So the big exciting news around here is that we bought Cuzco a buddy yesterday! She’s a 3-month-old registered Alpine doe.

After watching her taste every conceivable type of plant, rock, clothing item, or other object within reach, we decided to call her “Nibbles”. She never stopped tasting things for the entire afternoon. She had to try every kind of weed, shrub, tree, or sprout on the premises, and we have a wide variety to choose from! She loved undoing the velcro on my sandals, and she spent some time carrying them around our porch. She licked all of our windows, chewed screens, bannisters, the hammock swings, the wire fence, the stucco, the shed, the gas can (and the sticker she peeled off of it), the door mats, the firewood, the firewood box… you name it, she tasted it.

Cuzco and Nibbles are coexisting pretty well. They’re not friends yet by any means, but they seem to be enjoying each other’s company to some extent.

Cuzco likes to make sure Nibbles knows who’s in charge around here, but she is a lot quicker than he is, so she pretty much runs circles around him while he lumbers after her, waving his horn in a somewhat menacing but mostly bemused fashion. At first Nibbles was terrified of him and Cuzco wouldn’t put his hackles down. But today, she only darts away if he actually touches her. I think that’s because deep down she knows Cuzco is an old softie. Every time he’s gotten close enough to give her a good whacking, he slams his horn down then pulls his punch at the last second, giving her a little love tap on the bottom (if he even makes contact at all). Usually he’s at least a foot short. His hackles have stayed down and he’s kept a goaty grin on his face all day today, so we know Cuzco has no intention of hurting Nibbles. Still, we’re keeping them separated at night, just in case. I think Cuzco loves having someone he can push around for once.

Cuzco recently had his annual shots and health check-up and passed with flying colors. He also weighed in at a whopping 219 lbs. That’s 25 lbs. up from this time last year! He’s looking a little grizzled from the winter, but soon it will be time to give him his annual shave so he can look his noble best for summertime picnics, parades, and other events where he can show off.

The thistles have started coming in and Cuzco is doing his part to help keep them in check:

Up next: Big, exciting news about our new goat acquisition!

It’s Cuzco’s doormat. But sometimes he lets me sit next to it. Unless it’s the boys from the youth group, I always make sure Cuzco isn’t guarding our porch when someone comes to the door. The high schoolers come over once a week , and since Phil and I are firm believers that teenage boys deserve to be harassed regularly and often, we leave Cuzco loose to give them character enrichment lessons. Cuzco smells the fear behind their false machismo and takes advantage at every opportunity, teaching them important life lessons about humility and proper respect for animals.

The UPS man often encounters Cuzco, but he doesn’t have a problem because he’s neither intimidated nor confrontational. He just has to remember to close his door while delivering the package because he’s ended up with a goat in his truck on one or two occasions. Thankfully he’s got a good sense of humor.

Since Phil is in San Francisco this week at the Game Developer’s Conference, I’ll post a picture of Phil’s favorite activity: making burgers on the BBQ grill. Cuzco likes to help.

It’s funny how intuitive animals are. Phil works in the house, so it’s not like he spends a lot of time outside with Cuzco. Sure, Phil gives treats and we take Cuzco for a walk together every day, but I usually do all the feeding and chores and outside work, so Cuzco sees a lot more of me than of Phil. But when Phil leaves town Cuzco always notices immediately and gets depressed the first few days. He wanders around baa-aa-ing at nothing, is more lethargic, and generally acts like he’s a bit lost. I try to make up for it with some extra TLC, but nothing can make up for the fact that Phil is missing. So here’s a picture of Phil feeding Cuzco peanuts from his hammock chair last summer. Ah, bliss!

Cuzco may be an “only goat”, but he still has friends. I got these from two totally different people who don’t even know each other. Cuzco sometimes talks to them. 

…I made them stop.”Yeah, I was cleaning out the garage last summer and Cuzco thought he would help.

Brrr… it’s snowing today and I’m having fond memories of last summer–back when I was complaining that it was too hot to do anything outside. Humans are impossible to please, but luckily goats aren’t.

Cuzco: up to the ears in eatables. What could possibly be better?

Is this goat in heaven or what?

Yep, it’s sadly becoming true. So my dad got him this sign for Christmas. 

“It’s cold! Please let me in!” says Cuzco, as the goat on the windowsill mug mocks him.

They didn’t last long this year. Normally we keep the pumpkins till they’re good and rotten, but we didn’t have the heart to lock Cuzco off the porch for that long. This was the only possible outcome. 

Those pumpkins ‘ll wear you out! 

These are the shots from last year’s Halloween. Looking forward to the carnage coming up this year! 

…especially on the side with the missing horn.

Our faithful old Buick, Edith, finally bit the dust, so Phil and I had to make a decision. Repairs would have cost far more than she was worth, and four years of living in the western NY rust belt had not been kind to her undercarriage. We decided that a car this fine could only go out in style!  Colorado State Fair demolition derby, here we come!

The only problem was that this was Cuzco’s car.

The goat was very excited to see his favorite ride standing in the drive with the doors open. He thought he was being invited to climb in and go for a ride and maybe take a nap in the cushy back seat (Buicks are always so plush!). But the back seat was no longer there! He crawled all over the interior of the vehicle looking for it, but even the front passenger seat (which he had used once or twice in a pinch) was missing! I’m afraid he was a bit traumatized by the experience.

In order to console Cuzco for the loss of his favorite ride, we decided to get him into the spirit of derby day. I had sprayed the car with aerosol glue and poured about five bottles of Sunday school glitter on it. Cuzco was lying on the porch minding his own business and I thought, “That goat needs something…”

A couple of spritzes of glue and a few dashes of blue glitter and voila!

Cuzco, bedazzled, poses next to the corporate logo on our car:

This is only fitting since he is, after all, our company mascot.