The Vernons: April 2013

Our goats. Finally!

Saturday morning we were up at the farm, and Steph's dad said it was a good day to buy goats. I started looking online for some goats for sale, and we found some in Kernersville. Alan and I had to put some last minute touches on the fence (putting railroad ties up where the ground dipped too low to put the fence; trying to keep goats in and coyotes out), so Steph, Sadie and Melody went to buy they goats. They came back with three kids and we put them out in the field. They're too skittish right now, but after a month or two of feeding them by hand, they should become true pets.

We got Myotonic goats, or fainting goats, to start off with. They're called fainting goats because they have a genetic trait that causes them to lock up and fall over when they get startled. They were originally bred to be the scapegoat for a herd when a coyote or other predator came in the field. The fainting goat would fall over, stopping the predator from hurting the rest of the herd (by becoming its dinner). The Myotonic goats are hardy goats that we felt would be a good first breed to learn how to care for goats. Plus they were a heck of a lot cheaper than the Kiko goats we were looking at. Alan bought these first three, and as we learn how to care for them, I'll hopefully add more to the herd.

Steph named them Rosemary, Sage and Clementine. Rosemary is the biggest and the bossiest. She head butts the others around. Sage is the one that faints the most at this point. Clementine is the smallest.

Sadie absolutely loves them. I think she's going to be great at the farm.

Anyways, here are some pics from Saturday.

Her back legs are paralyzed in this one, running with stiff legs...

The Goatel and the Goats

This is Sage

This is Rosemary, the boss of the three

All three

Sadie will turn 11 months old next week. Seriously, time flies when you've got a kid. We were cleaning out closets in order to put the house on the market (more on that later) and found stuff she wore when she first came home. It's surreal to look at those clothes and hats and realize how much Sadie has grown and developed over the past 11 months.

I know it's been a while since I've posted, so I'll try to get everything in this post. Pictures too.

Sadie is standing up on her own for seconds at a time. If she doesn't realize she's standing up, she can stay up a lot longer. It's almost like a cartoon character who runs off a cliff and doesn't fall until he realizes there's no ground beneath him. Sadie stands up until she realizes she's not holding on to anything, and then plops her butt down or reaches quickly for anything to steady her. She doesn't appear to be in a hurry to walk, so we'll see when she figures that out.

We thought she was getting sick last week. Her nose was running, she had a slight fever, and she was super cranky. Come to find out, she had her first two teeth coming in at the same time. She's got two more coming now that those have broken through, but she seems to be doing better with these.

She's continuing to figure more stuff out and interact with us in completely new ways almost each day. She and Peter (the cat) seem to have a special relationship. She lures him in by doing her version of meowing: really high "ahhs" and reaching out to him. He comes up to her (for the most part. Sometimes he just bolts out of the room) and lets her play with him while he purrs away. It's so great to watch them together.

She is also attempting to cluck like a chicken, thanks to Aunt Mandi's training. She is really interested in all animals that she comes in contact with.

Sadie is definitely showing that she knows what's going on. She's always been super observant, from her first day of life. Now we get to see her react to things we say, proof that she understands what the deal is. Kate taught her to kiss on command (open mouth, tongue out, usually saying "ahhhhhhh") and it's super cute. She knows the difference when we say, "Give mommy a kiss" and "Give daddy a kiss" by moving to each of us respectively.

Sadie loves music and figuring out the noises that two things make when they're hit together. It's not rare to see her playing the drums with anything she can hold and the coffee table, bowl, or whatever she can find. Her dancing skills are improving as well.

The other night we were watching a Queen concert and Sadie was mesmerized by it. She crawled to the TV, pulled up on the table, and sang along with Freddie. It was hilarious.

One of the reasons for the long intervals between blog posts: Our house is for sale. We've decided to see what we can get out of the house and use the profits to start building at the farm. Hopefully we'll sell soon and start the process of building our own house. I'm really excited. So, for the handful of people that look at this blog, if you're looking for a house in Stokesdale, I've got the house for you!

The first goat field is officially ready. We finished the goat shelter two weekends ago, so now they've got a place to stay. It's not the taj mahal of goats houses, but it is a pretty functional goatel. I'm pleased with it. We've started on the lower field now so we can utilize rotational grazing. Now that we're not learning or making it up as we go along, this second field should go much quicker.

I'll try to update again on a more regular basis. For now, here are some pics of the last month or so.