What did you do today?

[Taffy]

My husband, son and his 17 month twin sons, Jasper & Noah, were here today.  We went for a walk around the farm buildings where the snow is cleared.

When we walked by the goat pen Bourbon came up to the gate to say "Hi."   Both boys petted him and he sniffed them.  I went in with the goats and set Noah on Bourbon’s back.  Noah wasn’t sure if that was a good thing.  Petting Bourbon was one thing - sitting on his back was something else!

It was the first time Bourbon has had anything other than a pack saddle on his back.  He looked up at me and “said” – Why is there a child on my back?!  Bourbon stood still the entire time Noah sat on him.  I was so proud of him.

I adore this goat!

   

   

[IdahoNancy]

I think the feeling is mutual. Bourbon looks like he adores you.

[Nanno]

Bourbon is adorable. Look at that sweet smile! Your grandson is pretty cute too.

[Taffy]

Today I filled hay feeders and water tank so the goats will have all they need while I'm gone for the weekend.  While I was out there Little Man was feeling frisky and jumped on top of one of their tank shelters.  He was swinging his head around, pawing and acting like "King of the Tank!"

   

Curtis King & I are teaching a packgoat class on Saturday at the 31st annual Northwest Oregon Dairy Association Goat Conference in Clackamas, OR.  We won't have a live packgoat there so I dressed up my stuffed sheep as a packgoat!  We have a PowerPoint presentation, handouts and Curtis will be bringing all types of gear.  We'll also have a packgoat display table set up in the commons area with vendors and other exhibitors.

   

[Nanno]

HAHAHA! I love the "packsheep"! Very creative. I hope your talk goes really well. I wish we could be there.

Little Man is awesome. Finn still jumps up on his igloo shelters but unfortunately he's too big now and he keeps collapsing the tops. They don't completely cave in, but the ceiling is smooshed down so the boys have to duck their heads when they stand inside, and the roof always has a puddle or an iceberg in the crease this time of year (which at least discourages Finn from continuing to jump on the roof). The plastic is so tough I can't bang it back out once it caves in. I've even tried using a sledgehammer and all it does is pull the stakes out of the ground. So now I just have to wait until I move shelters around, and then I tump it over so I can stand inside while Phil pulls and pushes the edges. Silly Finn!

[Nanno]

Well, had the vet out today to give rabies boosters (last fall we had a rabies scare and I got everyone vaccinated or boosted). The man who bought Max and Sarge brought them over for their boosters, and it was really fun to see the boys. They had a great time tussling with my herd, but no one got too crazy. We got all the vaccinations done and then we drew blood on all the adults so we can do our CAE/CL/Johnes screening before kidding season begins. We drew blood on Finn and Sputnik because I'm curious what their CL results will be and wether they still have antibodies from the vaccinations we gave them four years ago. I don't still have any of the other goats that were vaccinated back then, so hopefully all those results are negative. My neighbor sold his big Boer herd over three years ago, so there's no more risk from that sector. Phew!

[Nanno]

Phil and I have started going for a three-mile walk every morning before breakfast, and we're taking Finn and Sputnik with us. This morning I put Sputnik's packsaddle on and we picked up a bit of litter along Clennin Road as we went. Happily, we live on a very clean road and there wasn't much to pick up. The best prize was an old license plate. I'm hoping later this spring we'll have time to go down and clean up Boulder Ave. again. Unlike Clennin, Boulder is always a huge mess. Last year I think we picked up 12 trash bags full, plus a couch cushion!

[Nanno]

And a funny thing that happened yesterday... I tried a new saddle and set of panniers on Sputnik last night. Sputnik loves having a job and was so thrilled when I placed the saddle on his back that I decided to leave it on him when we went for a walk. Finn was not pleased! All his hair stood up and he started hitting Sputnik and then working his horns under the saddle straps to try to pull it off. Finn then tried tugging the straps with his teeth. I had to chase Finn away so Sputnik could walk in peace. This sort of thing has never happened before when both boys were saddled. I really think Finn was super jealous that Sputnik got to wear the saddle!

[IdahoNancy]

That's funny. I can just see Sputnik going down the road, with that "mom loves me best" walk. We are at the bottom of the snow and the top of the mud. Thank goodness no rain until some of this stuff dries up.

[Taffy]

Today I did some goat maintenance.  Hoof trimming, brushing and applying Ultra Boss.  Joules always has a thick undercoat.  I'm sure the birds love the nesting material!

   

It's obvious they've been using the scratcher.

   

The goats are really feeling frisky.  We've been up to 65* and sunny.  They've been bucking, rearing, jumping sideways, butting heads, racing around and doing all sorts of antics.  Jethro (l) and Little Man (rt) spent awhile pushing back and forth while balancing on the logs and the spool.  Jethro could clobber Little Man if he wanted to but they were having fun playing.  Their tails were wagging like crazy.

   

The rodents make underground trails under snow.  When the snow melts you can see the tunnel shapes.

   

Yesterday youngest my son and his family lost their original Boer doe, Lisa.  She was 15 years old and died in her sleep.  Lisa produced some nice kids for them and was a favorite for all of us.  She was extremely affectionate and would do anything asked of her.  They had snapped a photo of their son - my grandson, Hunter, with Lisa a week ago.  She was an amazing doe.  Rest in peace old girl.