Julia was born on Saturday, March 25, 2017 via a C-section to her mom, Rain. Little Julia was pretty beat up from everyone trying to get her out before the c-section. Think April, the giraffe and you’ll get the idea. Feet first but could not get her head out. Oh my.
Rain recuperated (in our mud room) but was not able to nurse Julia. So Julia is our latest bottle baby! She spends much time at the gallery with Jim and Ellen. evenings are in the barn with her cousins, Halle and George, and her mom.
She is pretty darn cute and VERY smart! But then again she is our kid!
Oh, that Ella! She brings smiles to everyone that meets her. On Tuesday, April 5th, Ella made a return visit to the Essex Town School District Central Office. She was first spotted by our mail person before she even got out of the car! From there she had the lay of the land…office that is!
Ella knows her way around the office. And she definitely knows who her “mama” is. Any time she was out of my sight, she began calling and calling. It is exactly what the baby kids do in our field. The mama calls back. I did my very best!
Ella’s mom did not change her mind. She is not mean about it – but just will not let Ella nurse. Jim researched feeding schedules and headed out to Milton to purchase powdered goat milk. And our bottle baby duties began in earnest on March 9th, 2016.
This became quite complicated quickly. Jim needed to open the gallery and still feed Ella. Being a guy, he figured she would just wait for him ’til the end of the day. Ellen, being a mom, thought no way! A road trip was in the making for Ellen and two of her employees, Jane and Arik, from the Essex Town School District. This seemed worthy of a group supported event – since this was all new to everyone.
Who knew that Jane would solve the “how do we get Ella to drink out of a bottle?” dilemma by using her Minnesota farm girl wisdom? Way to go Jane!
Ella was born about 9:00 AM on March 8, 2016 at Yellow Dog Farm in South Hero, Vermont. Our farm. Jim and Ellen’s, that is. Ella is the littlest twin in the back – just peeking out from under her mom, Sappy (Sapphire). The twins were a bit unexpected as we usually time these sorts of things for birthing in May when it is warmer here. We suspect that Montague had a few indiscretions when he broke through the fence in November! Ella and her brother, Satchmo are the very obvious result!
Maybe because it was cold or maybe because Ella was so small, Sappy just would not let her nurse. Sappy was not mean – just not allowing Ella to drink. Satchmo could nurse with ease. So what to do?
Jim called neighboring sheep and goat farmers to find some colostrum to feed Ella. It was into the evening and time was getting short. Babies need this to get extra nutrients in their first few hours. Luckily Capsand Creamery of South Hero came to our rescue and we were able to feed Ella that evening. We were still hoping that Sappy might reconsider with a good nights sleep.
Your island destination for high quality art and crafts