An Evening With The Goats

Evenings with the goats are always so fun. I love getting to chat with each individual about their day, put the goat kids to bed, get the next day's breakfast ready....

 This evening was no different. The ladies all sang their 'Hellos' to me, and then routine began. Capri and Ivy came out and ate their dinner, while I threw hay in the manger and talked with Penny.

Me: "Hello Penny dear, how was your day today?"

Penny: "Umph... Don't ask."

I cast a sideways glance at her pregnant waistline, and ask if she's going to be able to make it to June 30th.

Penny: "We'll find out. I feel like a overstuffed chair with this big belly on me!"

I give her my sympathy and then turn to the rambunctious goat kids who are all jumping up on me. They each try to talk louder than the others and I am bombarded with pleas for raisins, and requests for me to sing 'Jingle Bells'. ;) Oh, and I have to sing the song twice.

 Seeing that the kids got to hear their favorite song, the older ladies complain that I'm showing favoritism and demand to hear their favorite songs too.

Me: "Alright, which ones do y'all want?"

Goats: "Caledonia!" "Into the West!" "Isle of Inisfree!" "Send me a Song!"

Finally, all songs are sung, Heidi is milked and the milk has been dealt with for the night. There is hay in the manger, fresh water in the buckets, the kids are sleeping in their special stall, and there's one thing left to do:

Extract the Dwarf from her dinner crumbs and put her to bed as well.

Poppet has been begging me for days now, to let her eat her dinner in the "big goat" pail. She was tired of eating off of a bucket lid (the only thing those short legs of hers could accommodate) and was ready to be a big girl.

"Pleeeeze Ma?" She would say, "That nice pail looks soooo elegant, and it makes such a nice sound!"

So I relented, and this is how she has managed to eat out of a bucket that is taller than she is.

It was cute listening to her giggle inside the pail, and sounding something akin to Winnie the Pooh.

"Hehe, listen Ma! My voice sounds funny in here!"

"Hellooooo!" Echo, echo!"

Poppet dear, it's time for bed now. And with that, the little imp is spirited away from the remains of her crumbs, and is set gently into the pen with the big girls.

I prepare to leave, but first stop to visit with the ducks for a moment. 

Me: "Hello ducks, what goes on in your wide world today?"

Ducks: "Ah, much is going on! The worm population has seemingly exploded with all this nice rain, but the beetles have been a little scarce. No doubt they will return when the heat comes back... The butterflies are also getting easier to catch, which is quite nice; quite nice."

We discuss duck politics for a few more minutes and then part our separate ways for the night.

So my evening ended. Nothing big happened, just normal, everyday things. I love having goats to talk with...