Revisiting 9/11

Thought I'd put up this link to last year's post on the 10th Anniversary of 9/11.

May we never forget.

You Can Never Have Too Many Goats!

Well, I suppose one could have too many goats, but we certainly didn't. After losing half our herd over a few short years, we didn't have enough goats to keep up with the work load.  The woods were becoming overgrown, beginning to look like... well... woods.  

In July of last year, a friend called Mr J about a pygmy goat needing a new home.  Her mother had the goat as a pet along with a sheep, but her mother's health wasn't good, and the sheep had died. The goat seemed very lonely. Knowing goats don't do well alone, we were happy to give the little pygmy a home.  Little did we know we were getting another horse! (And that pygmies aren't that little.)

 Introducing Stitch! We quickly discovered that Stitch's coat was so dense, he could not feel the electric fence.  YIKES!  That means we have no way to contain him.  We tried introducing him to the other goats, but he was as scared of them as they were of him!  Every time we took him into their pasture, he would just run out through the fence!  But guess where he ran?

Maggie Mae is beautiful, I agree. It seems other critters think so, too.  Stitch immediately took up with her, and would follow her wherever she went.  Separate them and Stitch would cry and go running back to her. 

Since the fence won't contain him, he pretty much goes wherever he wants. So that means every time I go for a ride on Maggie, Stitch goes with us.  At first, he clung so closely that my feet would kick his horns!  Now he will let us get several yards away at times. The neighbors get a kick out of seeing me coming on the horse, accompanied by the goat and the dog.

Since Stitch isn't cooperating about joined the clearing crew, I told Mr J we should buy some more goats.  We started looking and fell in love with many, but decided on two young wethers about a mile from our house.  Webrought them home in August of last year and named them D.J. for Derby Jr and Brownie for Mr J's NFL team. (No mean comments, please. ;)

Newly weened, they were much to small to put in with the big boys, so we made them a home in Nekoda's stall. (Nekoda did not think much of the idea.)

It didn't take them long to learn to walk on a leash.  Mr J would take them to the small pasture surrounding the chicken house every morning.

Once the babies were big enough, we gently introduced them to the herd. It took a little time before we could finally leave them there all day, and then eventually all night. Now they are one big happy family.

Left to right: Nanny, DJ, Brownie, Derby, Elvis

Look for future posts about other changes to our fur family!

Well, things sure have changed!

Hello, everyone!  It seems so strange here.  Blogger has changed so many things since I last posted, I hardly recognized the place. Speaking of changes...

Would anyone purposefully hit this button?  I suppose I would, if things were really bad.  But things haven't been really bad.  My life is good.  I don't want it to change!

If only I could control my world...

If only I could stop the good stuff from changing...


But I don't control anything. So, tons of things have changed on the farm since we last talked.  I glanced through the pages on my blog, noting the animals and other things that were my life when I last was here. I'll need to do much updating.


The major change being my in-laws moved out a month ago.  They decided to move back to the little house they lived in when we built this home.  Mr J and I both worry about them, but they seem to be doing OK.  

We moved in here in December of 2003, and moved them in a month later.  Since we spent the first few weeks unpacking and arranging, this really feels like the first time we've been alone here.  It is SO QUIET! It felt really weird at first.  But now that we're used to it, we love the peace and time alone. Eight-and-a-half years out of our eleven year marriage, we have had them with us.

Of course, this means a change in priorities.  We have spent almost a decade taking care of his folks and my mom.  Mom is still in her apartment, just a few minutes away.  She is doing well on her own, so I'm only needed to fill her medicine dispenser, handle business matters, and provide transportation. And so, being caretakers is no longer the big priority in our lives.  So what is?

Well, for starters, US!  Yes, being together.  Alone. Doing things together. Alone.  Also, our social life took the backseat while they were here.  Now we're inviting friends for dinner and going places with them.  It feels so strange.  Did we live this way before?

 That, friends, is just one of the areas of change that has taken place here on the farm.  You are going to read about more...

But for now, I'm off to live my life.  I can't wait to see what else is in store for us!