There is a very good reason Mojave Blue has the nickname Mojo, he is one smooth operator!   Sparky Joe gets overly excited, Sunny is polite but gets right down to business and then there is Mojo.  He takes the time to really romance the ladies, and they all seem to love him for it. 

By the time I was ready to take Maple away from him today she was totally smitten with him.    That combined with the size of kids he throws makes him a good match for just about any first time doe.   The paring of him and Maple should result in some very colorful blue-eyed kids.

It is shaping up to be a very busy April for us with Mame' x Sunny due April 1st, Rita x Sparky Joe on April 5th and Maple x Mojo due on April 9th.   Millie is still scheduled to be bred for a June kidding, and Tsunami is anyone's guess.   I haven't seen a real strong heat from her since the time Sparky Joe paid her a visit, so it is quite possible that she is already bred to him with a due date at the end of January.

Breeding season got off to a shaky start this year.   A couple of weeks ago Mojo & Sunny exploited a hole in the fence and went to visit the ladies.   Which meant for the first time ever we had to use Lute (Lutalyse) on the does since we didn't know who was bred by whom.   Unfortunately the dosage we got from the vet was too small, and we had to redo the injections.  

Today we were finally able to get Mame' bred to Sunny.   Her due date will be  around the 25th of March.  If the rest of the season goes according to plan. next up will be Tsunami x Sparky Joe and  Maple x Mojo due in April.  Then Rita x Sparky Joe in May and finally Millie x Sunny in June.   Although with the way things have gone so far I'm not guaranteeing anything at this point.  :)

In other news our pup Cleo turned one year old last week, and Izzy will be two years old in a couple of weeks.   Both of them are starting to get over their puppy ways although they still have PLENTY of energy!  Izzy sleeps every night with Ari and it is obvious they miss each other whenever we have been away from home.

I saw this posted on a goat forum and just had to share it.  The only thing the anonymous author missed was the joy I get from seeing my kids learning and interacting with "just a goat".

"Just A Goat"

From time to time, people tell me, "lighten up, it's just a goat," or, "that's a lot of money for "just a goat". They don't understand the distance traveled, the time spent, or the costs involved for "just a goat." Some of my proudest moments have come about with "just a goat." Many hours have passed and my only company was "just a goat," but I did not once feel slighted. Some of my...... saddest moments have been brought about by "just a goat," and in those days of darkness, the gentle touch of "just a goat" gave me comfort and reason to overcome the day. If you, too, think it's "just a goat," then you will probably understand phrases like "just a friend," "just a sunrise," or "just a promise."

"Just a goat" brings into my life the very essence of friendship, trust, and pure unbridled joy. "Just a goat" brings out the compassion and patience that make me a better person. Because of "just a goat" I will rise early, take long walks and look longingly to the future. So for me and folks like me, it's not "just a goat" but an embodiment of all the hopes and dreams of the future, the fond memories of the past, and the pure joy of the moment. "Just a goat" brings out what's good in me and diverts my thoughts away. I hope that someday they can understand that it's not "just a goat" but the thing that gives me humanity and keeps me from being "just a woman." So the next time you hear the phrase "just a goat" just smile, because they "just" don't understand.? ~Anonymous

Meet Oak Tree Meadows Maple.  Her breeder had pens next to ours at the Oregon State fair and I asked if she might have any dry yearlings available.   She only had this one, who just happens to have been born on Bekah's birthday last year.

We went up to Molalla to check her out today and I must say pictures just do not do her justice.   She is a beautiful girl with a great deal of Tupence in her pedigree  and we are looking forward to breeding her to Mojo this fall.   And of course Bekah is thrilled to have a "birthday buddy".

We were gone on vacation last week and Choc-o-latte apparently missed Bekah just as much as Bekah was missing her.   Latte has been jealous of Bekah's attention and this afternoon apparently decided to take drastic measures when Bekah's attention wandered.  (We do not normally allow our goats to chew on u

The Oregon State Fair is an ADGA sanctioned show and this year's judge was Carrie Kahle.   In my previous post I mentioned that this was the first time showing for humans and goats and that I didn't have high expectations given the obstacles we faced just prior to fair time.  

The goats behaved reasonably well in the show ring with our highest placing being a second for Rita in her class.   The competition was very lovely and the doe that placed first went on to win grand champion.   So overall I was pleased with Rita.

Choc-o-latte and Itty-Bitty place 6th & 8th respectively in their class and Rita & Choc-o-latte placed 5th in Produce of Dam.   My 7 year old daughter  who was showing Choc-o-latte was so excited that her baby had finally gotten a ribbon that she wasn't about to give any of the credit to Rita.  :)

It was an interesting and educational experience and I couldn't have done it without the help of my friend Sarah of Mac's Rainbow getting the does tattooed for me when I was sick/injured and helping with the clipping.  And of course a big thanks to  Dorothy and Bekah for helping at the show.

Next Sunday we will be showing Rita, Itty-Bitty and Choc-o-latte at the Oregon State Fair.
Today we starting prepping for it with a full body clipping for all my does.   In the past I've only done dairy or maternity clips, never the full body clipping necessary for showing.  So it was a new experience for everyone involved and the goats were less than impressed!

It was interesting to see some of the changes, for example Rita;s gold spots are more pronounced when she is clipped and her daughter Itty-Bitty is covered in spots!  I still need to get the #40 blade put on my clippers and get the close finishing work done on the three that will be shown next weekend, but the bulk of it is finished and I think they look pretty good for my first try.

Saturday night I had a coughing fit that ended with me screaming in agony from a burning pain at the base of my skull.    My first thought was I was having a stroke or aneurysm.  

Sunday morning I was feeling a little better and managed to stagger out to the barn with Bekah's help to get the milking done.   I'm sure if someone saw me all but crawling across the lawn to get to the barn they would have been thinking I was recovering from a hang-over.

I wasn't getting any better so Tuesday I went to see my doctor who ordered neck and chest x-rays because he thought I had pneumonia again.    Chest x-ray came back clear, and the neck x-ray only showed that I had arthritis in my neck so the pain was coming from a torn or sprained (i.e. whiplash) tendon or ligament and not a bulged disc.

On Wednesday the pain grew increasingly worse until I finally had my husband take me to urgent care.   The doctor there examined me and sent me over to ER where a CT scan was ordered.  I am happy to report they did find a brain in there! They also found several areas of sinus infection, but no bleeding on the brain.  

It took four rounds of pain and anti-nausea meds before I was finally able to return home.    The final diagnosis was a trifecta - a migraine triggered by the neck and sinus pain.    So now I am on antibotics and am hoping for relief from the sinus pressure in another day or two.    The neck will take 2-3 weeks to heal but hopefully I will have full functioning by the time we show on Labor Day weekend.  

Thanks to family and friends for watching the children for me and for getting the tattooing done that was needed for the show.    (The green ink on Itty-Bitty is from the tattoo's in her ears.)  I am so blessed to have all of your help!

As for the show, I still plan to attend and show the three goats in entered.   But I have lowered my expectations drastically in light of the fact that I will not be able to much if any training with the goats before hand.

Yesterday morning I took the plunge and entered, Rita, Itty Bitty and Choc-o-latte in the Oregon State Fair.  This will be my first foray into showing and I'm rather nervous getting it all figured out, and training the goats especially Rita, since she is a rather shy goat that prefers to stay away from people.

The three of them are entered in a total of eight classes, including the Breeders Trio, Get of Sire, Produce of Dam, Dam & Daughter and finally the Fair Special for Oregon Bred & Owned.   So Sept 4th is shaping up to be a very exciting, if nerve wracking, day.   Hopefully Bekah will do as well showing Choc-o-latte for me as she did with Photography at the Linn County Fair.

And speaking of the Linn County Fair, we stopped by there on our way back from signing up in Salem to pick up our photography entries and discovered that in addition to the blue ribbon her baby barn swallow picture had also received the People's Choice Award!  I am so proud of her!!

When Choc-o-latte got moved to bottle baby status we had to have a companion for her and the only other kid was Itty Bitty.   I had planned on letting her nurse until she was at least four months old (she is 2.5 months old today.)

I had tried getting her sister Hazel to take a bottle, and not surprisingly was unsuccessful.   By 10 weeks of age they are old enough to wean, and rarely have any interest in a bottle.   But on a whim this afternoon when I had finished feeding Latte, I tried giving the little that remained to Itty Bitty.   And once she realized what was in that bottle she was 100% for the idea.   I ended up fixing her a fresh bottle which she happily guzzled.  So now we have two bottle babies.

With three of her four kids having been sold as bottle babies, Millie was understandably worried that her remaining kid was going to disappear too.   Her fear is ultimately what caused her remaining kid to be taken from her and raised as a bottle baby. 

Millie hid Choc-o-latte yesterday evening and didn't give in and call her to reveal herself until it was full dark.   When we found her in the bottom pasture she was wet and chilled from a light rain and obviously hadn't eaten in quite a while.   Took her to the house to get warm and dry and gave her a bottle for the first time in her life.   She glugged down a good portion and then snuggled in to sleep on my lap.   I decided at that point that we just couldn't risk Millie doing that again.  Granted the baby was hard for us to find, but I'm not so sure she would have been that difficult for a coyote to find.   Plus the fact that she was chilled and hungry led me to go ahead and make her a bottle baby.  

And since Itty-Bitty is the only other kid from this year that we are retaining it meant Itty-Bitty was weaned earlier than I had planned on so that Choc-o-latte will have company.    And the bright side, they will both hopefully become more bonded to us since they are the two kids from this year that seem to be the most independent minded just like their dams.