My Best Friend

Yes, I do have a best friend. She's the best of the best. She's always ready to go on an adventure with me (or sometimes vice versa), always ready to sing with me, she's a good listener, she never judges, and she's gentle.

My best friend is: Heidi. My ugly duckling that I rescued.

She and I have had some royal battles together. I remember one night in particular where I was ready to reach for the .22 after an episode with her on the milk stand. But over time, we won each other's respect, and things are going much smoother now. She has blossomed into a sweet tempered lady. Last week, someone came out to see my cow and with them came a hyper three year old girl. That little girl desperately wanted to play with my goats, but they all ran in fear from her! Except Heidi. 

Heidi allowed herself to be pulled, shoved and whacked by that little industrious soul for who knows how long. Little wonder that my other goats ran in fear!

For a few days now I have been feeling under the weather, and at first I groaned at the thought of milking the goats. Milking when you're sick is bad enough, but goats always know when you aren't feeling good and do their best to make you feel just a little more miserable. Capri and Ivy didn't fail me in that area. I don't know when those two imps have ever been so exasperating! The surprising part though, was that Heidi knew I wasn't feeling good and practically walked on eggshells around me.

I must say it was nice. I was expecting prank after prank from her, but she has been extra gentle with me lately. 

Heidi is definitely a goofy gal. She gets grumpy when it rains, and stomps around in the barn. Ever seen a goat stomp? It's pretty funny. ;) She tries to sneak up on people, but her creaking joints always give her away. Yesterday, she got her head stuck in one of our chicken feeders and started running around madly, trying to get it off. I'm afraid it took some time to disentangle her from the clutches of the feeder, due to the fact that I couldn't stop laughing! 

She loves rolled barely above all else in life, but snubs alfalfa pellets as if they were poison. She won't go back into the pen after milking unless you scratch her on her favorite spot. If you fail to respect her demand, she will stubbornly stand in the gateway and let the other eight goats out. She has mastered the art of doing a withering glare, and gives the look quite frequently to rambunctious goat kids. She snores when she sleeps, and her ears twitch when she dreams. She's a great big bully to a couple of the goats, but loves the ducks. She's the herd queen and she knows it.

She's ma' friend, and I don't know what I would do without her...