A Patient Rock

This kid is determined to be able to lay down on her mother's back but things don't quite work out. Watch both videos to see the really funny parts. The very patient mother goat in the video is our own Miss "Painted Rock", or Rock as we call her. You can see a much better quality video of her here. Or watch all of our farm videos here.

This actually went on much longer than the videos show and in the beginning BOTH of her kids were using their mother's back as a launching platform to jump off of, then they would run around and jump back up on her back again, that went on for quite awhile before this kid decided mom's back would really make a comfortable place to lie down...if only it just wasn't so round and hard to balance on!

I hope you enjoyed the videos, though I must apologize for the REALLY terrible quality of them. The reason they are so bad is because the zoom on the camera was used (really bad idea I know now) because this mother goat and her kids were a ways away from the house but I knew if I went out there and tried to get closer the kid would stop what she was doing and run up to me. How did I know this? Because I have been TRYING to get some pictures of this batch of kids that was born in late February and early March for some time but every time I walk outdoors with the camera...this is what happens.

"Whatcha doing? Is that little, silver thing something to eat you are carrying there?" "No it isn't? How about I just chew on your hair then while I jump and climb all over you so you take really close up pictures of my eyeball. "

"Ha! I saw you trying to take a picture of me while I was standing over there, so I ran up to you really fast so you could get a good close up picture of my forehead instead. Did it turn out?"

I finally realized the only way to get far enough away from these kids to actually get a picture of them was to give them someone else to climb all over, so I threw Jamey to the goats. I think they had a secret agenda though, the kids would weigh Jamey's feet down so Belle, one of the mom goats can sneak in and grab the feed bucket.

Been Away on an Island

I am back, sort of. In case anyone has been wondering where I have been, well I have been on vacation on Sosickwanadie Island. What an experience that was! Half comatose under a blanket with a vintage bottle of Robitussin by the snow white Kleenex beaches and warm salt water gargle rinses. Oh the smell of the sick air was delightful! Yes, it wasn't that long ago that I DID take a trip to Feelkindayucky resort, but that was more like a weekend distraction, no big deal. The kind of trip you can work around your day schedule if need be, but Sosickwanadie Island was a week long excursion! Hey, a girl has got to treat herself sometimes you know?

There was no time for my usual schedule there though. I was entirely too busy with the Island's various activities, such as Olympic style coughing. That will really get the old rib cage in shape..I can still feel the burn! Don't worry the fresh underwear are always complimentary at Sosickwanadie Island. Then I worked up a different kind of sweat at club Fever! I will admit, I did have too many Echinacea shots and Theraflu mixed drinks while I was there, but I was on vacation! I am back now though, a little bit of the Island still clings to my lungs and soul, but I know it will all fade away soon and my life will be back to its routine.

So you want to know how to get a reservation on Sosickwanadie Island? Well, you typically need to be invited, my darling little baby nephew Tracy invited me but it is by no means an exclusive club. He also invited his mom (my sister) and his Grandmother to Sosickwanadie Island. Regular little Typhoid Mary in Pampers that baby, such a giver. Maybe someone close to you will be so thoughtful as to invite you to Sosickwanadie Island someday, just make sure you have plenty of free time! It is going to be a LONG vacation.

PS. Tracy is doing fine, he is all better himself and is back to the land of cute gummy smiles and adorable baby giggles and his aunt loves him very much.

Spring Begins

That is what my calendar says on it today. Yep..the official start of spring and green grass, cheerful flowers, warm days and all that good stuff.

Apparently my calendar is a big, fat liar because these pictures were taken earlier today. The poor robins huddled under the eaves outside my kitchen window agree with me. This is not Spring. Did I wake up in Maine? What happened to global warming? Will I get to make an Easter snowman this year? I can't be too grumpy about it, I mean after all how often do we get over 8 inches of snow (so far!) on the 20Th of March? Not that I can ever remember! Happy Spring y'all!

Crazy Kansas Weather

My Grandmother used to like to say "If you don't like the weather in Kansas....wait five minutes and it will change". Boy was she ever right about that! Today was just beautiful, perfect short sleeve weather, it was sunny and warm. I even had to turn the ceiling fans on in the house. Ahh...Spring is FINALLY here, or is it? Apparently old man winter is still determined to have the last word on that.

Issued by The National Weather Service
Wichita, KS
3:39 pm CDT, Fri., Mar. 19, 2010

... WINTER STORM WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 1 AM SATURDAY TO 1 PM CDT SUNDAY...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WICHITA HAS ISSUED A WINTER STORM WARNING FOR SIGNIFICANT WINTER WEATHER... WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 1 AM SATURDAY TO 1 PM CDT SUNDAY.

* TIMING... RAIN WILL DEVELOP THIS EVENING... AND IS EXPECTED TO CHANGE TO SNOW DURING THE EARLY MORNING HOURS ON SATURDAY. THIS TRANSITION COULD BE MARKED A PERIOD OF SLEET AND FREEZING RAIN LATE TONIGHT INTO SATURDAY MORNING. A PERIOD OF HEAVY SNOW IS EXPECTED ON SATURDAY AFTERNOON INTO SATURDAY EVENING.

* SNOW ACCUMULATIONS... OF 5 TO 8 INCHES ARE EXPECTED BY EARLY SUNDAY MORNING. LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS TO NEAR 10 INCHES WILL BE POSSIBLE.

Are you kidding me? Eight inches of snow? Really? Oh come on! It was probably 70 degrees today! On the positive side this is one time procrastination actually worked in my favor. All of this beautiful weather lately really tempted me to put some plants out in the garden. I am glad I waited on that!

It looks like the three bottle kids I have in the house won't be going outside this weekend! They were just born and I was going to put them out in a stall as soon as I got them started on a bottle good. One of my does had a difficult time with these three boys. (yes they were all three boys!) All three are perfectly healthy and doing well but mom is recovering and could not raise them herself. Just when things were going so well. So now I have three new bottle baby goats in the house. I guess when it rains..it snows!

(Sorry no picture! My camera just does not take good pictures in the house but trust me they are CUTE!)

Spring, is that you?

Could it be? I saw a bee the other day but I wasn't sure after such a long cold winter if I could really believe Spring was finally on the way or not, but what do we have here? Green grass! It gets better than bees and green grass though, the weather was gorgeous this past weekend! It was so nice to go outdoors in the sunshine. Time to start thinking about the garden, gosh I haven't even started any seeds yet!

Two New Kids Rest After A Long Day of Play

Springtime also means new goat kids! So far we have had 8 new goat babies born on the farm the last few weeks with one more doe to kid this month and a dozen more does due to kid in April. The cute and entertaining new babies on the farm are only one of the reasons I love Spring so much. It is the time of year when everything seems to be coming to life. The grass comes back, the trees bud, the farm animals have their babies, it is a time of new beginnings on the farm and I love that.

Young Boer Buckling

The kids have been a wide variety of colors so far this year, we have got two black headed Boer kids, two red headed ones, a blonde boy, two red siblings and a black percentage Boer doeling with white ears.

Who are you?

Heart the Boer doe meets one of the new kids for the first time. There is a fence between them because we are keeping the newborn baby goats in a smaller lot with their moms due to the weather until they are a few days older. This little guy is about ready to go out in the big pasture with the rest of the herd, along with his mother of course. Heart will have her own babies in April. If the weather is nice in April, experienced mom does like Heart will likely kid out in the pasture since we try to keep things as natural as possible. Our does are great moms, we try to be there in case help is needed but also stay out of their way and not interfere when things go normally, as they usually do.

Has Spring shown up where you live yet?

A Kid's Point of View - Farm Photo of the Week

A couple of the newborn Boer goat kids born this week.