Nibbles has nice back hair. I don’t want to shave it for State Fair. Do you think they’ll let me braid it down her back instead?
Not the neatest job in the world, perhaps, but with a bit of gel and a little more time I could probably make this look extremely awesome!
The goatlings stake out their territory, each in her own corner of the garage.
Five minutes later, Petunia is getting lonely
Five minutes more and Petunia has decided that a friend is better than an unchallenged claim on garage door real estate. She’s also doing her best impression of a llama.
Petunia likes to eat ants. First she stalks them.
Then she pounces on them.
Svelte Petunia struts her stuff.
Fuzzball Nubbin shows off her Nubian adorableness.
Petunia’s batwing ears are out of control!
Nubbin could easily win a stuffed animal look-alike contest. She’s so fuzzy and cute I can never resist cuddling her every chance I get.
I think we should start measuring Petunia by wingspan… er, earspan… rather than height. It would be a more accurate description of this goat!
Nubbin is just certain that the milk will flow if only she sucks these lug nuts hard enough.
Cuzco found a hose.
It wasn’t there yesterday.
There’s only one thing to be done.
Keep pulling it
Until it’s mostly on the ground.
And you can lie down and grin with the self-satisfaction that only comes with a job well done. 
She’s so soft and cuddly! I always want to just pick her up and snuggle her to my chest.
Petunia is so big and heavy now that it’s getting hard to pick her up. Phil and I are calling her the “fatling” because she’s gotten to be such a chunk. I mean, with her long, lean, athletic build she doesn’t look remotely fat, but she’s obviously extremely well-fed nonetheless. I think she’s going to grow into a gorgeous goat, with exactly the kind of conformation we’re looking for. If she were a boy I’m convinced she would be a pack goat par excellence. I can’t wait to show her and see how she does. She’s going to be in recorded grades where there won’t be much competition, but I have a feeling she’d show well against any goat regardless of breed.
It’s been a while since I’ve had time to take photos, but last week I did grab a few. Cuzco made himself useful by helping me take stuff across the property so I could cut up a tree. I put chainsaw and oil in one side and gasoline in the other. I love that Cuzco seems to always be eager to do real work. He stood perfectly still while I loaded him down and was eager to follow me out across the property with his load. I tied him to a fence post while I worked, and he soon got used to the noise of the chainsaw and laid down to patiently wait and chew his cud and watch the grass grow. He’s such a good goat. I wish he didn’t have to get older. =(
This Rendy event deserves its own post. Cuzco did something I never thought he would do. He went for a swim! It was not even coerced. Phil and I went in for a dip and we turned around to see Cuzco following right after us! He came in up to his chest and then stopped, but with a little more coaxing he waded right out into the deep water and started swimming. I didn’t have any treats or a leash, and of course we didn’t have the camera. So we went back for all those things and started over.
Of course, once we had the camera, Cuzco didn’t want to go in any more. Especially since Herb’s dog Sasha had joined us and was now in the lake.
“Come on in, Cuzco! The water’s great!” (Actually, it was freezing!)
As soon as Sasha ran back onto the beach, Cuzco was more than willing to come into the water. 
Into the deep water.
“Yeah, I’m awesome!”
Video proof that an old goat CAN learn new tricks!
Well, we’re back from the Rendy, and what a weekend it was! First of all, Cuzco would like to thank all his loyal fans for driving miles into the wilderness over bumpy dirt roads just to meet him. Second of all, he would like to apologize for making a scene at the campfire the first night. He knows perfectly well he should not have whacked Phil in the face with his horn no matter how cranky he was feeling.
Phil is doing much better. His irritation with Cuzco has subsided along with the bump on his forehead. However, I think he’s decided that I should be the primary goat handler in crowded situations in the future. Cuzco seems to mostly be a one-person goat, and I’m usually that person when he’s in an intense situation. Right before he whacked Phil, Cuzco had been entertaining the crowd with his repertoire of tricks, so Phil said he wasn’t sure whether he had the best-behaved or worst-behaved goat at the Rendezvous.
In stark contrast to Cuzco’s stand-offishness, Lilly had the time of her life making the rounds. I did not see that goat lie down once all weekend when there were people or goats to interact with. Wherever there was a crowd, Lilly was in the middle of it, and often as not Petunia was in somebody’s lap. Lilly made friends with every person and picked a fight with about half the goats. She seemed to win most of them.
Nibbles spent most of her time hiding from a certain little boy who wanted nothing more than to play with her and Nubbin. She also liked to torment the young wethers that Dwite brought for the silent auction. They were smaller than her, so she took advantage of the situation–especially when they were tied up.
Nibbles was taken aback by Amelia Goat-hart’s rather aggressive introduction. My goats and Herb’s (Charlie Horse’s) goats hung out a lot. Nibbles adopted Herb’s trailer as her favorite hide-out spot, and Lilly fought, er… roughhoused with his goats the entire time.
Cuzco enjoys the fruits of another goat’s labor. He didn’t dig this lovely dirt pit, but he laid claim and guarded it jealously.
My babies loved this trailer, and Nubbin spent a good deal of time trying to pick a fight with her own reflection. “Watch out! I’m bigger than you!”
Lilly, Victoria, and Amelia had some vicious knock-down, drag-out fights. Lilly usually won, even against two at once. It’s because she has the udder and she’s proud of it.
Speaking of udders, I entertained romantic visions of supplying the camp’s source of milk each morning. At home I’ve been getting a gallon a day out of these beauties from just one milking. At camp, it was a different story. I was thinking of starting a rodeo event: wild goat milking. Between flying feet, flying bucket, and flying dirt, I felt very fortunate that I was able to get one clean quart on the first morning. That was it. After that they were onto me and there was no more milk fit to drink. Oh well. Can’t say we didn’t try.
Petunia is starting the “try everything and see if it tastes good” phase. Clothes, she’s discovered, are delicious!
Phil has decided that every cultured goat must learn to waltz.
Phil loves his goaties and his goaties love him too.
Nibbles and Nubbin share a quiet moment.
I brought the goatlings to play in the basement with me one day. Once they discovered the joys of bouncing on the couch, that was all they wanted to do!
What a cutie! Nubbin definitely retains more of the Nubian look than Petunia. I thought that with Nibbles’ dominant personality she would make sure her offspring looked just like her, or at least a little like her, but I was wrong. This one looks like Papa.
Phil had Petunia up in the office a few days ago and was watching YouTube videos with her. She was very enthralled by a dancing hot dog the first time, but lost interest at the next viewing. The Doritos goat commercial, however, held her interest for three watchings in a row. She baa-aa-ed every time. I got the third viewing on video, so she doesn’t baa quite as loud, but you can just hear her at the end. Also, I love how Petunia licks her lips when she hears the chips crunching.
