Phil and his dad recently built a palace for Cuzco. He gave it his immediate stamp of approval and made it his royal headquarters. 

4th of July parade 2004, Lake City, CO

Try stucco!  This is a very subdued itching session. Sometimes Cuzco gets so “into it” that it looks like his feet are going to slide right out from under him! Our walls now have a nice blackish grease streak right at goat level. But at least his coat stays shiny!

More than anything else I think it was the parachute ears that really won my heart. I’ll never forget the first time I watched him bounding through a field of tall grass. His ears were flapping like wings so it looked like he was trying to take off. Proportionally they are not nearly so big now that he’s grown up, but even still when we’re with friends who see him run for the first time they almost always exclaim, “Oh my gosh! Look at his ears! Is he trying to fly!?!”

This is the photo we submitted to the Houghton Star when we ran Cuzco for Homecoming King. Look at that royal strut! I think it’s obvious why he won. 

Today is Cuzco’s ninth birthday, and it brings back memories of how we found him. This is the very first photo we ever took of him, and it was about a week before we bought him from a farm near Varysburg, NY. He’s the tiny speck closer to his mother. His sister is in front.

Phil and I were driving home from our anniversary celebration at Six Flags Darien Lake when we passed a lovely farm with goats. Somehow I spotted this tiny baby way off in the distance that had the most amazing coloring. I pulled into the farm so fast I nearly got in a wreck. I was sure that a goat this pretty would be far beyond our budget, but I was determined to ask. I banged on a lot of doors and hunted through many barns and tool sheds before I located the farmer. His price? $25!!! The cheapest goat we had looked at yet, and by far the most stunning to look at. He was with his Alpine mother and had a twin sister who wasn’t quite as pretty and was not for sale. The owner raised milk goats and was keeping all the female offspring. Lucky for us the pretty one was a male. 

This is the first photo we took of Cuzco after we bought him.

Phil rode with him in the back seat so he wouldn’t jump out of the box. We had even managed to name him by the time this photo was taken. Poor little thing was shaking like a leaf. He had never been handled before and suddenly he’s whisked away from his family and friends, banded, poked with a needle, and shoved into a car with a couple of strangers. It took him a few weeks to get over his fear of people, but it’s amazing what a little singing and cuddling can do. Not to mention treats. Lots of treats.

Cuzco is begging me for a tour of the interior of my new house! Stay out, goat!

The first day we moved in, the telephone guys came to our house to install the internet. They were in and out of the garage, but Cuzco was puttering behind the house so I thought nothing of it. Until I heard “click-a-clack-a-click-a-clack-a” on the tile floor behind me. I turned around and Cuzco was standing right there in the kitchen, sniffing along the counter-tops and surveying our new house with a critical eye. Dang, does that goat ever look big when he’s inside the house!

Apparently Cuzco had moseyed around the house to see what was going on in the garage, and on finding nothing more interesting than the telephone serviceman (who did nothing to stop him), he simply wandered through the open door into the house. Seeing my goat appear unexpectedly in the middle of my kitchen made my day. Suddenly the house felt like home. But I didn’t want Cuzco to feel at home in my house! I shoo-ed him out in short order and put him on his chain so he couldn’t come back!

Cuzco loves the back porch. He thinks the doormat was put there specifically for him to nap on. Now, instead of wiping the mud off our boots, the mud just gets stuck full of goat hair to be tracked right along with it into the house. I suppose it adds extra spring to our carpet. 😛

Phil and I recently bought and moved to a house on 40 acres, so Cuzco now has a bit of room to spread out. 😛

I can’t wait to bring up my horses so he can have buddies again!! Here are a couple of photos of Cuzco when Phil and I went sledding earlier this week on the amazing sledding hill outside our back door. Cuzco had fun chasing us down.

Sledding videos:

When Phil buys me flowers, Cuzco gets to enjoy them when they’re past their prime.