Chat
12-11-2016, 07:50 PM
We were back in Beulah again this afternoon for the wonderful annual Yule Log festival, which is easily the highlight of our Christmas season. The goats are apparently a highlight for the folks organizing the festival as well, since we are now regularly invited to attend. The first thing we did after we arrived was to entertain some children and greet Father Christmas.
We sat outside the lodge and listened to the muted sound of Christmas carols coming from the hall while two little boys ran back and forth collecting pine boughs which the goats gobbled down to the kids' endless delight.
After the singing and Yule ceremony it was time to hunt the log! When everyone scattered toward the woods, Finn and Spunik took off with all the enthusiasm of a couple of tornadoes. Sputnik acted like he wanted to pull my arms out even though we were already running. Those goats were determined to be the first to sniff out that Yule Log! I'm sure they heard about our plans to have them help pull it back and they wanted to thwart us by finding the log first. Because the first one to discover the Yule Log gets to ride it back to the lodge!
Unfortunately, all the enthusiasm in the world can't guarantee success. We were far from the Yule Log when we heard the distant cry of "Haleub!" (Beulah said backwards), to announce the discovery. We made our way across the ravine and the lucky finder mounted the log (along with all of his friends) and the rest of us got to man the ropes. Since our goats were finally big enough to do their fair share of hauling this year, I had put on their harness breastcollars beforehand so we'd be prepared. I modified a couple of things so they could pull without the traces. Then Phil and I tied them into the pulling ropes and let them do their thing. And boy did they do it! Finn and especially Sputnik leaned their bodies into those harnesses and hauled away for the whole long trip back to the lodge. They do love to pull!
We sat outside the lodge and listened to the muted sound of Christmas carols coming from the hall while two little boys ran back and forth collecting pine boughs which the goats gobbled down to the kids' endless delight.
After the singing and Yule ceremony it was time to hunt the log! When everyone scattered toward the woods, Finn and Spunik took off with all the enthusiasm of a couple of tornadoes. Sputnik acted like he wanted to pull my arms out even though we were already running. Those goats were determined to be the first to sniff out that Yule Log! I'm sure they heard about our plans to have them help pull it back and they wanted to thwart us by finding the log first. Because the first one to discover the Yule Log gets to ride it back to the lodge!
Unfortunately, all the enthusiasm in the world can't guarantee success. We were far from the Yule Log when we heard the distant cry of "Haleub!" (Beulah said backwards), to announce the discovery. We made our way across the ravine and the lucky finder mounted the log (along with all of his friends) and the rest of us got to man the ropes. Since our goats were finally big enough to do their fair share of hauling this year, I had put on their harness breastcollars beforehand so we'd be prepared. I modified a couple of things so they could pull without the traces. Then Phil and I tied them into the pulling ropes and let them do their thing. And boy did they do it! Finn and especially Sputnik leaned their bodies into those harnesses and hauled away for the whole long trip back to the lodge. They do love to pull!