Goat Obstacle Course?

Wha, wha, WHAT?!

Yes, you got it. Furry Husband and I just volunteered to help man the goat obstacle course for the Larimer County Fair Sunday evening...

Furry Husband will man the stopwatch and I will make sure the goats and the 4-H'rs go through, under or in whatever obstacles await. Sounds like a complete kick in the pants... we will bring a camera for all of you to see the fun.

I had my lesson this weekend on my mare, Sera. I wanted to have a NICE ride vs. a battle and my trainer agreed that I deserved some fun. We are working on Rosso and things will be fine. I just needed a break from feeling beat-up and crappy about my horse. A little fun to lighten my 'tude was just what the Dr. ordered.

A storm blew through last night. The lightening was blinding and very much like a strobe light while the thunder made us think the world was going to crash in around us. It was awful. I hid under the covers thinking, "please go, please go, please go, please go" over and over. I wanted it to move on and away from us! After an hour it was quiet. I went outside in my pj's to check the horses and goats... everyone was fine and looking very relieved.

New life with a small dog...

We aren't used to having a small dog.... things we didn't think of like he can get right into the buck pen through the big wooden gate slats and he can fit under the gate into the horse pen. Furry Husband will try to small dog proof those areas and I'm sure we'll discover more as time goes on. Sammy, Bequia and Little Toe....

We have our 7 strand, smooth wire, electric fence and we somehow don't think it's fair for the little fella to experience 9,000 volts until he knows us a bit better and knows our place is his home. When he goes outside we either turn the fence off or we keep him on a flexi...
Yes, we have a life size concrete dog. I keep telling you ... we are FREAKS!

He is awful stinkin' cute! I took Thurs and Fri off from work to stay home and play with Toe. We took him a'callin and he's very wiggle butt friendly to everyone, doesn't seem to mind traffic or other dogs. Zee Furry Husband with Toe-ster

We picked Booker up from the pet cremation place on Thursday and I had another sad, crying hour... I just MISS him. I can see him in my mind's eye like he'll be there when I walk into the next room. Nothing to do 'bout it really, it will get better.

Anyway, I'm fine right now and we are having fun with Toe... Toe Truck, Toe Jam, Toaster, Little Toe... ain't he cute?


This seems to be Toe's preferred sleeping position...

The Toe

The Toe is arriving tonight! He left Oklahoma this morning at 7:30... I hear it's a 9 hour drive. We are a little nervous. Excited but nervous. Only cuz we haven't brought a new dog into our house for 8 years!

We are prepared... and if we survived dog-sitting Norman, the HUGE, high-energy German Shepherd over Christmas for 10 days, surely we can integrate this new, smallish, knee high, pup into our home.

We also have a woman driving to our place from the mountains today, about 3 hours, to pick up our milker, Rosie. She might buy Chocolate as well and then we are done with goat sales for the year! Sorry Whiskers....

I'll post pictures of Little Toe soon.... wish us luck!

Whiskers

Ummmm....

So I received this e-mail from a guy by the name of Whiskers. This is what it said:

"Send pictures of goats and prices. Thank-you"

Boy. Way to be direct Whiskers! I told Furry Husband maybe he is Klingon.

Sometimes Furry Husband and I like to speak Klingon... not the actual Klingon foreign language. (By the way, I learned, according to the Guinness Book of World Records for 2006, Klingon is the most spoken fictional language. Neato!)

We speak like Klingons using English as a Second Language. We have these conversations in deep, guttural Klingon like voices:

Me: Husband. I would like a beer. Bring one to me.

Furry Husband: Wife. I am no servant.

yeah, I know. We are complete freaks. I don't remember how that whole thing started anyway...

Rounds 3 and 4

I hate the feeling like I'm headed in for battle each time I ride Rosso right now but I guess I am.

Sunday Rex came over and we proceeded as planned. I got on Rosso and the minute he began threatening to buck or bolt, off I'd get and round and round he'd go on the lunge line. Not nicely either - in a mad scrambling gallop while I chased him and no relenting until he was begging to stop.

The second time I got up on him, he immediately began his crap and on the way off, he bolted, I landed on my ankle - OW - but we had him go, go, go until he was begging to stop. He submitted on the third time.

Better than last Sunday when it took 5 times before he stopped with all his bullshit. Progress!

Last night I trailered him up to Rex's barn, lunged him and got on. He was nice so I was nice.

We walked, halted and I stepped down. I got back on. We walked and walked, halted and I stepped down. I got back on and we walked. We halted and we walked, halted and walked. Stood calmly in the middle of the arena on a loose rein and he was done.

He'll learn or his next owner will be Purina brand dog food corporation.

Country vs. City

We are in the country but not... I think we live rurally compared to the suburbs or downtown areas in Denver or Ft. Collins or even places in the Midwest like Omaha, Ne where I grew up or Rock Island, IL where Furry Husband grew up.

We live on a dirt road vs. concrete. There are no street lights on our road. A walk around our block is 3 miles vs. a city block paved by sidewalks. We hear coyotes and foxes at night and we know there is a mountain lion in the area.

I know compared to others, I don't live rurally at all..... our house is within shoutin' distance of our neighbors. We can see all of our neighbor's houses... it's not as if we live on hundreds of acres where we don't see people for days and we'd have to drive an hour or more just to reach a grocery store.


That being said, when we left our house last night to head over to Tom and Laurie's place for dinner and visitin', we saw something that I would consider "country".

There were two teenage girls leading their black Angus beef cows down the road. I'm assuming the steers were 4-H projects for the Larimer County Fair which is right around the corner - July 25 through August 5.

Furry Husband and I were laughing about seeing cows out for a walk... we slowed down once we were alongside the girls and their steers. I shouted, "Hey, do you need a ride? Cuz we could just put those guys in the back..." They laughed and waved at our polka-dotted station wagon and we continued on our way.

As we turned the corner, there was a cowboy with a long handle-bar mustache on his stout, sorrel horse in Western gear and he was ponying along another horse.

Ya wouldn't see either of those things on the 16th Street Mall in downtown Denver.... or on 72nd and Blondo St. in Omaha... or in Old Town, Ft. Collins.

Talent

Some people have talent...


I drove to work a while back and there was a guy coming up the embankment to the road in front of my building on a jogging trail.

He was jogging AND juggling 3 balls at the same time. How cool is that?

I have trouble walking and chewing gum.

Often coming into work, I think about that guy and what he looked like and how cool it was to see something that unusual first thing in the morning on my way to work. It always makes me grin.

Just thought I'd share something totally random with all y'all... ciao!

Rosso - Round 2

Round 2 was MUCH better than Round 1.

We sort of expected it to be since Round 2 was up at my trainer's indoor arena and Rosso is much more behaved away from his homies.

I lunged him... he was a bit foot sore and it made me smile on the inside when Rex told me, "Too bad. I'm having a hard time feeling sorry for him when he's acting like such a shitbird. If he was being nice and he was foot sore? We'd be nice to him and put him away, but he isn't being nice at all right now, so too bad for him."

It sounded like someone else's blog I read who has a horse named Pete!

I attached the lunge line to his bit ring and I walked him to the middle of the arena. I made lots o' noise - slapping the stirrup leathers, patting his stomach, flank, neck, big, red butt.... I put my foot in the stirrup and I hopped up and down.... I laid my stomach across the saddle and slapped the other side of his belly.... I slowly brought my leg over and sat on him. I patted his neck and let him stand quietly.

I asked him to walk forward. And he did. And he did it nicely. There was no neck shaking, no jigging, no threats. He stayed calm and relaxed.

Rex asked, "Are you breathing?"

"Barely..." so I took a deep breath.

Rex asked, "How are you feeling?"

"Scared."

Rex laughed, "Well you are hiding it really well - you look relaxed! Your hands and seat are nicely following."

"Well my legs are shaking."

"It's o.k. - you look relaxed and you are doing a good job!"

Since Rosso was on Angel Mode, I walked, trotted and cantered in both directions for a wee bit of time. I moved him to the middle of the arena and let him stand on a loose rein while I chatted with Rex. He stayed relaxed and even cocked a hip to rest on 3 legs.

I asked him to walk forward again - which he did nicely. I halted, jumped down and loosened his girth. The whole ride lasted mebbe 20 minutes.


See you big, red, turd? When you are nice, things are EASY, EASY, EASY!

Rex will come to my place again this Sunday for my lesson on Rosso. I'm not sure he is convinced to be nice at home yet. I'll let y'all know...

Rosso - Round 1

* ding, ding, ding * Back to your corner!

I survived Round 1 with Rosso.

Rex, my trainer, came to my house Sunday since that is where he is worst. I was warming him up on the lunge line when she arrived. I stopped, brought him in, attached the lunge line to his bit ring, put my helmet on and we discussed the game plan.

I was to get on him and the minute he began to act like a turd, I was to jump off, smack him as hard as I could with my whip and send him FORWARD on the lunge line - not a nice comfortable canter - but chase him forward in a very uncomfortable, gallop that was difficult for him.

The idea is that we want him to think I am MUCH worse, MUCH more dangerous on the ground than on his back. It is always in his best interest to keep me on his back where things are much easier. Training is all about making the wrong thing hard and the right thing easy. She said I could not be hard enough to him right now. He needs to develop a good, healthy respect for me.

I got on 'im. He immediately began throwing his head and dancing around. I jumped off, smacked his ass with my whip and sent him forward. Yelling and waving my whip around and making him gallop for all he was worth and I did not let up.

Rex helped me see Rosso's submissive signs... his inside ear pinned on me, lowering his head a little, chewing or licking his lips.... but he was still to GO FORWARD in his mad scrambling gallop!

Please forgive the weeds... with all the rain, they took over! Our farmer neighbor came and sprayed them so they should be gone soon... but you get the idea - here I am chasing Rosso all around and he is in a mad dash. We decided to forego the Western saddle since I wasn't going to try and ride out his bucking, but I was going to get down as quickly as possible to whack him and send him FORWARD. Thought I could get down faster in the saddle I'm used to.

When she thought it was time, we brought him in to me and I tried again. Nope. He began jigging and tossing his head all around, threatening to buck and twirl, so off I jumped, smacked him with my whip and sent him FORWARD at a hard, hard gallop. I chased him and chased him and I did not let up.

The third time I got on - same thing.

The fourth time - more of the same.

The fifth time was the charm. I walked him in both directions, I patted him, he stood still while I sat on him and I hopped off. He was trembling from fatigue and sweating buckets - little pools around his feet and running off his belly. I untacked him, sponged him off with tepid water and walked him til he was cool.

I don't know if you can tell how drenched he is, but it's like he just stepped out from under a hose... guess you had to be here to REALLY see it!

It might sound harsh but it is the way it must be. He has to submit to his rider and learn to act like a gentleman vs. a dirty bronc. He is not living in the rodeo. Once he is nice to me, I can be nice to him - simple as that. There simply isn't room for rotten behavior where someone (namely ME) could be hurt.

After the fight, I this odd thing happened to me.

I guess when I was lunging Rosso and chasing him with my whip, I gripped the whip and the lunge line with all I had. I was surprised to find my forearms so fatigued I could not grab a beer, let alone lift it to my mouth when we were in town for lunch. It was physically impossible.

It's like I was a tyrannosaurus with these useless little appendages hanging from my body.

Furry Husband had to help me milk goats... I couldn't clean the litter boxes... I couldn't lift or grip anything. I was completely and totally useless. They are still sore today, though I could actually lift my coffee mug to my face this morning one handed. Yay me!

Round 2 happens tonight up at Rex's barn.

Life on the farm...

Sparrow fledgling died. Why can't I keep birds alive? I can keep all manner o' fuzzy and furry and haired things alive.... just not the feathered things.

Well... 'cept our chickens. I keep them alive and they are feathered!

They are hangin' in the goat pen this morning. Thought this was a fun pix to share... along with Spot, our smiling goatie.

(I always hear Pete Puma in my head when Spot is smiling)

Friday...

I'm so glad it's Friday! Tonight is Cozzola's pizza and wine. MMMMM. Our Friday night tradition!

Split Pea found a fledgling sparrow last night ... I put him? her? in a box with some seed and water. I hope he? she? isn't dead when I get home. I know it's "nature" and things die and nature isn't easy but I keep trying to save the little critters if I can.

I unsuccessfully went looking for a bird cage at a thrift store over lunch. Figured, if I keep finding birds, a bird cage will make it easier to rehab them or transport them to the WildKind (humane society rehab for wild things) vs. a cardboard box.

Me looking for a bird cage is sorta funny since the birds I find and try to save seem to up and die anyway.

I lunged Rosso last night but didn't have a chance to ride since we had a social obligation last night... this weekend I will tackle the red monster! Keep your fingers crossed!

Have a great weekend!

He IS a big, red, turd after all....

Rosso that is.

'Member the young thoroughbred gelding that I took to see the cowboy trainer? Rosso has figured out I'm not the cowboy and as such has decided to fuck with me.

I rode him Tuesday and he began acting "fizzy". I kept a nice forward trot and used my circles and big half halts to get him working vs. trying to run off with me and acting like a big turd. I know I was relaxed because I was thinking in my mind to sit heavy in the saddle, keep my lower back relaxed and my shoulders loose.

I was confident because of the work Anthony, the cowboy, had done with him and the tricks Anthony showed me to do when Rosso began to act fizzy.

All of a sudden the circle became really small and Rosso spun, leaped to the side and I lost my balance at which point he began hopping around. I fell off. I wasn't hurt.

I caught Rosso, hopped right back on and finished my ride. I rode him longer than I normally would have and I made sure he was listening to me.... transitions to trot and canter and back down to walk, moving side to side away from my leg, working lightly and nicely in my hand.

I thought to myself - hmph. I must have been too relaxed and too over-confident and I lost my balance and it was my fault I fell off.

I rode last night and thought to myself.... "Sometimes Rosso seems to need to just GO. Maybe instead of trying to use my circles and half-halts, I'll start with a nice, big, ground covering canter." I got on, began a trot and was asking for canter when the shit hit the fan and I hit the sand.

He began spinning around and bucking - I thought I had him at one point and was going to stay on but he began bucking harder. Off I came. I remember yelling, "you FUCKER!" as I flew through the air.

Again, I was not hurt. I captured the big, red, turd - put him on a lunge line and whipped his butt with the lunge whip HARD to send him into work.

Once he looked sufficiently submissive, I got back on and had a nice ride. We ended the ride with him standing still on a loose rein in the arena and chilling out with me on his back... I patted him, jumped off and went in to have a beer.

A well earned beer I think!

I was frustrated. Really frustrated. Like to the point of crying because I felt like all the confidence I'd gained is gone. No way am I taking him out on the roads or on the trail when he knows he can dump me. Not so much because I'm afraid I could be hurt, but a loose horse running ... fences..... cars...... it doesn't mix.

I felt like all the work we've done with him and the money we paid Anthony was for nothing...

Today I talked to Rex, my trainer. We have a plan. She says Rosso did not get away with anything because I got back on and rode him hard. He didn't get his way. The time he spent with Anthony was not wasted.

However, we don't want the bucking to escalate and we don't want him to think it's standard operating procedure for a rider to get on, be thrown off and get on again.

Rosso is having a respect issue. He respected Anthony and Anthony's bullwhip swinging and cracking... he was very much "Yes, SIR" with Anthony. Now he is testing me and showing me he really doesn't care what I want or what I think he should do. He's showing me what HE wants - which is a free lunch. He wants to be left alone to eat grass in the pasture and run with his little herd. He doesn't want a job.

Tough.

I have to go to work for 8 hrs every day. He can work for an hour or so when I say. I pay the feed bill. I buy the hay. I keep him healthy.

Our plan includes a big, 60 lb Western saddle, a lunge line attached to Rosso's bit and when he begins to fizz, I jump off and I chase his nasty, naughty self like a crazy woman with my eyes bugging out of my head and my hair on fire. He works. And he works HARD. And that should be fun for him with a 60lb saddle on his back. The Western saddle also gives me more to hold onto... and more security. He should begin to worry more about ME and what I want and how to NOT piss the crazy woman off vs. what he wants.

Rex is going to come to my house and help me. I'm not used to being FIERCE. She'll help show me how much and when to let up. She'll ride him at my house to give him a dose of reality while I watch and learn. Ultimately it's up to me. If I can't get him to behave for me, well..... what good is he? Nobody gets a free ride, that includes him.

He's a perfect little angel when I take him to Rex's barn... no hoof out of place and I get all sorts of glowing compliments. At home? He is the devil. And that just ain't gonna fly no mo'. I want to enjoy my horse when I want to ride and not prepare for battle.

Wish me luck. I'll keep you posted.

Goat sale!

Yes! The woman took our little fuzzy goatie without even asking about her hair. I was the freak more worried about it than anyone else.

She looked at our bucks and really liked one of them... however, she didn't want a buck. I told her she could have him banded or castrated and he'd be a regular ol' goat. He wouldn't be riddled with testosterone and he would not have the buck smell when fall rolls around and bucks go into rut.

She said her vet was coming out the next day for the horses and it would be perfect timing to take a buck kid that needed to be castrated. She ended up taking him too!

She wanted them as pets and she sounded like a very nice home. She bought a foreclosed old farm house in Keensburg and was renovating it. She has two horses and wanted a couple goats as pets and to keep one horse company when she took the other horse out and about.

My friend Karen came over to get Margarita Grief Kitten... she loved him and was excited to bring him home. She thinks she'll get another young cat to keep him company so that means another lucky kitty will get a good home soon and that makes me happy too because there are too many unwanted animals out there that need homes.

Kylee's mom stopped by to pick up some of our frozen colostrum and goat milk for their new baby llama...

It was a busy night at our little place! I'm looking forward to riding tonight - we didn't get rain yesterday and it's supposed to be nice and hot today which will dry out my arena. Yahooo!

Hamster

I had another goatie call last night. A woman in the 303 area code is looking for a doe kid. She's had Alpines and Nubians before... I told her that Lamancha's are similar but instead of the upright ears like an Alpine or the big, floppy ears like a Nubian, Lamancha's have a teeny tiny little ear called a gopher ear which makes them look like Kermit the Frog.

I told her they were bottle raised, they are eating a grass/alfalfa mix hay now because they were weaned. They are vaccinated, our herd is CAE free, they come from nice bloodlines and their dams are good milk producers.

She asked how much we wanted and said she'd call in a few days to maybe come look at them.

She called back 10 minutes later asking if she could come see them tonight. I think if she's driving up from the Denver area and called back 10 minutes later, there is a good possibility she'll be taking our doe kid home.

I filled out registration papers, made a copy of the CAE test results showing our herd is clean for her to take, and I enlisted Furry Husband to help me tattoo the doe kids. We put a number designating our farm on the right side of the tail and the letter designating the birth year 2009 (Z) along with an identifying number (1, 2, 3 etc) on the left side of the tail.

I scrub the goatie's tail with alcohol, stretch out the loose skin and I clamp the tail skin with my tattoo plier-like thing holding the metal numbers and letters made out of sharp pins. The kids jump and shout cuz, hello, who wouldn't? Then I rub a pasty green ink into the tiny holes I just made with a toothbrush. Why hasn't this been done to someone on Johnny Knoxville's Jackass?


And THAT my friends, is when the obsessive hamster in my brain came squealing around the corner on his hamster wheel going 300 mph.



The doe kid for sale is hairy. I mean REALLY hairy! She looks yak like she has so much hair! She acts normal and playful and healthy... she is well bred, she has pretty markings.

I started to worry that maybe something was wrong with her.... I called my goat contacts.... I fretted and worried and wrung my hands together. I just know when this woman comes, she'll take one look at our woolly, little doe kid, laugh and drive back to Denver... sans goat kid.


This whole time Furry Husband is going about his business shaking his head in wonder that I can go into a full blown tizzy over goat hair in .00001 seconds.

My goat contacts called back... MaryLou said the buck I used in this breeding ( her buck ) just threw woolly babies this year and she has several long haired, woolly little kids running around. Under the hair they are excellent goats and she's had them at shows where they've won their classes consistently. My other goat contact called and said she's had long haired babies before. It's not worms. She said when a goat gets worms, they act sickly and they lose their hair... they don't grow more!



I was reassured and told NOT to clip the baby's hair... which I was so close to doing... because it is getting too cold at night with all our weird, wet wether.... I mean... weather. ( a wether is a neutered male goat.... har har)



I will try to remain calm tonight when this woman comes from Denver and wants a doe kid only to find the ONE doe kid we have for sale looks like a woolly mammoth/yak/musk ox.


Oh, and our new feeder we rigged up to prevent so much lost hay? Yeah, it rubbed a bald spot in the middle of the doe's nose. Nice.

Excuse me?! You want HOW much for that hairy, bald nosed, doe kid?

Will it stop... ever?

The rain.

Oh. My. Gawd.

The rain.

It keeps coming and coming and coming! I've given up on my arena. It is completely overgrown with weeds... Furry Husband called our neighbor Jack who does some land prep work. Hopefully Jack can come over with his tractor and spray super kill weed killer on my arena. When it dies, he'll come over and harrow the sand so I can have my lovely riding place again.

IF it ever dries out that is.

It's raining right now and I'm tellin' you guys, my mood just gets sad when it is so gloomy and rainy all the time and it prevents me from riding my horses. I NEED to ride my horses..... they are my fix.... they bring me joy and peace to the innermost of my Shanster self!

I have some news... we are getting a dog.

It's all very odd how it happened and Furry Husband and I thought it was all just a little too easy and a little too coincidental for us to ignore so we are going with it. It doesn't mean I can't still mourn the loss of my big, dog, Booker that was my boy. In fact I had a bad Booker day Saturday and spent the afternoon wandering around the house sniffling and remembering him and bawling my little eyes out.

Nothing I can do. He is gone and I just miss him. Simple as that. One day I will have memories that will bring me laughter vs. tears and I know this.

Anyway - I'd been interested in English Cocker Spaniels. Back when I had my very first dog, Osti, in the early 90's, I was in an obedience class with a woman who had two of them. I really liked them and I've always sorta just liked them.

When Booker died, I started researching the breed to take my mind off of Booker. My wonderful, dog-loving pal, Heather e-mailed me to say that the English Cocker Spaniel Specialty was going on that weekend at the event center near my house. Specialty shows are BIG shows for a particular breed and people come from EVERYWHERE to participate. It'd be a good place to see a good representation of the breed, to meet people who own them and talk to breeders etc.

I wasn't gonna go. Then I couldn't get a hold of my girlfriend, Big M, who I was going to spend the afternoon with and Furry Husband was out of town ... so what the heck I thought. I'll just go and hope I don't run into any Gordon Setters, cuz if I see a big, goofy, happy, Gordon I will lose it in front of God and everyone.

I didn't see any Gordons (shew!). I did see A LOT of English Cockers. I kept quiet and watched because I wasn't sure of myself and I didn't want to be seen as "fresh meat" to any rabid English Cocker Spaniel lovers.

A woman stood next to me with her young dog and she was talking to him, I turned to look and caught her eye. We said hello. I asked to pet her dog.... I was loving on this 8 mos old black and white speckled/spotted English Cocker Spaniel and we continued to talk.

Turns out she has his brother at home and he needs to be placed.

Oh - no. I couldn't. It's just too soon. But I took her card and continued to talk to her about the breed and love on this little dog.

When Furry Husband came home from his trip I showed him pictures I took of the dogs and I told him about this woman and the dog at her house needing a home. We both agreed it was just too soon.

And then we'd bring it up and touch on it in conversation... and we'd ruminate about it.... and bring it up again and talk about it.... slept on it... talked about it some more.

Finally Furry Husband said, "Why don't you e-mail that woman and ask her for some more information and some pictures?"

He is a nicely bred dog, he is crate trained, potty trained, he was raised with children, he gets a long well with other dogs, he travels well, he's had all his health checks for hips, eyes, kidneys and they have a friend who lives in Livermore who will be showing in their neck of the woods July 17th and who can bring this little dog back to Colorado on her way home. They'll have him neutered for us and microchipped and the only stipulation is that if he doesn't work out and for any reason we don't want him any more, they want him back.

Oh. This dog has a short toe. The pinky toe on his left front foot just stopped growing and it's shorter than the rest of his toes. And y'all know I have those funny, deformed little toes right? That sorta sealed the deal. I think Furry Husband fell on the floor convulsively laughing when I told him about the short toe on the dog. "He's just like you honey!"

The dog's registered name is Cimarron Toast. They've been calling him Toasty. We will call him Toe for short.

Things just fell into place and while I sure miss Booker, I think it will be nice to have a young dog to bring some laughter and a little more love into our lives.

Toe will come to us the week of July 20.

Introducing Toe from Oklaholma:

Happy 4th of July!

It's a beeeee-yoooou-ti-ful day in Colorado today!

Furry Husband and I got up early, took our dogs on a 3 mile walk and I'm making some mild feta cheese. The goat kids are weaned now which means we have plenty o' milk for cheese glorious cheese. It is hanging in cheesecloth right now draining whey as I type. In about 4 hours, I'll salt it and leave it out at room temperature for 24 hrs to cure.

Already our hay supplier, Ellie, put in an order for my feta cheese. We trade my cheese for her hay.

This afternoon we are headed to Denver for my niece's very first birthday. We bought her an automatic bubble blower gun powered by batteries. Figure that would make a little tot laugh and save my sister from dipping the bubble wand and blowing over and over and over again. I hope it's a good first year birthday toy.

We'll come home and watch fireworks from our car in Wellington on a dirt road near the park where they light the display. We wear our pajamas, bring along some brewski's and lawn chairs. We're going with our favorite neighbors, Barista and Pansy. Should be a lovely 4th this year.

Have fun whatever you might be doing for your 4th of July! Don't lose any fingers!

You'd think I'd learn...

I like to wear my Birkenstock sandals when I'm out and about on our little farm-ette. The two white tan lines across the tops of my feet are my sign that summer is finally HERE!

I feed in them and I clean pens in them....

I was raking up the loose hay/straw in the goat pen the other day and felt something warm on my foot... Spot, the goat, was in full squat peeing all over the top of my foot!

When I feed the goats, Rosie always manages to step on the tops of my feet with her little cloven goatie hooves. OW! MUTHER OF ...... (imagine me hopping around)

You'd think I'd learn to wear decent, protective footwear.

No, of course not. My German ancestry makes sure that "stubborn" sticks with me at all times....

We had a call last night from a man in Sterling CO looking for two milkers. I gave him the information on Rosie and Chocolate.... it makes me sad to think about selling them but they can't all stay. They are excellent producers and that is what he wants. Producers to feed bum kids in his Boer goat operation. He says he'll be in town this weekend or next week and will give me a call.

I get attached to the milkers ... not so much the kids cuz I know the kids will be sold. I know them for a few months, while the milkers I see two times a day every day and I have them for years.

sigh. When you raise animals, you can't keep them all and it's hard.