What a nice surprise!

There was a knock on my door the other evening. I opened it to find a young boy standing on my steps.

"We came for a visit." He told me. I replied with an "ok, I will be out in a moment." 

Come to visit? I didn't recognize the boy straight off. I looked out the window to see three horses in my yard. It took me a moment to realize that one of those horses was Sam.

We took Sam in several years ago. She was an unwanted horse, not by us but the previous owners. When the drought sucked the life out of the soil, we decided that we couldn't afford to feed her and the cattle. A friend of ours knew a family that was wanting to start an Autism horse therapy ranch. Turns out we knew the family. And we happily donated Sam to their project. Do you remember our goat Zombie? The black and white goat who was raised with our dogs? He is also there at the ranch. Their son and Zombie were fast friends, so I told them to take the goat as well.

They came by to say hi/bye and to tell us how Sam is doing. Turns out she is very popular at the ranch, and has turned into a very gentle and wonderful trail rider. I was thrilled to hear that. Sam seems happy.

The ranch is called Abe's Hearts and Hooves (link will take you to their Facebook page). They do horse therapy for autistic children, women and men of low income families. 

It was nice to see Sam doing so well.

Sheep vs goat: a test

Today I got into a conversation about sheep vs goats, and how one tells the difference. There are so many pictures and videos labeled incorrectly it can get confusing. So I took it upon myself to do a bit of research and discovered that one person wrote an article long ago and people treat it as gospel, regurgitating that same false statements over and over. No one seems to have corrected it. Cut and paste cut and paste.

I posted a little test on Facebook to see if people knew the difference when looking. The results were interesting, and slightly predictable. My homesteaders were correct 100% of the time. My wonderful city dwelling friends were wrong 100% of the time. (I love you guys, but you need to spend more time in the country) Most people seems to believe that you don't shear goats, and you don't milk sheep. We need to change that.

But first, here is the test. I know, it's simple for some of you. But go ahead and try. Later I will tell you the answers and try to fix the sheep/goat misnomers.

Can you tell which is the goats and which the sheep?

Keeping in Touch

It is starting to warm up here in the great State of Kansas. We had some spring storms the last few days, hopefully this will end our current drought.

Lambing season has began. We have 2 new girls in the group. Waiting on a few more to drop.

Husband went and got himself a boxblade and has started his moat project.

Zombies ain't gettin' in here.

A few plants are growing in the box. And we start lazy bedding the potatoes next week. Besides the traditional lazy bed, I thought I would give the potato tire planting a try. My reds seem to struggle in the traditional lazy bed, so switching it up might help.

All my cool weather veggies (except potatoes) have been planted. 

We have 4 bronze turkeys and 5 whites brooding in the porch bunker. Seems to work out perfectly, the dirt floor seems to help regulate their heat better than the mobile home floor. 

We have also discovered that our free range hens love being underground to lay their eggs. Odd story, however we have been find eggs in a dugout. Husband had thought about doing something like this years ago, and after seeing this, he is now determined to build mini bunkers for the hens. We shall see.

Hope you all are doing well.

It has been brought to my attention

I was in a conversation with a long time friend, and she informed me that my masthead was a bit confusing the first time she saw it. And I come to find out that some find it disturbing. I will admit that I find that a bit funny. The reason being that every time I have tried to change the picture I get emails and comments (no matter what the post is about) to put the "does this goat make my butt look big" photo back up.

I always cave.

But I have realized (I am slow sometimes) that there are many new readers here since the last time I explained my masthead. Which a big WELCOME to all of you, has been tardy.

I have placed a link on the sidebar, that explains the picture.  Here it is for those that read via various feed readers >>> How to Sheer a Goat.

Yes Delilah is a goat, not a sheep.

And I leave the picture up as a reminder

Delilah's death>>>

Dora's (her sister) death>>>

Making your own small scale silage

Now is a good time to start making and storing your own silage. It is rather easy on small scale.

The simplest is for those that mow their grass. Simply mow, allow to wilt, bag in a large zip type plastic baggy, or trash bag, and press out as much air as possible. If mold grows on it, the silage is ruined and should never be fed to your animals.

Depending on the animals that you are making silage for, you will need different plant materials. Crops suitable for silage are non-leguminous fodder crops rich in soluble carbohydrates, such as maize, oats, sorghum, pearl millet, and cultivated grasses are most suitable for ensiling. Materials can be grasses, legumes, fodder crops (sorghum, maize), crop residues or by-products. These items need to be harvested in the young age, before flowering, to help ensure that you have enough sugars for proper fermentation.

And don't forget your tree and shrub fodder. Just restrict the amount of tannins. And be cautious of the type of plants you are harvesting for your animals. Tannins has been shown to help with worm problems in sheep and goats, still restrict the amounts though.

If you are growing legumes, harvest leaves before your dry season, allow them to dry in the shade, then mix in with your silage.

If you wish to do it on a slightly larger scale, a pit works good for storage as well (cover with black plastic and weight it down with tires), as does a buried deep freezer. Place your silage in it in layers, then walk on it, pressing the silage down removing as much air as possible. Keep it cool and dry (plastic and weights work here as well).

Come winter, you can feed a nice nutritional "fresh" meal to all your lovely critters.

The Best of 2010

For more pics of the chicken condo go here; Welcome to the Doll House

Play it again Sam

Husband and I have been secretly trying to find our horse Sam a new home. With us not moving to the farmstead, Sam was nothing but another mouth to feed. I hardly needed her on 5 acres. We didn't advertise her, just asked a couple of people

I got a phone all, seemingly out of nowhere, from a woman I don't ever remember meeting. She said that a friend of ours had told her we had a horse for sale. Her and her husband and 3 boys came over to meet Sam. All 3 of her boys have different and varying levels of autism. While the oldest boy rode Sam around the yard, I spoke with the woman. She was starting a nonprofit for low income families who has children with autism. The program is equine therapy. Her youngest had made remarkable strides in speech and responsibilities ever since they started doing it with him.

We do have a equine therapy ranch in the next county over, but it is expensive. This one would be through social services only. And for those well under the poverty level. As we talked her youngest spied out our goat Zombie. I see there are some new readers, even in my long absence, Zombie is a little billy goat that I hand raised along side 2 dogs. If you were to ask him, Zombie would tell you he was indeed a dog. The youngest boy wasn't quick enough with the affections, and Zombie butt him in the stomach. Nothing too hard mind you, just enough to get his attention. The boy began laughing, no, not just laughing but cracking up! This in turn got me giggling. Zombie took this as a signal to keep playing, and the young boy kept egging it on. The woman and I continued our conversation.

Next thing we know Zombie is giving the boy a ride over to the garden area, both seem very content with each other.

The program is called Abe's Hearts and Hooves for Autism. It is the brain child of her oldest son. After his equine therapy session (parents do the therapy using neighbors horses) the boy said to his mother that he wished others could do the same as him. After lots of calls, legal council and a bunch of paperwork, the family began contacting business and individuals about donations and they purchased their first horse. A mistreated pony. The couple are excellent horsemen. Grew up training horse, but life has a way of steering you away from the things you love, well at times anyway. They have been working on this pony and he is now doing wonderfully with the children.

They fell in love with Sam.

The asked me how much I wanted for her. I knew what price I had quoted to another that was interested in her, but I always try to do one good did for the year and the year was rapidly approaching the end. I looked toward the garden where the youngest boy had hold of Zombies tail, and Zombie was happily leading him around. I made her a deal.

You can have Sam free, if you take the goat.

She was shocked, and readily agreed to it. She had been prepared to pay for Sam. But this is a wonderful charity and I just couldn't see myself selling her Sam.

After they left with her I got a phone call from the family, updating me on Sam. She seemed to be enjoying her new role with the boys. And Zombie is a hit with all the kids. Who knew I was raising a therapy goat.

Another week passes and I get another phone call. Sam is gone! She walked over the fence, and they were out looking for her. I told them I would call if I saw her. I left the front gate open and headed to town. When I returned I spied Sam standing at the back gate waiting to be let in with the cows. Guss she missed them.


Back to her new home she went. She belongs there.

The State of the Homestead

I was going to post this today, even before being called out on it.

Yes, I realize that I have slowed a bit on the homestead updates. Not much has actually been happening.

The lack of canning posts are due to me not experimenting as of late. With most of my summer taken up with working on the farmstead, I kept with my traditional recipes, all of which you can find posted somewhere in these last 5 years of postings. We also lost a lot of veggies because of all the flooding this year. But pumpkin season is here, and I plan on playing with those. I love me some pumpkin. I have also been harvesting apples. So stay tuned for all that fun.

The cattle get to stay. We sold the goats, (still have Zombie) and are currently looking for a good home for our quarter Horse, Seminole Wind (Sam). We worked out a deal with a neighbor on hay. So will be fine with the cows from here on out. Undies gets butchered in a few months, next year Winston, the year after X. If we have multiple bulls in the same year, we will butcher younger than the almost 3 years of age. No profits this year, but next year looks promising right now.

Mama and Urth have been milking. Looks like the girls are all prego half by Winston, half by Undies. Hopefully Murrial will drop soon, she's who I really want to start milking again. Courage is still skittish, and I need to separate her from the group to be trained to the stanchion before she drops.

There is stress and depression running rampant here. Some of the stress has been relieved because of the farmstead being out. I have been hesitant on discussing it for various reasons. Especially since it is family. I do owe my mother an apology for being harsh, but I still stand by what I have said, just not the way I said it. SO here is the thing. we started planning the farmstead 2 years ago. The boys and I were to move out there and care give. Suddenly my mom and step dad decide that they will move out there. That's fine. I still planned on moving out there and doing what we agreed on. Then they decided no electricity and there was an argument over solar power actually being able to run an entire farm. ~sigh~ It got to the point that I decided that because of the lack of facilities and heat that I would not move out there on a permanent basis with my boys. I would move out there while milking. But the girls we moved out were on freshening, no reason for me to move out there. We worked hard all summer, chopping fire wood for my parents, putting up fencing, all with an understanding that we would be able to lease the back 47 acres from them in August. Even heard my stepfather talking with the man that holds the lease about it. He was fine with it. We also came to an agreement over a year ago that we would supply 1/2 a cow to my parents for winter hay. As the farmstead grows several acres of brome and alfalfa. This was husband and I's understanding. Someone left the gate open, and the cows got out. They learned where the alfalfa fields were. Back into the pen and things were fine until august. Now the tall grass is gone and the bull knows about the fields. Him and Urth keep jumping the fences, wanting to eat. Husband and I ask about the back 47. There is now confusion on the agreement. Then we ask about the hay and that is a flat out no. But. . . well we can't drive hay bales all the way out there at the moment, and the bull keeps getting out. I go up there day after day. The cost of gas per drive is the same amount we spend on hay, so this is just digging me into a hole. I don't have the money for this. I spend hours redoing the fencing and securing things. but he keeps finding a way out. Next thing I know I am getting several horrible texts from my mother. Saying that husband and I are a problem and that we keep changing plans so how are they to know what was really agreed upon. I got ticked, and told her that they were the ones being flaky, not us. ~sigh~ Well I thought just Undies was out, didn't know that all the cows were loose. So it took us a bit to get down there. We had to borrow a truck. Someone put the cows in another farmers field and we went and got them. Since nothing that was promised has come through Husband and I have decided not to venture further into the farmstead. We have spent over $1k since the beginning of all of it. And are done. We lost all of this years profit in it. And we would just take a bigger beating trying to move hay to a hay farm to feed our cattle.

Now you know why life seems a bit drab around here, and why I am not feeling up to posting about the homestead. The wedding is good timing for us however and we are joyous about it. That has helped me stay a bit happier about things.

Husband is still a bit put off about the whole thing. He worked so hard to help them get the farmstead up and going, and feels cheated. He is upset of the money spent, and we reaped 2 months rewards at a price that would have feed the cattle all year. Without having to make "arrangements" with a neighbor.

So this is why it seems like the life has been suck out of this blog. Don't do business deals with family and get everything in writing.

Once we have dealt with this massive regrouping, things will get back to more normal. Hopefully.

We are adding a run to the chicken condo, and trying to finish up the rabbit hutch. Will let you know all about that when it is finished, it is another one of our experiments, something I guarantee you haven't seen before.

Lots to do before winter

we are hustling to get all our projects done for winter.

Rabbit hutch
put garden away
smoke house?
and I fell through the bathroom floor.

Then there is the wedding prep to finish up. A friend of mine has offered to make me my cloak. Huzzah! So I decided to bid on a dress (as per skippy's advice) So far I am the highest bidder, but there is still over a day left in the bidding. Fingers crossed!

We have to build a platform for the drummer.
clean up the white trash
and. . . well as for physical labor, that's all, besides the cooking.

And all the goats except Zombie have been sold. They seem to be going to a good home. Husband is thrilled to have them gone. too destructive for our taste. I have the sheep, so with the next girl born I plan on working with her so she isn't as wild as the others and hopefully milk her later in life for soaps and cheese.

You dare ask me about Sand Plums?

No, I did not get sand plums when we went out with the cattle, however yesterday I did pick enough for a batch of jelly.

Husband showed up Tuesday evening with his saddle bags brimming with peaches.

My mother and I will be headed to the farmstead to gather more plums today.

And anyone want some goats? Free!!!

Have 1 year old Billy named Jack

then we have little Ni

And Betty, who has been milked before.

They are all Nubian/alpine mixes.

And I do take my own advice, if interested I have the answers to the goat questions that I recommend everyone ask before buying goats. Link should work now

Well I never

I woke with the alarm, walked through the living room, Zombie sat on the couch staring at me. I could only shake my head and think, coffee.

He's not suppose to think he his a dog anymore, and I have no idea when or how he got inside. Maybe coffee will help me think better.

Hail, Microbursts, Tornadoes and all my neighbors

Small and I walked out to other end of the driveway. We were waiting for the afternoon school bus. The breeze was pleasant and the air was warm and humid. Rumbling could be heard off to the south west. I looked up and said to Small, I think it might rain on us. Just then I noticed that Good Neighbors goats were walking to the barn, and then a fat white rain drop fell hard to the earth.

Small, RUN HAIL!

He looked at me for a moment because hail was not falling, but everyone has learned here, that if mama says hail is about to fall, then hail is about to fall.

I opened the gate and Small started running to the house. Dogs ran, Zombie ran, and the turkeys scrambled under the truck. Half way to the house, hail began to fall from the sky. It ended within a few moments of us getting inside.

Small made it onto the bus with no damage.

I checked the weather reports, and of course, once again, nothing was mentioned. I kept an eye on the sky and an ear to the radio and went about my business.

Just like on Monday, the tornado warnings erupted at the same time the Small and Medium were on the school bus headed home. Large gets home an hour and a half earlier than them. Tornadoes don't worry me too much, as long as my boys are at home.

I snagged my phone off the counter and ran outside to tell the neighbor across the way that there were tornadoes spotted to the south and west of us, headed in our direction. The neighbor across the way, doesn't actually live there, and I knew that he didn't have a radio or tv going. He was merely feeding the sheep. We chatted a bit while I watched the sky and the Sheriffs that were at the neighbor with the bad dogs house. My phone rang, it was good neighbor wanting to know why the Sheriff was in front of his house. I really didn't feel a need to go ask them why they were here. I have my guesses of course, but nothing I shared with anyone else.

The bus finally arrived with the storm still looming in the distance. It moved just north of us, the tornado was too far to affect us.

The house moved, and thunder shook the ground. A micro burst had hit us. I went out to check on the animals, everyone was fine. Then I called Husband at work. He took the motorcycle and I wanted him to stay down south rather than getting caught in yet another tornado while on a bike. He said he was leaving work. If he hurried he might just miss it. I waited for him on the porch. I figured I would hear him as he approached and could run and open the gate before he arrived.

However once I heard him, I saw him. He had cut though the neighbor across the way's fields and yard, trying to outpace the impending storm. I couldn't help but laugh as I ran to the gate.

Then it only sprinkled.

Horse neighbor saw the boys and I taking a wagon load of hay to the cows. Our truck wouldn't start and they needed to be fed. Horse neighbors were good enough to help us out and came over with their truck. As I went to get the field gate, I spotted something at the far end of the field, black and white, laying against the fence. "Betty." I shook my head.

The goat had managed to tangle herself up in two layers of fencing. And as husband and the horse neighbors brought the hay out to the field, I was wrestling with a goat. She was not very cooperative about it. And of course, the downpour came, and I fought with a goat, getting angry that she could get her head in there but not out. She gets stuck daily! I was very soaked when I marched back into the house.

"The drama" was my husband's reply to my nasty look.

Cats don't like baths, and other useless info

The fleas have started early this year. Usually i is high summer before things get bad. But it has gotten bad, so I threw my cats into the bathtub. (and threw is a figure of speech. I could just picturing me spiking those cats though)

1/2 part dawn
1/2 part vinegar

equals a bazillion dead fleas.

The you get to walk around with a spray bottle with a vinegar/ water mix and spray ever single surface of the house.

Cats scream while getting bathed.

Betty (goat) keeps getting her head stuck in the fence. Ni (goat kid,) takes this opportunity to practice being a man. Betty beats him up rather well once her head has been removed. (from the fence, not her body)

Husband is now the Official Turkey Master, not to be confused with turkey baster. He opens the pen and they follow him around all day while he is working. if they get distracted and lose him, they call out. When husband feels like it, he calls back and you have 8 small turkeys running like their lives depended on it.

If the school finds a tick on your child, they pull it off and tape it to a piece of paper to be seen by you.

Now for a couple of items that are not useless info;

I have decided to raise money for the Downed Bikers association for this years blogathon. If you wish to advertise on my blog, please donate an item to be raffled off during that time. I will have a full information page about this very soon.

Also go check out The Unusually Unusual Farmchick. She is taping a series about homesteaders. 100 Acre Wood is the subject of today's video.

I tore his Nipples

Whoa Phelan, TMI! (and for my porn link-ins APRIL FOOL'S!)


We have these heavy duty rubber nursing nipples for Zombie. They have managed to be torn, and will no longer work.

Last night, I managed to destroy two of them. And couldn't find the rest of them. I live with a house full of boys ya know. Farm store was closed, baby bottles wouldn't work, Zombies teeth have cut me open, and those silicone nipples wouldn't last a single feeding. What's a nipple-less surrogate goat mom to do?

Ask husband.

There is something slightly unsettling about a white trash genius.

His solution was a spark plug boot (no worries, it is very clean)

It is pretty much a spill spout, however the rubber makes Zombie more comfortable with it. With a little practice on my part, I was able to feed him without spilling it all over him, and myself.

He actually seems to like it more than the nipples.

A Day at the Farmstead; word addition

We left the homestead yesterday a little later than we wanted to, ok an hour later than we wanted to. The farmstead is an hour drive. Zombie did well on the way up, he didn't pee on a single person.

The farm house was locked up, but that didn't stop husband from getting inside. We got the fire going in the wood burning stove and started our rounds of finding all the things buried in the overgrown grass that could possibly hurt a lawn mower. There was less than I thought there would be.

Husband took us on a tour of the trees he had downed the last time her was out. e managed to clean up the cattle run nicely. I little more work and there will be enough sunlight to get the grass growing in there again. There were so many rat's nest in the run, makes you shiver.

I like rats. I had a pair of twin Blue, but these rats out there are HUGE! Like large chihuahuas . I told Large we had to do something about this, maybe a little rodent hunting. He wondered why. Well. . . you have seen Secret of NIMH and you know full well what those rats are capable of. (Ok mom)

We found a couple of Russian Olives trees and there thorns, as well as a formidable honeylocust, (see picture of thorn tree in previous post) And these long green vines with thousand of little stinging spikes that seem to grip onto you as you walk buy. Those had to go.

Back to work. Not sure how many rocks I pulled out of the pond and creek area. I am dead sore this morning from it. But we ad to make the driveway a little easier to navigate. Most of the rock I found were lime stone or flint rock, but I did find chunks of concrete in the dry creek bed.


That worked out wonderfully. After about 3 hours of hauling rock, I decided to go check in on my mother, ho had shown up 45 minutes after we did. She was working in the house. I Repacked some of our canning jars so I could put the dried storage food up on the shelves. Those thing are heavy. 30 lbs of red wheat feels a lot heavier than the 30lbs it claims to be.
Meanwhile, the boys had found many new places to create hideouts, eyed a tree for the tree house, and cut down bush weeds, because they enjoy swing blunt objects. Husband a Step father worked outside. Husband still playing with his new chainsaw, and stepfather prepping the garden area.

As I took a break I saw a pheasant flying over head. I pointed it out to the boys, and as soon as I did, hit hit a tree, and tumbled to a lower branch. How odd. A few minutes later I heard gunfire, and stupidly put two and two together as another pheasant flew over and hit the ground hard. Look Ma, the birds are falling from the sky. Looks like we eat well tonight.

Around 6 pm (after being there for 8 hours) we women folk were done. Husband however still insisted we had hours of daylight left and he wanted to continue to work. I had to remind him that we did promise the boys that if they did all their chores that they would get to shoot the .22 rifle. And my new rifle that I had been itching to shoot for the first time.

We walked out to a giant fallen cottonwood that was close to the back 40. The boys played on it as we set up the "range"
Large was up first. He has shot before. He actually learned how to in boy scouts. The boy is a good shot. Next up was Medium, this was his first time, and he was a little fearful of it. We didn't pressure him, but I think his brother's might have, just out of their excitement of being allowed to do it. It took Medium a moment to finally take the shot. He missed the target, but became more comfortable with it. Then it was Small's turn. Small amazes me, in the fact that he has no fear. Husband helped him line it up, showing him and telling him how to do this. Small, without blinking, pulled the trigger, and the shot was true. Dead center of the target. I swear you have never seen a daddy so proud. Beginner's luck, with help lining it up from dad, right? Maybe, but the next two shots he took, by himself, were also true. The boy has an eye on him.

Husband got to shoot my new rifle first. Made in 1956 it has never been fired. Still had the shipping wax on it when we pulled it out of the package. I have shot high caliber rifles before. Long ago. And Good neighbor was acting like I couldn't handle it. I kept thinking about the double barreled black powder shotgun I shot back in my youth. The one the left bruises from nipple to shoulder. I knew that it wasn't like that, I never want to feel anything like that again. But I figured if the gun would blow like an Elmer Fudd cartoon, husband should try first. Because I love him.

He is a good shot of course. What isn't this man good at?

My turn. I choked the first time. Not sure how bad the recoil would be on it. It was very little. I got comfortable with it, and then had a ball.

It was great to get in a full day of hard work, and then get to play with my family.

Small told me he needs his own gun, and even Medium agreed he would like his own as well. I told them it all depends on them, and how they treat the one we have, and how they treat each other.

Back to the farmhouse and I couldn't find Zombie! he coyotes were celebrating in the near distance. And I grew concerned. I called for him, and never heard an answer. They boys finally found him in our car. How on earth did he get in there. The doors were shut. Looking at the hood, you could see the marks in the dust. Zombie had jumped on the hood, sliding around, and climbed over the side mirror and through the window.

We headed home as dusk fell. Zombie peed on the boys.

Zombie Gone Wild

We headed out to the farmstead today. I am tired and dirty and tired and sore. A lot of things happening there. Husband fixed the leaky roof.


Mom and I scraped off 2365 layers of wall paper. Mom wants the place pretty. I can see why, though not a priority for me, but it does need to be done. So I do it without complaining, right mom?

Husband also chopped wood. We only have the wood burning stove for heat there. No electricity. He also fixed several gates, found a few rolls of fencing and T posts, coils of barbwire and cleaning up the cattle run. he was busy.

The boys found some bottle by our creek.


and Small mop the sidewalk.




And Zombie peed all over my lap on the way home. He just kept right on sleeping.


We head back out there tomorrow

You Can't Squeeze Milk From a Knee

Have you ever watched a Kid nurse?

This morning I had to make a bottle and get Small some breakfast. As I as doing this, Zombie was jabbing his pointy nose into the back of my knee as hard as he can. It isn' the most pleasant of feelings. It's a little distracting.

All 3 of the boys are on Spring Break next week. Good chance for me to go work on the farm. However this morning I realized that I will have to take Zombie with us, he has to have a bottle in the middle of the day. And I really don't want to drive the hour plus it takes to get t the homestead from the farm. He is starting to eat solids, which he announces doesn't feel real groovy coming out. . . The poor goat, he is going to have an identity crisis. Is he goat? (who doesn't want him) a dog (that mostly ignores him or bum rushes him from out of nowhere) or a human? (who he follows around and gets fed from)

It has been warm enough for him to go outside and stay outside. His back knees curl in to touch, his rump curls in and he shivers as though it is freezing outside. And just like a toddler you leave at the babysitter, he cries for a while. You just have to walk away. It hurts, but yu are not a bad mother because of it (remember hearing that?)

Zombie Buckets

The Goat Mother

I don't think I am raising an independent goat. He's going to grow up to be needy and demanding. A mother just knows these things.

I have been watching Patch with her kid. Once again I think that the majority of books, although written by goat herders, were not written by people that actually spent long amounts of time with only a few goats, rather than a large herd.

Now Patch is a doting mother. Never more than 5 feet away from Ni. She follows him around constantly, and if for some reason she can no longer she him, she runs around calling for him until he answers her or she finds were he decided to go to sleep. The books tell you that they only spend time together during feeding time. Well. . . definitely not. Then that brings me back to why I ever started this blog in the first place, the books never tell you the entire story.

I do not follow Zombie everywhere. He follows me. He also follows the dogs, which freaks Patch out. Even though Patch wants nothing to do with Zombie, she is wiling o protect him at all costs, to the horror of our dogs. Zombie sleeps with our Staffordshire at night. Poor Buckets, she has no idea what hits her when Patch sees them together. BAM! Horn right in the rear. Zombie also follows my boys around, ears perked, bounding around like a puppy.

Feeding time is fun. I have learned that you do not hold a bottle like you see them doing with lambs on tv. You do not tilt the bottle, this only turns into an argument. You have to push him back, help him line it up. Instead, it is simpler just to hold the bottle upside down, straight up and down, and allow him to freak out, dance a bit and he finds it a lot easier. Hold it where he would naturally find it, rather than how you would hold it to feed a human infant. Breast are different in these two species you know.

During feeding time it is also imperative that you have a frisky kitten around to attack the kid's tail as he happily wags it with the rhythm of the blissful sucking.

Can you read me now?

Sorry about the previous post. Somehow the Hindi translator was on and it wouldn't stay off. Got it fixed now.

A nice mundane morning here on the Neophyte homestead. I have stories to write, which I am having fun with. And goats to feed or milk.

Zombie is a lively fellow. One of the happiest goats I have seen. He also eats ears. So he was aptly named. I am offically mommy at this point. Whenever he does something new he is very proud of himself and finds me for a scratch, his little tail wagging so hard, his ears perked straight up, you can tell that whatever it was he had accomplished it was indeed a great feat. No other Kid would be able to have done what he, Zombie, has done.


It took him several tries, but he did make it up the concrete mountain.

You only have to put up with baby pictures until gardening season, which here is in a little over a week.

Are you ready?