One side of my family hails from Finland, and it is fun to note that Scandinavian Christmas traditions still carry a Yule Buck from ages past. The Yule Buck (or Joulupukki in Finnish) is one of the oldest symbols of the Winter season, in part because Capricorn is the first moon of the new year. The Yule Buck is represented in modern times as bundles of straw braided and tied together to make ornaments. Some stories of Santa Claus reflect him riding a billy goat, or driving a sleigh pulled by goats instead of reindeer. In Finland, Santa is actually known as Joulupukki by name. (more…)
Posts Tagged ‘Christmas’
Heidi’s Buckling ~ 2009
As the sun started to go down on a warm winter’s day, Heidi became restless and did not go inside with the other goats. Moon had delivered her kid earlier in the day, and she and Heidi shared the same due date. It looked as though Heidi would be only a few hours behind. (more…)
Moon’s Buckling ~ 2009
Don’t you just love a girl who’s right on time? Sunday morning broke with the same grey chilly weather that we have been having so far in December. It was not long though, before the sun began to shine and it turned into a beautiful warm day. What luck! This is the day that the calendar says is the due date for Moon and Heidi to have their kids. The typical gestation for a goat is 150 to 155 days. (more…)
The Christmas Sweater
Well, a bit of bad news about the new twins, as I lost the little boy at barely three days old. He was weak at birth, and could not stand right away, although he certainly could call out and was at least able to scramble and scoot around. I helped several times during the first day to hold him and help him to nurse. I think his downfall was catching a chill that night, as we were still very cold and actually ended up with a heavy fog. He improved quite a bit on that second day when I brought him inside to warm him by the heater. We even had a little practice standing up that evening. He was pretty sure he could just walk right out the door! I was heartbroken on Thursday morning though, to find I had lost him in the night. (more…)
Christmas Kids
My goodness! We had a bit of a surprise this morning… Well, TWO surprises, actually.
The cold front that blew in yesterday brought us some harsh wind and sub-freezing temperatures last night. When we turned in, the temperature was 29 degrees, with a wind chill in the low twenties. Yikes! Not exactly what are used to in our neck of the woods. Would you believe it was 80 a couple of days ago? I had shorts on; washing the dogs on Sunday afternoon! (more…)
