I did a quiz too! (and bye bye to llamas)

My lady is very sad today because she had to say goodbye to all her remaining five llamas.  They have gone to live at Hedgeapple Farm, with a lovely family who have lots of sheep and lots of children, so they will enjoy the llamas very much.  My lady was very brave and did not cry until the llamas drove away (oh, the llamas were not driving, the people were driving and the llamas were in the trailer).  Then she had some moments with some tissues and got a splotchy face and looked quite unsettled.  So I said to her that we should do the quiz that Isobelle Golightly did, because maybe it would make her laugh.

Isobelle had wondered what result Val would get, because she is besotted with Valentino, our buck.  However, the quiz seems to be directed only to females, so I had to do it for myself.  My lady read me the questions and I was able to answer all the quiz questions without difficulty, because I am a clever goat.

So, without further ado, I shall let you know that I am indeed....Emma Woodhouse!

Oh yes, and the description to go along with the result was perfectly suited you know.  It said this:

• You like being the queen of your social circle (small and provincial as it may be), and feel it's your duty to help those less influential than you. 
• You often meddle in the affairs of others, though you do it with a pure heart. 
• You are often deluded in your flights of fancy, but your good intentions and creative spirit make you someone anyone could like.

Now really, isn't that just perfectly right?!  I AM the queen of my social circle, which may be a small barnyard circle, but none the less it is mine, and it is always my duty to bring you the news.  I only meddle when it is called for, and while some might think my flights of fancy to be delusional....well....I beg to differ.  And I do have a very creative spirit.  All this led me to think that I really should be named Emma instead of Lucky Nickel.

Oh, did you notice how lovely my fybur looks these days?  Yes, it is getting longer and curlier.  My lady is very excited about it and says I will make great socks one day.  I think she is having flights of fancy but since she is sad, I didn't give her a butt in the leg to make her stop saying such silly things.

I do like to accent my curls with a little hay and weed seeds.  It just adds such a lovely touch, don't you think?

As I told you, my lady is sad to have to say goodbye to her llamas.  She was especially sad about saying goodbye to Stormy and Merlin.  She said I should show you these pictures of them from last week when they were being given their evening snacks.  She says that Merlin had just reached the stage where he liked having neck rubs.  Oh dear, now she's going to cry again.  Well, just enjoy the pictures.

Merlin in the Sunset

 Stormy has a lovely fleece now.

Stormy with his Dad Kahlua in the background.

Merlin gets ready for a nibble of grain!

Oh Merlin, you're so adorable!

 Goodbye little man.  Be a good boy at your new home!

All Things Goaty!

I'm back!  Oh my word, I know it has been a long time since I have blogged.  In fact, some of you may be crying, or even gnashing your teeth with anxiety, wondering what I have been doing.  I, Lucky Nickel, have been organizing things.  Oh yes, it is one of my special talents.  I have many special talents of course, but I can inspire other goats into action.  As it happens, I was visiting a favourite goat blog - by Millie at Eden Hills - and she said that there was "a movement across the goat farming world" and of course, I had to be a part of the movement.  It's possible I started the movement myself...I mean, I'm such a trendsetter...sometimes I start things without even realizing it.  Anyway, I needed to be more involved, since I am a model for other goats.

Yes, so this movement is apparently about goats standing up for peace.  I asked my lady, "Standing up for a piece of what?  Pie??" and she rolled her eyes at me and said "Lucky Nickel, not THAT kind of piece."  Then she furrowed her eyebrows and said "In any event, you are too fat, and may not have pie."

Can you imagine?  She called me fat!  I am not fat!  I am fluffy!  In addition, I have to live outside, or at least in the barn, and the winter is coming, so I need to be well insulated.  Fat....harrumph!!!

I felt it was my duty, then, to have the rest of the goats on the farm all stand up for a piece of pie, errr...I mean, stand up for peace.  So, I told them to do so, and they kind of stood around in a confused group, not being sure what to do.  Sometimes, I really wonder about my fellow caprines.  What is so difficult about standing up for peace?  I had to show them the picture of Marley over at Eden Hills, doing the stand up thing.  I had to stand up myself, even, to show them how to do it, because there was a deep-seated reluctance in the group to do anything at all other than eat and sleep and produce goat berries.  Not the saltiest peanuts in the bag, these goats...

After I did some more explaining, finally, the little goat brain light bulbs began a slow but sputtering glow.  The only way I could manage to encourage them was through the use of some strategically placed attractant.  Here you can see, from left to right, Lotus, Horton and Coffee standing up for peace.  I am in the very front of the picture, just a little bit (accidentally of course) because I had to coordinate the whole event.

After that initial success, we had multiple standing up for peace moments.  Coffee and Horton were really good at it.  My lady said Horton was looking fat too.

Then Lotus managed a semi-standing with Coffee while Horton took a rest.  She can't get as tall as Coffee because Coffee has long gangly Nubian type legs.  Not really something I covet, but she does stand well.

Horton did another stand that I thought was really very energetic and possibly even verging on goat ballet, kind of like Isobelle does, but my lady said "Look at his belly!!" and ruined the artistic moment for me.

Then Misky became distracted by Horton's lovely fybur (yes, that is the correct goat spelling) and there was a loss of focus on the standing matter, and Horton just wanted to show off.

So he pranced about wiggling so that his fybur would look extra curly and special.  That of course made my lady get distracted from the standing too, because she went all googly-eyed over Horton and his fybur and started mumbling incoherently about socks and knitting needles.  I know Horton doesn't want any needles because they are pokey.  If you look at this picture below, and click on it, it will be bigger, and you can see his little curly bits.

So by that point the whole group was off balance and nobody was standing properly and my lady had to go see to the llamas.  She said she would be back in a while, and I had to sit around supervising the other goats because they were so wired about standing and fybur and eating pie and everything.

My lady spent excessive amounts of time cooing over the llamas and giving them neck rubs and other unfair attention, because really it should be lavished upon me, but that is another matter entirely.  She finally came back and I saw her coming over in the oncoming darkness, and I alerted her to a non-conforming behavior.  She was a little confused as she stumbled over in the darkness, nearly tripping on blades of grass and other great distractions.

As she got closer, she saw the infraction for herself.

Misky and Larke were standing on TOP of the goat hut.  Definitely not a sanctioned activity.  The more astute observer would see that they were not alone!

Indeed, they immediately blamed the interloper, and said that he had coerced them into this folly.

At that point, he looked rather affronted and flew out of the goat pen.  Misky and Larke just stood on top of the hut, which is only covered with a tarp, looking sheepish.  Well, goatish, but in a sheepish way.

At that point, Horton and Lotus had to distract my lady by standing up for peace again, or at least doing their best to stand up for something.

Opal got so excited that she couldn't figure out what to do (she gets confused easily) and started doing neck rolls for peace instead.

It's so embarrassing when I am the only smart goat on the farm and I have to watch this sort of thing.

My lady said she thought we'd done quite well with our standing up, at which point I was the one rolling my eyes because she really doesn't have very high standards if she thought this was sufficient.

So I'll be back in the barn, laying on a hay bale, available for consultations or anything else you might need.  Just don't ask me to organize a group of goats.  They're not worth the trouble.

Some good news updates

First of all, I would like to thank everyone who has commented, written emails, written Facebook messages, and otherwise contacted me about my most recent post.  I was both humbled and heartened by the many voices who expressed care and concern, and who wanted to help in any way they could.  I was really surprised by a number of readers who had never commented before - readers I didn't know I had!  It really helps to have positive messages from so many people and places.  Thank you all, so much!

Second, I would like to assure you that I will definitely be continuing the blog!  There will always be adventures of one sort or another going on.  I enjoy writing it and hearing from you, and I will keep on writing and hoping to hear from you.  There are some tentative future plans brewing and there will be furry critters involved, so just stay tuned for more news over the coming months.

Third, I have a number of blog posts waiting to be written - an overdue thanks for a blog award, a recounting of the fun time I had at SOAR (Spin-Off Autumn Retreat) in Wisconsin, and other bits and pieces.  I shall do my best to get to those soon.

Fourth, and perhaps most importantly, I wanted to update you on the situation with my herd/flock/menagerie. I am thrilled and relieved to be able to report that I have already found wonderful homes for many of my beloved animals.  As I had mentioned, my Blue-faced Leicester sheep, and two Icelandics, went to live at a caring and loving farm by the name of Grace Haven Acres in Wisconsin.  Subsequently, the rest of my sheep and Dolly Llama have gone to a wonderful new home right here in Iowa at the Stamps Family Farm.  I am really glad to have met the Stamps family and I know they will provide a great home for all the sheep as well as Dolly.  In fact, Dolly is already eating grain from their hands!

My ducks and goose will be going to live with Maggie and her mom at Prairieland Herbs.  They will have a lovely home to share with some mini horses (who have on occasion been mistaken for goats) and will have a lovely assortment of fresh herbs to snack on in their new surroundings!  My remaining llamas will all be going to live with the Icelandic sheep at Hedgeapple Farm here in Iowa - another wonderful family farm where they will have a great home.

Now, I'm just focusing on finding homes for some goats and the mini donkeys, and also the chickens.  The relief of finding good homes is tremendous, and I feel that I can sleep well at night knowing that all my animal friends are in good hands.

Oh, and Lucky Nickel says hello, and stay tuned for news from the goat world soon too!