Jinx has not been updating her blog, that is what has been happening.  Perhaps, you should yell at her.

Beyond that, Wind ranch has been pretty wild.  We have been busy with work and play. I have a been working alot because we are about to launch a new release of the banking software I design. It has been crazy at work. When at home, we have had soccer practices Monday through Thursday and games on both Saturdays and Sundays! Then just for some fun, we through in a barbecue every other week and have tons of people over. << I will insert some photos of the fun we have been having with BBQs.>> The soccer player BBQs are most fun, because the kids terrorize the baby goats and poor old Sunny gets more attention that an old mare can tolerate. At this last one, the 10 yr old girls found mud and we had to hose them off before the family’s went home. HA, the parents must love us!  Girl Scouts has 4 meetings next week. 4! And we have one more soccer tournament this month and 3 more next, not to mention soccer tryouts for next season. This should be fun. Matt (“Croy”) is going to go to Minneapolis for more coach training soon too.  We are having a great time out here at Wind Ranch.

We went to Pella Tulip Time last weekend. Check out the photos!

I am going to plan the garden here soon. Any suggestions? I just planted 3 new silver maples and the deer have not gotten to them yet! I am thrilled. They killed the apple trees from last year.

I bought this video, online, that has Bobra Goldsmith that helps with training llamas. Link Here. I had a little fear of llamas because I just did not know what to expect. I would walk way around the llamas when hanging with them, as if they were a wild mustang tied to the post. Ha ha. Of course the kids saw my first attempt at playing with them and this imprinted in their little minds. They feel some fear of llamas, now.  This video was enlightening. I watched in awe as this 70+ yr old woman wrangled these unhandled llamas and taught them various forms of manners with ease. I was stunned. I was inspired.

It turns out that the next day I needed to catch our pony, who had not had a halter on for the entire winter and was hard catch period. I used a method I saw on the Bobra video and had the pony captured, haltered and ready to go in no time. My confidence was up. I caught and haltered the llamas not long after this..

I tried brushing the burrs out of the llamas. The were losing much needed hair (it is pretty cold this winter) and they were just not enjoying this at all. So I gave up and hugged their long necks and let them back out to the corral. I have caught Mac a few times since this first attempt to brush. She is the older and more handled llama. She will let me catch her, halter her, walk her and hug her long  llama neck. Cheese, on the other hand, will not take feed from your hand yet. He leads, but he is just not as trusting. This summer we will need to work on him some. I am assuming he is a little more hard to handle because he is a male starting to hit puberty.

I was chatting with a friend at work about the burrs. I told her I figure we will leave them in their coats and in the summer when we attempt our first shearing/shaving of them, the burrs will go then. Oh, this will be a spectacle in itself- for sure!  I mentioned that I fear their fiber will be a loss because of this. She asked me if I had ever heard of Grooma combs. I had not. She raved on and on about how miraculous these combs are and brought me one the next day.  As soon as I got home, I caught Mac (could not catch Cheese) and tried the comb out. If does work, but I think I need a detangler to go along with it to really make a solid dent on the burrs in these guys.. She was not into being away from her horse and llama pals, so I did not work on her coat too long.

I am sure I will read this post a year or two from now and laugh at my fledgling attempts at llama handling.

Yes.
Windranch has taken on a new direction. After not much consideration and lots of impulsive behavior, Jinx did not fight the impulse to buy a pair of Llamas from someone on Craigslist.com. ( Croy just read the start of this blog and said, “That just about narrows it down, doesn’t it?”. )
On Thursday I responded to an ad on Craigslist.com that offered up a single registered llama for $150. I inquired and the folks were honest enough to say you can not get a single herd animal and offered a 2nd llama for really cheap to pair up. I understood this, because when we bought our first goat, the people did not tell us about the herd instinct and the poor baby goat cried and cried for a companion. These llama folks were honest. I planned on mulling it over more.. But these people were really pressing to see if we were ready to buy. After some emailing, they admitted that they needed money for a bill and really would like to sell by the weekend. They lowered the price and offered to deliver. I bit. On Friday, I left work early and prepared for the new arrivals. Around 2 PM a pickup truck with 2 llamas rolled up the driveway and 2 nice guys took the llamas out of the back of their truck and helped me lead the llamas to the front pasture.
Did the fact that they had llamas in the back of a pick up give you a visual? It was amazing to see. And here is the real kicker… They drove up from Missouri with these guys in the pick up. Imagine the looks they got with the 2 funny looking animals laying down in their truck on the interstate!

The 2 are now out there, with the horses (who are keeping their distance). I think we will call the Male Cheese and the female Madonna. Still not in love with Madonna yet.. I do like Cheese, however.

Here is a small photo documentry of this past month..

1. The baby goats are alive and well. We are keeping Oreo, the one with a white nose. Milkshake is going to go to a new home that raises Aussies and has other goats.

2. Sage’s photograohy skills are manifesting. She took the 2nd photo in this set. That is Dave the kitten. Dave got fixed this month.

3. That is Milkshake cuddling with us.

4. Took that photo of my chuck norris sushi with the iphone.

5. Burned some boxes. Kids love fire. Should we be scared?

6. Nice photo of Dave, in black and white.

7. This month we all got our teeth cleaned.

8. Jinx holding a goat.

9. If Sage and Xoe get up early and we get out the door early, sometimes I reward them with a trip to the coffee shop.

We have gotten several inches of rain over the last 24 hours. We officially have a few big run offs going through our property.. There is actually a loud current of water going through the goat field. I hope the kids do not try out swimming! The horse coral is knee deep in mud and muck. I closed the front pasture to save the ground from getting muddied from horses treading through the over saturated ground.

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It has been a real cold December at wind ranch. Literally no riding and as much time bundled up or indoors as possible. The horses and goats have thick fur now and the dogs have spent more time inside.

We realize Jami Lynn either puts on a lot of weight in the winter or she has a bun or 2 in the oven. We are researching and asking for as much advice as we can to learn how we are to care for baby goats in the cold months. Jan and Feb tend to be the coldest in Iowa. I guess our buckling has some live ones already.. Good note- boy goats do not stink as much in the winter. Yay!

We now officially have a herd of bays outside.

About a month or so ago, I had it in my head that we would buy Sage a pony for her birthday. I actually hauled Xoe with me out to see several ponies and wound up not getting one. Xoe has the knack (or sense), like her father, to pick a good animal. There was one pony we made an offer on but they sold it quickly and we missed out. This was an awesome paint miniature horse, actually.. She was well behaved and she looked perfect. Part of the reason I wanted that mare is because these people who had a bunch of ponies did not pasture them, they tethered them to rocks or posts in their little 1 acre yard. I felt bad for these ponies and perhaps we could rescue one from that life of being tethered.

Last week I found out they had another for sale. I called them and told them I would be out on Saturday to check out this 4 yr old gelding named Tass. He is a welsh bay gelding. I went out there and had the little girl there, saddle him up and ride him around. He was calm as they get. These girls at this house own their ponies and ride all day long. I think they are home schooled and maybe the ponies are a project? The little girl was delighted with the little wad of cash and they delivered him to us by noon.

I took Sage and Xoe with me to run errands while the pony was getting delivered. Croy was home to receive the pony and he immediately feel in love with the little guy. He took him for a walk with a lead rope around his neck before we got home. We let the horses nose each other through the fence before we let all 3 together. Normally, I put new horses in contamination (a round pen or different pasture) but this guy appeared harmless, I know Con and Sunny are and he looked very healthy. We put him out there and they all played and ate together.

We now have a herd, more than 2,bays

out there.. Meet (the Sage named) “Rover”.

a photo documentary

It has been a pretty slow week here at Wind Ranch. Conquistador’s hoof is getting better. We got 3 more round bales stored for winter. The farmer only got 2 bales off of our portion of the land he baled this time. Our 3rd cutting was not too good. He gave us an extra bale in the last cutting.. So I had to pay for 2 bales of the 3 this time. He was kind to give them to us at 60 a pop. The price of hay right now is really insane. I really should snake away at least a ton of small square bales… But those are going for 6 bucks a bale right now.. A ton is about 50 bales.. 50 x 6 bucks is….. you do the math. Too much.

The goats are learning how to climb trees. We have one, along the fence line that they could climb and escape. The other side of the fence is the Crazy Chicken lady’s land. If the goats go there, we will end up having to call the sheriff again- except this time we would press charges if they do what they did last time. Luckily a goat can not “scare” a state fair chicken. So holding the goats for ransom would not really work. Plus I would like to see them catch Jamie Lynn. He he he..

In other news.. I got “prenotice” that Wells Fargo plans to lay me off in 3-4 weeks.  They have offered me a severance package that lasts up to 5 months. They also offered me my job back in a lesser paid role. I am not to happy with them; I do not want to make 20k less and go from a level 5 position to a 3. I am already networking and interviewing around town. Not many are reapplying for the lesser roles. They are getting nervous.  If they come back and offer our old jobs in their true extent, then there would be movement in applications.. I know many who are leaving. I would have severance until March. Woohoo- paid vacation!

This news does put a damper on my plans to get another horse. It appears that Croy also plans to not do anything for my birthday (this week) because we will not have income after March, if I do not get a new job. Grrrr.. I am not laid off YET.

Sage had a good soccer game last week. Here she is on the right. That girl is photogenic. She scored a couple goals and then shut down.

Xoe had a game this morning and did pretty well. The other team had 12 girls and they all had major breaks when they got to sit out. Our girls had 2 subs.  Plus in the next town they have 10 yr olds on their team because they are a smaller community and haven’t as many players. Our girls all looked like kindergartners next to them. We lost, but not too bad..  All I can say (and not sound too big headed) is that Xoe amazes me..