Penny and Rita sure are cute. They’ve come in to help us watch movies these last two nights, and now Phil and I each have one in our lap to help us with office work.

Rita’s ears were lopsided for the first two days and it was adorable! One up, one down.

I took a bunch of pictures that were all the same but just a little different. I couldn’t choose which one or two I liked best so now you have to bear with me while I post them all.

Ah, here’s one that came out different!

Lovely Rita and her crooked EARS!!

Little Penny Lane. She’s so soft she feels like a little bunny.

Rita gets a drink. Look at those tilted-up ear tips!

Coral and Skeeter had a good time play-fighting on our walk. Coral has been very playful lately, and look how big and beautiful Skeeter has gotten!

Coral is still the cutest goat in our herd in my opinion. She has the sweetest little face, a perpetually curious expression, and mischievous little pink smile. Not only has she been extra playful lately, she’s also been extra friendly and extra greedy for food! She’s due to kid around June 2nd. She has so much fur I took to calling her “Fuzzy” over the winter and now I can hardly remember her real name any more.

It may be “old news” by now, but it’s exciting news! Here are the photos from Sunday’s exciting kid delivery. Penny Lane and Lovely Rita came into the world on a sunny but windy Sunday afternoon. And let’s just cut to the pictures!

A bright new Penny pops into the world!

What a cute little bundle!

Phil has her dried off in no time.

Nan helps her find the milk bar.

And what’s this? A little sister!

Mama’s tired. Jezebel took a brief power nap here with her head on her flank and baby Rita shaking her wet head and looking curiously at the world around her while her hind feet had yet to make an entrance and the umbilical cord was still attached.

Enough napping! Time to inspect this second newcomer!

I got to help dry this one off.

Doh! Here comes mama to make sure I do a good job.

Apparently I missed a few spots.

We’re covered up in girls this year! Jezebel delivered two fine, healthy doelings this afternoon! First one is all dark chamoisee like her mother. Second is chamoisee with a blaze face and a white splash on one side. They were four days overdue and good-sized. Both weighed about 8.5 lbs. They’re very strong babies and were up and nursing within a few minutes. Jezebel needed some help delivering. The first one was breech with hocks presenting. The second kid was in the normal position but her huge head was holding things up and Jezebel has a bad habit of barely pushing during labor. This is her fourth delivery and she’s never been very tired after giving birth because she’s never done any work–I have to do it! They say, “Pull the kid with the contractions.” What contractions??

We’re sticking with the Beatles theme and named these two “Penny Lane” and “Lovely Rita”. We’ll call them Penny and Rita of course. I’ll have more photos tomorrow. 

Saturday was our community Easter egg hunt, which is always a big hit with families from all over the valley. I brought Sputnik and his cart and Phil brought Petunia and the two kids. We were too overwhelmed to take photos, but someone sent me one later. The goat cart rides were a huge hit as usual, and the baby goats were a fun new addition to the festivities. We’ve never had kids early enough in the year to bring any to the Easter celebration before. Unfortunately Blackbird and Skeeter were terrified of the mob of kids that came screaming over to pet them and started running around the park in a panic. But Phil had Petunia on a leash so he was able to get the kids back to their mama and then he put them on leashes so they couldn’t bolt. After that, Phil had the kids pet Petunia and he let the babies hide between his legs and her body so they could feel safe. The calmer children were able to gently pet them, but most had to be content just to look. Petunia didn’t mind any amount of petting, and many of the kids amused themselves by feeding her grass that they’d picked for her.

Sputnik was a model citizen. He did a great job carting those kids around and never got antsy or claustrophobic or nervous. He wanted to stand near Petunia (he’s always been very attached to his mother-dearest), but he kept his mind on the job and never complained. He got a lot of treats for his bother until by the end he was kind of sick of peanuts and animal crackers. But what a good boy! When we were through with cart rides I tied Sputnik to a pole so I could help Phil manage his three goats. Some kids went over and amused themselves by picking handfuls of fresh grass and feeding it to Sputnik. I kept a watchful eye on him but he never got nervous or defensive about the screams of laughter or the outstretched fingers poking toward his face. It’s nice to see him so comfortable around a noisy, rambunctious crowd of kids without me having to stand near him to calm him down. What a good boy he’s become! Babysitting children is usually Finn’s specialty, but it’s nice to see that Sputnik is learning to fill that role without having a meltdown.

We’re still having fun letting these kids be “inside goats” from time to time. They love prancing around and “skating” on the hard, slippery Pergo floor in the office, and they love bouncing on our various soft surfaces like couches and carpets.

Skeeter’s never seen an udder this big! Is there milk in there?

Blackbird investigates a somewhat riskier outlet.

“Oooh… psychedelic poster.”

“And something dangling that I can rip off the wall!”

A brief pause at the top of the stairs…

Then pell-mell to the bottom!

“Who is that staring back at me??”

Last November I went to visit family for Thanksgiving and my mom, my aunt Jana, and I spent an afternoon poking around in some antique stores in Granbury, Texas. Jana was the one who spotted an incredible treasure. It was a plaster carousel GOAT! My heart leaped. I knew Phil would love it. But surely it would be much too expensive. Carousel horses–even small ones–are very collectible and often very expensive. A carousel goat had to be rare and I thought I would see a $100 price tag. But no, it was only $30. I had to have it!

But as unique as it was, it was also kind of ugly. It was dull gray with a very ugly tannish saddle with purple saddle blanket trimmed in red. The bridle was mint green and the harness was dark green with mint trim. The pole was red, white, and mint green stripes. On closer inspection the paint was stained with what looked like old yellow cigarette smoke and was beginning to flake in areas. But it was unique and I knew I could fix it up. I’m kicking myself now that I didn’t take photos of what it looked like when I bought it, but I didn’t expect the results to be so incredible.

I spent a LOT of time carefully peeling, scraping, picking, and sanding the old paint off. I discovered that one horn and one hind leg had been broken and repaired at some point in the goat’s history. I had to re-repair the hind leg because it came loose while I was scraping the paint off it. Once I got it down to the plaster I sprayed it with a white primer and had a beautiful blank canvas to work with. I was originally going to give this goat to Phil for Christmas, but because of the time involved I pushed it back to his birthday in February. Well, when his birthday came round I was only partially done with the paint job. It took me another week to get it completely finished, and it wasn’t until just this week–more than a month after his birthday–that I was finally able to get ahold of some glossy lacquer to finish the job and give it a fine porcelain look.

And here it is… a portrait of Huckleberry Finn as a prancing carousel goat! I wish the photos could do it justice because I think it came out rather fine. I especially enjoyed painting the detail around the eyes and ears. The little speckles were a lot of fun.

Today is my birthday so I told Phil I wanted to take the goats for a drive in our new carriage after he got off work. They were very good boys–much better than last week. I think they were just a little rusty last time. Finn had a better attitude today, they worked together better, and there was much less pulling at the bits. We even went up and down a couple of hills and it didn’t faze them at all. Phil got out once or twice to take some pictures, but for most of our hour-long drive he rode in the wagon with me.

So here are some photos to make you all jealous. Neener-neener-neener!  

Phil and I got out before we reached the truck and led the boys the rest of the way. I try to make sure we always disembark someplace besides the truck so it’s not quite such an attractive nuisance.

We brought Skeeter and Blackbird into the house yesterday for some play time. They liked the “cowch”.

The last light at yesterday’s walk was amazing.

The baby goats entertained us as usual.

I can never feel unpopular or unloved around here.

We finally had a chance to take the new wagon out for a spin yesterday and it was a blazing success! The boys haven’t been driven much since last summer, so they were a bit fired up. They had no trouble at all pulling Phil and I together in the carriage, and in fact we had to spend quite a lot of the time holding them back. This new carriage really fits their size and it looks very dashing. I left the back seat off for now so we can use it like a buckboard and carry cargo. The rear seat is conveniently easy to install and remove. It’s has brakes to help the boys on stops and downhill pulls, and the tongue is self-supporting so the boys don’t have to hold it up by the breastcollars. It has a cushy suspension so it’s a very smooth, comfortable ride for Phil and I too. I think we’re going to have a lot of fun with this vehicle!

I took these photos last week before Tigerlily’s recent tragedy. Everyone stampeded from the pasture when we called them for their daily walk. Gotta love Blackbird’s flying ears and tail! Tired Petunia is all the way at the back. It a lot of work raising two rambunctious rapscallions!

Skeeter loves to jump up for cuddles. “Up! Up!” she says.

“Hey, leggo my hat string!”

Blackbird is quite the armful these days.

She’s a little more wiggly, but she’s still as sweet as ever.

Baby goat bliss.

Skeeter loves to chew on clothes, hats, strings, zipper pulls, etc. (Luckily not hair.) We’re going to have to start working on that. Innocent curiosity is one thing. Destructiveness and demands for attention are quite another!

Queen of the doghouse!

Tincup and Jezebel engage in a little friendly head-butting.

Coral and Tigerlily prefer to take it easy and relax in the shade.

I love Blackbird’s face here. She was enthralled by Petunia’s fluttering tail.

I think mama is tired!