Cowboy Take Me Away

Cowboy was named after my favorite Country song. 

Camille holding Cowboy, I'm holding Whiskey.  First time we met the babies in 2011.

First pedicure

Trimming back the blackberry bushes

Cowboy never recovered.  He wasn't in pain but became quieter as the week went by.  Brett found him this afternoon where he had been sleeping in the sun.  Rest in peace, sweet little guy.

A Three Sweatshirt Day

This morning as Brett and I did chores, we noted dark, cloud filled, skies to the west and sunny skies to the east.  We headed out to the farmers market at 8:00 and I planned to ride Lucy upon our return home.  Halfway to Placerville, we hit scattered raindrops.  By the time we parked, fifteen minutes later, it was pouring.  We grabbed our basket and hit the "must have" vendors.  First, the pasta guy where we bought some pear and arugula ravioli.  Next, the bread gal who, Brett noted, was not wearing shorts as usual but was bundled up in jeans and a jacket.  We bought some breadsticks to go with our dinner tonight (stew), Brett's favorite apple cinnamon bread, an almond croissant for me and a cinnamon roll for Brett.  We were already wet.  Next, I headed for my favorite vegetable vendor while Brett stood under the nearest pop-up.  I loaded up with purple carrots for our stew, romaine and chard.  Last, we picked up apples and pears and then hightailed it back to the car.  The hood of my sweatshirt was soaked.  When we got home, I changed into sweatshirt number two.  Of course, it was pouring at home by then.  The mares were in their run-in, the goats were in, the chickens were in (except for one very wet hen that had gotten outside the fence and couldn't get back in), and Jackson was already in the barn with his trail boots on.  Everyone was dry, including Flash and Mufasa who were standing under the trees in their pasture.

The rain fell all morning, steady and hard.  By noon, we had over half an inch.  We fed the mares in their run in and Brett got hay set up in the barn stalls for Flash and Mufasa.  When Mufasa saw me coming with my rain jacket hood up and pulled tight around my face, his head flew up and he backed away.  Brett handed me Flash's lead -- Flash didn't even notice my hood.

Despite wearing a rain jacket and rain pants, the rain soaked through to my sweatshirt.  I hung the wet sweatshirt with the other one, in front of the wood stove, and put on number three.

Mid-afternoon the rain took a break.  Lucy came out, rolled in the mud and trotted over to the fence to see me.  Then she noticed Flash who had heard her trotting and was standing with his head over the run-out fence, his ears pricked towards her.  They looked at each other for awhile and then Flash went back inside the barn to finish his lunch.

In the early evening, just before starting chores, Brett looked outside and noticed that Whiskey and Cowboy were out again.  I rounded them up, bribing them with Cheerios.  Lucy had her head over the fence expecting to share the treats.

Brett staked the bottom of the fence down, it was loose by the water trough -- just enough to let the little black goats slip through.  He reinforced another small gap while the goats, Pistol and Lucy watched.

Lucy expected attention.  Lucy always expects attention.

We finished up the chores and headed back to the warmth of the house.

The Goats Get a Trim

It's time to trim the goats' hooves.  I got the nippers and waited for the first victim goat to jump in my lap.  Bella, Bear and Thistle were all cuddled and clipped lickity-split. 

Whiskey climbed up next.

He didn't want to leave, but Cowboy was ready for his turn.  Cowboy is the shyest of our goats so I wanted to take advantage of his friendly frame of mind.  I set Whiskey down and invited Cowboy up. He wasn't sure at first; but he quickly settled in for his trim.

Brett had a craving for spaghetti with meat sauce and I had plenty of tomatoes.  The plants are still going gang busters.

Besides, he brought me flowers.  Pour that man an extra big glass of wine!

The Herd is Complete

This afternoon Whiskey and Cowboy joined our goat herd.  Initially, it was hard to tell the two apart but I'm sure it will get easier as we get to know them better.  At this point, Whiskey is a tad taller and has a bit more grey in his coat (we're thinking whiskey and water).  His mama died a few weeks ago so he has been on a bottle since then.  As a result, he is the more social of the two. 

We brought Whiskey and Cowboy into the goat area and then we settled onto the goat shed porch to watch the integration process.  It went fine.  Bella, Bear and Thistle held the porch territory (which I'm thinkin' had more to do with people possession) but Whiskey and Cowboy didn't care.  They were too busy running laps around the shed and doing gymnastic floor exercises. 

Thistle supervised -- all he needs is a whistle around his neck.  He looks like Coach Thistle to me.

And here are some very short videos of the new kids on the block.

And, lastly a question for those of you who also have goats.  We have a fence jumper.  Bella has jumped the five foot fence twice.  It is ranch fencing with chain link on the inside to keep goats in and dogs out - she's a 10 week old Nigerian Dwarf...  who wants to do stadium jumping.  Any suggestions on how to keep her from jumping out or is this something she will outgrow as she gets bigger and heavier? 

Meeting Whiskey and Cowboy

Yesterday we woke to rain.  In May!  And not only was it May, it was the last weekend in May.  Bizarre.  We NEVER get rain in May. 

The horses were wet and muddy when they came into the barn for their buckets.  Jackson especially -- and, of course, I had just bathed him the day before.

By the afternoon, the rain had stopped but it was still cold and blustery.  We went over to visit the two baby African Pygmy goats we have been waiting for.  They were only a few days old and so cute.  The breeder registers her goats with song names.  Because we pre-ordered these guys, we got to pick the names: Whiskey (Whiskey For My Men) and Cowboy (Cowboy Take Me Away).  The goats look identical other than one being slightly larger (he was an only child so no sharing womb space for him) so I can't differentiate them in the pictures. 

We celebrated Camille's birthday last night.  I scored big time on her gift -- concert tickets to see Taylor Swift in August.  She has the lyrics to almost every song memorized and has every album on her iPod.  She is crazy about Taylor Swift the way I was crazy about John Denver when I was her age.  She was thrilled.  I baked her birthday cake (chocolate with chocolate whipped cream frosting and strawberries between the layers) but I didn't have any candles.  Oops.  We improvised...