Petunia decided to get down to business a day early. The smart little gal set up camp in the official kidding shed where we keep the camera and can keep an eye on her from the house.  

She really built herself a nice nest in there. 

Sometime around 2:30 she started the licking routine. Imminent mamas like to warm their tongues up and get in some licking practice just before the kids arrive. Phil’s hands provided a good workout routine.  

Sometime around 4:00 we had our first arrival–a 9 lb. baby boy! He’s the most beautiful shade of rich, reddish brown.

Good thing Petunia exercised that tongue ahead of time!

Bob Ross is watching you, Kiddo!

And what’s this? A spotted brown sister! Keep workin’ that tongue, Petunia!

After the birth everyone stepped outside for a little fresh air and clean grass while I cleaned the shed. Mama’s still working that tongue. She’s always sure she missed a spot. Did you ever see such a fuzzy brown baby?

Snacktime!

Petunia has the best ears in the world. 

Hi baby!

Aaahhh!!! Attack of the giant baby goat head! It’s so fuzzy!!!

Petunia…

…so precious,

…so noble,

…so kind, 

…so thorough. 

And who is this little cutie-pie?

What a beautiful baby girl! 

What a sleepy baby girl!

This kidding was not as easy for Petunia as her last couple. Her contractions were weak and we had to help pull the kids even though they were presented correctly. We weren’t sure what was wrong except that earlier in the week Petunia had been hit really hard and was bowled over on her back. I thought maybe that affected her delivery but I was wrong.

Next morning Petunia was so sick she couldn’t stand and her lungs were full of fluid. She spent all day looking like each breath might be her last. She was too sick to take to a vet and the mobile vet in our area doesn’t work Thursdays so I had to wait until my neighbor Kathy, the vet at the Pueblo Zoo, got home from work. Kathy came around 6:30 pm and said that Petunia was hypocalcemia, which is a fancy word for a sudden, severe calcium deficiency that can happen after giving birth. Kathy and I spent two hours in the shed with Petunia while Kathy hooked Petunia to an IV drip to administer fluids and the life-saving calcium. This condition can be caused by too much or too little calcium in the diet prior to kidding. The weak contractions should have clued me in, but I was distracted by her accident earlier in the week and didn’t think to give her some calcium paste. I’ll have to think about my feeding regimen because I don’t want to have another scare like this again! I was afraid we would loose our “Pretty Pet”!

As of this morning, Petunia is weak but recovering. Her babies are thriving. I had to feed them bottles while their mama was sick, but they are both good eaters and had no trouble taking milk from a bottle.

I got very behind on my blog following our trip to Texas and now there have been so many things to post that it’s hard to get them all out at once! The morning after we got back from Texas (April 10th) we were greeted by a morning rainstorm with a rare west-side rainbow.

Three days later, that same western view became this fairytale spectacle:

Our girls were looking ripe when we got home! While this is not a great angle to see it, Petunia looked like a basketball with legs! She is due April 25th. 

TinCup is due April 27th, and while she’s not as wide as Petunia, she’s definitely lower. I think this goat needs a belly wheel! 

Tigerlily is due April 26th and as usual she barely looks pregnant at all. I think she’s got one tiny baby in there. 

Phil and I headed home in the rain on Sunday morning.

The rain that had come down all night finally petered out just long enough for us to take a short walk along the muddy lake shore. 

Ok, now it’s time for a little show-off session. Or maybe I’ll call it a “training clinic” so I can pretend that I’m not just boasting.  Finn gave us a textbook-perfect example of how a well-trained goat should cross water and I can’t help but post the whole thing.

There was a small corner of the lake that I wanted the boys to wade through. Finn and Sputnik must have decided to trade personalities, or else Finn was trying to make up for his disgrace the previous day because Finn is usually sticky about crossing water and Sputnik generally plunges right in. This time they were the opposite. I grabbed Finn first and he demonstrated the kind of water crossing I didn’t know was achievable with goats!

Finn approaches the water with interest, and while he’s slightly hesitant, he’s not resisting. There is slack in the lead. I am neither dragging nor coaxing him toward the water. 

I have now put a little gentle tension on the lead–enough to show Finn that I DO want him to follow me into the water and not avoid it by leaping over the narrow spot to the left–and he is responding beautifully. He’s stepping down the bank cautiously but without balking.

And here he is, walking nicely across. The lead is short but I have very little tension on it. The bottom is very uneven and I’m not sure whether it might be slippery in spots, so I keep Finn close so I can grab onto him if I lose my footing. 

And we have achieved the crossing! “Good boy, Finn!” He gets a cookie.

Now for the hard part… There is a deep spot right under the wall and I’m not sure if Finn will step down into it, especially now that the water is murky and we can no longer see the bottom. 

“Bravo, Finn!!” He steps right down into the water without hesitation, and he is not startled by the initial depth, nor by the steep, unseen climb to shallower water.

Now it’s Sputnik’s turn! Sputnik is usually not too concerned about water. When we go hiking and there’s a creek crossing, Finn always takes the log bridge or finds a spot narrow enough to jump while Sputnik plows right through the water. But Sputnik isn’t too keen on this pond for some reason. You can see the tension on the lead and Sputnik’s body straining against the pull. 

Luckily, Sputnik is very motivated by food. A treat from my pocket persuades him to plunk those first two feet in, but his braced posture tells us he’s not happy about it.

After that he crosses pretty easily, but not with Finn’s nonchalance. Once again, I’m holding my goat close so we can support each other on the uneven, invisible bottom. I love the way Finn is looking down from above. I think he feels superior. “I did it better, Sputnik!” And I admit–Finn DID do it better. On the way back, Sputnik balked before suddenly jumping down into the deep spot. He made a big splash and soaked the back of my pants, so I got to be wet for the rest of the morning. Unfortunately, Phil did not manage to get a picture. 

Our big packgoat “meet ‘n’ greet” day dawned foggy and wet. We were joined early in the morning by Kim Fox, another fellow NAPgA member, but no other members showed up. Bad weather kept most of them home, but our spot near Ratcliff Lake was good for stormy weather. It was humid and there was drizzle, but the rain and lightning mostly stayed away until that night so we had some good workshops. The FS put up flyers telling people to come learn about packgoats and a few brave souls ventured over. None of them had ever heard of a packgoat before!  

The FS gave us access to the covered pavilion, so we stayed dry even when the rain came. 

The pavilion even had electrical outlets and lights, so it was a great spot on a wet day! Sputnik showed everyone how packsaddles work. He was a funny boy. When I was done using him for demonstrations, I tied him up  where I thought he would be no trouble. WRONG! He’s a goat, isn’t he? Sputnik kept reaching over and pulling down the equipment draped over the rail. I scooted the saddles further and further from his reach, but he simply reached further each time. When I finally managed to get everything out of his way, he started hunching his back and attempting to spray like a buck (unsuccessfully, thank goodness, but these displays are always rather embarrassing!). I slapped his rump a couple of times to make him stop, so he got up on his hind legs and began gnawing on the beams of the pavilion and then clacking horns with Finn. He was really quite full of himself and was determined to remain the center of attention. I did eventually bring him back onstage so he could show off his tricks and he was immensely pleased to be once more in the limelight. What a ham!  

After the packsaddle demonstration, I hitched Sputnik to his cart and everyone took a turn at the reins. Fellow NAPgA member, Connie Losee, may have had the best time of anyone. Just look at that grin! 

Connie’s husband Robert drove trotting horses on the track at Belmont back in the day. I felt I was in the presence of a real expert.

Last but not least, Kim Fox took a turn just before the rain started and sent us all scurrying for shelter and some lunch.   

We spent the afternoon trimming hooves, fitting and comparing pack saddles, and jawing about goats. Finally, Phil broke out his fiddle and played us some tunes. Sputnik and Kim’s Toggenburg wether, Lucas, were both intrigued. 

Well, Lucas was intrigued. I think Sputnik was a little bit afraid. 

Finn got exiled to an outside picnic table about halfway through the afternoon after he disgraced himself by butting heads with another goat while Connie was in the way. He grazed her with his horn in passing and while he didn’t hit her hard enough to hurt, it startled her and made me angry. I gave him a thorough dressing-down and dragged him outside to stand by himself at the picnic table for the rest of the afternoon. He was quite upset at being left in timeout, but he must understand that he cannot spar with other goats if there is a person in the middle!

After our visit with the Texas family, Phil and I took our goats and headed southeast toward Davy Crockett National Forest where we had organized a small rendezvous with other members of the North American Packgoat Association. Unfortunately the forecast was not in our favor. We arrived at the NF and were greeted by enthusiastic park rangers who told us that our original choice of location at the Piney Creek Horse Camp was not ideal for wet weather camping. They relocated us to a much nicer spot near Ratcliff Lake with solid footing and bathrooms complete with running water and hot showers! We were very grateful for their accommodation in light of the fact that pack stock are not allowed at Ratcliff Lake Campground. But the Forest Service rangers felt that our goats don’t quite belong in the “pack stock” category and could fly under the radar on such a soggy weekend. It was a beautiful location!  

Nevertheless, Phil and I explored our original location at the horse camp just to see what it was like. It was also very nice but had no view of the lake. It had longer grass for the goats, but the ground was fairly soggy and I fear we may have gotten some of our trailers stuck.

It turned out that the horse camp was quite thoroughly trashed. Although we weren’t going to stay there after all, Phil and I spent some time that afternoon picking up garbage along the roadway leading into the camp. We were not able to get all of it, but we did our best to make a dent! By the end, both goats’ panniers were full to overflowing. 

I found this little peek-a-boo hole. 

Next day we set up near Ratcliff Lake where Robert and Connie Losee and their band of four goats were already encamped. 

We volunteered to do a small work project, so the Forest Service brought us some tools and told us to go to work clearing brush and weeds around an old, overgrown sawmill foundation next to our campsite. The goats loved this idea and went to work right away!  

Afterwards Phil had fun getting Finn to leap back and forth over this metal barricade. Finn is a graceful and athletic jumper. I just wish my photos could do him justice!

Phil and I had really a special day with our goats after we left Charles and Dominique’s house. My aunt Jana asked if we would be able to visit her mother at an assisted living home only half an hour from Granbury. Our schedule was open, so Jana and her sister organized our visit with the home’s activities coordinator, and despite the chilly weather, every resident came out to meet Finn and Sputnik and take a ride in the goat cart! Unfortunately, all of our names got lost in translation and the advertisement printed up by the activities coordinator came out rather hilarious. 

This is my aunt Jana with her mother, Peggy. Peggy had goats her whole life growing up and adored them, which was what inspired Jana to ask if we could bring Finn and Sputnik to visit her.

This wonderful gentleman (I think his name was Jerry) may have had the most fun of anybody. He was the first to volunteer for a ride, and he honked the horn all the way around the circle. He had a hard time talking, but he had absolutely no difficulty smiling! 

Mary was a little bit sneaky. She was one of the first to ride after Jerry, but after a few more people went, she got back in line and pretended she hadn’t already ridden. Someone made the excuse that her memory was starting to fail, but I saw the crafty gleam in her eye. She knew exactly what she was doing and no one was going to tell her she’d already taken a turn! We weren’t going to argue with her.

Peggy finally got her ride. She’d raised Spanish and Cashmere goats, so she had never seen any as big as Finn and Sputnik. She was thrilled to have her first ride in a goat cart!
Aileen (in the blue bath robe sitting down) spent a good bit of time holding onto Finn while Phil played his fiddle. Finn was a very good boy and let everyone pet and admire him. What a wonderful day! I would do this again any time. It brought so much joy to these wonderful folks who are now mostly housebound and no longer get to be around animals. 

I love how Finn towers over all these people, yet he’s got such a calm, gentle presence.

Jana had never really stared into a goat’s eyes before, let alone had one who stared back. And Finn just loves gazing into people’s eyes.

The “Christian Hymns” advertised on the flyer turned out to be “Be Thou My Vision” (which is the one hymn Phil had music for) and a lot of traditional Scottish and Irish fiddle tunes. Everyone loved the music as much as they loved visiting the goats.

Sputnik and Finn were both such good boys through all of this! Finn was patient, calm, and kind around all those frail old people with their scary walkers, canes, and wheelchairs. It was the first time our boys had experienced something like this and they were very well-behaved. Sputnik enjoyed pulling his cart. Every resident took a ride. One woman name Sue could not speak or walk at all, but she nodded when they asked if she wanted a ride. Three nurses had to lift her from her wheelchair and into the cart. Sputnik was nervous at having so many people crowding around his cart all at once, and he wasn’t sure if he should stand still when the cart bumped and rolled as Sue got situated. He jumped when the nurses hastily flung a blanket over Sue, but I calmed him with cookies, and once we got underway he was fine again. Sputnik got a big kiss afterwards for all his hard work!

After our visit to the nursing home, Jana took Phil and I out with her mother Peggy to a local BBQ joint called “The Purple Goat”. The food was amazing!

And they had a life-sized purple goat out front.

The purple goat had very authentic goat eyes and the perfect little goat smile! 

After lunch we said our farewells and struck out for Crockett, TX to embark on our “Lone Star Hoofenanny” adventures. We stayed that night at the Warfield Bed & Breakfast which was located right next-door to a funeral home. Since no one was having a funeral that night, there was plenty of room to park our trailer.

We took the goats for a walk around the back streets of Crockett and came across this army tank sitting near a park!
Phil really likes to pose with army tanks. 

Finn does too apparently.

After we left Jana and Peyton’s, we traveled down to Granbury where we visited my grandfather Charles and his wife Dominique. They recently installed a small elevator in their house and we got to ride in it. I was told I needed to get a goat to ride in it too, but even if Charles and Dominique had allowed it, I don’t think either one of our goats would’ve fit!

Sputnik took Dominique for a spin around her big, beautiful yard.

Dominique looks so dignified. I think she was born to ride a goat cart!

Charles was less dignified, probably because we had to bribe, threaten, and coax him to give it a try. We finally convinced him to take a short spin.

Not only were the goats supposed to ride the elevator, I was also told that we must have one of them pose on top of this big tortoise. Charles objected on the grounds that the goats’ hooves might damage the paint or dent the metal. So the goats stayed off the tortoise and Phil faked a shot of miniature Finn standing on giant shell.

Then I rode the tortoise!

After that we went for a walk around the property. In addition to the huge, beautiful lawn and gardens up top, Charles has a series of stone walkways going down to the lake. Finn and Sputnik love stone stairs, and Charles had no end of amusement watching them climb up and down, nibbling the variety of tasty overgrowth as they went.

Charles has several nice benches placed at strategic points along the pathway for both taking a rest and taking the view.

This overgrown patch of vetch was a particular favorite for the goats, and Charles loved watching them devour it.

We continued on to the boathouse where Finn made a thorough exploration of the dock.

Sputnik wasn’t so sure about getting too close to the edge near all that water.

Back to the top. Good boys!

I have always loved Finn’s intelligent, adoring eyes. He loves all things “people” and he looks for ways to engage.

Sputnik, on the other hand, just wants to find more delicious things to eat!

And here comes Charles!

We spent the rest of the afternoon lazing around in the sunshine on the grass, drinking in the sights and smells and sounds of Charles’ peaceful yard. It was a beautiful afternoon, and I just love Texas in the springtime.

Our stately goats look very content on this stately lawn, don’t they. I expected them to look out-of-place, but on the contrary they appear to fit right in.

During our time in the Dallas area, Phil and I stayed with my aunt Jana and uncle Peyton who live in Argyle. It used to be a small farming community near Denton, but it too is falling to the endless, creeping suburban beast. When I was a teenager I would visit during the summer and ride horses with my cousin Christy. There were many little farms and horse properties around the area, but now most of them appear to be gone or going. Jana and Peyton still have horses on their property, and it was a perfect place to keep Finn and Sputnik for a few days. The fencing was goat-proof and the pasture was full of clover so the goats were quite happy.

Hilariously, the goats spent a large part of their time hanging out near the dog pen because they liked teasing the dog. They would rear up with their front hooves on the dog fence and eat the oak leaf buds hanging above it–not because oak leaf buds are so incredibly delicious, but because it drove the dog mad and he would run back and forth, barking and barking to try to make them get down.

Jana and Peyton invited all their kids (my cousins) with their families and a few friends over one evening for dinner. Most were able to attend and we kicked off the festivities with a little goat show in the horse pasture. Sputnik was a real ham. I’m amazed that he can still jump through this tiny hoop. I just wish the photo were from a decent angle!

Well, Phil caught the angle this time, but the goat decided to turn his circus act into a comedy routine. He ran off with the hoop around his neck, leaving the audience in stitches.

Finn, his horns duded up, pulled the cart for everyone. My uncle Peyton was the first volunteer. He looks very proud perched on that seat!

The kids all had a great time.

My cousin Travis was a wild man. He waved one arm like he was riding a bull and got Finn excited enough to trot! They were all a bit more sedate by the time I snapped this picture, but the beginning of that ride was something to see! (Not many people can convince Finn to run away from his friend Sputnik and his crowd of admirers!)

Hold the reins tighter Ashley–he might run away with you!  

Phil and I usually take a spring vacation, but never before has it involved goats! Goat vacations are usually reserved for summer (NAPgA Rendezvous) and fall. But this happened to be a good year to include goats on our spring trip. Most of my grandparents are in their 90’s now and can’t travel any more, so if I want to see them, and if they want to see the goats, we and the goats have to do the traveling. All of my grandparents are fascinated by our goats and ask about them any time we talk. Some of them even rode Cuzco’s cart many years ago when we lived in Lake City. When I said I’d go down for a visit, all of them asked if I’d be bringing goats, so I said yes! And since I was headed to Texas with goats, it only seemed natural to also call up some NAPgA members and organize a small packgoat get-together while we were there!

The fun times started on the last day of March when I visited my mother’s mother, who we call Bitty. “Poppy” is no longer with us, but Bitty still lives in her own house in the suburban McKinney sprawl and my aunt Laura lives with her and takes care of her. Bitty was thrilled when I told her we were bringing the goats. She had us put them in her little back yard so we could watch them through the window while we visited.

Bitty spent some time petting Finn through the back door, but she couldn’t manage anything more because it was very cold and windy that day. We had been hoping to take her for a goat cart ride, and if the weather had been nice I’m sure she would have loved to take a spin through the neighborhood! But alas, it was not meant to be!

It’s a good thing Finn is gentle because he’s taller than Bitty!

My aunt Marva and my cousin Erin live a few miles from Bitty in an almost identical-looking suburban neighborhood in Frisco. Miles and miles of countryside north of Dallas have been carpeted by McMansions laid out in over-planned neighborhoods with mazes of streets and houses that all look alike. Goats are very out-of-place in these settings, but that’s one reason it’s fun to take them there and see the looks on people’s faces!

My cousin Erin has four kids and all of them were eager to see the goats! We started off with a little goat show, and Sputnik even shook hands with the older two girls, Kinsey and Hadley. Then I hitched Sputnik to the cart and we gave them a ride. “WEEEEE!” It’s a good thing I always hook the reins to the harness instead of the halter because kids sure love to haul away!

I think everyone is grinning in this picture–even Sputnik!

Erin rode with her daughter Findlay. Findlay was very upset when the ride was over and didn’t want to let anyone else take a turn. There was much weeping and gnashing of teeth when Erin made her get off and share, but she got to take another turn later, so it was ok! “Don’t worry, Findlay… I don’t like to take turns when it comes to goat rides either!”

My aunt Marva rode with the youngest, Becket. He didn’t seem overly impressed by the goats or the cart and he did not volunteer for a second ride, but Marva sure had a lot of fun!

Next day Phil and I visited Billie and Dan (my dad’s mother and stepfather) who live in downtown Dallas. They were really looking forward to seeing the goats, and we originally planned for all of us to go to the park and take a cart ride, but the weather remained cold and miserable so we had to leave the goats behind so we could all stay indoors. However, Phil made up for it by playing just about every fiddle tune he ever knew. Several other folks from the residence came out and enjoyed the music with us as well. It was a toe-tapping, hand-clapping good time!

It’s been a while since I’ve posted, but then again, there hasn’t been a ton of activity around here lately. The piles of January snow melted into mud, and just as the grass started poking through and things began to dry out near the end of February, we got more snow! We’ve been very fortunate to have so much moisture this winter. I’ve been trying to keep up with the firewood. Snow came so early this year that I wasn’t prepared, so I’ve been having to cut wood through the winter as weather and ground conditions allow.

The goats enjoyed a little sunshine and dry ground in mid-February.

Hi TinCup!

I love how family groups stay together. Petunia, Sputnik, and Skeeter are always hanging out in a friendly little group. 

Sadie doesn’t have a family group, so she floats around from one friend to another. She goes back and forth between the herd social butterfly and the herd outcast. 

Sometime mid-February, someone had a birthday! Can you believe this guy is 40 years old?? The t-shirt seems appropriate. With a herd of goats outside his door, a magical unicorn cake ,and multi-colored cupcakes on his birthday, this man is definitely “living the dream!”  

The snow came back near the end of February. The sun came up like a pillar of fire and then vanished behind a heavy cloud bank. 

The fog monster descends… It was funny because the morning was filled with bright sunshine before the cloud bank rolled down the valley. Within a few short minutes, our house was engulfed and we couldn’t even see the trees in the foreground. 

On March 2nd, Phil and I participated in a play called, “Pirates, the Musical.” Believe it or not, Phil was the “King of the High C’s,” a famous pirate vocalist and the star of the show. I was but a lowly swab.