A Bright Autumn Morning

Sunday morning, Buffy (Pistol's previous owner) came by to visit Pistol and to get apples over on Apple Hill.  Unfortunately, I had to work (yes, ugh, in the office 14 hours on Sunday) so I didn't get to enjoy apple cider donuts and catching up with good friends.

When Buffy and her husband, George, arrived, the horses were working on breakfast.

Lucy, Jackson and Pistol

The sun must have been blinding...

Little Bear

 In almost all of Buffy's pictures, the animals have their eyes closed.

Lucy

Thistle

Only Whiskey managed to keep his eyes open.

Food, Food, Glorious Food

Nobody loves food more than Pistol.

Hey, you got cookies?  Carrots? An apple per chance?

Lucy: You should be ashamed, begging like that.  Pistol: bug off, Princess

Meanwhile, even wild turkeys in the pasture couldn't distract Jackson from nosing around in the oak leaves for acorns.

Flash: Hey, Whiskey - what are you doing under the hay feeder?  Mufasa: Is that a camera you're carrying -- or do you have cookies?

The horses all know that Brett's pockets are usually full of cookies.  He's a big softie when it comes to treats.

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...