I'm Back -- Sort Of

Hey guys!! It feels like I've been away from here for eternity! I'm writing this post from Maryland right now, and a beautiful blanket of snow is outside my window. Very nice. :)

 The full Polyface story IS coming, so don't get too far; hopefully it'll all be posted later today or within the next couple of days.

 But wow.... Polyface Farms.... It has completely changed my life, my perspective on things, I've learned so many new skills, made friends, every part of my body is achingly sore, and quite frankly, I'm homesick for my Polyface family. The visit was awesome, and I loved getting to be a part of the Salatin's family, even if it was only for 3 1/2 days. I am blessed with so many memories from that place... Memories that I will hold close for a very long time... Learning to use the saw mill; listing to Joel read a children's story out-loud to everyone during dinner (and no children were present!); listening to Noah's adventures he had while doing construction work in Antarctica; Walking barefoot up a gravel road at night with Lydia towards Daniel's house; Moving cows; sitting with a cat in my lap while Theresa made breakfast; staying up late talking with Grandma Salatin; moving 20,000 lbs. of frozen chicken; everyone gathered 'round the dinner table together, and laughing our heads off at various jokes...

 I miss Polyface.

 So yes, full story coming up, and I believe I even have a few pictures to share. :) Alas, I did not get one single picture of my own, since I was literally working from dawn 'til dusk, but my aunt and uncle have a few that I can put on here. 

Ready

Well folks, this is it:

I leave in exactly 12 hours...

My bag is packed (and yes, it's under 40 lbs!), and I believe I have everything I'll need for the week...

Directions of care for the animals have been put in the hands of a sister, so they should all be nice and comfy while I'm gone...

Everything of mine in the house is tidied, I even cleaned my closet out this week!

My Baker Creek Heirloom Seed catalog is packed, and I am eagerly awaiting to read it on the plane tomorrow...

When I come home next Wednesday, there just might be a new Nubian doe waiting in the barn for me. Her name is Eleanor, and I've been waiting for her for a long time now...

Plans are made, dates are set...

I rise at 2:45 a.m. tomorrow to leave...

Next stop: POLYFACE FARMS!!!! 

I'll give y'all updates as often as I can!

(And yes, this post is really disjointed. I'm in no frame of mind today to make it sound nice and poetic. LOL.) 

Snow Day

I awoke this morning to see the world gently blanketed in white...

It finally snowed.

I Can Just See It Now...

Airport man: "Excuse me ma'am, but dogs are not allowed on the plane."

Me: "Oh that's okay. This isn't a dog anyway."

Airport man: "Ah, I see. Would you mind telling me exactly what that ball of fur is?"

Me: "This 18" ball of fluff is in fact, sir, a goat. A Nigerian Dwarf goat named Poppet."

Airport man: "Goats aren't allowed on the plane either, ma'am."

Me: "This one is."

"Airport man: "How's that?"

Me: "This little lard barrel just so happens to be a -- um -- uh -- a specially trained Seeing Eye goat! Yes. A Seeing Eye goat."

Airport man is not convinced.

I try again: "A Service goat?"

 "A Therapy goat?"

 "A drug sniffing goat?"

 "A bomb finder?"

 "Will any of those titles work?" 

Airport man's expression does not lighten noticeably. 

Sigh... No goats allowed on airplanes... Poppet can't come with me on Tuesday. :-(

Packing

Let it be known to all who read this blog: I hate packing.

I despise it above all else in life. I do not like puzzles, riddles or mysteries. And to me, packing is the worst puzzle, riddle and mystery wrapped up into one horrendous chore. 

I do not like packing.

So, guess what I've been doing all day! Yup, packing.

I have every intention of taking my duffel bag as a carry-on piece of luggage. Saves me forty dollars!! But, with this goal in mind, I have to abide by the strict rule the airport has laid down.

It has to weigh no more than 40 lbs.

I scoffed when I first heard that. Who on earth needs 40 lbs. of clothes for the week??? Shucks, I can get my bag packed and stay way under the limit! And so I thought, until I realized that I needed to pack enough clothes for 8 days, shoes, rubber rain boots, a nicer coat than my Carhartt, and lets not forget the pajamas. I forgot those the first time I packed the bag.

At first, I really did think that I would be able to do it, and still have room in my bag. But then my sisters and mom came in the room and started pelting me with, "You can't take that!", "You can't wear that!", "You have to take something nicer than that!!"

Confession: I am neither a fashionable person, nor am I a clothes horse. When I go shopping, I can't look at the nice, fashionable clothes that my sisters so dearly love to wear (and they look quite nice in them). No, I look for sturdy, sensible clothes that can withstand goat onslaughts, adventures with barbed wire, dirt stains, blood stains, hay stacking sprees, and other various things such as that. I joke that I wear designer clothes: much of what I have is ripped or stained. My favorite tiered, denim skirt has a 5" square rip at the bottom of it from barbed wire. The navy blue T-shirt I'm wearing right now has bleach stains on the hem, and a tear in the sleeve. My denim blouse had a 3" tear. As I tick my clothes off on my fingers, I sheepishly have to admit that nothing is in good condition. When I want to dress up, I just go get something from my sister's closet, since there's nothing good in mine.

So as I viewed my clothes for the week with satisfaction, my family was looking on in horror. My beloved John Deere shirt that says "Farm Raised" on the front may be a slightly funny shade of yellow, but I love that shirt! I've had it for almost five years, of course I'm going to take it with me on the trip! If I had my way, I would probably clump through the airport wearing my trusty brown linen skirt, yellow John Deere shirt, rose colored Carhartt, and my black rubber boots.

But for some reason my family said I couldn't wear that... I must be behind on fashions these days... 

So the afore mentioned mother and sisters took over the decisions of clothing, and I must say that I will look much nicer now! But getting it all in that duffel bag.... Oh good heavens. 

After who knows how long, I did finally manage to get everything in, and the zipper closed (for a few moments, I thought for sure it would break!). And then, oh the horror!! I realized that I forgot to put pajamas and socks in there!! Back out came everything, and it took much repositioning before that zipper was closed once again. 

But then I picked the bag up.

It's really heavy.

Something tells me it weighs at least 40 lbs. Most likely more. I groan just thinking about going through everything again. And I'm not even going to think about the fact that my pajamas that I need tonight are at the very bottom of the bag; stuffed inside the rain boots.

I hate packing.

And I'm going to look utterly ridiculous as I go through the airport with my rose colored Carhartt (it wouldn't fit in the bag, so I have to wear it), nice clothes, and cherry red duffel bag. Fashionable, I am not.

I will try and continue to post on here daily, until Tuesday, but I won't make any promises. Between trying to get ready to leave, and still going about daily life, I am tuckered out! 

Toodle pip and cheerio, my friends. :) I should probably go and try to get my pajamas out of the bag now...

Black and White

I had the delightful pleasure of creating an Alpine goat this week, and I thought I'd share some pictures with y'all. :)

Below is what a real Alpine looks like:

Photo courtesy of Iron-Rod Alpines

 And this is my rendition:

The only part I wasn't able to replicate was the white patch on the hind legs. Knitted goats are just too chubby to be able to do that... ;)

Led By A Goat, Part 3

Life was certainly interesting with Heidi around. In her underweight condition, she was roughly 150 lbs. Capri, who was my second biggest animal on the farm at the time, weighed only 130 lbs. Heidi frequently used brute strength to bully the others away from the hay manger, and sometimes even out of the barn altogether. Her instincts were in overdrive, and she was trying to eat as much food as possible. All other creatures were looked upon as competition for food, and she was determined to climb her way to the top of pecking order, and keep all the food to herself. I kept the 8’ long, 3’ wide, and 4’ deep hay manger full at all times, but that didn’t deter her from aggressively commandeering the entire structure. Capri and Ivy rebelled towards this big, white goat. Fights broke out. Heads became bloodied. Heidi was like a ticking time bomb; you were always waiting for the moment of explosion.

Each day I tried to tame my new wild girl. It was late December now, and she was due to kid in February. I needed her to be calm and trusting enough by then, that I could milk her. Despite my daily efforts, Heidi remained stubbornly introverted. She was untouchable, and flighty; insecure and distrustful. At times, I could see a spark of something different flickering in her eyes. As if perhaps she wanted to trust me. But those moments were fleeting; lasting only a minute or two before being once more veiled in doubt. I tried feeding her choice tidbits by hand, I tried brushing her, I tried talking to her without making eye contact; I tried everything I could think of! I don’t know what her past was like, and most likely never will, but something obviously happened to her that caused her life to shatter. What I beheld now were shards: Broken, seemingly irreparable, cracked, destroyed… And yet, amidst the ruin I saw beauty. Even broken glass will still reflect light. I felt like there was still hope for her, if I could only figure out how to reach her. How do you try and make a goat understand that she is finally safe, and will not be abused again?

As I watched and cared for her in the following weeks, my memory was still trying to figure out why her story seemed so familiar. Why was I perpetually haunted by the look in her eyes? The answer was on the tip of my tongue, and yet forever dancing just out of reach. Like trying to remember the name of your first childhood friend, or your favorite candle scent when you were young, such memories can be hard to resurrect, but they’re there; hovering in the back of your mind.

The answer to my plaguing question dawned on me one afternoon as I watched Heidi in frustration. I had just spent the last couple of hours groveling for her attention but it was to no avail. The Nubians circled me like land sharks during this time; eager for affection and back scratches, but I waved them off. I wanted Heidi. Couldn’t she see that? Couldn’t she see that I wanted to hold her, scratch her behind the ears, and be her leader? I was frustrated to the point of being angry. She wouldn’t open up to anyone! She no longer trusted humans! What happened to cause her to lose faith?! That’s when it hit me. As if punched in the stomach, I gasped, and had to sit down on the damp ground as the realization dawned on me.

Why did her looks of fear and mistrust seem so vaguely familiar? Why did I feel like I had seen it all before? It was so obvious that I missed it until now:

I was seeing a mirror of myself.

Resentment, bitterness, pride, fear, pain… When I looked upon Heidi for the first time, and saw those emotions fleetingly pass through her, I was unconsciously harking back to my own memories of the same feelings. I bought her, wondering why she seemed so familiar to me, and now, in a dumbstruck manner, realized that I was seeing my own reflection in a four-legged animal. I understood her now...

This has been really helping me, to post parts of my book on here. :) Makes me write it faster!