Archive for the ‘Goat Friends’ Category
GoatSpotting: The Way of the Goat in Acqui Terme
This country mouse headed to the big city last week as I flew to Milan to meet up with some long-time virtual friends I hadn’t yet met in person. One of those lovely ladies is Diana Baur of Piemontescapes, a certain simplicity*, and the Baur Bed & Breakfast, where I spent two wonderfully cozy (one snowy!) nights (P.S. highly, highly recommended).
I also got a chance to check out the small city of Acqui Terme, home of famous hot sulphur springs that spout up right in the town square. I’ll be writing more about my trip up north over at Bleeding Espresso, but there was one particular aspect that I had to tell my goat people about . . .
While wandering through Acqui Terme after a rather amazingly random and beautiful Italian experience, we found ourselves on a particularly adorable street, so I had to stop and snap a photo:
Via Capra, Acqui Terme, Italy
It did not surprise me one bit when I looked up at the end of the street and saw its name:
The Way of the Goat
Yes, that’s Goat Street in Italian, or as I like to say, The Way of the Goat.
See, my girls are never too far away from me no matter where I roam.
This counts as a GoatSpotting, right?
Check out the Goat Cam at Goats Live!
No, Pasqualina and Pinta aren’t the latest goat film stars — I just wanted to let you know about a 24/7 goat cam over at Goats Live.
There you can check out Nick and Molly, two mini-Saanens, who have been viewed over 50,000 times from 87 countries around the world. There are actually two cameras on them, so you’re sure to capture all the action.
Nick and Molly when they were just wee kids courtesy of Goats Live
You may also catch a glimpse of humans Debbie, a former TV personality in the Tampa Bay area; her husband Sparrow, a former broadcast engineer now retired because of multiple sclerosis; and their adult son Hilary who has autism. Debbie and Sparrow are both retired, and aside from their goat hobby, also dabble in ham radio.
Anyone who has watched goats for even five minutes knows just how much fun it can be to see them in action, so this is especially great for those of you who don’t have goats of your own — yet.
Yes, yet. I firmly believe there are two kinds of people in this world: goat caretakers and future goat caretakers. Their powers are just too strong to resist forever.
A Detour to the Chicken Coop: The Phantom Maran
If you like Goat Berries on Facebook, you already know I have a hen who doesn’t like to enter the coop at night. One extremely tense, scary time, I got unsolicited help from Giordano Kitty who chased her around the garden (gah!) until she went in, but since then, she no longer chooses the low branches of the fig tree for a hiding spot. She ain’t dumb.
Innocent-looking Maran hen
So we’ve been playing, ahem, chicken now for a while ever since we let them out of their cage, which had been in the chicken coop for several weeks, supposedly acclimating them to the space. In fact, the first two or three nights “free,” she did go into the coop at night with everyone else, no problem. Not anymore.
In the beginning, I couldn’t find her at all when I went looking in the evening, but then in the morning, she was always there waiting for me, looking around with a “Hey, why is everyone still sleeping?!” look on her face.
But then I had a talk with her beau:
Maran couple
And let him know the potential seriousness of the situation. We do have foxes around here and also plenty of stray cats. So soon thereafter, when I went to close them in for the night, even though he was already inside, he came back out and started calling to her . . . and looking up.
And there she was in the mandarin tree. Really, really high! So after coaxing her down with the help of a bamboo stick to shake the branches, I got her in the coop. This has now been the routine for about a week, unless I show up before she’s in the tree, in which case I actually don’t have much trouble getting her in.
All I can figure is that she doesn’t really like hanging out with the big hen or perhaps the other rooster, who are both big personalities, but this hen in the tree routine is getting old. She doesn’t even remotely respond to feed or my calling or even, as it turned out, her little boyfriend calling her. Just the stick.
Any suggestions?
Win a 12 oz Bag of Kahve Koffee Beans!
Remember when we talked about The Legend of Coffee and the Dancing Goats?
Well now goats and coffee are coming together again in a great giveaway over at The Maaaaa of Pricilla, one of my favorite places to graze.
First, meet Pricilla the spokesgoat:
And now head over to visit Pricilla’s Maaaaa for more info on how you can win a 12 oz bag of Kahve Koffee; ends August 8th.
Best of luck!
Is Your Goat Calendar Material?
Margaret of Nanny Goats in Panties is currently seeking submissions for a 2011 calendar that will feature some of the purtiest hooved creatures in the whole wide world. Or at least the Interwebs.
From NGIP:
Your picture doesn’t have to be professional, but it shouldn’t be blurry and it should come in a big enough size to fit on the calendar page without having to stretch it.
The picture is not limited to one goat. It can have multiple goats. It can be cute or funny or grand. And it can be a photo you’ve already had featured here on NGIP for Goat Thing of the Day. And you can send more than one photo.
If your picture is selected, you will be credited for the photo, along with a one or two line description of the picture, your blog name if you have one, your farm name if you have one, we’ll figure all that out. Also, you will receive one free copy of the finished calendar. Additional copies will be available for sale at the NGIP Merchandise Store.
You can send your awesome goaty picture to margaret (at) nannygoatsinpanties (dot) com. And it would probably help if you put something like “NGIP 2011 Calendar Submission” in the subject line.
Submissions will be accepted through July 30, 2010.
Hurry, get those photos in;
you could have the next pin-up goat in your barn right now!
Goat Brushing, As Inspired By a Cat
My goats aren’t for show, and Pasqualina has always kept herself clean and pretty on her own, so I never even thought about getting a brush — until we rescued a long-haired cat not too long ago:
That’s Giordano, and he is one big furball. Along with kitty kibble, a brush is one of the first things I bought after he came to live with us. And while I was there at the pet store, I picked up another brush to try out on the goaties.
Whoa. If you want to hold a goat hostage, brushing is the way to go.
I’m pretty sure the girls would stand there every day of the week and twice on Sunday for me to run the brush over their new! improved! shinier! happier! coats! Unfortunately for them, the temps have been ridiculously hot over the past couple weeks, so I can’t brush for very long before the sweat literally starts dripping all over us. Gross, I know.
Needless to say, I didn’t feel you’d exactly *want* photographic evidence of the sweat scene, so here’s a Pasqualina picture I played with in iPhoto instead:
Do your goaties love a good brushing too?
Sponsor the Old Goats of Apifera!
GoatSpotting!
Goats that readers have spotted out and about. Send your photos to michelle(at)goatberries(dot)com!
