It’s been a busy few weeks with all these kids running around! Gandalf and Esmeralda grew by leaps and bounds while Skeeter’s and Sadie’s kids were just starting to find their legs. Gandalf is quite the little chunklet! He’s going to be a big, strong boy when he grows up. He and his sister want to be involved in everything and they love nothing more than climbing on people.
Things started greening up a little toward the end of April. It seemed very green at the time, but now I’m looking at it from two weeks later and thinking, “Gee, it sure was brown back then!” We’ve had a lot of moisture and sunshine to turn the pastures emerald.
The boys are in fine fettle. Scout and Sonic are fat and happy and need to get out for some hikes so they can get in shape! The big boys have been a bit neglected lately with all the babies on the scene.
Baby goat season is Finn’s least favorite time of year. He’s been quite sulky lately and is acting like a crotchety old man. Not only do the baby goats get under his skin (mostly because they steal so much of me and Phil’s attention), but he’s also feeling old because he’s no longer King. Pest claimed the crown last fall and Finn hasn’t been happy about it. The funny thing is that Pest is not much of a fighter, so I think if Finn wanted to keep his position he could do it. But it turns out that Finn, for all his bluster, was just a big bully with no real fight in him. So now he’s relegated to second-tier boss and it’s not sitting well with him. “Too bad, Finn! If you hadn’t shown Pest all your dirty bossing tactics he would never have turned the tables on you!”
Merlin and Morgana are two of the flashiest babies we’ve had, with their striking black-and-white coats. Merlin reminds me of Finn when he was little. And Morgana is the spit-and-image of her grandma, Petunia. She has the biggest eyes I’ve ever seen, and she knows how to use them! 
Skeeter always wins “Mom of the Year Award”. Ever since, as a first-timer, she almost lost little Butterfly to a horse in 2020, she has been extra diligent about her kids. Even if every other goat crosses through the horse pen, Skeeter takes her babies around the long way. She makes exactly the right amount of milk and keeps her kids fed but not overfed. She keeps them perfectly clean and she watches them carefully but she doesn’t smother them or spoil them. She’s a rare, special kind of mama goat!
Merlin wanted to meet Gandalf. Gandalf was excited to have someone smaller than himself to challenge. I’m not sure Merlin was interested.
“Hmm… who else can I fight?”
Maya is always up for a tussle! She was mean to Gandalf and Esmeralda for the first week or two, but then she realized that baby goats are a GOOD thing! She actually has little ones to play with now who can match her energy and athleticism. Pongo would sometimes play with Maya, but he is not as fast or agile or energetic as she is and is more interested in being a companion than a challenger. The older goats aren’t silly enough to play Maya’s games, so she lacked an outlet. Now that there are babies on the scene, Maya has lots of friend to be wild with! Gandalf especially loves to rise to the challenge! 
“Push harder, Gandalf!”
Phil loves to sit and play with his baby goats. Esmeralda can’t resist an open lap! Merlin and Morgana are still only politely curious, but it won’t be long before they start fighting Esmeralda for that lap!
