My little boy's all grow'd up!

Ol' Dean--what a fine gentleman!

I can't believe he used to look like this:

What a cutie, huh?  Maybe the baby he and Irma made will be as cute...

Bessie

Something Lovely

Davis and I found this wedding dress at an antique store during our holiday travels.  I had to buy it.  

The tag said, "1940's or earlier".  Ha!  This baby has 1950's written all over it!!

Still in wonderful condition, and came with a crown-style veil (which I do not have a good picture of at the moment).  It is absolutely gorgeous! 

(with flash, so you can see the sweetheart bust under the lace!)

(without flash, so you can see the awesome front pleating detail!)

Oh, and I also found a darling feed sack: 

I have been collecting quite a few fabulous vintage dresses lately, and soon I will be putting them up in my Etsy shop (which is now called Bess Miller Vintage, btw).  One of my goals this year is to actually DO SOMETHING with my shop.  I'm going to be working on that!

Still no goat babies!  Come on girls, go into labor already!!!

Bessie

Desmond

Desmond doesn't like being photographed.  Whenever he sees one of us with a camera he typically runs and hides.  

Hehehe...I tricked him into looking!

Desmond is one of our LGDs (Livestock Guardian Dogs).  He is a Great Pyrenees that we adopted from the Great Pyrenees Rescue of Atlanta in April of last year.  His foster family had goats, so we figured he would be the perfect fit for us.  He definitely has been.  

I have never been a huge "dog person", but I'll make an exception for Desmond.  He is a great guy.  Sweet, docile, obedient (for the most part), and great with both humans and goats.  

Our other Pyr, Rousseau, is a different matter.  Not that she isn't a lovely and sweet dog, but she definitely still has a lot of puppy in her and is, let us say, a bit of an attention hog.  For example, the other day I was feeding some grass through the fence to Dean and Rousseau shoved him out of the way and started eating the grass.  Now there is no way that she could have really just wanted the grass--she just didn't want me showing anyone but her any attention!  Sigh.  I know she'll grow out of it.  Hopefully...

So, I am taking another math class.  Whoop-do-doo!  This time I have actually been doing fairly well...until last night.  Oh gosh.  It was a rough night.  

So I'm on the chapter about solving all sorts of linear and rational equations.  I really don't know why it is so difficult for me!  I just can't seem to get it right--I always make some simple, stupid mistake that throws off the whole equation.  Davis has patiently and sweetly helped me with my homework, but I think both he and I are beginning to feel like this again:

Well, we can't all be good at everything, right?

Sigh.

I'll keep you posted on the goatees!  May be babies today!

Bessie

Irma Louise Miller

Isn't she lovely?

Irma is getting ready to give birth for the first time.  She is due any day!

Buttercream is still holding out on me, but she seems to be getting closer.  I noticed her acting a little funny today (strange stretching, soft talking, going away from the herd for a bit), and also that her udder has gotten bigger over the course of the day.  Her back ligaments are softer as well.  Perhaps we will have babies tomorrow?? :D

Someday that baby will come...

But when?!

Buttercream doesn't seem to know either.  Or maybe she does, and she is just stringing me along. Apparently that is quite common...

Lately she has been spending a lot of time with her front feet elevated on this rock.  They say this is a common practice as the pregnancy progresses--the kid(s) are probably putting pressure on an uncomfortable area, and the doe is trying to alleviate the pain/discomfort.

Look at that huge tummy! Her butt looks funny because I shaved it.  Yes, I shaved her butt.  It is common practice in the world of goat keeping--helps you to be able to see any developments easily, and when labor comes, keeps her from getting yucky goo all over her fur.

This was right after the butt-cut, hence the hair all over the floor. 

Her udder keeps getting bigger and bigger!  It is filled out even more since I took this picture a couple days ago.

The other day I though Buttercream had gone into labor.  So I gathered up my kidding supplies and waiting outside with her--to no avail!  This is a picture of my kidding kit.  Paper towels, colostrum supplement (just in case), warm water, soap, raisins (to give the momma after she kids), baby goat sweaters, plastic gloves, naval clamps, iodine tincture, scissors, and a few other things that I can't think of right now because it is morning and I am not fully awake. ;)

These are the baby goat sweaters that I made out of the sleeves of an old sweater.  I'm not sure how many kids Buttercream will have, but I made two just in case.  In the winter it is good to have these on hand to prevent babies from getting chilled.

So Buttercream is still holding!  I do think she was bred before I got her, which means she was bred to Dean's father, Gumby.   If that is the case, then the date of the breeding was probably around the beginning of September.  Goats have a 150 day gestation period, so that means she could go anytime over the next week or so.  Ah!

Little miss Irma is looking pretty preggers lately too!  Her udder has gotten a lot bigger.  Maybe she conceived the first time I put her with Dean?  I'm such a newbie at this.

Thanks for your comments on my 1920's post!  I love 20's fashion, too.  It is interesting to me how, while trying to be more masculine in appearance, the clothing was still very soft and girly.  One thing I have noticed is that a lot of dress patterns from the 90's emulate the same straight-waisted designs that are found in 20's fashion.  This spring I am going to use a few 90's patterns as bases for some 20's inspired designs and see what happens!

Have a lovely day,

Bessie

Waiting, waiting, waiting!

Oh goodness, this weekend has been interesting!  One of my does, Buttercream, looks like she is going to be giving birth a lot sooner than I originally expected.  Yesterday she was showing signs that labor was imminent, and so I waited and watched and sat with her all day...but no babies!  I went out to check on her today, she is still baby-less.  So I guess we'll see what happens!  I am afraid to go to work--I don't want to miss the birth!

It has been so rainy lately.  Everything is wet and muddy and gross.  Usually I love the rain, but I am just about sick and tired of it right now.  Wet, gloppy mud is not the greatest factor when you are feeding animals.

My sister Jenny reminded me about ModCloth the other day, and I have been drooling over a few of their adorable dresses.  Makes me want to sew so badly!  I am having more problems with my machine.  Something is seriously wrong with my tension, and nothing I do seems to put it to rights.  Berninas are not supposed to have tension issues!  Plus, I just took it in for a tune-up a few months ago.  This is ridiculous.

Well, if I ever get my machine up and running again, here is a little bit of what has been stirring my soul lately, fashion-wise:

Off to check on Buttercream!  Hopefully I will have goat baby pictures to share very soon...

Bess