Spring fever (I’ll get to the terror in a moment) ! I’ve got the St. Patty’s Day stuff out and it’s all so spring – like and happy.   Too bad the weather’s not cooperating.  According to weather.com we’re in for 1 to 3 inches of the white stuff tonight.  Blah.

Yes, you heard correctly – ME – the snow lover – sick of snow.  I consoled myself by making a beef and leek pot pie and throwing together a nice fresh loaf of cinnamon raisin bread.

I used the recipe from Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes A Day.  They’ve come out with a second book now – one that uses mainly gluten – free recipes and lots of healthy stuff.  As soon as I can get my hands on a copy I’ll be trying those out for sure.

I also worked on a pattern from the first Alabama Stitches book.

It just needs some finishing touches.

I never really liked sewing with knitted fabrics before, but now I am thoroughly enjoying the projects I’ve got going.  Oh, and check out my duct-tape dress form.  You can easily make them to your exact body measurements (flat chest and all!) .  I don’t know how I lived without it before!

I am also still working on Oona’s sweater.  You’re sick of hearing that by now.  Hopefully I’ll make some real headway on it soon.

Meanwhile Jasper (Oona calls him Japser – so now we all do) has to be sure the project has the proper amount of feline involvement.  And check out his massive paws.

There’s enough paw there for a whole other cat.

On to the terror.

Ok, I guess it’s not really terror so much as extreme nail – chewing anxiety. A huge knot grinding away in the pit of my stomach and waking me up at night with awful cold sweats.

I spoke to the vet.

Basically, there’s about a 50/50 chance of Milkshakes giving birth normally and successfully and without incident.  Especially if there’s twins, as they will be smaller than a singleton.  I have been advised to prepare for the birth as though we expect no problems, but be prepared for the worst, just in case (you know, a call for an emergency c-section).   I am stockpiling clean towels and iodine and we’re putting up the goat shed this weekend (and by “we” I mean my mother and I – hey mom!  Guess what! We’re putting together a goat shed this weekend!).  The regular vet is aware and will be ready to assist if things go wrong.  If it’s at night (more than likely given my luck) we have the number of an emergency livestock vet at the ready.   Meanwhile I am keeping an eye on her looking for any visible clues of impending labor and delivery.  Goat gestation runs around 145 – 150 days on average, and we’re right at day 100 today.

But I am nervous.  Really, really nervous.  Not only have I never assisted in a livestock birth of any type – now I’ve got a potential for disaster.  This next month I may take to pulling out my hair and obsessively reading procedural blogs online.  If only I weren’t naturally a worrier to begin with.

Is there an obstetrician in the house?????