Good Evening from Gullringstorp !
Another cold day here at Gullringstorp. Our boys were out and they enjoyed their time out. Boy, did they need it.
All our goats will all be getting their dinner real soon and tucked in for the night.
I had a really moving moment in our stable today. When the girls are in, I make the time to spend time with each goat and give kisses and hugs. It’s also a time to feel each goat’s body and make sure each one is feeling well with no aches or uncomfortable places in the body.
While sitting with Pansy who holds a special place in my heart as does Keriana, I became overcome with emotion. You see, Keriana is Frida’s first baby born here 4 years ago and Pansy and her sister Poppy are her second set of twins born with us. We lost my first goat Frida and one of her daughters Poppy, to pneumonia. Poppy left a little buckling who has been adopted by Pansy. Little Huckleberry is just so cute and impish.
As I snuggled into his fluffy baby fur, I told him his grandmother Frida would have just loved him. I told him she would have kissed him everyday and made sure he was happy and safe.
Well, as I held him, felt his fur and smelled him, I just started crying. I couldn’t stop thinking of how I missed Frida and Huckleberry’s mother Poppy. Pansy’s daughter, Lilly tried to lick my tears away, wondering why I was making such unfamiliar sounds.
I miss our beautiful Frida every single day. I want never to forget her and her beautiful face .
Huckleberry really is her grandson and Pansy and Keriana are definitely her daughters.
Huckleberry explores the boy’s box and just like her mother Frida, Pansy keeps a close eye on him.
Huckleberry visiting and exploring the boy’s box
Pansy keeping eye on Huckleberry
Our cute Huckleberry in the enclosure
Please check back for more updates from Gullringstorp.
Goodbye My Beloved Frida
Today July 12, 2012 at 1715 our Frida passed away. Frida had been in a slow recovery of a bout with pneumonia. We had a great vet who put her on 2 rounds of antibiotics, one regular and one broad spectrum antibiotic.
Frida was determined to stay with her daughters. She put up a real fight to survive and stay with us.
This was not a good week for her, however and her body had weakened too much. I had made my mind that we needed to make an appointment with the vet and let Frida go. I had just left and walked back to the house and was on the phone to the vet when my husband came in to say she passed.
She is now buried here at Gullringstorp.
Good-bye my beloved Frida …
Rest in peace my Frida…
Frida taking a rest
Frida and one of her little ones having a chat
Happy goat family; Frida, babies and Julius the dad
Frida, who has given birth twice at Gullringstorp
Frida is probably calling Poppy back. there is constant chatter between the mothers and babies
Frida gave us 4 beautiful babies in her time with us:
Keriana, Flynn, Poppy, Pansy
Keriana has just given us Fiona
Frida will always be a part of Gullringstorp Goats…
What Makes This Country Gal Smile Part 2
As a theater lover, I was so pleased to hear what the Globe Theater in London had planned. They have decided to do all of Shakespeare’s 37 plays performed by 37 different countries and in 37 different languages. What an endeavor! What a wonderful way to bring the world together in such a world famous theater The Globe Theater in the heart of London. I just wish I could attend but I have the next best thing, my daughter , an actor, attending and calling me at intervals and at the conclusion of each play she attends.
The very first participants in this unprecedented event was the Ngakau Toa Theater Company from New Zealand. My daughter was moved beyond her expectations. I hoped that she would. Troilus and Cressida and the Haka!! What a magnificent start to the Festival:
Last evening was the play Measure for Measure performed by The Vakhtangov Theater Company from Moscow. I received my usual report call at the interval and at that point it was fabulous. She also said the performance was, ” Daring, passionate and physically fearless! ” I was unable to locate a video yet but I did find some reviews:
The Vakhtangov is at the heart of Moscow both geographically and theatrically. From humble beginnings in 1913, this company grew to inhabit one of Moscow’s most beautiful theatres. Always following the twin influences of Meyerhold and Stanislavsky, of spectacle and psychological truth, it has created many of Russia’s most respected productions. This is their first visit to the UK. Part of Globe to Globe.
Moscow Vakhtangov’s Theatre on stage of London’s Globe
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Apr 25, 2012 13:33 Moscow Time
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© Flickr.com/Viditu/cc-by
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The company of Moscow’s Vakhtangov Theater has successfully performed on the stage of the legendary Shakespeare’s Globe open-air theater in London as part of the international Shakespeare’s festival.
The audience warmly received the production staged by director Yury Butusov despite chill weather. The actors played in Russian but the spectators could read short English comments about the play’s development on two big screens.
The Globe is one of the oldest theaters in Britain which was active from 1599 till 1644. The theater is associated with the writing and acting career of William Shakespeare. It was recreated in the late 20th century on the south bank of the Thames.
1st TV channel
The Arts Desk
Globe to Globe: Measure For Measure, Shakespeare’s Globe
Free-wheeling Russian take on the morality play
What a joy this once-in-a-generation season is. From Moscow comes this free-wheeling production of Shakespeare’s great morality play, and one that also makes remarkably free with the text too. Even those familiar with Measure For Measure will be thankful for the subtitles, particularly in the second act when director Yury Butusov dispenses with whole scenes, including the denouement.
It starts with the familiar story; we are in Vienna, a city that has fallen into dissoluteness, where the Duke hands over power to his stern deputy Angelo, only to disguise himself as a monk to see how Angelo will go about the task. But Angelo is corrupted by power and after condemning Claudio to death for making his lover Juliet pregnant, he then demands that Claudio’s sister, Isabella, abandon her nun’s vows to sleep with him in exchange for her brother’s life. The Duke devises a plan to save Claudio and bring Angelo to book, but also to have Isabella for himself.
Vakhtangov Theatre (named after the influential director Yevgeny Vakhtangov, who died in 1922) is famed for uniting the twin influences of Meyerhold and Stanislavsky; Meyerhold was big on symbolism and it shows here. As the play opens the cast litter the stage with rubbish and when Angelo appears they clear it away, and tables are repeatedly turned in various scenes on an otherwise empty set.
Vakhtangov is also known for the physicality of its performances and there’s an awful lot of stage business – mugging, having a member of the audience to hand a prop to the cast, making improv comedy out of a plastic glass being stood on noisily by a groundling. It could be irritating, but when it works, it really does work; we see the moral tightrope Isabella is walking between virtue and loyalty as she carefully treads an imaginary line on stage, and her scenes with both Angelo and later the Duke are choreographed as if in a ballet.
The director has cast Sergey Epishev (pictured with Evgeniya Kregzhde) as both Duke and Angelo, so he sets out his stall early; we know that they are two sides of the same coin, men who are equally prey to their weaknesses, whether it be lust or ego. The casting means the denouement, where the Duke reveals to a shocked Angelo and Co what he has done, cannot, of course, happen here. Instead the surtitles tell us what has transpired and this production’s last scene, between the Duke and Isabella, has a stunning impact.
This is a very clear, if very individual, reading of the play. Epishev nicely delineates his two characters, while Evgeniya Kregzhde is heartbreaking as Isabella and Vladimir Beldiyan makes the cowardly Claudio very sympathetic. The rest of the cast are expressive in a highly original and gripping production.
One small quibble with Globe to Globe; why no productions in Celtic and Gaelic languages from the British Isles, or British regional vernaculars? Maybe artistic director Dominic Dromgoole is already planning another season, homegrown this time – I do hope so.
As a Shakespeare trained actor, my daughter was in absolute heaven watching the brilliance of these interpretations of Shakespeare’s wonderful plays. The first two productions were performed in the rain and like actors anywhere, these actors from around the world are the same when it comes to adjusting to circumstances beyond their control; rain, slippery stages and airplanes going overhead. Please note for those who have not been to this theater, it is an open air theater with no roof.
I am not sure which plays my daughter will attend , but I will try to report back on which ones she plans to attend. We have discussed the plays and I have encouraged her to attend as many as she can. I am so excited to get her reports. I so wish I could be there with her to partake of this most historic event at the Globe Theater.
I need to remain at Gullringstorp because we have goat babies on the way. Alika, Keriana and Nanna our mothers-to-be are doing just fine and growing larger everyday.
Goat babies or Shakespeare? This country gal must stay in the country for now!
Quick update : Frida is doing well on her 2nd day of her broad spectrum antibiotic injections !
Sorry for the long absence…
Hej from Gullringstorp!! It has been quite awhile since I have posted and to all my faithful and new readers alike, I apologize. I had a reader not just notice the absence of my posting, but wrote and asked if there was a problem. As I answered to her, issues have occurred that have been both physically and emotionally draining. I did have a bit of light at the end of a long dark tunnel, finally, only to have it snuffed out just as I was beginning to feel alive again.
Two weeks ago our dear Frida started to have some breathing issues. I belong to an online goat forum that has been very helpful for issues I might be having and for those that have not touched us here at Gullringstorp. We are a close community of goat owners and lovers with experience ranging from 20 yrs or more owning goats to those who are thinking of starting a small herd.
I went to them first to see what might be the problem with Frida. Since I had no idea of her actual age, my first assumption was her heart was giving out. Someone who has a great deal of goat experience suggested that maybe she was just acting beyond her age. I agreed and just kept an eye on her. The breathing problem at that time was intermittent, after activity.
On the evening of April 16th after being brought back into the stable, my Frida could not breathe. She was gasping for air. We called the vet immediately and they wanted to see her first thing in the morning. I kept her as comfortable as possible in the back of our car for the ride to the vet’s office. She was a good traveler.
She was diagnosed with pneumonia ! I had not expected that at all because she had no pneumonia symptoms, wet nose, discharge from nose or coughing. After close and careful examination, the doctor gave her a cortisone injection and an antibiotic injection. I was sent home with Frida and a supply of pre-filled syringes with antibiotic for the next 5 days. I didn’t mind to give the injections since I am a trained EMT. Some things you never seem to forget. Since Frida was not drinking water I offered her the same delicious beverage I offer all my mothers after they give birth, warm water & molasses. This was to get liquids into her and help with her possible drop in electrolytes. I also gave a couple of doses of re-hydration gel.
The first evening after the visit to the vet’s office, she got worse and was actually moaning as she was trying to get air. I knew it would take at least 24 hours for all the meds to get through her system and work, but I felt she would have some relief on this first evening. I called the hospital and spoke with another vet who told me that her prognosis was NOT good. Well that lit a fire with in me and I thought this person really had no place to say this to me and I asked to speak with the doctor who examined Frida that morning. After hearing her new symptoms, he said that it was time for me to think of how to help her out of her misery. Now I am an animal lover, and I do not believe in letting any animal suffer , but I was not ready to let Frida go. I just was not ready to let her leave us all.
I sat vigil with my Frida, tended to her and calmed her. The next morning she was better and in the following days Frida was eating, drinking by herself and tending to her daughters. I was happy to report back to our vet that Frida was 95% improved and getting better everyday.Since she was eating, I brought her treats of chopped apples and carrots and my husband gave her bread. She normally comes to the box door for her treats but in this weakened condition, we needed top go in the box and feed her where she stood. She stood when she was breathing really badly, but once the medicine started to work, she was able to lay down with her daughters. What a beautiful sight to see this in the morning and evenings.
Last evening after being brought back in from a day out, Frida had a relapse and we contacted the vet. I was so sad to see her with labored breathing once again. I was so proud of her determination to kick this and her absolute will to live and remain with us and her babies. She seemed as determined as I was to kick this pneumonia and survive.
This morning our vet decided that Frida needed a more broad spectrum antibiotic for bacteria that the first antibiotic didn’t touch. I am so very thankful for this vet to be able to look at a larger picture, not only of Frida’s value within our herd here at Gullringstorp, but seeing how she is fighting to get better and stay with her daughters. After feeding our 3 mother’s -to-be on the Milk Stand, got the boys out then the girls, Frida and I started with the next round of antibiotics. She was not at all as bad as she had been last evening and was making quite a fuss as she heard the others leaving the stable. I didn’t want her out and in the mix until she was stronger. I put her out for some fresh air in the “baby yard”, with her daughters. She has great pile of straw to relax or nap in and a bucket of delicious and fragrant meadow hay and of course fresh water. She can see the others in the large enclosure and even hold a conversation if she wants. Her daughters Poppy and Pansy are with her. It would never work to put the girls in with the others and leave Frida in the “baby yard” The girls would cry and it would stress Frida.
I will do everything possible to help our Frida. I am sure that she will rally with this second round of antibiotics. The vet said it could have been the sudden change in temperatures and that many sheep in our area get pneumonia at this time of year, or an allergy to the hay we have. The first thing you want to know is, was it something I did or didn’t do to cause this. I was assured it was not something we had any control over.
Frida holds a very special place in my heart and in our herd. Not only is she a very charming and decided young lady, she is an excellent mother and head of our herd. Every goat respects her and no one tries to challenge her authority.
Frida is fighting to get and stay well and I will fight right along with her !
Frida with her daughters Poppy and Pansy
Frida is a very attentive mother
Frida
Oh fun on mommy's back
Frida stays close to her daughters
What a good goat mommy!
A kiss for Poppy !
So sweet !
Here's Frida asserting her authority in front of Nanna as her daughters stay out of the way
Please keep good thoughts for our Frida and hope that this second round of antibiotics does the job.
We love Frida and can not imagine the herd without her…
Poppy and Pansy need Frida…
GullringstorpGoatGal
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