Hopes Dashed

 So I've been hinting darkly for awhile now.... Hinting that I was getting something new very soon.

 I've been so excited; ecstatic, really. I couldn't believe my luck. It was too good to be true.

Then my hopes were dashed this afternoon, and I watched them crumble to the ground in a dusty heap...

I was getting another goat. Big surprise, I know. ;) She was a Purebred, registered Alpine doe named 'Hope', and she was top notch quality. I mean, really top notch quality. She was milking 2 gallons a day, and had a very impressive pedigree to show off. Long had I admired her and thought about getting one of her daughters, so when she was up for sale I jumped at the chance!

 The owners were having a linear appraisal (for you non-goat people, it's like having a judge come out to your farm and judge your goats. You are able then, to know who to keep and who to sell) done in a couple weeks and asked that I wait until that was over, before getting her; as they wanted to see how she scored.

So I waited. And waited. And waited. Impatiently waiting, at that. I was so excited to take her into the ring next year, and I already knew which buck to breed her to. Another plus, was that I could start up my cheesemaking with that much milk coming in each day (it would have put us at 3-4 gallons a day).

Yesterday was the LA score, and today I got the results. Hope scored 90VEEE! In plain english, 93 points is about as high as a doe can go, and Hope got 90 points. The judge thought her general appearance was very good (V), dairy character was excellent (E), conformation was excellent (E), and mammary system was excellent. All together resulting in a score of 90VEEE.

Alas, Hope scored so well, that the owners decided not to part with her after all. So here I be. Hope-less. Aw shucks. I keep telling myself that I shouldn't be so disappointed since I did the same thing last month. Someone wanted to buy Chamomile, and I agreed to sell her. But then that decision started haunting me, until I finally had to ask the prospective buyers to reconsider. What a hypocrite I am! ;)

 But I figured I should enlighten y'all, seeing as I've been hinting, and I didn't want to leave anyone hanging....