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You missed me didn't you?  Both of you did, I just KNOW it. 

There is much news, I suppose.  And as with farms and life, there is good and bad.

We'll start with the bad and just get that out of the way....

It has been a rough year for ducks here at the urban farm.  We lost 2 over Labor Day weekend to a fox, with an additional one mauled pretty good.  Josephine "the survivor" Duck, managed to make it.  Much to the surprise of both the SB and I.  I cleaned her wounds with water and hydrogen peroxide and then sprayed them with "wound spray" which is pretty much an anti-everything spray.  I don't know what is in it but it is anti fungal, anti bacterial and probably tastes really bad to foxes.  We tucked her into her own little sub pen and tried to get her to eat.  After a couple of days, she started on some spinach, moved on to water fowl food and finally to regular duck food.  I don't know if I missed a cut on her leg, or if there was some kind of fracture.  But over the next week or so her knee swelled significantly and got hot.  I called my gung ho vet and he allowed me to pick up some antibiotics from the compounding pharmacy in town.  It was nice that my Mama could pick them up and she paid for them.  Which I appreciated even more when I had to pick up the second round and pay $38 for them.  Sheesh.  So we gave Miss J oral antibiotics 2x per day for most of a month and topical antibiotic cream as well.  And the SB gave some physical therapy along the way as well.  She got better, finally.  Then she slipped a tendon.  Which is not good.  This can come from prolonged swelling.  Maybe we let her get too much exercise too soon?  I don't know.  The SB has redoubled his efforts in the physical therapy, stretching the tendon and hoping to convince it to stay where it belongs.  So far there is not much of a change, but he is persistent.  I hate to see her hobbling, but she otherwise seems in pretty good spirits.  Certainly alert and engaged in her flock so I don't want to put her down.

In the meantime, we lost another duck to the fox in broad daylight right behind the SB's back.  Damn fox.  So now, the ducks can only go in the fenced in garden unless we are right on top of them.  Pain in the butt and hard on the garden.  There is much planning to do to make the garden work next spring.  Now we have some half assed fencing keeping the ducks (mostly) out of the fall garden. 

Because all the ducks we lost were females, I bought three older ducks to add to the flock to keep the boys from harrassing the girls too much.  We are still a little boy heavy, but I don't want more ducks.  I could get rid of one of the boys, but I would hate to send him off to a new home without a friend and I don't want to get rid of any more of mine.  We'll see how spring goes.

The good news is that the goats were out in the country this week getting knocked up.  Yup.  My girls are gonna have them some babies this spring.  I took them out to Dragon Hill Farm to meet their baby dady.  Apparently deeds have been done and I am going to pick them up tomorrow.  They have been gone less than a week, but it feels like forever.  I am excited about the babies, but terrified.  Clearly things don't always go as planned in these little events.... and the real issue is how on earth and I going to bring myself to take the babies away from their mamas?  Oi.  I am either going to be very unpopular or cave and leave them on their mothers and never have milk.  Oi.  My head hurts just thinking about it. 

In other good news, in the process of buying the ducks I met this really amazing lady who has had ducks for a long time.  She is a fantastic resource and I look forward to talking more with her in future.
As the light wanes for the year, I have been being more social.  It has been great to catch up with friends and neighbors now that the air has cooled and the mosquitoes aren't hounding me at every instant. 

Fall is such a relieve.

Yonder

Check out my post at Cville League of Urban Goatherds.  I am double dipping.

It has been so long....

So much has happened in the last month +.  There is no way to catch up other than a list! (because you know we love a list around here almost as much as Starr Hill Girl.)

1. A week after the snapping turtle got one of the brown ducks, a fox got Aretha.  Aretha was one of the original flock and was the only reliable layer left.  Our other old girl, Josaphine, lays eggs but they have very thin shells and are often broken.  And they go bad quickly since they don't seem to have much coating on them (a waxy stuff that is deposited on the eggs as they are laid so that they don't dehydrate).  It was a bummer.  We think she got snatched on evening at dusk.  We didn't even realize she was gone until the next day.  We never found any sign of her, no feathers, no carnage, no nothin'.  That is why we think it was a fox.

2. I paid $5 for a small container of homegrown tomatoes at the market.  It made me want to go home and fertilize my tomatoes.  But I am not sorry I did it.  I am just sorry everyone else likes tomatoes as much as I do.

3. I got a call from a friend at work that they were incubating some duck eggs and did we want some more ducks.  I consulted with the SB.  Why YES, thanks, we would like some more ducks!!

4.  We took receipt of three adorable baby ducks.  Two runner/khaki crosses and one pure runner.  They would adorably follow me around the garden and play in the water while I was hosing down the plants.

5. I dug my potatoes.  One of my favorite jobs.  I looked into planting fall potatoes.  I doubt it will work but giving it a shot.

6. We lost the little runner to what appears to be a snake attack.  It was crushingly sad as these little critters are so personable.  And I had to tell the folks that gave them to us.  It is really hard when this happens as you really feel as if you have just failed miserably.  Failed the ducks, failed the family, failed at farming.  It always makes me wonder if this is just the way it goes or if we are particularly bad at this.  I think the SB is getting PTSD.

7.  We still have two very cute ducklings.  They are just catching on to the fact that we are not ducks and they are not people.  But they are still quite personable and too small to leave alone with the big ducks.  So when they are out, they hang out with me in the garden or swim in the creek.  They are excellent company.

8. The February flock is starting to lay.  Today I got 5 tiny "pullet" eggs.  Hal a freakin luja.

9. And finally, at the request of my friend Meghan, to whom I owe the privilege of owning goats (she made it legal in the city), I have started a new blog.  We'll be discussing goat ownership in the city.  I am sure there will be cross links as clearly, I am not finding a ton of time to write on THIS blog, much less another.

Cheers!

Slogging

Seems like I have been moving through molasses lately. Not getting much done on any front. Spring fever? Laziness? Your call.

The new ducks are out in the duck yard. They are bums. They have to be rousted out of their house on a regular basis. I force them out into the yard (the big ducks are always dying to go out) and as soon as I turn my back they have snuck back in and settled in the house. It is a rough go for them, our big male Sampson will periodically chase them and then abuse them. It is pathetic. I don't know whether to just let them at it. I feel like he is going to get tired of it at some point. I think keeping them separate at some point just prolongs the integration. At the same time, locking them in a cage all day where they can't get away from him seems somewhat cruel. I guess it is gonna be rough whichever way it goes. And these little ones really do need to toughen up. They are total pansies. It is hard to find good info on duck flock integration.

The goats are enjoying all the greenery. They are eating up a storm and loving it. The goat vet came today for their yearly check up/vaccinations. She said that they are both "proper" goats, meaning they have good confirmation. Also that Zinnia has beautiful feet and Ella has witches toes. Just sayin'. She also allowed that they were at the perfect weight and I shouldn't feed them more than necessary. Which is good because they seemed on the thin side to me.

The garden is crappy so far this year. No rain and lots of heat has made the germination totally spotty. I am moving on. Looking forward to putting out the summer plants and planning for fall. I think we will have some mustard greens, arugula and lettuce, but nothing else seems to be coming up.

Slacker

I know, it seems to have been ages since I have posted. There has been lots going on...

11 baby ducks arrived February 23rd. Three went to another family (we had arranged that in advance to get better shipping rates) Of the remaining 8, one didn't make it. Just never really caught on to the eating thing. That kinda thing makes you wonder if you were cut out for this farming thing (clearly I am not since my "farm" animals are all pets). Then one of the ducklings developed a limp. Probably from being stepped on by one of its flock mates. We moved them from the rubbermaid tub they were in to the larger dog crate in the basement. Which made our living quarters smell a lot better. The limp resolved. They are growing like weeds. The SB refers to them as the demon babies as they are growing at an otherworldly rate. They are going outside soon as we can't keep up with their water and food needs much longer in the crate that they are in. Well, I guess we could. We did it with 11 ducks for a lot longer 3 years ago, but.....

The integration of flocks will be the next major step. Our alpha duck Sampson is very interested. It is impossible to say if it is benevolent, aggressive or some combination. There is one male duck in our current 7, and I do fear for that little one most. Despite their crazy growth, the babies are tiny and fragile compared with the older ducks. I think we are going to divide the duck pen and house. Have a sort of separate but equal situation where they can get tired of looking at each other through the fence before we actually let them co mingle. I imagine we will wear Sampson out. He is very serious about his job.

In other news, I went to Dragon Hill Farm to see the new goatlings and pick the brain of my goat's farm mama about goat birthing. It will be our turn next year so I wanted some real info from a real human rather than just a book or YouTube video. One of Heidi's goats had given birth earlier in the day. Three tiny goatlings were snug in the stall with their mama. Did I mention that they were TINY? O.M.G. On our way back to the house, the other goat that was close had apparently gone on with having her babies right in the paddock with the other goats. We saw a tiny wet thing commando crawling in the pasture and Heidi grabbed the birthing kit and went to it. Two more were born within the hour. All healthy and strong. Wow. A LOT of slime in birthing. I got some good if brief experience. And I smelled very much of goat when I got home.

Today I am hosting a seed swap at the chapel next door. I have no idea how many people are going to show up. Over the years, I have learned that many gardeners, myself included, are absolutely INSANE. So it wouldn't surprise me to see a lot of people here at 10AM on a beautiful Saturday morning.

Millions of things to do in house, garden, farm and school work. Blogging probably the least important, but the most fun and I can do it while I drink my (much needed) coffee. Yay.

Season of Song

I have noticed the song birds are back. Or at least our paths are crossing more frequently now. My wake up and feeding time doesn't change much, but the light is creeping back into the mornings and I have caught a sunrise or two on the weekends when I round just a few minutes later. I love the peachy purple sky. Tonight it will be COLD. One of maybe two nights in the teens this winter. I look forward to the morning. There will be ice on the animals' water. They will be extra happy to see me. Hopefully I get done with the rounds before the cold seeps into my clothes and I can get back into the house before the teeth start chattering. I will have the luxury of going back to bed once everyone has what they need. I almost never do that, but it has been a long week and some extra sleep would be most welcome.

Ducklings arrive the week of the 20th. We have much to do to prepare for the onslaught of tiny peepers. A water management system is critical. The last time the basement practically flooded with the splashing. And the stink. Oi. I have been hearing horror stories of combining flocks, but we are just going to have to go slowly and carefully. We can divide the duck house and the pen in half so each flock has their own space until they get used to one another. I can only imagine the drama.

Follow up

The trauma of Tuesday was followed (WAY TOO) closely with the trauma of Thursday, which was less traumatic but still darned upsetting. My neighbor, a different one this time, called and said there was a dog near the goat pen. She called a few minutes later to say that the dog had gone over the (4 ft) fence and had attacked Ella. Luckily, the neighbor yelled and ran into the pen and the dog lept out the other side and was off. Ella wasn't harmed but again, everyone was freaked out. We are very thankful to our wee neighbors H and C for alerting their Mama to the fact that there was a dog in the yard. They were ON IT after the duck incident. Thanks guys and thanks to our fabulous neighbor S who make the rescue.

Another morning spent with the Animal Control Guy. We are not yet on a first name basis and I hope we don't get there. The description of the dog is markedly close to the dog who broke into the duck pen. The time of day was exactly the same. The guy whose dog killed the ducks swears his dog was at home. I don't believe him. He also tells me he is sending his dog to the country to live with his parents. I really hope I can believe that.

The goats have recovered well. The ducks are coming more slowly. Josephine was the last duck standing in the pen, the two other survivors managed to flee though I have no idea how. Josephine is the one who is only now coming back. Since Tuesday she has been sliding into the thousand yard stare for very long periods. None of them have been eating much. Today though, things seemed a little better. They ate some food. The squawked at me when I went outside and they made more in the way of general duck noises. The sounds are what we really miss. The SB most of all, as he is here more to listen. He is pushing for ducklings sooner rather than later so we can rebuild the flock. Three is just too few ducks. I can't say I am thrilled about stinky ducklings in my basement again, but it will be nice to be on the road to normal. Ducks are what pass for normal now.

It has been a very hard week. I was having significant anxiety at work this morning. I was waiting for the phone to ring with more bad news. I made the SB go check on the animals as soon as he got up. They were, and are fine. It is me that is the wreck.

Where does the time go?

Between the milking cottage project, the closet project, my recent OMG WILL IT NEVER END cold that I have had since effing Xmas eve, the regular recirculating list of cooking, cleaning, laundry, groceries and of course, the day job and the side work one begins to wonder if I will ever get back to the blog. Winter is usually a good time for this, but the addition of the closet project, (wherein we add two fabulously gorgeous cedar lined closets with vintage doors to a room and thereby double the number of closets in our house) has really taken up a lot of my free time. And I am starting a couple of on line graduate level courses through UVA. The busy just don't stop around here.

But, the animals are all well if tired of the damp. The goats are miserable and the ducks even seem tired of the mud and rain. A few days of warm and dry will turn things around for us all I think.

Onward.

It's darker with the light on

The SB and I were working on our porch a month or so ago and took down the security lights while replacing some of the porch boards. We haven't put the lights back up yet. Since then, I have been enjoying the dark-ish evenings and mornings. We are in the city, so it isn't really ever DARK. It is just less light. And I have found it is much easier to see if I am not straining to see around the shadows. I have been taking the goats out in the dark-ish. Closing up the ducks in their house or doing the morning feeding. I actually prefer to have the porch light off, if the porch and house lights are off it is even better.

Today I stopped by a neighbor's house on my way home from work to pick up some leftover straw that was in her garden. She apologized "It's dark out there...." Not a problem.

A day in the life....

Yesterday I came home from work and was pleased to find that the rain, nay the deluge, had ceased. The SB was leaving as I was arriving.. one of those evenings. Too wet to work on the milking cottage or really anything else, so I opted to take the goats out in the yard for a stroll. Their current favorite food is sycamore leaves. They look pretty silly munching down some dinner plate sized leaves. The sky was still overcast and we got one of those weird situations where the sunlight is bouncing off the bottom of the clouds as the sun goes down and everything turns all goldy-green. As I was marveling at the odd light I realized the backyard was full of dragonflies. There was a huge swarm of the swirling around. I didn't get a close enough look to identify them. I wondered if they were supposed to be migrating at this time or if they are all running late.

Then it started to pour buckets. I hung out under the paw paw tree with the goats hoping the rain would slow. The goats hate getting wet more than me, but.... We ended up making a run for it. That is one of the things that I like about the goats. If you run, they will always follow. So they got tucked into their snug little house. Me, by the time I locked up the gate, dumped the wheelbarrow full of discarded goat hay and made it into the house, I was drenched. Happy but totally drenched.

Season of Frisk

So, sorry about those photos, I erroneously thought it would be easy to download the photos to my computer. Apparently I will have to take the onerous step of READING THE INSTRUCTIONS. Piece of crap phone. I don't have that kind of time.

Fall started last Thursday. It was abundantly clear from the moment I walked out the basement door on my way to feed the animals that something had changed. It wasn't the temperature. There had been cooler mornings. It wasn't the leaves falling, that starts around the first of August here with the walnuts starting to go. It was mostly the smell. It was of dirt and leaves and well, the end of summer. And the sound of desperately exuberant insects.

Today though, started the Season of Frisk. The goats are the harbingers of this. They know the exact time when the back of summer has been broken and they began the celebration at approximately 6:43 this morning by tearing out of the open gate and leaping on to everything they could get to the top of. Dashing from wood pile to rock to bench and whatever else they could find. They ate a few walnut leaves in between, but mostly they just frolicked. The celebration continued this afternoon with a little standing head butting and otherwise trotting around an being extra jaunty. I wonder how long this lasts....

9:00 AM.

I just came in from the garden. I don't think I will be going back out if I can help it. Drenched and dirty and it is already 90 degrees. The livestock seems unconcerned, though I did let the ducks out early so they can be in the water.

I let the goats out yesterday around 6:30 PM, when the temperature had dropped to about 97. The fool animals were galloping around the yard like hooligans. I could hardly stand to watch but they were so stinkin' funny looking while they were doing it I couldn't really resist.

The garden is in very sad shape. The summer stuff bug eaten or crisped by lack of rain and the fall stuff not yet brave enough to germinate.

The heat won't keep us from work on the milking cottage. We had been calling this structure the goat barn, but it is so not barn like that I changed it to the milking cottage. Barns don't have cute Victorian style screen doors on them. You'll see when it is done. Yes, you will. Because I finally got a phone with a camera in it. So I can take some pictures. Now if I can just remember to take my phone with me....

"Tis the season...

Tonight was a summer supper. After doing some yard work and playing around with the goats, I harvested some fingerling potatoes, parsley, cukes, basil and summer squash from the garden.

For dinner we had: boiled fingerling potatoes (flavored only with a little salt in the cooking water). Squash sauteed with Urban Farm parsley, garlic and onions, some smoked salmon sent by the SB's sister (who rocks), and a salad of tomatoes, cukes, basil, goat cheese and kalmata olives. Oh, and garnished with chard stem pickles (because I didn't have capers for the salmon). Simple fast and oh so fresh. THIS is what I like about summer.

I have decided not to horde the potatoes this year.... I am harvesting early and often. Before tonight, I made some fabu potato salad. My goal is to use them all up by the end of November, since they don't really store any longer than that. In past, we have just ended up with WAY too many seed potatoes.... With the summer squash, I am trying to pick it early. I mean, really, there is only so much summer squash you can eat right.

Last evening we had a large black snake in the duck house (again). This time he was in the process of eating one of the eggs. Imagine being disturbed while you are about 1/3 of the way through getting your mouth around a watermelon, and you will have a good idea of the state we found him in. Being lovers of a good meal, we left the snake to do what it would with the egg. At that point we were dubious of the outcome. When we returned from our own dinner, we found that the snake had not only gotten down the egg he was working on, but went on to a second as well.

Just shows me why I need to be a little quicker on the draw with the egg collecting.

Quiet

It has been quiet on the blog because it has been anything but quiet on the homefront. Dag. The drawback to the lengthening days is that there is way more light to work by. So if you come in when it gets dark, that means you start making dinner at 9. Which means you are up until past 11. Which means that when you get up at 6:00 to feed the animals you are a wee bit cranky.

But anyway...

The garden is entering the summer phase. The peas came out over the weekend as well as some of the beets and turnips. Also the cilantro that has bolted and the fennel that is looking ready to go skyward. I harvested some of the red onions and some of the garlic (the rest doesn't appear quite ready). In place of these things I have put okra and long beans. Possibly will add some more leek seedlings since they have miraculously held on in their tiny cell packs. I harvested the first cuke today with a yellow squash coming right behind. Lucky us.

The ducks are good. Spoiled with being out and eating far less grain. Which is a good thing. The gimpy duck still has a bump on her foot. She doesn't seem to be limping though and it hasn't developed the nasty black scab that the other bumblefoot bump had. I don't know what that means. Seems like her weight is OK and she doesn't seem to be in pain. Kind of all we can hope for.

The goats are cranky with giving up their milk. They now just get an ounce of water by bottle in the morning because I am a lily livered pansy and afraid they are going to make a rukus in the morning if I don't give it to them. My neighbors are already saints for listening to them complain in the evenings about the milk thing. Sheesh.

The goat barn is coming along slowly. Considering a work party soon to kick it before the SB takes off for Scotland for 3 weeks at the end of July. It would be nice to have it at least partially completed by then.... These things always take so much longer than expected.

Season of Laundry

At this time of year there is much to contribute to the never ending and insufferable mountain of laundry that the SB and I produce. First, the temperature fluctuates wildly during the day. You can go from needing long sleeves, pants and socks in the morning to short, tank and sandals in the afternoon. Necessitating at least one change of clothes. Add in that you are sweating and stinking up your clothes. And that just about everything that we do outside involves mud, water, hay or poop and you can see where this is going. Then there are the work clothes. If I could hire out one indoor task it would be laundrypluscleaningthefreakinbaseboards.

The goats are growing and getting a wee bit chubby I think. They are full tilt on the hay but have not given up the bottles. We are weaning them down.... Tomorrow I think we do away entirely with their mid day meal. Nice how I eliminate the one that I am not home for.... I let the SB suffer the loud displeasure of the goats. Him and the neighbors. By the weekend they will be used to it. And I can sleep in another 10 minutes.

LBD is going on her third round of antibiotics. She still has a lump in her foot. It isn't getting any worse, but it isn't getting that much better either. The last bit really needed to ripen up on its own time, so we are trying to be patient. I talked to the vet today and he said his partner suggested using Preparation H on it. Another vet has told us that we should soak in epsom salts and hit it with Benadine every day until it "drains". There is both comfort and frustration in the fact that the "experts" are just as scatter shot as I am on this.

Flea beetles found my tender eggplant plants if 34 seconds flat. Planted corn and squash this afternoon. I think that counts as getting something done.

Renaissance Hombre

So yesterday was sort of a crazy day, as are most around the Urban Farm in the springtime. The SB though, decided that he might just merit the title Renaissance Man after the day. He spent a big portion of it designing and building the goat house. The difficult part being the pyramid roof with the cupola that is planned (you know, the one that allows the light to come into the middle of the building and fire up the chandelier in the middle of the day). Not so straightforward in the rafter department. Not revolutionary, mind you, but it takes some figuring. Add to that an (at least) semi successful foot surgery on the Little Brown Duck (LBD) and you have a day of many colors here in Woolen Mills.

The surgery. Oi. We captured the duck late in the day and decided to give it another go on the bumblefoot. The foot was progressing in that the bumble was getting a large scab on the bottom and a tough outer ring. The SB poked and carved at it a bit until something came out. Um. Dis.Gusting. It was an evil looking thing. Like a booger from the nose of The Devil Himself. Tough like cartilage and with nasty fingers poking out in all directions. It bled quite a bit, but getting that bit out was a big step in the right direction. There may be more there, but we are giving it a few days to sort itself out before we try anything new. When I came home from work I gave the duck some antibiotics and tried to get some Blukote on its foot, but I couldn't subdue its feisty three pounds of protest (at least without doing damage) so I called it a day and let her spend the rest of it in the garden with free access to the pea shoots and spinach.

All in all, progress on many fronts. I got the tomatoes in the ground (FINALLY) and still have to plant lots of peppers and eggplant. And okra. THAT definitely has to go in soon. But the garden is heading toward its first lull, at least in the greens department. Though now that the spinach and cabbages are on their way out, this year's chard is coming on, so we should be ok for a while during the wait until the peas and zucchini start making a showing.

The wee goats are growing up and are now more interested in eating than in lap sitting. Which is truthfully something of a relief as I was beginning to wonder if having two forty to fifty pound goats in one's lap was really a good way to spend the summer. They are still adorable and love to be petted and will still climb in your lap, it is just between foraging now.

Off

I took off from my real job Thursday and today to catch up on things around the Urban Farm. It feels like I have gotten a lot done, though there is no end in sight for the to do list.

This morning I transplanted chard, parsley and tomatillos into the garden and volunteer sunflowers into the orchard bed. The overcast skies and rain made it a perfect transplanting day. We are officially in greens season. Lots of spinach, mustard, chard, arugula and lettuce. We are tossing the mixed greens with hot pasta, vinaigrette, garlic, Parmesan, grated carrot and sunflower seeds. Yum.

We worked on the goat barn some. I made squash soup with what I think is pretty much the end of the winter squash. It isn't my favorite, but it'll do.

Because of the rain today, the ducks were foraging all over the place. Twice they were caught at the front of the house near the road. I ended up locking them up early as they seemed hell bent on trouble today. They complained LOUDLY.

I took the goats for a ramble around the yard while the SB headed out to an auction. The goats do like to walk. And they are exploring a lot more in the way of forage. They still prefer plastic and string to pretty much anything else except cedar bark. Ella loves English ivy and they both like privet. It is a good start. Unfortunately, they are also obsessed with the raspberries, so those may need to go back into the garden.

The big day off treat was to go back to bed at 8AM after feeding the animals and myself and having a cup of tea. It is much easier to wake up after caffeine, but it doesn't make getting out of bed any easier.

Whirlwind

Wow, it has been a whirlwind week. New goats, family in town, lots of goat visitors, bare root plants in the mail (like 200 of them), etc. etc.

We officially have the most visited goats in the universe. I love that we can share the goat love. Plus, we want everyone to fall in love with them while they are little and cute, so if they get in trouble later, there are the good memories to fall back on.

I still haven't had a chance to look at the garden, but I think we have lots of spinach.

We got 100 hay scented fern for the back yard. Currently, 50 Piedmont Azaleas , which will likely go to 100, as that is what we ordered. Love bare root stuff as it is cheap and easy to plant. The window of opportunity is tight though to deal with them. I would be happy to sell you some lovely piedmont azaleas if you want some. Ordering 100 (smallest available quantity) from this place was at least as cheap if not cheaper than anything else I found. And we can use a lot of them....

Once again, Punk Domestics pulls out the awesome recipe . I can't wait until my rhubarb takes off.

About the cutest

So I came home from work today to find the SB working in the garden with two tiny assistants. He was pruning and Ellamenope (Ella) and Zinnia were helping by keeping him company and nibbling on all the the twigs he had pruned off.

When I came down the hill toward them, the little goats ran across the bridge to greet me and one even bleated a tiny hello.

The SB had thrown one of the cedar rails across the creek to challenge the goats and Zinnia got it right off. Ella, being a week younger and by far tinier, had to do some bleating and figuring to get across. Finally opting for sidestepping the rail and just leaping. The little boys next door came over for their afternoon visit. They learned that goats do not like a hammock. Good to know.

I have been so busy with goat projects and visitors, I haven't seen my garden in days. I hope the rain helped things along and that there will be salad by the weekend. Funny thing is that it grows without me checking on it every day. Go figure.

Dragon Hill Farm Zinnia

Born on 3/6/11 at Dragon hill farm. Photo by the LB. Who came over this afternoon with her man and exercised the goats.