The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. - Lao Tzu
The reason on the website I am called the Professional Baby Cuddler is because to me that's the best part of having any baby is to hold and hug and love on. But, I am getting ahead of myself...
My journey into the goat world is not what I had planned to do with my life, but here I am.
For me, it started when we moved to our little acreage and my husband (Bud) bought some Spanish/Shrub type goats to help clear some of the brush. Since then, because of my youngest (Katie) we've been into goats. There have, over the years, been: Spanish, Cashmere (both New Zealand and Texas Lined - or so Katie says), Boers, Nubians, even one Lamancha (You know the ones that don't look like they have ears?), named Happy that I am pretty sure was not all there in the head, or just crazy. Oh, and don't let me forget to mention the brief stint of fainting goats we had. Everything seemed to scare them. And now, our little Nigerian Dwarfs. I like the size of these guys, but I miss the ears of the Nubians. Can you picture teacup size Nubians? (Katie just said it sounded like Mini-Nubians was in the future about that line...)
With Katie, being the proud owner of all the animals on the place, she does the planning, the showing, the feeding, and the vaccinating, and all the care to the animals basically that doesn't get shoved off onto our fantastic vets; plus, trying to teach me about them. Which is probably the hardest job she has. (And no, this wasn't written by Katie)
I had planned on just being the moral supporter and now and then being a financial backer when I could, but Katie had other ideas. First, she handed me a book and said, "Here, Study this. It'll teach you about the conformation and what the judges expect and look for in 'good' Dairy goats". (Little does she know but I sort of read and studied it but I don't feel like I know any more now than before she handed it to me.) So it's of just tagging along with her and her goats, and being the lackey for now.
This was our ABGA reg Boer, Peanut on the trip a show.
Even what little experience I have, life in the goat world has had it's times. Like hauling a full-sized, 250lb boer doe to a show in east Texas in the back seat of my Suburban. You should have seen the looks on people's faces when they realized it was a goat, not a dog, standing up and looking at everything and just enjoying life and the ride. Or, how about the time we hauled our current Nigerian Dwarf buck, Garavani all the way home from close to Gainesville, Texas in the backseat of my Fiat 500 Pop. The smell was so bad, I had to stop shortly after picking him up and buy a can of air freshener at some dinky little gas station in the middle of no where... In case you wondering, we still had to ride with the windows down all the way home. It smelled like a stinky buck was tip-toeing through floral garden in full bloom. That smell lasted in my car for a month, even using the entire can of air freshener. With my job as a Bail Bond Agent, our office is across the street from the Sheriff's Department...let's just say my little stinky car brought a whole new set of unappreciated fragrances to the area.
But, I can admit I have learned a few things like: clipping and vaccinating, and some of the showing. I'm not certain I'm excited about learning any more than that but I'm not sure I have a lot of choices.
So, why don't you come along with me on this journey and maybe we can learn together or at the very least make you laugh at the antics of life around here. I will be sharing some sort of funny happenings the next time around. I welcome all the help and support I can get, so please feel free to jump in and chat with me and share your own stories. - Charlene
#myjourney #mompov #goatworldhostage #juniperglenfarm #misadventures #antics #stilllearning #nigeriandwarfgoats #helpme