The Passing of Patty

Yep....she died too. Apparently we're not too good at this whole farming thing. I figure if we just keep pushing through we'll eventually get to the other side of thriving animals and animals living in peace. So now we lost a goat to the dog, a dog due to a goat and then that goat too. Hmmmm........not really looking too good here. Can we possibly kill anymore off???? Come to think of it......I don't really want to know the answer to that question.

So, a few more tears this morning on the children's parts and then the burial of Patty. I guess the worst was that she was so perky yesterday and things really started to look up. So, it got the children's hopes up. They seriously.....I seriously.....thought she was going to pull through this. Obviously that didn't happen. They were so excited to see her up walking around and having the strength to make it up and down the backdoor steps. She even got up and went outside to lay in the sun while they played. So, I went through my 10 pm shift with her, feeding her, giving meds and all the usual. She was a little floppy but no more than she had been. I loved on her for a little while as she laid on my chest. After awhile I placed her back in her basket and bedded her down for the night.

So, Brad came home this morning and said she was very dead. I'm not exactly sure what the difference between dead and very dead is. Maybe the length of time they've been in that state???? Who knows. So, as my hurt sunk and I thought of the children waking to the news I went to go make sure for myself. And there she lay in her little laundry basket.....so still and lifeless. I thought for a minute her stomach moved so I nudged her and tried to coax some life into her. But she was most definitely already gone and had been for awhile. I didn't really want to mess with her, now seeing that she was dead, but fleeting thoughts of children gleefully hugging and toting a dead, limp, floppy goat all over the house were enough to motivate me to get over myself and take her outside and out of reach of little hands and curious minds. So, with Brad in the shower I lifted her basket and took her out to the shop. A parade of little kids accompanied me out saying loudly in the morning air,

"Patty's dead, Mom?"
"Why's Patty dead?"
"Is she with Tigger now?"
"Tigger BITE her!!!"
"No, Tigger's in heaven with Flop and Patty and Tigger's a sweet sweet boy now."
"MOVE Patty, MOVE!!!"
"No Garrett, Patty's dead."

And on and on it went and I began to be so thankful for the innocence of children and their ability to just take things in stride. Evye and Grayson, on the other hand, were a different story. More tears from them, more explaining why sometimes God chooses not to heal. More discussions of Tigger now meeting up not only with Flop but now Patty also.

So, yea. That's the animal latest around here.

If indeed you don't succeed, try try again. So, I'm not really up for the high maintenance care of another newborn goat that the children are begging for right now. The auction is every Tues and they are begging to go back and take in yet another one. I'm thinking maybe puppy? They're pretty sturdy and tons of fun. Ohhhh.........maybe.