The Face of Avatar

This is a little goat called Blue Eyed Elaine. Lainey to her friends. I took this photo several months ago at Herron Hill Dairy. My camera loved the little blue goat that bears an uncanny resemblance to the girl in Avatar.
I got several pretty shots of her that day. Goats, just like people are either photogenic or not. I am not. Lainey is.
Now she looks like this.



I liked her so much I brought her home a while back. Lainey, once likened to a footstool, is super wide. She has what we need here. Some width. She also has the pretty neck and head associated with the Belle family.



She was suppose to lose weight when she came to my farm but Lainey loves to eat.



You will often see her licking the feed pan when all others have left.


Or sleeping in it while waiting for it to fill.


note to friends and family that are probably planning an intervention, I did sell four goats.

Ding Dong the Rat is Dead

I just had to open that box of Decon.

Rats

Recently, I was telling the teacher that I work with, as we were contemplating a class pet, that I couldn't stand anything that could jump on me.....like the lizard she took a picture of at Petco and sent me. It would have to live in a pretty dirty cage because I wouldn't put my hand in there. A snake I can handle. There is no jumping involved with them. The fear of something springing up when I don't expect it explains my fear of monkeys.

Little did I know I had jinxed myself.

On Saturday, I had just finished up cleaning the feed shed when I decided that I would clean out the drawers in the workbench. I reach down and gave the drawer a quick pull. Out of the drawer flew a big black rat.

And landed on my chest.

I screamed and thrashed while the terrified rat streaked around the tiny shed. Both trapped by the door, I screamed and flailed while he ran up every wall looking for escape.
When I say I screamed I mean I screamed like a little girl. After finally getting myself out of the shed and away from the rat, I sheepishly looked around at my neighbor's yards ready to let them know I wasn't being murdered.

But no one came so I went home and took a bath.

update: Rat has been popping out at me regularly now. He has made his nest on top of a box of Decon. There has been much screaming....and still no neighbors.

Wedding Pictures

I would like to share some of the amazing wedding photos by Holly Carlyle.







and they lived happily ever after.

Kids

I just had to get a close-up of that head.Can't you just smell it?



And then a close-up of these.

My favorite farm tour photo

Filbert & Company

Once again, Filbert was asked to take part at a local farm in the annual farm tour on the Key Peninsula. Filbert carries a small pack of chocolates to satisfy the sweet tooth of farm tourers and tempt the no candy children, who could take a chocolate but had to tuck it in their pocket for "later". The problem with the bite-size chocolates is the bite-size candy wrappers. They are still picking up wrappers around the farm from last year.
Well, being the professional that he is, Filbert brought along a solution this year.



Curious George. Curious George was the trash goat.


Look in Filbert's pack

Eat a chocolate...or tuck it in your pocket for "later"

Put your wrapper in Curious George's pack



Curious George was a big baby though and had to be held a lot and was glued to Filbert's side, making him doubt his decision to bring him along. But it did solve the problem of wrappers around the farm. The children loved throwing their trash into the trash goat.


Even the "later" children ran back with a little bit of trash to add to George's pack.

Filbert was been asked back next year.