The woes of Facebook, and a perk or two

Well, I did it.  I signed up for Facebook.  After talking to a couple of good friends, I became convinced that the way to market my goats and horse, to reach people about things that are important to me (like freedom-robbing bills going through Congress), and even just to reach people that are unreachable by phone, I had to bite the bullet and get a Facebook account.

I was stunned to find that FIVE PEOPLE wanted to "friend" me as soon as I had logged on for the first time.  Good grief!  This was even worse than I had anticipated!  I mean, how could that happen?  And it just got worse from there.  I have people asking to "friend" me that I'd never expect.  For example, why would a 19 year old boy at church want to "friend" me?  What possible interest could he have in what I have to say?  Or the husband of an acquaintance?

I've noticed that people have "friends" in the hundreds.  Do they really check in on everyone?  Do they really look at each and every post that appears on their Wall?  Do they not shut off the feeds for most everyone, and if so, why "friend" them to begin with?

I suppose these and other questions will be answered as time goes on, but though I spend a lot of time on the internet, I doubt that Facebook will take up a lot of my time.  That said, it's nice to be able to see what's happening with Magic's training, as Carol Poulin posts updates frequently.  My girl is sooo much happier in work, and I love being able to see her progress.  Since Carol uploads her videos to YouTube, I get to post here.

 

And talking about videos, I can't wait to get my new camera.  Then I can film my goats as they escape from the pasture and chew down the apple trees and rose bushes--like they're doing right now.  Time to go!

Goats, horses, and fences.

The weather is wonderful today.  Though the forecast calls for a 20% chance of snow, the temperature will be close to 40--a heat wave!  There's so much to do before spring thaw!  Last week my son helped me build a partition in the chicken coop to separate the geese from the chickens, so they have a place to nest without being disturbed.  Okay, I helped him. He did most of the work and I was the go-fer.  Today I will put the door on and that job will be done.

Then comes the fun stuff:  finding the shorts in the electric wire.  It's always been a source of amazement to me that I can get a good charge at the source, and have nothing 5 feet down the way, and all the searching in the world won't show me a break in the wire or a place it's going to ground.  Does electric wire have a consciousness, one that snickers and snorts when someone comes out to make it goat proof?  I've taken to going out in the dark to see if I can find a spark every 2 seconds emanating somewhere along the fence line. I've tried to hone my hearing so I can hear the subtle snap, snap of a shorted wire.  The goats watch expectantly, especially Emily, who wants to escape into the wide world of the forbidden.

Someone should explain to me one day, in a way I can understand, why goats and horses can have 30 acres of pasture with excellent grass and browse, but what is beyond the fence--that is, the lawn and the rose bushes, look so much more inviting.  If there's a hole in the fence, Emily will find it.  If the gate is left unlocked for 5 minutes--unlocked, mind you, not open--Magic will suddenly come up from the pasture and push it open, then, kicking and bucking, gallop across the lawn, tail up, ears forward, celebrating her new-found freedom.  If the electric fence goes to ground, either Emily will slip through, or Magic will reach over to eat whatever is on the other side, regardless of how much feed is on her side.

I think 30 aces should be enough for any horse or goat. Obviously I'm missing something, so today I'll tackle the small orchard and give the goats something beyond the paddock area where they're now confined, pending better fencing.  It's a good day to do it, a good day to be outside enjoying the January thaw that showed up in February, a good day to imagine that spring is just around the corner.

A walk through the snow

It's been a few days since it snowed,  but I finally remembered that I had taken some photos.  Snow looks so lovely from a distance, both temporally and spatially.

Picture Perfect Snow

 

                   Plenty of Snow to shovel!

The animals seem to do very well in the snow.  Well...maybe he geese had their second thoughts.

Magic watches over the fence.  Hey!  Where's my treat?

How a goat gets a dirty nose in the snow is a mystery to me, but goats are interesting beings, with talents only suspected by the likes of us humans.

And after the day is over, the twilight comes, the snow starts gently falling once again, and peace lies over the land.

It's mid-May already, and I haven't planted the garden yet. The fiddleheads are almost past! Where has the time gone? As usual, spring is galloping along faster than I can keep up, and time, that awful thief, is picking my pocket once again.

But since this is my first blog entry, it seems only fitting that I should introduce all the furred and feathered inhabitants of Crooked Shade Farm.

First, the two horses, Winsome Angel (aka Angel), my Arabian X mare, 18 years old, the matriarch of the farm animals. Angel's been with me since she was two, and we've learned a lot about life and each other in that time. She's my "everything" horse, and she does it all: trail, dressage, jumping, barrels, pole-bending, and even vaulting. What she likes best, of course, is being a pasture ornament, and she does it well.




 Pyxylated Magic, Angel's daughter, is in the D registry of the American Trakehner Association. I used to call her Pyxie, but, believing that beings grow into their names, I decided I didn't want to encourage her naughty ways. Magic is still somewhat of a brat, but I have high hopes that she will truly be a magical being as she grows older. 

Next come my three goats. Beatrice is a 2 year old Saanen doe, and freshened for the second time in March. Her buckling left shortly after, having been traded for pruning of a couple of apple trees, and now facing a longer and better life than he would have had otherwise. The same day, I brought home a little Saanen/Nubian doeling, born on the same day as the buckling. Sanuba is the inquisitive, feisy one of the group, always greeting the horses on hind legs, or challenging the roosters.  Sanuba and Magic are best buds.  Angel isn't so sure she really likes having them around.  Perhaps that will change as time goes on.  Angel is usually pretty easy going.


Two weeks after Bea kidded, I bought another little Saanen doeling, Emily. Honestly, Emily told me that was her name. I actually had no intention of taking her home, being more interested in a larger doeling that was posing just like a little show goat, but I picked up the little doeling that kept coming over, just to see how far along I could expect the horn buds to be developed on all of the doelings of that age, and suddenly I heard the worlds coming out of my mouth, "I guess I'll take this one."


Emily is the climber. I find her in places that the others don't even think about, and I've had to take a serious look at what she can reach in the barn if given ample opportunity.

And talking about Emily, it's time to feed her, so I think I'll finish this later.