Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Got Hope?


I am probably the least political person on this planet. I guess I lost hope. But last night I witnessed a country come together to celebrate America. I watched our young people care about their country and come out in record numbers to vote. I saw every color of skin stand together and rejoice in our sameness. I was in awe of the history in the making, of which I had never seen before in my lifetime. I know that many people I dearly love were disappointed in the outcome and many people that I dearly love were ecstatic but regardless of who you voted for you had to be moved by the American spirit waking up and saying "Yes, We Can!"

Enough about politics! We are settling in for winter. I happen to hate winter around here. It means rain and only rain. Mud and only mud. And can someone please tell me why oh why we had to go back to standard time. Why can't we stay on daylight savings time?
It is always this time of year I wonder why I have so many animals. Come spring I will forget about the hassles of farming in the rain and wonder no more.

Speaking of the animals, I am keeping my fingers crossed for baby goats in the spring. I bred Lexi to Ruckus a couple of weeks ago and plan on breeding Semi Sweet to the lovely Captain January at Herron Hill Dairy if all goes right.

I did sadly sell Ruckus the other day to a very nice family that had 4 Nigerian does and wanted a buck. I felt bad but found I just didn't want to keep a buck. I'll tell you a secret....they stink....really bad. I found myself going to school and catching a whiff of buck goat on my hand when I leaned down to point to a child's paper. And that is after I had washed about 3 times. I had to do something before a kid said, "What stinks?" And believe me, they would. Kids can humble you faster than anyone. They have no problem telling you that you have coffee breath....or buck goat hand. I just got an email from the new owner and he is settling in nicely.
Sunny, who Hubby is now calling Sunny Jim, is doing well. There has been no more kicking of the pigs and he loves to do his clicker training. Apple treats being his favorite. I have him on Cosequin for his joints but it will be a while before I can tell if it's helping. I bought a surcingle for him the other day and we have had a blast driving up the road. I took Hubby out with me and asked if he would like to try. Boy that was interesting. He had no natural ability at all. Reins flopping all over the place. Finally I said Forget it, you're going to ruin my horse. Stick to motorcycles....and cutting down trees.
And speaking of trees, Hubby has been working very hard cutting and clearing and burning. We now have enough firewood for ummm....let's say....25 years. Which is a good thing since we heat with wood.


Now that gives me hope.

19 comments:

@JDHealingTimeOnEarth said...

Glad you found Hope, too, Wendy!

I know my grandkiddos can be in the honesty knows no bounds category. Keeps us real, doesn't it?

Great fire wood photo! Now that represents heating security!!

@JDHealingTimeOnEarth said...

p.s. Gladd Sunny is finding his new groove, with your help!

Holly said...

Who could avoid all the politiking that has been going on? And really this was a political milestone, I am glad to have been here to witness it and am looking forward to seeing what the next four years brings.

I have another friend who has goats and she has said the same thing about bucks and the odor.

I am so glad you and Sunny have sorted things out....the driving will be fun fun fun!

FoxMeadowsFarmgirl said...

Fantastic blog, once again! =) Great firewood pic, too! Now THAT's a renewable resource! (in WA anyway!) ;)

sugarcreekstuff said...

I am suffering, suffering from extreme firewood envy! Toasty warm is good for a rainy winter.

Anonymous said...

I'm probably even less of a political person than you, but I still got around to writing a blog post about it!
As for bucks, I can definitively relate to the part of bucks stinking... We sold our Nigerien Amadeus (right before the birth of his daughter Allis!) because he got so violent towards his doe, and even towards other humans. Unless I have too much space one day in the future, I don't think I'll ever own a goat buck again. But then, that of course depends on how easy it'll be to lend one!

As for winter, you should come here - it's my favourite season! Except for a few dusty days of Harmattan (which leaves your house covered with a layer of white snow, sorry, dust...) the days are mild and the sun is set on a deep blue sky that begs you to go out trail riding!

Warm greetings from a different corner of the world,
Esther

Marigold said...

Now that Captain January is quite the hunk! Woo Hoo!!! We goats don't care much for the rain either, but just talking about the Captain gives me hope - that and the thought of great quantities of Peanuts for Christmas. Oh, by the way, that Cora Belle IS quite the looker. We, of course, are a bit biased. :)

Danni said...

Absolutely beautiful top photo - WOW!
Hey, my friend frugalmom really needs some firewood - you wouldn't happen to deliver, would you? :-)
Or maybe next time she comes to visit, she could pack a few logs in her suitcase!
I'm keeping my fingers crossed, too, that Ruckus was successful. How fun babies would be! And boy, do I remember that *smell*! LOL about the kids in your class. I know my donkeys hate my coffee breath but at least they don't say so outloud! ha!

frugalmom said...

Seriously, I have firewood envy. ENVY, I say. I could meet you half way....we could have scones.

Anonymous said...

Ask your son if he is still wearing shorts in Colorado! Though I wore long clothing and a wool sweater today, I bet my husband has on shorts.

Beautiful leaves!

My favorite comment from a student was back 20 + years ago when I first started teaching and had little money (some things don't change!). I had on what I thought was my best pair of pants and I got the comment, "You have on THOSE CLOWN pants again?" So much for being stylish! I guess a wool sweater isn't so stylish either but I guess expectations lessen as your hair becomes more gray!

goatgirl said...

Clare, Sadly I am finding out that one person's hope is another one's fear.

Holly, Yep Sunny and I are getting along just fine now. Although the rains have started here and I think he just floated away.

foxmeadowfarmgirl, Thanks MB. We miss you. What's the word on the election in Prague?

sugarcreekstuff, I think we have enough to share. That picture was only about half of what we have. I will trade you some firewood for a ride in the Halloween float.

esther, I would love to have a winter like you describe. I never thought of moving to Africa but heck why not? Your posts about aid has caused me to discuss that subject at lunch in the staffroom especially with my principal that goes to Africa quite often. He totally agrees with you. Thanks for affecting discussions across the globe. I can't tell you how thrilled I am that someone as far away as you reads my little ole blog. Give those cute goats a scratch from goatgirl in Washington.

Marigold, Not only is Cora Belle a looker, she has the sweetest personality too. And she has never had a Peanut. Must get her some! I may have SemiSweet pay Marquee a visit. Have you ever met him. I hear he's a hunk too although a bit more seasoned.

Farmgirl_dk, Fingers crossed, toes crossed, eyes crossed. Think babies.

frugalmom, We have plenty to share. That picture was only half the pile. If you bring scones I'll meet you halfway. Hopefully that's Colorado....where the heck are you anyway?

Mindy, I talked to him tonight...and his lovely girlfriend. There was no mention of shorts. They are hoping to wake up to snow one of these mornings. They LOVE Colorado. I'm thinking of moving there. What do you think?
I had a similar experience with pants and a student. One morning when the pants I was going to wear weren't dry in time I had to throw on a pair of kind of flowing patterned pants that I really don't like. I walked into a room and a student said, with a slight sneer, "Nice pants Mrs. W."
I guess I wasn't the only one that didn't like them.

I need orange said...

Amen on hope.

Amen on daylight savings. Let's just keep it!

Amen on not-so-fond-of-mud-and-rain.

VetontheEdge.blogspot.com recently posted a pretty funny post about buck goats and the stench (and disgusting behavior).....

frugalmom said...

Ha! Im in Illinois. Is Colorado halfway, ya think? If so, I guess I had better start driving! I was gonna say while I was waiting to get gas I could bake the scones....but unlike our friend, Danni...I have to actually pump my own gas!

goatgirl said...

Hi I need orange, I did check out vetontheedge.blogspot.com and it was great. Check it out people. It is well written and has lots of animals. Since I wanted to be a vet sooooo bad when I was growing up and then wanted my son to be a vet soooo bad when he was growing up I plan to live vicariously through this vet's blog:) i love to find a new blog to read. Thanks I need orange (what does that mean?)
OK frugalmom, I'll start out now and meet you in Boulder....hmmmmm...I better look at a map.

Marigold said...

Dear goatgirl,

Ahem. Marquee is my father. Shall we be related even more? :) And as far as farmgirl...Ah,Ha! I KNEW IT!!! Am I wise or what? :)

Danni said...

What? What??!! I said nothing other than to wish goatgirl luck.
Right, Wendy?

Fingers crossed? Check. Toes crossed? Check. Eyes crossed? Ouch, but check. I've even braided my hair, so that's crossed, too.

Anonymous said...

I hope you get those cute little goats in the spring too!
I agree, those bucks do have a foul smell. lol..
I am not political either, but I was surprised (sorta) in my area also.
I have hope. Hope for a better economy and no war. Hope we can just work together and I do mean "work" for the great nation all our ancestors have fought for.
I suppose that is about as political as I've ever been.
Have a great weekend.
Pam

Anonymous said...

Well, I love it here but have been here since 61 and nowhere else, so I'm not much of a judge!

They may have to wait awhile on the snow. Weatherman said just last night that we might be the record for the latest snow, I think Dec. 21st.

I need orange said...

Helen Frankenthaler was an artist who did abstract prints.

One was called "I Need Yellow"
http://www.artbrokerage.com/artretail/frankenthaler/frankenthaler_7049.htm

I love orange, especially with complements blue or turquoise or purple. And with hot pink, chartreuse, well, you get the picture.

So when choosing a blog name, I tried "iloveorange" which was taken, and then I remembered Helen and went for ineedorange. :-)

Glad you enjoy vetontheedge; I surely do.