What a sad picture.....

I admit it......this is a terrible picture of the milking stand that Richard built for me - completely from materials he already had! How cool is that? I haven't had a chance to drag it out of the garage to take a better picture, but I will post it when I do. I was just so thrilled to get it and I was so proud of Richard for building it that I wanted to go ahead and post this as a tribute to him. I am currently milking in...ahem.....the garage, as it is the only place to keep the stand indoors so that Vincent won't be using it as a butting post.

Twister, as a first freshener, is a very challenging goat to milk - especially for a rank amateur like me! I am a having a difficult time with her and I really think that she has a ton of milk, but either she isn't giving it up, I don't have enough milking practice , or a combination of the two. Either way, we're moving on!

Don't hate me because I'm beautiful.....

Meet Twister Veronica ........mother to Trixie and Gus, sister to Vanessa, girlfriend to Vincent and alpha goat as far as The Uncles are concerned. It is difficult to get a good picture of Twister, and as I haven't yet been able to make all the pictures I do have transferrable to this blog, this is the best I could right now. This picture, taken about three days before the babies were born, does show how pretty she is though. She is somewhat standoffish in nature, softening somewhat after Vanessa's tragic labor - enough to stand next to me and push against my leg for me to rub her neck. You are never in any doubt as to what kind of mood she is in or whether or not she wants you to touch her. She was bred with Vincent not long after we got her so I never really got a clear picture of her personality, but as her pregnancy went on, she became more reserved and as I mentioned before, standoffish. She cracks me up because when you try to rub her head or neck and she doesn't want to be bothered, she has this way of twisting her head around to give you the warning - DO NOT BUG ME. That said, she is an incredible mother. The way she takes care of her babies just fills me with respect, admiration - and love......... which initially took me completely by surprise. I mean - who knew?! I'd never seen so much as a kitten being born before she had her babies and watching her with Trixie and Gus has been both an education and a great source of joy. Watching her call to her them when it is time for them to nurse, or rest or just get closer to her is absolutely amazing. (If she was my mom, ain't no way I would pretend not to hear her!) When they're nursing, she's nuzzling and inspecting with the thoroughness that only a mom gets away with. When they're sleeping, she's got them nestled up next to her on one side or another with at least one ear and one eye at all times. Which sort of prompts me to digress, because it has suddenly occurred to me that some humans could take lessons from goats when it comes to parenting.

Trixie and Gus, about three days old....

These are the babies for which the Van Goat Ranch has been waiting. I'm not sure how much tragedy and sadness this blog can manage, so for the moment I'll just say that Trixie and Gus weren't the first babies we were waiting for, but they were the first to stay................and their arrival was worth every minute of the wait. Trixie, also known as Little Bag of Tricks, looks like her daddy (Vincent) but her personality is all her own. Augustus, mostly known as Gus, Gussy and GusGus, looks like his mommy(Twister), but he too has created his own niche in the Van Goat family. What they have in common with each other is that every single thing they do is just absolutely the cutest thing you've ever seen , it is necessary to kiss both of them several times a day, and they grow waaaay too fast. My sister recently told me that the way I was talking to one of the goats was sickening it was so sweet and for pete's sake I never even talked to my daughter like that, to which I replied , "Well, she's not a goat." I mean, you want your children to grow into adults, and wonderful though they are, my goats are never going to speak to me in English or any other language other than "Caprinese", so why should I talk to them like they're humans. Besides, they get extra points for not talking back to me like my 16 year old son does.