Goats will be goats!

Despite valiant efforts to contain them, goats cannot always be contained.  Miss Lucky Nickel is a very high jumping goat, and she is no match for the average, or even above average, fence.  She is therefore very tricky to contain.  This means that she often just runs around the property, eating a bit here and there, and generally causing mayhem.  She gets in the way of outdoor projects and eats the flowers.  Now, she has instructed Inigo and Westley how to get out with her!

One of her more nefarious deeds lately has been her discovery of a beautiful garden bench that my Dad refurbished for us, and which we placed on the front porch.  The porch is still under construction, but it was complete enough that we could put the bench out and enjoy sitting on it and taking in the views of the hills and fields around the area.  Miss Nickel decided that the bench was also her throne, and she has taken to sitting on it whenever she likes.  Particularly in the heat of a sunny day, she will go there to retire in the shade and chew her cud, while contemplating other troublesome things she can do.  Lately, she has taken to holding court while sitting in her throne and instructing the other goats to lay at her feet.

Can't you hear her now?  "Westley, bring me my crown."
"As you wish, your highness."

Unfortunately, she has decided that the arms of the bench are good for chewing on, probably somewhat absentmindedly.  This made me very upset and also upset my Dad, who had put so much work into the bench for us.  We did try new methods of keeping Miss Nickel in place, all to no avail.  The bench arms will need to be refinished again, but Richard will do that just as soon as we can keep Nickel contained.  Either that, or when the colder weather comes, we shall bring the bench inside where she cannot reach it.  The intention is to screen in the porch with a low wall around the sides, such that we can sit out there and not be bothered by the swarms of mosquitoes.  When we put in the low wall, Miss Nickel's reign on the porch shall end, and the bench will be off limits.

So what do you think - are these two planning a revolt?

Stay tuned for a new blog post soon on some new additions to the farm!

Our Hero: The Scrap Metal Guy

When you move to a new rural location, there are certain people you should probably get to know.  Local sheep and goat people are important, local volunteer fire fighters are helpful to know, and locals who have lived in the area for a long time can give you reams of useful information.  Without a doubt, however, the most important person we have met is our local scrap metal guy.  Rob is a big strong guy with a big strong truck, and he's helping move mountains.  Mountains of scrap metal, that is.

The barn that I'm working on fixing up for the World's Most Famous Goat (Lucky Nickel, of course), was completely full of (mostly) junk, a large portion of which involved scrap metal.  Likewise, surrounding the barn and in the pasture area around it, there was enough scrap metal to build a small battleship...not that I have time, or need, to build battleships.

Here's her barn, from the front, outside!

And here, my friends, is the inside.  Well, at least a few days ago this was the inside.  Yes, in case you're wondering, that is an old bed frame that for some reason is wired to the back wall.

Rob takes it all.  He's even taking those 5 gallon buckets of used motor oil and other fluids (which he pointed out to me make great mouse traps based on the number of dead mice he found in the bottom as he was pouring the buckets into other buckets with lids on them).  The barn is slowly getting cleaned out - I still have some work to do on plastics and some other detritus, but overall, it's approaching a condition where Richard can do some work to seal up the windows (which have fallen inwards) and ensure that Miss Nickel will be safe.  I have been sorting stuff into piles, and Rob takes it after I sort it.  I've nearly got the entire floor cleaned off now.

Rob is taking all the stuff around the barn too, including old, dead tires, windows with rotted frames, plastic barrels, and all manner of other monstrosities for which I have no need, and for which I have no means of simple disposal.  It's not as if you can take old pieces of farm machinery that weigh over 1000 pounds and just pop them at the end of your driveway for removal.  These things require Rob, and he has been at the farm every day for the last 4 days, except Sunday, and will likely be here for quite a few more days in future.
Here's a few of the outside of the barn (from the back) from when I visited in December of last year, just to give you an idea of what's keeping Rob busy.  There's a lot more under the long dead grass that you can't really see in this picture.

Yes, it needs work...

While the barn is important, there are also great heaps of metal and plastic around other areas of the property.

One of these "heaps" was a very dilapidated livestock trailer, mostly rusted out, and absolutely chock full of garbage. I wasn't sure Rob would take it, given its dreadful condition, but sure enough, he hauled it away on his big flat bed truck.  Now, I don't  have to look at this view every morning.  It's too bad I didn't take a closer shot of the trailer - well....why would I want to?

But let's zoom in on this one a bit....here you go....somewhat grainy, but a better idea of what I've been looking at each day.

Anyway, it's gone now, and all the garbage it contained.  Also gone were some pieces of machinery that Rob says he believes were forest clearing machinery from the 1950s or so.  Huge, heavy, sad hulks of rust, the sort that would take centuries to disappear.

I won't even get started on the future chicken barn.

So, the cleaning and organizing continues, but things are moving forward, and even though I'm quite sure Rob isn't a blog reader so he won't see my gratitude here, I'm definitely going to be thanking him for a long time to come.