system. It has wiped me out, and I'm taking things slow and easy this weekend.

Visitors

Basically I don’t like visitors. It takes me a good 3 days to warm up to them. Keika, on the other hand, becomes all loving and welcoming which is the antithesis of her normal behavior.

We had some Turks in to see the farm two weeks ago (it’s a long way to move, but according to them, things are deteriorating fast there). The Handlers genuinely liked them so much, they invited them to lunch. Prior to their arrival, I was in my normal spot, on the couch hashing through my plan to snare a couple Tucu Tucus in the evening. Yes, my eyelids were shut, but the mind never stops! Upon hearing strange voices, I took refuge under the Handlers’ bed and stayed there for a good 3 hours until the visitors left.

Then last Saturday we had some Porteños (Argentinians who live in the port city of Buenos Aires) in to see the farm through the real estate company.  Apparently things across the river are deteriorating at an exponential rate that they fear for their lives just in the act of parking their cars in the evening in their own carports in that minutes that they might be exposed to intruders when the iron security gates open. What a different set of circumstances separate life there to life here. Plus I bet there are no free range Tucu Tucus…

Then after the Porteños left, the Turks were back for a social visit.

I’m getting to know the details of the underside of the box-spring foundation a little too well these days.

A walk on the beach

One way to make sure that the horse (the huge neighbor dog) doesn't come over to lounge away the day on the porch is for the Handlers to take Nostra off with them. That is exactly what they did today...to the beach. Barrancas de San Pedro is one of two beaches very close to the farm made up of cliffs. It is a great study in geological formations and layers, and upon closer inspection, fossils are revealed.

 

About 60km across this wide expanse of a river (the largest in the world) is the hustle and bustle of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is a world away...

The first almond flower

We had an even earlier first flower this year. July 30th was the first sighting for the 2015 harvest season (February).

Four days later, things are starting to burst.

We have had an incredible amount of rain this winter in addition to the normal winter time high humidity. In the morning, things are just dripping with water including the leaves on this silverleaf poplar tree. 

The handlers haven't even burned half their winter allotment of firewood but that hasn't stopped Keika from snuggling where snuggling should happen.

The plastic was pulled back from the garden this morning and ....a tomato was discovered. While I'm not keen on tomatoes, the handlers seem to show a lot of excitement for them.

So...maybe winter is over. The big question is when will things dry out?

Nostra has a friend

Nostra (that dog) has a new friend. She lives next door and she just comes over whenever she pleases. She's a horse.

Ok, she's not a horse, but she is freaking huge like a horse.

I'm not happy about this situation at all. Matter of fact, I am quite distressed... enough to have taken the month of July off from blogging. But, I'm back now...ready to share what's been happening. But first, let me go back to my look-out perch in search of that horse.