Lucy

Lucy just had two little chocolate Toggamanchas. They seem to lack personality but I will give them a couple of days. Anyway, I am pleased. Lucy will have plenty of milk for the Milk Drive if Cherry gets tired or Pinky.

You Can't Get Good Help

Did you notice how nobody ever bothers to bring these two a glass of water? The exact same thing happens to me whenever I go out to eat.

We Three Blue-Eyed Crybabies

Talk about a royal pain, these three never stop whinging. The Duke, the Duchess, and Grand Empress Betty.

Send Tangy to Spindale

Won't you please help. We are raising money to send Tangy to the Spindale Goat Festival and Parade this month. As you probably know, Spindale is the home of the American Dairy Goat Association, and last year they started having a festival and parade and I guess it was a big success with dancing in the street and little girl bands and goats dressed as honeybees and so they are having it again. And we would really like Tangy to go so she can demonstrate her swordfish walk. Spindale is in North Carolina, and we think once she gets there, she won't be able to get back, so we would really like her to go. I don't know if I mentioned that. She won't fit in a crate (no, not even a Great Dane crate) to go on the airline so we will need to buy a bus ticket. One way. Thanks for any contribution you can make.

Pretty Baby!

Jumps for Joy!

Fleet Foxes

Speaks for itself....right?

Goat of the Month

Cherry is our Goat of the Month. Congratulations to Cherry.

Cherry (aka Tellicherry) is Pinky Jr.'s (aka Pinkberry) twin.

They are both Big Orange daughters.

Cherry is just as sweet as Big Orange but not as crazy, only medium crazy. She is the type who can be released on her own recognizance. That is if you can catch her in the first place. She is a fast runner and good at sharp turns. She looks like a big sleek glossy black deer with mostly chewed-off ears.

Cherry has been donating to the Milk Drive every day. All of the milk collected goes to my three kids and the farmer's coffee and cheese fund and the save-Wendell-from-unsightly-weight-loss campaign and the goat milk soap factory in the cottage and the please-support-elderly-border-collies Foundation.

And there is still plenty enough left over to stupefy Maraschino. We have never known Maraschino to stay awake for longer than five minutes, this is because of milk stupefaction. She is constantly nodding off.

Try stupefying someone with milk you bought at the grocery store and see what happens. Nothing.

Anyway Cherry is our Goat of the Month. Congratulations to Cherry.

Many Happy Returns of the Day

It certainly has been a red letter day for Royals everywhere.

After watching the nuptials of Prince Wills and Catherine Middleton, the farmer turned us out for the day in the front pasture. Betty promptly turned around and ran back to the gate, kicking it wholeheartedly so as to rattle the chain and get the farmer's attention.

"What's wrong, Betty?" said the farmer. "Don't you want to stay out? It's a beautiful day."

Betty just huffed impatiently until the farmer opened the gate and then she rushed back into the barn to her stall where she laid down and had two babies, a boy and a girl.

As you probably know my family is famous the world over for its unwarranted modesty so you will certainly believe me when I say that these are two of the most beautiful goats ever born and since it is within my power as the ruling monarch of the Baby Belle Royal Family I have bestowed upon them titles to mark their extraordinariness and they will henceforward be known as the Duke and Duchess of Lakebay.

And the barn bells will toll for thirty minutes at the stroke of 12:30 p.m. from this day forward on their birthday if we can find the barn bells or maybe we don't have any but if we don't Wendell will bark for a minute instead.

And thus it is decreed. Go forth and eat blackberries.

Maraschino

Maraschino gazes in admiration at her mother Cherry.

Cherry is a living monument to milk.

The Milkoleptics

Life used to be so hard. (Just a couple of days ago.) Now everything is easy. Because of Cherry.

Here I am enjoying some mommy-shiatsu-time with Pretty Baby, one of my adorable little daughters.

Here is Pretty Baby's Schedule:

1. Drink Cherry Milk From a Bottle
2. Sleep
3. Sleep
4. Sleep
5. Massage Mommy's Back
6. Drink Cherry Milk from a Bottle
7. Sleep
8. Sleep
9. Sleep
10. Play With Other Kids From the Neighborhood
11. Repeat Steps 1-10.

That Cherry milk could put an elephant to sleep. It is full of butterfat and sweet dreams.

Fair Foreboding

I don't really know what to say about this video. Except I am glad I am not a sheep. This is just another reason why I am so grateful for my chandelier udder, which means I will never have to go to the Fair. They are always doing things like this at the Fair, although there really isn't anything like this. But I think you know what I mean. I am not going to mention anything about it to Cherry, she has a beautiful udder and so does Pinky. Poor girls.

Calypso

As usual the election was free of any suspicions of malfeasance. The people have spoken. Some of them more than others.

Meet Calypso. Calypso Bean.

Peace Comes Dropping Slow

I have decided to make Cherry my Best Friend Forever and not just For Now. She is feeding my kids an extra quart of milk a day. They are as happy as three clams and as quiet as three mice. And I can finally hear myself think. PS Lori came with Fig Newtons, peanuts in the shell, and vanilla wafers. Some people really know how to visit.

A Tale of Two Udders

I would like to show you some pictures so you can see what is going on.

Here is a picture of my udder.

Here is a picture of Cherry's udder.

Ok, and now here is a picture of my babies and Cherry's little baby. We were only able to get one picture of Cherry's baby with its eyes open, because it sleeps 99 percent of the time because it is in a milk stupor. My babies are awake 99 percent of the time, so that they can say, "waa, waa, waa, more milk, more milk, more milk."

The Voting

The Spotty Name Voting (poll at left) is very close but has not generated much enthusiasm. Please review this chart to see if it will help you make a choice.

Thank you.

Get Penrose

It's like these children want milk EVERY DAY and not only that they want it FIVE OR TEN TIMES.

I can't go anywhere without them following me and the little one is always crying and putting on a show of looking tiny and shrunken. As far as conversation, it's always, "more milk, more milk, more milk."

Never anything about me, what am I thinking or would I like a Nutter Butter, or isn't my Clouseau mustache getting more and more charming, or my goodness what a pretty day. No, just more milk more milk more milk.

"THERE ISN'T ANY MORE!" I finally told them and the farmer went and got some milk from Cherry and gave it to the teeny tiny one and finally I had a moment's peace.

Then the FARMER checked to see if I had any more milk, like now I am going to feed three ravenous children and also a FARMER, and then the farmer said, "Well, maybe we can go down and get Penrose."

Penrose is the miracle milker.

GOOD IDEA! I yelled. GET PENROSE!!!!

Someone has finally uncovered a use for Wendell

Hmm, maybe I don't need Cherry after all. Wendell could probably do this, he isn't busy.

BFFN

I decided to make Cherry my best friend for now (BFFN) because she is part Nubian so it will be a big honor for her. Kindness is one of my many nice features. Anyway also I needed someone to watch my kids because I wanted to go out in the front pasture and eat blackberries and my kids are fine and everything but they kind of slow me down when I am trying to get to the best blackberry leaves before Jammies and her little butterball get there first. So anyway I made Cherry my best friend and then I said "oh Cherry by the way I am going to leave my kids with you because I am going to the front pasture so see you later thanks a lot bye."

That is how we do it in the Baby Belle family.

Anyway I forgot to mention Cherry had a kid on Saturday, just a little spindly one, and Cherry is part Nubian and so she has a big bag of milk which one little kid could never possibly hope to drink so I told my kids, "kids, Cherry has a lot of milk so if you get hungry while I am gone help yourselves see you later bye."

Cherry is from a different style of parenting where all you do all day long is gaze at your kids and say, "can I get you anything? Do you need anything? Look at you, how precious you are, would you like some more milk? WHERE DID YOU GO? Oh, there you are, don't do that again, you frightened me terribly, I thought an eagle plucked you up into the sky, how are you feeling, can I get you anything? Would you like some more milk?"

So anyway. See you later bye Cherry.

YES!

Kubby lives!

We are voting (poll at left) on Spotty's new name. Join us if you like. I don't like to give advice but obviously any name with "dowdy" in it would be inappropriate.

Pray For Kubby

Silver has turned out very very sweet. He needs a new home right away.

We are working on the new Spotty name. It may have to go to a vote, we haven't had a vote in a long time.

The tractor has broken and it is casting a pall over everything. You would not believe the long shadow of the broken tractor. We can't do this, we can't do that, the tractor is broken. Everything is a fright.

Please join us in praying for Kubby the Kubota.