Month: December 2016

Posted in farmlife, goatlife

Walks with Goats

Posted on by Janet

I’ve been told that a visit to the farm is like therapy. Even when we’re trying to outsmart a catfood-stealing raccoon or mending fences for goat escapees, there is something therapeutic to tending the animals, walking to the creek and searching for crawdads (aka crayfish).

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, we continued a tradition of having bonfires as we cleared more brush from the pasture and fence lines. The difference this year was that we actually had goats inside the fence with us. We even gave the newest baby goat (ZsaZsaZsa-Noel) her first vaccine, and we did a round of goat deworming medicine for the others.

 

When Kristie and Ali visited the farm, we had hoped that the donkeys would bray at the sound of a violin, but the donkeys just turned and walked to the barn, much to my disappointment. Kristie said, “this is the first time my audience has ever pooped during a performance.”

Ali fed the goats and donkeys crackers and goat snacks, gathered eggs, and we looked for crawdads in the creek. This time of year can be overwhelming to adults. It’s remembering that acorns with caps, pinecones on dead trees and crawdads under rocks in the cold creek water are pure joy.
It’s coloring in books, spending time and being present that is the present that so many seek this time of year. When the tree is put away, the wrapping paper torn and the lights grow dim, the time we spend in the company of angels is the gift that we carry throughout the year.


In the words of the old hymn, “What can I give Him, poor as I am? If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb. If I were a wise man, I would do my part. Yet what I can I give Him, give my heart.”

May you give from your heart.

Photos courtesy of Janet Reep-Morgan,  Kristie Bittleston and Jim Morgan.  Used with permission on raisedbyavillage.com

 

 

Posted in goatlife

And Then We Had Number Ten

Posted on by Janet

“ZsaZsa-Noel” was born at the farm Monday night at 7:30 pm and quickly sniffed by Pete the donkey. When Jim arrived home from work, he heard a goat scream, and headed to the barn to check on the animals. I filled the #vittlesvault with fresh cat food and secured the lid. Jim said, “Janet, you need to come here.”  Walking closer, I heard the faintest bleating. My headlamp shone in the barn and a tiny white slick  form wiggled in the corner. Connie Francis stood looking shocked and exhausted. She had been the one bleating fifteen minutes earlier with labor pains that summoned Jim to the barn. I fetched old towels and returned to the barn as Connie Francis instinctually began cleaning the baby. Cautiously, I picked up the fresh baby and announced, “it’s a girl!” My phone was dying, but I used the last of the battery to show our new addition on Facebook Live.  

Quickly, friends began offering name ideas including Winter, Joy, Noel, ZsaZsa, Wobbles, Vanna White, Isabella, and Vera Sue. My phone battery died.  Jim secured the “maternity ward” which separated the new mother and her kid to allow for bonding (and to keep them out of the woods). Jim headed back to the house to eat supper saying, “I’m going to call her Number Ten.” With my phone charging, I read him a few of the name suggestions, and we laughed. 

Jim went to bed, and I went back to the barn. Kelly came out, and we waited to see if another baby would arrive.   Nothing. Kelly went back inside and I made one more trip to the barn. As I sat with mother and newborn in the chilly barn, waiting to see if she would deliver a twin, I heard coyotes in the nearby woods. Connie Francis looked around and stood over her baby protectively. I tried to outfit the new kid with a human-baby onesie.  Connie Francis was not impressed, and we both agreed that alterations would be required. The donkeys, Pete and Ney, stood guard outside the barn with their ears pricked in attention listening to the nearby coyotes. 

By this time, it was nearly midnight, so I headed to the house to get some sleep. As I turned the barn corner, I noticed the barn cats sitting on a nearby stump and wondered why they were not in the barn. Then, I saw something gray run into the barn and I thought, “that’s a big gray striped cat….ohhhh…that’s the raccoon who’s been eating the cat food!” My mind ran wild with images of a raccoon hurling itself on my head or jumping out to scare me. Compounded by exhaustion, I began seeing monsters in the dark as sounds from the woods engulfed my senses. 

Collapsing into bed, I quickly fell asleep. It seemed too fast that my 5 am alarm sounded, and I headed back to the barn to check on the new pair. 

ZsaZsa-Noel appears to be a healthy little girl with big ears and an appetite. Her mother is protective and keeping the paparazzi  (me) at horns-length. 

“These names”, people always ask, “how did you come up with these names?” The goats give me their names. Just the previous day, the actress, Zsa–Zsa Gabor died at the the age of 99. “ZsaZsa–Noel” fits perfectly with our famously-named goats and the Christmas season. I considered Belle (from Beauty and the Beast) as it would fit the Disney characters of Mary Poppins and Queen Lillian, and our twin trouble makers who were born to Julie Andrews in July. When we bought Faith, Gretel, Vera and Rita earlier this year, I wondered how the goat lady knew their names. To keep them straight, I altered their original names so that I could keep them straight. Faith became Faith Hill, Vera became Vera Wang, Rita became Rita Rudner, and Gretel..well, she became Julie Andrews because when she walks, she reminds me of songs from The Sound of Music. 

Now that I’ve been with the girls for nearly a year, I know their names like I know their spots. Each goat is named for an actor, comedian or musician whose work I like. Why would I name a goat after someone I don’t like? 

Posted in farmlife, goatlife

It’s 8:15, Do You Know Where Your Kids Are?

Posted on by Janet

Living next door to my brother is extremely helpful. However, I’m sure he does not want to chase goats four times in 48 hours.

Sunday morning, I called him after discovering Mary Poppins on the other side of the fence. I was in my pajamas and boots, just outside to break the ice on water buckets. There she stood, a 50 pound 6-month-old kid nibbling on privet leaves. Her mother, Julie Andrews, was frantic when I walked back the house to get my overalls and gloves. I imagined that I could hear her saying, “My baby, save my baby!”

Donning my overalls, gloves, cap and with pliers in hand, I managed to rope Mary Poppins as she bleated as if I was hurting her. She slipped the rope, and I called Kelly. “Will you come help me catch Mary Poppins?” I asked when he answered the call. “Sure” He replied and I started devising a way to capture the kid.  I managed to grab her back leg. She screamed in shock, and I picked her up. As I tossed her over the fence, she twisted and head-butted my nose. It wasn’t bleeding. Then Kelly showed up we walked the fence line looking  for breaks. 

Goat capture was not on my agenda for the day. Add in laundry, dishes, a request for a video of goat captures, and church…then fast-forward five hours. 

In the waning hours of the day, I checked the goats. I found that I was 3 goats shy of a full herd. So, I texted to my friend Diane, “2 escaped. 1 stuck.”  Fence pliers in hand, I called her, “Where are you? I’ve got two escaped and one stuck in the fence. You asked for video, now it’s your time to shoot the video.”  I laughed and she said that they were enroute home from a day trip. With Jim at work for another hour, I figured that I could at least get one escapee back in the fence solo.

I went into analyst mode and decided on a process flow. First, Betty White needed to be freed from the fence.  After she stuck her head through the 4×4 fence, her horns got stuck.  Suddenly faced with pliers, she magically backed her head out of the fence; she was toying with me hoping for a handful of grain. Second, I managed the grab Queen Lillian and tossed her over the fence. I heard Scooby barking as I tripped on a tree root chasing Mary Poppins. Counting down the minutes until Jim arrived home, I patiently followed Mary Poppins through the briars. 

In the darkness, I heard, “Hey! The goat capturers are here…how do we get to you?” I looked up and asked, “who’s there?! Diane?” Sure enough Diane and her husband walked around the barn and helped snag Mary Poppins. They had been in the area and gladly helped with the escapee. Thus ended Sunday. 

Monday night, after sitting in 90 minutes of snarled commuter traffic, I arrived home to see a light at the barn. I called Kelly, “are you at the barn?” 

He asked, “Yes, did you get the pictures?” I looked at my phone and saw two little brown goats on the wrong side of the fence…again. Twins are double-trouble. 

My sister-in-law heard a goat screaming and Kelly found the twins breaking fences again. We repaired the fence, replaced the goats and shook our heads. 

Tuesday night, Jim said that it was date-night which included homemade vegetarian burritos and a moonlit walk to the barn to count goats. At that point, I and heard the love of my life saying, “there it is, the shiny new roll of fencing that we’ll install on your day off Friday.”

You might be a goat farmer when you consider a “vacation” day from the office to be a date. Just in case you ever wondered what we do on personal days, we usually do farm stuff. 

Photos courtesy of Kelly Reep 2016. All rights reserved by Raisedbyavillage.com.