Nice abductor minimi digiti !
Capering Goat Dairy is Branching OUT!
Just kidding, we’re still into goats.
The Milk Cycle (A Year in the Life)
Farm Economy
When one mighty Maddie does the work of ten wet-hay-waste bin tampers.
Bravura
How he crowed!
courage
color
ardor
perfect silence
my God
if he had crowed!
from “Bravura” by Robert Francis
Late Fire, Late Snow: New and Uncollected Poems, Univ. of Massachusetts Press
The Flavored Milk Comes But Once a Year
We’re getting punchy in the milking parlor.
The Naming Convention
Every year we name our baby goats with the same first letter of their mother's first name. So all of Jewel's babies have names that start with the letter "J," all of Banana Jam's babies start with the letter "B," etc. Vermeer's is one of our favorite lines, and every year we keep one we have to come up with a good "V" name - that also matches the goat. As you can see, Cocoa Puff was a necessary compromise.
Mother Goose, Diversity Advocate
Chook, chook, chook, chook,
“Good morning Mrs Hen,
How many chickens have you got?”
“Madam I’ve got ten,
Four of them are yellow
And four of them are brown
And two of them are speckled red,
The finest in the town.”
Every Day They Save Us; Sometimes We Save Them.
Making More Milk = Making More [Goat] Babies
Biscuit on the way to an off-site Saanen buck. She tried to call shotgun.
Help Us Help You
The New York Times, "Why Doing Good Is Good for the Do-Gooder," October 2017. Emphasis ours. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/26/well/mind/why-doing-good-is-good-for-the-do-gooder.html
"Volunteering is linked to health benefits like lower blood pressure and decreased mortality rates."
Read moreBefore and After: Molting, With Mr. Bling
At lest now we can see his pretty eyes.
the Creativity of Bees
Our bees made this sculpture from bits of comb floating in honey placed in the hive to feed them over the winter.
"Untitled," beeswax, Capering Goat Dairy Bees, 2017.
A particularly beautiful specimen from 2014. WHIT DESCHNER/GREAT SALT LICK AWARDS // From the article "Perhaps You’d Like to Purchase Art Sculpted by a Cow" COPYRIGHT 2017 | ATLAS OBSCURA | 61 GREENPOINT AVE, BROOKLYN, NY 11222
Then we learned of a fundraiser for Parkinson's research held in Baker City, Oregon where curated salt licks are entered into an art contest with the winners auctioned off to the highest bidders. “Goats and deer are more realist,” [contest founder Whit Deschner] says. “Cows are more impressionist. The horses aren’t artistic at all.”
While the adjacent photo isn't attributed to a particular ungulate (guess it's not a horse, though), notice the striking similarity to our bees' work?
A nice reminder of how creative living creatures are when given space, time, and sound materials.
Our Fearless Leader
Time to spruce up Elbert for breeding season.
Good thing we don't let him do any actual decision making.
What Mammals Need
Farm Economy
When you're little, you can fit two butts on the tractor seat.
Goat in a Tote
Sometimes they're so cute, you just have to take them with you.
Favoritism
There are drawbacks to being in a farmer's family (very few movie nights, for example), but the perks are lively and, like this here milk, alive.
[LaMancha Goat] Imitation is the Sincerest Form of Flattery
LaMancha Goat
LaMancha Rabbit?
A Milking Poem
In spondees, equal weight to each (udder).
SILENT POEM
backroad leafmold stonewall chipmunk
underbrush grapevine woodchuck shadblow
woodsmoke cowbarn honeysuckle woodpile
sawhorse bucksaw outhouse wellsweep
backdoor flagstone bulkhead buttermilk
candlestick ragrug firedog brownbread
hilltop outcrop cowbell buttercup
whetstone thunderstorm pitchfork steeplebush
gristmill millstone cornmeal waterwheel
watercress buckwheat firefly jewelweed
gravestone groundpine windbreak bedrock
weathercock snowfall starlight cockcrow
