Draft Turkeys. The New Fad.

Okay, so the title is a little tongue-in-cheek. But I was laughing SO hard when I saw this image below!!

Granted, these turkeys probably never actually pulled the cart; it's most likely just a photo prop, which was highly fashionable back in the old days. But seriously. Turkeys?? Hooked to a cart??? Tickled my funny bone, it did. :)

I'm also pleased to report that you can get reindeer harnesses for the bargain price of $170 via THIS website. How nice to know that... I won't have to stress about where to get my driving equipment, come the day that I buy myself a cart reindeer. ;) 

And to top it off, I have just learned that I've been training my draft goat all wrong by using incorrect terms. For most folks, the normal driving terms are:

Get up = Walk

Whoa = Stop

Haw = Turn left

Gee = Turn right

It seems that the "more refined" terms to use for a draft animal are:

Anchors away! = Walk

Drop anchor! = Stop

Port! = Turn left

Starboard! = Turn Right

And when you have to make a sharp turn into the wind you shout: "Helms-a-lee!"

My sense of humor absolutely will not allow me to NOT try the terms out. ;) So now I have to get a new goat to train, so that when we go trotting down the road together, the neighbors can listen to me calling out nautical terms. 

Life is short. Have fun while you can. :) And if that means belting out pirate terms whilst driving a goat on a country road, or casually steering a decked out reindeer through town, then so be it. 

Here's to the crazy ones. :)

The New Girl

Goat Song's Listen To My Lyrics. AKA, "Lyric"; in all her black and tan colored glory. :)

She's My Girl

Grande Ronde Rose of Summer. Quite possibly the best purchase I've ever made. :)

I've had her a full year now, and I STILL have yet to get a full body picture of her. -_- Summer has mastered the art of perpetual motion, and it's challenging enough just getting a head shot that isn't blurry. But I love how she has matured over the year. Wowzers, what a pretty doe. 

She's my girl, this Rose of Summer is.

A Gift for Peaches

A week or two ago, I found a bulky package in my mailbox. I wasn't expecting anything, but I had a hunch as to what was inside. And I was right. :) One of my dear readers (yep, you all get that term) sent a gift specifically for Peaches. T'was a new fly mask. 

To explain a bit... Some of you who have been here awhile may remember Peaches' first fly mask, and the goofy pictures I posted of her (you can view that old post by clicking HERE.). When Mattie came along, I gave that red mask to her, and Peaches got a new mask that had pink trim. She wore that thing to death. I still have it, but it's so limp from use that you really couldn't use it any more. Peaches needed a new one, and before the warm weather, and flies, came back.

As it happens, the lady who makes these awesome masks is a reader here. And she surprised me by generously sending me not only a new mask, but one made in the newest style that she's created! It's been great! Temperatures hit 76 degrees today, and with it came the few early flies. So Peaches got to sport her brand new gift from a thoughtful reader.

So Kirby, here's for you. :) Peaches and I both thank you!

Lyric. I Call Her Lyric.

Does goat kid cuddling count as being busy and productive? I sure hope so, because that's been my day. This darling wee kiddo has been such a love, and I fairly swoon every time I look at her. ;) LOL. I've decided that her name is Lyric. Pedigreed name will be something along the lines of "Goat Song's Listen To My Lyrics". But right now that pedigreed name is bigger than her; so she's just my little Lyric. 

It's all good, this goat stuff. In the end, it really is...

Pictures coming soon. So stay tuned! :)

Goat Kids!

I woke up this morning with the strange sensation of "something's not right". 

The day had dawned absolutely beautiful, and the weatherman was predicting a high of 73F. Everything seemed calm and quiet, and normal. But there was still that little feeling of "something's not right". So I headed out to the barn. Lo and behold, that feeling, 6th sense, or gut instinct (call it what you want), was right. Jupiter had literally JUST kidded. Beneath her lay two tiny kids. One looked very similar to my preemie bottle baby, Sudden Distraction, that I had around last month, but this one was heavily spotted. And we're talking SPOTTED! Holy kohlrabi did it have color! It was a doeling, and alas, it was dead. And mummified. I've always said a mummified kid was something I hoped I would never have to deal with; it's been one of my worst nightmares (ultimate nightmare: having a mummified, retained kid that I have to help the doe expel in pieces. *shudder*). But this case wasn't as bad as it could have been... It looked like a fairly normal kid; just not fully formed. My guess is that it died 1 to 1.5 months ago.

The second kid was also a doeling, but this one was fighting to stand up! Whoop, whoop! She's jet black in color, with solid black ears, tan trim on her belly and legs, and the cherry on top are the sweetest tan colored badger stripes on her face. Be still my beating heart! ;) She's tiny though. Maybe 3 or 4 lbs. Granted, that's bigger than Distraction was, but boy howdy am I ready for some normal 8 pounders! Jupiter was well fed through the whole pregnancy, but for some reason all that feeding went into putting weight on her, instead of growing those kids. 

The little black kid is inside now, and will remain here until she's perky enough to be outside (which hopefully won't be long!). She's drinking from a bottle well and is currently napping. I've missed having a goat kid inside...

His Name Is Tank

Tank. A fourteen week old, male, purebred Great Pyrenees pup from strong working lines. 

I went and met this fluffy boy today, and had a blast getting to play with a puppy. :) Is he mine now? No. Will he be? Maybe... Just maybe. I know I should give y'all a detailed fill-in about my morning spent at a farm that has one thousand ducks all on pasture, and I'm itching to introduce you to Tank a bit more... But not right now. I'm tired. It was a looooong drive to the farm, and a looooooong drive home. I'm bushed, but I need to get outside to do afternoon barn chores, and get ready for someone coming to look at a pair of goats I put up for sale. After that, I await the arrival of my brother and SIL who are coming for a visit, and are bringing along their lab puppy whose name is, of all things, Tank. ;) 

So I'll just leave y'all with this teaser for now. I'm looking at getting a LGD pup for the place. I hope it will be Tank, the Great Pyr, but I don't know if it will be or not yet. I'll keep you posted though.