Yeesh, the time does fly!

By the time most of you read this it will be April... Of course at the rate that I post, it might be April before I finish this thing. ;)

ANYWAY..... It's going to be a light kidding season here. I had thought that I might be in Africa right now, so planned accordingly. Last fall I sold off a large number of adult does, most bred. I also sent a group of goats to Georgia with my good friend, Rusty Repp of Little Tots Estate. THOSE does of course have freshened already, as have a number of the ones I sold. Of those I kept here, only Pattie Sue, my mini alpine, has freshened so far. She had a buck, of course. :-D Check the "Kids" page for those critters... I'll also post them on the sales page for those that may be internet impaired and can't find the Kids page links (my hubby for example - I will admit he's improving though).

I'm also going back to work part time this week... I'm not likely to be online as often since I can't get any WiFi at my place of employment. Unless I want to buy service from AT&T. Hmm.... High speed access via my MacBook and At&T... We'll have to see how much THAT little trick costs... More than I can afford I'm sure. Wow... Tangent much?

Oh! For any interested parties, we may be selling some of our horses to cut the numbers. Escallatta for sure, we're keeping her baby. I haven't decided yet on the two stallions. I might part with Klassy, though I love the cuddle time I get with him. Pharoah is just such a sweetie too though. Both the nuts make it hard to decide. I REALLY don't need two stallions though. Especially since I plan on selling my one breedable mare.

I've added another American Alpine doe to our herd. Holly will have a photo shoot soon. Her last ones were half in this awful shadow with fresh shavings dust all over the place. It made it look like I had ghosts floating around.

Why is it so much harder to do a blog online than it is to write in a journal?

Gackt, if you ever do a search for yourself and come across this Blog, Come visit! We'd love to have you. Well, mostly "I'd" love to have you. ;0)

Thunder Snow!!

Well... I can't say I was expecting that. Here I am, just puttering around on the computer, fresh in from chores ans selling the last calf. All of a sudden it's bright as day out and BOOM!! Thunder! And it's Snowing to boot. It's been several year's since we had Thunder snow if I recall. I named a goat after it, and I have one of her daughters in my herd now. How fitting that Thundersnow returns in time for... Thunder snow. :-D

Speaking of which, you all may have noticed in the last post that I spoke of several of my goats heading to Georgia for a bit. A grand total of 9 of me Best are currently at Little Tots Estate for a stint in the south. I doubt they are complaining much seeing as it's like 16 degrees here and high winds. Their kids will be available down there for the most part, but let me know if you want to buy one anyway, and we can see about getting them up when the rest of the herd comes home. I still have my second string here, but I won't be showing them this year. Their kids will be available for the most part, minus Jurassic's again. Unless she has all bucks... again. ;) She does make great boys though.

The cows are GONE!!! YAY YAY YAY!! No More COWS!!! They take up space, they poo everywhere, and they're to friggin cute to eat! Burt has gone to a farm to be Mr. Man to a herd of Holsteins. Tia (Teazle) went home to her breeder. No more cows for us! La la la la La LA LA. XD

Klassy is getting prettier by the day and is worming his way into my heart. The brat. How can you not like a horse that loves you back? Now Pharoah is a great horse, gentle as a lamb, handleable by anyone... But he's not a cuddly horse. He's not big on hugs and snuggles. Treats yes... Kisses no. Imaana is a lover, Amurrah takes a bit after her daddy with the thought of kisses, but she'll take a hug and snuggle. Essy will take whatever you give her. She's such an easy mare to be around.

Oh! Yea... My NEXT basket project is a coiled basket for cooking in. Or so the plan goes. I'm thinking a sweetgrass base with natural raffia. I need to think up some designs to decorate it with. I thought about making an Adirondack pack basket as my next project, but that seemed a little more involved than I wanted. Since Riana wanted a pack basket, I bought her one. I'll stick to making utility type baskets... Cooking baskets, gathering baskets... It's all fun. I'm also making her an "otterskin" bag (the otter is from a toy puppet, with a microfiber lining for the leather feel). She wants to be Ayla from the Clan of the Cave Bear. I'm a much more tolerant mother than mine was. I get her stuff... Is she spoiled? No. Just indulged. ;)

Oo! Snark sights... I LOVE snark...
http://www.fuglyhorseoftheday.blogspot.com/ Snarky and educational, I HIGHLY recommend Fugly.
http://15minutelunch.blogspot.com/ Not as snarky as just plain fun. 15 Minute Lunch has given me many good laughs.
http://www.craigslist.org/about/best/all/ Not for the youngens... Best of Craigslist is fun and "different." This is the content that gets flagged for removal, either because of explicit content, or because it's just too snarky for the public areas.

Enjoy!

A new Year

So I posted in December, but it appears to have vanished... Anyhoo, to the updates!! :-D

I was lucky enough to sell a few goats back in December, and get some hours at the hospital, so we were able to have a nice little Christmas and Birthday celebration for my daughter. We went to Candlelight service on Christmas Eve Eve (yes, that's Eve Eve), and then did some reading of scripture and some stories on the true meaning of Christmas. Do you ever get the feeling that the kids are missing the point sometimes?

I spent New Year's Eve working at the Hospital... Remembering the last New Year's celebrated in a hospital was my Daughter's birth... I had sent out an email to all my friends saying that I was in labor and heading in, all bets were now closed (yes people were betting on when I'd pop). I came home to a message on the machine from a friend in England... a very Drunk friend (she called during her New Year's party :) wishing us some very hearty congratulations. One of my favorite memories of New Year's Past. XD I can't say that this year will be too different from any other though. Resolutions? Umm... No.

I recently bought an iPod... A WONDERFUL toy. :) I can store 4 full length movies and several hundred songs on it, and have the battery life to watch three movies and listen to almost all the songs... It's the smaller iPod touch... The 8Gig.. It's plenty for me. What am I going to do with a 16 gig iPod? LOL! I've downloaded some Pink Floyd, Gackt, and lots of Phillips,Craig, & Dean, a bit of Steven Curtis Chapman, and Casting Crowns. A fine, varied collection. Underdog is a funny movie. Riana is on her second viewing of it now, and she's also enjoying National Treasure (the first one).

Several of my does will be heading to Georgia next week hopefully. Spending the show season with my good friend Rusty. Tigress, Velvet, Velocity, Prize, Vanilla, and maybe one more... We'll see when Rusty arrives. He's already showing some of my bucks for me, Tsaber, Virtue, and Xone of Contention. Rusty is a great friend!

Horses... Hmm... The filly is doing Awesome. She's growing in leaps and bounds. Full of spunk, yet oh so friendly. She'll be a great mount when all grown up! I'll be offering up my adult mares on a lease arrangement (Imaana and Escalatta)... If you're interested, please contact me. Imaana is Lease Only, while Essy will be available as Lease or purchase. I'm hoping to enlist the help of a local trainer/breeder here to help me train up Klassy to saddle. Maybe some of his riders would like to show him too. Pharoah is a doll as always. I want to take him out on some longer rides this year. There's always hope, right?

I still have several goats for sale. Mostly bred does. See the Sales page for that info. We've scaled back to focus on my core group a bit more.

Hmm.... What else... Ah... Roxy is going to be spayed within a week. I'll do the goat's blood tests at that time. Roxy is still available for adoption as well.


Anyone have Digital Video/Still Camera recommendations for High Humidity locations? Like 95% Humidity all the time? I'm hoping to go on a short Missions trip this year to Sierra Leone, Africa. But it will be rainy season during the scheduled trip, and I doubt either of my current cameras can handle the environment.

Wow... Almost Novemeber!

And I haven't updated this thing in HOW long?? Well let's see...

First, we have a Puppy for Adoption. A sweet Boxer/Shep. mix, 6 month old female. Very active and adorable. Best as an only pet as she can focus better on her people that way. She's good with my dog, but my dog is older than dirt and puts up with a lot. The cats, while she doesn't do anything to hurt them, don't appreciate her playful antics. Midnight (my daughter's dictator cat) attacks the dog through the window. They drive each other crazy. She'd make a great agility dog for someone that likes that. I love just having her around to cuddle with when I'm out doing things. She stays pretty close to me. I have trained her to the Invisible Fence, and she knows "sit" and "kennel." She's crate trained and house trained, and is quiet in both situations. I'd keep her if Ken would let me, but with so many others to care for right now, we just can't. She was taken in as a Foster and of course, I happen to be falling in love with the booger.
I did a farm-wifey job a couple weeks ago... I made Apple Cider... All by myself! :) It was pretty cool... Ken and Riana helped me pick some apples out of the in-law's orchard. Some nice old varieties, and a couple newer types. They blended into a lovely cider with lots of yummy flavor. I made seven gallons before running out of freezer space and containers to put the cider in. I'll have to learn to can so I can store more next year. :)

I'm also weaving a bushel basket out of Rattan. It's not bad for my first basket. I'm hoping to work up to the point that I can weave a watertight basket for hot rock cooking. Another fun project I want to try.

Yes, we have a new Stallion. A lovely chestnut by the name of Klassy Knick IA from the farm of Judith Earnhardt in NC. He's quite the looker and a sweetheart to boot. Also in horse news, we had a foal born on the 20th! A Pharoah Filly! She's such a doll, and growing so quick! If it translates correctly, my daughter wants to name her "Starlight" (Light of the Stars)... I rather like Kinnakeet (That which is mixed - referring to something that was smoked in lieu of tobacco, but works since she's a blend of Polish, Egyptian, and American Foundation bloodlines). What do you think... Name suggestions?

I still have a TON of goats here, more than we really have space for. I have many listed for sale, and most of them have been bred. If you are looking for the biggest bang for your buck (pun not intended) than now is the time. I am not adding in the stud fees to the prices, however a few will only be available for a limited time. Some of the goats are due in December and will carry the Only*Kidding herd name. Others, due in March, will carry my own herdname.I have Alpines bred for Mini Alpines, Alpines bred for French Alpines, Nigerians for purebred kids... Lots. :) I also have a couple wethers still available.

Riana is taking up the Violin. We found a lovely youth sized on on Craigslist Rochester, and with Hochstein Canandaigua being right in our school... Well all the better. I'd like to get her some Dixie Chicks where they're doing some Violin Solos for Riana to see/hear what a Violin can do. :) She's excited about learning a new instrument.

Well... That's all for now! Until I post again... ;)