Please Help Spotty

Spotty needs a new name. Here she is pictured with some of her friends and relations. Please view Spotty in her entirety before making a name suggestion. Please be aware that Spotty is a girl. She is black and white. She is extremely good-looking, obviously, and has a fantastic personality. Please do not make any bad suggestions, we already have enough of those. If you are wondering why the video is so bad it is because the farmer took it. Thank you.

Three Thousand Words

Monster Truck.

Pretty Baby.

Spotty. (Needs New Name.)

Edgewise

I have heard that all days are the same length. But some seem much longer. They go on and on.

Yesterday was one of those days.

The farmer had a lot to do. Some helpers were coming to help with chores and to start mending the fence which is bedraggled from the winter and to get hay since we ran out and won't make it to July and if you keep buying hay a bale at a time from the feedstore pretty soon you will be signing your place over to the bank and then the next thing you know we will all have to join the Big Apple Circus (see below) and I wouldn't mind seeing the world but not on horseback I prefer to travel on dry land. So anyway there was a big load of hay coming and that means getting the elevator out and making sure it works and sweeping the loft and borrowing a big hay trailer and finding someone with a four wheel drive truck to help.

So all those things were done and everyone piled into the truck to go to the big barn to get the first load of hay and I couldn't get a word in edgewise. I was trying to talk to the farmer but I couldn't get a word in edgewise. And the truck left and I circled around in my stall and made a nest.

An hour later the truck came back and then there was the clatter of the elevator and a hundred bales going up into the hayloft. I perfected my nest and laid down to push.

I pushed for a few minutes and the farmer came downstairs to get some hay hooks and I hollered, "Excuse me! Please get the special treats ready including the Gatorade and the licorice whips!"

But the farmer went on stacking hay and arranging things and nobody listened to me. Finally I heard the elevator go quiet and they all came downstairs again and by this time I screamed my unmistakable scream and the farmer finally yelled, "Millie is having her kids!" and sprang into action which would have been nice two hours before that but better late than never.

Out came the first one, Blackie, a tiny tiny tiny little girl.

Out came the next one, Pretty Baby, a small tri-color girl.

Out came the third one, Monster Truck, a strapping boy. He was backwards with one leg twisted under and the farmer pulled him out but I could have done it myself it was just a timesaver.

"My goodness," said the farmer, "you have really outdone yourself, Millie."

There were some children there and they tend to notice things and one of them said, "I think there is another one coming out."

"That is probably the afterbirth," the farmer explained.

Out came the fourth one, a beautiful girl who is going to need a better name than Spotty.

That was all.

They all got up and drank except Blackie. She was very weak. The farmer and the children helped her get some milk, but she was still too weak to stand. So she went on the bottle, but the farmer would bring her back between times and put her with the others. I tried to get her up but she could only wobble her head around a little bit.

Then the farmer tubed her and she seemed a little better. But she still couldn't stand up. I licked her while she slept. The day went on and on, with the rest of the hay coming in. Blackie slept while all the others got up and walked around. Monster Truck grew rounder and rounder, he started to look like an orange with four legs.

After the night feeding the farmer came out to get Blackie. I was trying to wake her up but I couldn't. The farmer picked Blackie up very gently and sat for a minute and petted me. I kept licking Blackie in the farmer's lap trying to wake her up.

I thought the farmer would be able to wake her up if I couldn't.

But the farmer couldn't wake her up either.

"She was very tiny, Millie," the farmer finally said. And then the farmer took Blackie away.

It was a long day. A very long day.

But not long enough.

Horse Surfing

The goats from Minter Bay will be doing this very same thing at the Key Peninsula Goat Show this summer, from what I hear.

Eating Better Through Computer Science

I do not like to exaggerate myself but I have learned quite a bit about computer science over the last few days.

It started like this: The farmer used to have a calendar made out of paper and the farmer would write all the bred dates and the due dates on the calendar and that worked fine. So the farmer decided to fix it.

The farmer made a special spreadsheet and put everything on the computer in columns. Buck, doe, bred date, due date, age at breeding, previous kiddings, time of day, temperature in fahrenheit, atmospheric conditions, level of buck enthusiasm (scale of 1 to 100), level of doe enthusiasm (scale of 1 to 10). The farmer was very pleased.

"That's nice," the farmer said. The farmer asked various visitors if they wanted to see the amazing spreadsheet. "Everything is in the computer now, on the spreadsheet," the farmer explained.

The visitors were not that interested in looking at someone else's spreadsheet. They almost all said no thanks, except the lady who said, "I would really like to, but I am late for yoga."

"I see," said the farmer, in such a tone as to convey, yes, aren't we all late for yoga.

Anyway all the breedings went in the spreadsheet. That was fine, it was almost as good as having it written down on a sheet of paper, until the computer dropped irrevocably dead.

"Oh dear," said the farmer. Now the farmer knew nothing about who was going to kid when.

Hmm, I thought. Using my knowledge of computer science I began pretending to have my kids yesterday. I laid down in the field and pushed really hard and gave a squawk. Or maybe I was just lying on a sharp rock. Anyway the farmer came running and I was taken to the barn and I have been enjoying excellent room service ever since and this morning I even got a slice of Crazy Dave's organic bread.

For a while the farmer was going to turn me back out with the have-nots, so I did a few moans. Out came the alfalfa.

That is why it is important to know a little something about computer science. And also don't give up on those sheets of paper. If you see one with important writing on it, eat it as fast as you can.

Blue Belle and Sky Blue

The Baby Blues.

Trop Belle Pour Toi

WHY is my whole family so BEAUTIFUL??? Does anybody know?

Two New Blue Belles

Blue Umbrella kidded last night. Her kids are very Belle-ish. Stay tuned for the update.

The Dean's List

Pinky got her milk test back and she got an A+. The farmer let her out to knock some more things over if she likes. "It is very boring in the barn since it is raining day and night," the farmer explained to Hannah Belle, who always gets immediate detention for knocking things over. "So it will be nice for Pinky to knock things over."

The reason why Pinky doesn't get punished is because she is incapable of forming intentions, so she can't be held accountable for her actions. Whereas Hannah Belle is incapable of not forming intentions. Also Tangy is Pinky's mother, so everything that happens to Pinky happens with nobody in loco parentis. So there you have it.

Pinky and the Brain

Pinky went walkabout.

It was a little bit sunny and she had a little bit of an upset stomach so the farmer let her out of her maternity stall to eat brush and grass to settle her stomach.

Silver went with her since he is her son and doesn't know any better.

Before going outside Pinky stopped at the little folding table by the milkstand and methodically knocked three pairs of hoof trimmers off onto the floor for no reason at all. One two three, like that.

Then she pulled 63 folded grain sacks out of the bookcase and onto the floor to cover the hoof trimmers. Then as a sort of Brechtian denouement she knocked the folding table over so that it looked very artistic lying on top of the empty grain sacks which unbeknownst to anybody were covering the three hoof trimmers which cost $15.95 each when they are on sale.

She seemed satisfied then and she went outside and knocked all the cedar boards off the porch of the cottage. They were all stacked up for a future flooring project. Then she knocked over a garbage can full of kindling. Silver scampered freely over the new woodpile in a sort of pointed commentary on the wages of photosynthesis. Then she drank all the dog water out of the dog bowl, affronting Wendell. He didn't want it, but it was DOG WATER not GOAT WATER. Then she had gotten somewhere strange that she didn't recognize - the front lawn - and she gave up on living and pitched in bawling so that the farmer came running.

All of this only took about three minutes. The farmer walked her back to the barn, gasping at the wreckage. "Just look at this," marveled the farmer. "And you are only one sixteenth Nubian."

Inside the barn the farmer started picking up grain sacks, but not before stepping onto one of the invisible pairs of hoof trimmers and bending them completely out of shape. Another $15.95 down the drain.

After all this who did the farmer blame? Not Pinky.

"Silver!" yelled the farmer. "You are half Nigerian! You are supposed to be watching her!"

Chillin' With Silver

Ever since she was a young kid, Pinky has been very good at relaxing. You might think you are relaxed and then you look over at Pinky and she is twice as relaxed as you are. Pinky's son Silver has inherited the relaxation gene, which should make him very competitive if anyone ever invents a Grand Prix of Chillin' or a Relaxathon or a World Series of Napping. Or anything along those lines.

Goats of All Nations

There is no dam way I would do this. I have my minerals delivered.

The Pointer Sisters

Betsy and Xie Xie and Binky and Pinky are known as the Pointer Sisters, even though they aren't sisters. This is because if something untoward is happening in the near distance, they assume a frozen statue position and stare at it in unison. This gradually encourages other bears of little brain to assume the staring position.

Not me, I don't point. When I see pointing, I head to the barn. When I get there, Hannah Belle is already there, checking for feed and picking out the safest position.

If a coyote for example were out in the meadow, the Pointer Sisters would be staring at it.

Yesterday, which was one of the ten most beautiful days of the year, the Pointer Sisters lined up together and stared across into the neighbor pasture. I headed for the barn but before I left I peeked in that direction.

There was a weasel!

A weasel! Scampering freely in broad daylight! That's how beautiful it was yesterday!

THE WINTER IS OVER!!!!!

Silver's Day Out

Silver went on a trip today. He got carried around. There was no milk. He didn't like it.

This is What it Sounds Like When Goats Fly

A somber reminder to those with airplane ears.

Blast from the Past: Baby Belle and Friend

This is a picture of Baby Belle when she was a baby, being admired by Caitie, the farmer's niece.

Out of the Gray

Our farmer has been getting grumpier and grumpier to the point where you think there is no room for further grumpification. And then the farmer gets even grumpier.

It happens every year but this is the worst with the longest muddiest winter of all time, and the farm getting more and more downtrodden-looking and the mud getting deeper, the paint peeling and the fences sagging and the blown-off-and-reattached roofs flapping like beach towels even if there is only a gentle breeze.

But that isn't the whole problem. Also by this time of year the farmer has run out of candy milk, and then out of mini milk, and then even Nubian-cross milk, and then even LaMancha milk. So the farmer has to go to the store and buy a quart of cow milk. Well I have had cow milk and it isn't that great but I think it must be getting worse because this year the farmer bought cow milk and couldn't drink it and gave it to Wendell.

He took a few polite laps of it and walked away with a pained expression, and this is an animal that eats goatberries and horse hooves with relish. So that is saying something. The farmer went to another store and came back with soy milk. That was not too horrible but when it was gone the farmer got almond milk instead. That was ok but when it was gone the farmer said, "I will just drink black coffee, and eat dry cereal."

Well then out of the blue - or out of the gray, I should say - we somehow got two days in a row without any rain to speak of, which caused all the horses to go into a coma, laying flat out like they only do on sunny days, looking dead as doornails out in the pasture.

And by this time of course Pinky had had her kids and bounced back to her usual self, and even though she is a first freshener she comes from a lot of milk, and she has way more milk than one little kid can drink, as dedicated as he is to his full-time job of round-the-clock milk disposal. So the farmer took some, saying, "don't mind if I do."

And this morning there was a funny sound when the farmer came out to the barn, and it scared Binky half to death since she is part Nubian. Luckily I was there to explain it.

"That is ok, Binkster," I said in a calming tone. "it is just the farmer, whistling."

Hi Ho

This is Silver. I have to say, I was surprised by how presentable he looked considering everything but then I realized he is my half-brother from the unBelle side of the tree. So that explains it. He's turning into a bit of a crybaby, which I guess is good, because it keeps Pinky alert.*

Anyway, this is Silver.

(Pinky alert, not normal alert, obviously)*

The Silver Lining

It isn't just the rain getting us down. We have had a couple of bad days.

It seems kind of babyish to complain about our little troubles with the world in the state it's in. Really it is just a hill of beans.

But it is our hill. And our beans.

Pinky got very sick. It seemed she might die. But she pulled through. So that was good.

But then she went into labor early, and had two kids, a beautiful little pink girl and a chubby little tri-color boy with silver roaning around his ears.

The little girl died without ever opening her eyes. She couldn't breathe properly.

Pinky turned weak and vacant again, and she wouldn't eat or drink anything. The farmer gave her electrolytes and calcium every hour until she finally started nibbling some fir leaves.

The farmer took Pinky's son and was going to make him a bottle baby. He had been as quiet as a mouse. But when the farmer picked him up he started bawling like a fire engine and Pinky jolted wide awake for the first time since she got sick.

She got up and ran over to the farmer and started licking the baby.

"All right you can keep him," said the farmer. "If you eat your alfalfa."

Pinky ate her alfalfa.

Pinky's son is called Silver.

Silver Lining.

Raina palooza

There is no use mincing words, I will just come out and say it. Damn this rain. Curse and damn it. Damn it all to heck.