WannaBe in the Country

A Wintry End to the Blog

2010-12-26T12:54:00.002-05:00

Considering I haven't posted here since September, I thought it might be time to officially close the blog. Shortly after my previous last post, we discovered we'll be moving up to the Washington D.C. area in the early spring, and suddenly I lost heart for keeping up the blog.

Now that we've had time to absorb it, we're excited about the move. Change is what keeps life interesting, and this will certainly be a big one. We'll put the house here on the market next week, and start looking for a townhouse rental near shopping in probably the Maryland suburbs.

We'll miss our beautiful country home here in South Carolina. Most especially, we'll miss the weather. Today we got a reminder of what Maryland winters are like. This is what our backyard looked like when we woke up this morning.

It's beautiful but the goats Do. Not. Like. It.

They'll be the hardest to leave, I think. We'll find a good home for them, some place where they understand that goats can be great pets, with truly unique personalities.

We're going to miss this view, but someone else will get a chance to enjoy a wonderful place.

Thanks so much to everyone who was kind enough to read my silly musings about learning to live in the country! We had a blast. I'll never forget Gus the horse walking us around the pond...Arlene and Emma the goats teaching us how goats like to be petted....Gus and Boot, the cats who moved here with us and left a hole in our hearts when fate took them from us...and Hailey and Irving, the cats who just showed up one day and helped repair the hole. We learned a lot, laughed even more, and now have new challenges to meet. Goodbye!

What a Beautiful Berry

2010-09-09T20:03:00.001-04:00

Isn't this the prettiest berry you've ever seen?

It's the American Beautyberry, a native plant. At our other house, we spent good money at a plant nursery to buy some of these after we saw them growing wild at Jekyll Island, Georgia. Unfortunately, what we bought was the (unlabelled) 'rare' white Beautyberry. When we moved to this house, we had planned to buy some of the purple ones but didn't get around to it that first spring. That August, we started seeing the purple berries everywhere, and found it grows wild by our pond.

I can't imagine why these aren't more popular.

I went to take the picture below, and didn't see the spider until I was right up on it.

These spiders grow wild down by the pond too. They freaked me out a little that first summer, but now I think they're gorgeous.

As long as they Stay. Out. Of. My. House.

Morning Snakes Are No Fun

2010-09-08T20:07:00.001-04:00

I'm not really a morning person, but even if I were, this is not what I want to see in my living room first thing...

Actually, I don't want it in my living room at any time but I apparently don't get that choice. I get up before my husband does, and normally get ready and creep out for work without turning on lights. This morning I nearly beaned myself on the bedroom door doing that, so when I got to the living room, I turned on the light at a low level, just in time to keep myself from stepping on this (fortunately) harmless but quite impressive-looking Scarlet Kingsnake.

I can't be positive how it got into our living room, but I think this next picture may be a clue.

I could tell the snake was alive because it was twitching its tail, but I wasn't sure how easy it would be to pick up until our two very excited cats started wrestling with each other and rolled right over it. It didn't move, so I scooped it up with a dustpan and put it in the flower bed outside the front door.

It was gone from that spot by the time my husband got up, so I'm hoping it was just playing dead and managed to get away.

And that some annoying young cats won't be bringing it back through the cat door tonight...and into the bedroom to show us what fine hunters they are.

Hmmm...maybe we'll sleep with the bedroom door shut tonight.

Ducks...Cats...Goats

2010-09-05T18:44:00.001-04:00

We've been observing some strange interactions among the goats, cats, and ducks recently. When we go walking down by the pond, they all tend to hover around. I'd love to think it was our magnetic personalities, but I'm afraid it might have more to do with the way food magically appears when we're around.

The other day, Arlene the goat was walking peacefully nearby when a small female duck, T.O., ran up and nipped her in the hind leg for no apparent reason. Arlene looked back, surprised, then just walked on, as if she gets nipped every day by small, ill-tempered ducks.

Of course I didn't have a camera with me that day, so this is a picture of Irving the cat wondering what I'm doing, with goats Arlene and Emma in the background, and large, clawed duck Corky hanging out to the side.

After I took that picture, Halley, our small white cat, came down to see what was going on. She wound up in between Corky and Arlene. As we watched, Corky moved menacingly toward her, so she turned to run -- have I mentioned he has claws? -- and found herself face to face with Arlene, who lowered her head, and horns, and charged...playfully? Who knows? Halley wisely turned and ran.

Of course I didn't get a picture of that either, just one of Halley wondering why everyone's so irritable tonight.

I did have my camera when Arlene decided it was time for me to pet her. She leaned against my leg while I scratched behind her ears. She loves that.

She loves that so much that when I decided it was time to resume taking pictures, she reminded me that it was petting time by pulling on my shorts' leg insistently. Like an idiot, I taught her that works by petting her again. I never learn.

Seriously, though, could you resist that?

Goodbye, Boot

2010-08-20T19:32:00.002-04:00

We had to have our 18-year-old cat Boot put to sleep this week. He had a long and full life. He was born in Cairo, Egypt, lived with us in six different countries, and died in South Carolina.

This is a picture from some years ago, back when he still had teeth. Both our Egyptian cats had major dental problems.

He was a beautiful cat, and one of the most intelligent ones I've known.

I got him in Cairo when a very kind woman drove me across town in rush-hour traffic to see what was supposed to be a long-haired kitten, living with an Egyptian woman who couldn't keep him, after his original family had kicked him out. He turned out to be a short-haired, year-old, nervous wreck of a cat, but I was too embarrassed not to take him after she'd driven me all that way. We stopped at the vet's on the way home, and he told me Boot was feral and could never be tamed.

For the first three days, we never saw him. We would wake up to find all the pictures ajar. He had evidently been trying to find a way out in the night, and thought they were windows. On the third day, I decided to give him one last chance. I found him pressed against the wall behind the stove. I held out some food in my hand. He sniffed it, hesitated, then came slowly toward me. As he reached me, he seemed to suddenly relax. He climbed into my lap and began to rub his head all over me.

He had just been terrified.

We were friends ever after, and he was always my cat, unlike our other cats, who've always loved my husband best.

Wondering why I said he was a short-haired cat, when the pictures clearly show otherwise? We took him back to the States for a year after Egypt, and that first winter, poof! He became a long-haired cat.

Here he is with Fergie, our other Egyptian cat, not too long after we got them both, back in his brief short-haired phase. She's been gone for years, but she was a wonderful cat.

This week the vet told us Boot had diabetes, arthritis, a serious heart murmur, and advanced cataracts. He wasn't enjoying his life any more, and it was time for him to pass on to whatever is next for our beloved pets.

I'm just going to remember him from happier days...

Fawn Hopes

2010-07-25T20:30:00.002-04:00

I saw the fawn for the first time this evening...but not under good circumstances.

Two of our cats came bursting in through the cat door from outside a little while ago. We went outside to see what had spooked them, and found two cars stopped in the road in front of our house, staring off down the hill into the pasture. They said a deer had tried to jump our fence from the pasture into the road, but couldn't clear the fence. It kept banging into the fence, and then ran down the hill toward the pond.

When we heard that, we knew it must have been the fawn, since a grown deer could easily clear the fence. We ran down to look, and sure enough, a spotted fawn was down at the bottom of the pasture, trying to get through the fence that separates us from the neighbor.

That fence is wire mesh, and the squares in the top half are no more than about 6" wide. But on the other side of all the fencing on the outer edges of the property is the original barbed wire fencing. We cut it down on the inner boundaries, where we interact with the goats, but left it on the outside to keep predators out. It's not a high fence...but the fawn couldn't get over it, and was trying to go through it.

By the time I caught up to it, it had succeeded in forcing itself through one of the 6" squares, and the barbed wire, but was caught by its hips. Its head was on the ground on the other side of the fence, and it was panting heavily. It was bloodied from the attempts to get through the barbed wire. I took its hind legs and straightened them to the rear so that it could complete the slide through the fence, and it took off across the neighbor's yard toward the forest.

Deer are considered pests here, as in so many places, and our neighbors have had serious accidents from hitting them on the roads, but I can't help but hope that its mother finds it, and that its wounds aren't too serious.

Below is a picture of its mother coming for the ducks' grain on a better evening.

Ducks Continue to Demand Scratch

2010-07-22T20:21:00.001-04:00

The deer must still be eating the ducks' grain, because they were up in the yard again this evening. This time the females came up to the garage as usual, but the males came up the hill into the front pasture. We heard the quacking, and of course when we came out, the goats thought we were going to feed them and went on high alert.

I thought I was going to have to open the gate into the front yard for the ducks, but they figured it out, quacking loudly as they went.

They gave Halley the cat a wide berth...

...and finally were rewarded with a bin full of 'scratch' after the long journey.

We had thought about trying to scare the deer away, until one day she brought her fawn with her.

I guess we can just refill the bin more frequently for a while longer.

Greedy Ducks

2010-07-22T09:37:00.001-04:00

Our seven ducks mostly live off the pond, but they've gotten used to us supplementing their food with a grain product called 'scratch.' We put it in a bin outside the pasture so that they can get to it by coming under the gate, but the goats can't get it. The goats have a little addiction problem with grain, so we keep it away from them.

The ducks appear to have a little addiction problem of their own, though. We now have a deer who visits daily and eats their scratch, and it ticks them off mightily. When it happens, they come up from the pond to the house and let us know about it.

They know we used to keep the scratch in the garage, so they come up there. We moved it to the storage area after they ripped open the bag in the garage and spilled it over everything, but they haven't caught on to the change yet.

They stopped along the way to let me know they were mad.

Then my husband came out with a filled bin, and they followed him down to the pond.

These are the three males, plus the original female, who hangs out with them. The other three females have to wait until the males are done eating.

I've tried to encourage the females to try a little women's lib, but then no one tries to peck me to death when I eat.

Goodbye Grill

2010-07-21T20:13:00.002-04:00

We had a violent little storm here this evening. The wind kicked up, then the rain started coming across in horizontal sheets. We went out afterward to find it had knocked the top half of our dead tree down, and it tore up our little concrete pad patio set.

It knocked the table over, broke the umbrella, and blew some of the cushions into the wood. Then we noticed what it did to the grill.

The storm flipped the grill over and blew it into a chair. The unfortunate thing is that it was actually my Mom's grill that we've been keeping for her. Sorry, Mom!

The goats didn't enjoy the storm. We went down to the run-in shelter and found them cowering inside. Emma was bleating pitifully. (Do goats bleat? She was doing something pitifully.)

Irving is Peculiar

2010-07-03T15:38:00.002-04:00

Our cat Irving is a little eccentric. One of the strange things about him is his resting posture. This is what we might call a 'half-Irving': hind legs stretched fully to the rear, and one front leg stretched before him.

He's more likely to be found in the 'full-Irving' position, though: all legs extended.

Here's an aerial view...because, of course, the world needs to see this.

We've had a number of cats over the years, but I've never seen one whose habitual position is like this. It makes me laugh every time I see him.

Those of you who have been seeing pictures of him since he showed up on our back deck may notice that there has been some belly extension as well. Yes, our Irving likes his food...but only dry food, not wet food.

He is a strange cat.

And the Landscape Decision Was...

2010-06-27T14:20:00.001-04:00

About a month ago, I posted that we were trying to decide what to do with our 'new construction' scalped earth. The only thing I knew for sure about it was that I didn't want to lay sod. We're trying to be 'green,' and I'm convinced that lawns aren't the best thing for the environment. For over a year, we've been trying to figure out what else we could do.

So two weeks ago, the sod truck came.

Yes, I caved. We had several landscapers come out to give ideas, and I did a lot of reading, and in the end, sod was the only thing that made sense for our landscape. Almost anything else would have involved replacing the irrigation system, since the pipes are so close to the surface, plus massive soil amendments, since 2-3 feet had been stripped off the ground to level it before the house was built, and all that's left was hardpan clay. You can see in the picture above what the ground being sodded looked like.

We had them put Bermuda sod in the area between the house and the apartment, where not even common Bermuda seed would grow.

Then there was the area between the front yard and the front pasture, which has pipes running all through it.

And finally, the area down near the road, where the construction debris and erosion meant nothing would grow, but where we needed space for cars to park.

There's still the large area behind the house that's just weeds now. We'll worry about that in the fall, and I'm still hoping to do a naturalized meadow and butterfly garden there, since the soil is diggable.

We don't plan to use herbicides or pesticides on the new lawn, so the weeds will eventually move in, of course, but the bare earth is covered, and it's so much more enjoyable to look at.

I'm trying to avoid the 'lawn alternative' web sites I'd been reading, but for anyone interested, a great site is www.lawnreform.org. Please don't tell them what I did! :->

Storms Pass By

2010-06-27T13:37:00.001-04:00

Rain is passing us by....nearly every day recently, storm clouds form all around us, and we can see other areas getting rain, but it ignores us. The other night we had a spectacular storm, but didn't get much rain out of it. We watched from the front porch as lightning branched all over the darkened sky for an hour. After the lightning converged in front of us into something resembling a fireball, with a crack of thunder at a frequency I've never heard before, it occurred to us that perhaps we might be better off in the house. It was beautiful...but not much rain.

Last night, the clouds started forming again. The view in the picture below is to the south, where our weather normally comes from. You can see the goats looking toward their shelter, trying to decide whether it's time to take cover.

After a while, the thunder clouds began gathering. There was one in particular that was shaped like a mushroom cloud. If the atom bomb had never been invented, would I have seen it as so ominous?

As I stepped into the front yard to get pictures, I realized that there was a huge dark cloud right over our house. Finally, rain!

Ten minutes later, the rain was done. It was better than nothing...but not much better.

The storm clouds are all around us again this afternoon. I'm sure today will be our day...

Always Ask the Turtle

2010-06-06T13:19:00.001-04:00

Lately turtles from our pond have been climbing the hill to the front pasture, and trying to get out to the road from there. They're blocked by the fence, and I've been picking them up and returning them to the pond. I mentioned that to my sister, and she told me a story by Gloria Steinem called 'Always Ask the Turtle,' in which she did something similar only to find out that the turtle was making great efforts to reach an egg-laying spot. I can now imagine these poor turtles cursing me all the way back down the hill.

So this morning when I found Irving the cat watching a turtle en route to the fence, I decided to follow the turtle to see where it was trying to go.

Evidently I needed help, so the goats and Irving followed me.

Irving was intensely interested in....and puzzled by...the turtle. The turtle made a valiant effort to get through the fence, but it was just too big.

So I carried it back out through the gate and across the road to our neighbor's property, and released it under the neighbor's fence. Our neighbor has a couple of hundred acres, and a large pond, so I'm sure it'll find a good home there. The turtle scampered away on its mysterious (to me) mission.

I'm struggling with whether to cut the bottom part of the fence so that the turtles can get through. The fence is intentionally designed so that smallish predators, like foxes, can't get through easily. It seems to have worked, as we haven't lost any of our ducks or cats to ground predators. I'll have to think about what the greater good is in this situation.

Here's a link to a version of the Gloria Steinem story. She ties the cute story to the need to be wary of totalitarian instincts on both the political right and left. Always ask the turtle!

http://www.yuni.com/library/docs/217.html

Apologies to an Elderly Cat

2010-05-30T14:08:00.002-04:00

My last post was about how Boot, our 18-year-old cat, mistakenly attacked our younger cat, Irving, in the night, thinking he was a strange cat. Well, Boot was right and I was wrong.

This morning I did yard work, so didn't go in to take my shower until about noon. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw something move in the closet. When I checked, there was a small, strange cat sitting calmly in the closet corner. So Boot did actually see something worth screaming about...for a cat.

Our house guest is fortunately experienced in cat rescue, so got it out of the closet and into a carrier. We'll check with the neighbors, but I suspect we've been the victim yet again of a 'cat drop-off.' Both Irving and Halley came to us that way last year.

This story doesn't have an ending yet, because I don't know what the ending will be. I DO know that it would avert a lot of suffering if people would spay and neuter their pets...

Cat Dementia?

2010-05-30T10:16:00.001-04:00

Our 18-year-old cat, Boot, started screaming horribly at 5:00 this morning. We leapt out of bed, and ran into the living room to see what was wrong. In the dim light, and by the sound of his screams, we could tell that he had an animal cornered in the den. We assumed a stray cat -- or worse -- had come in through the cat door.

He chased the animal through the house, screaming as it clawed at the windows trying to escape. Then it went under the bed and didn't come out. We got ourselves together, turned on the lights, found a broom and prepared to deal with it, while Boot looked at us as if to say, 'Over to you,' and strolled away.

We opened the door out to the deck so we could chase it outside, pulled our rolled-up oriental rugs from under the bed, and finally faced the creature, who was cowering against the wall.

It was our other cat, Irving.

We think Irving must have brushed up against Boot in the dark, and Boot, who seems to be slipping into the early stages of elderly cat dementia, mistook him for an unknown animal and attacked.

It's funny now. At 5:00 a.m. -- not so much. Poor Irving.

Here's Boot at a better time in his life, enjoying a nap.

Goat Associations

2010-05-27T21:25:00.001-04:00

Our goat Arlene has learned that if we're sitting on the pond bench, she'll get petted. Oddly, though, she's come to associate the bench itself with the petting. So if we're standing nearby, she'll go rub against the bench to show us that she wants to be petted.

She's fairly strong, so the the bench is taking a bit of a beating.

She's knocked it over before doing this.

Unfortunately, we usually give her positive reinforcement by petting her when she does it.

Come to think of it...she's right. She does get petted when she rubs her head on the bench if we're around.

Smart goat...

The people...not so smart...

The Vultures Hover

2010-05-26T08:17:00.001-04:00

Our house guest called yesterday as she was pulling out of the driveway to say that vultures were swooping one of the goats in the upper pasture. I ran out to see, and found them lined up on the fence across the street.

It's hard not to think of the word ominous when you see a vulture, isn't it? I finally remembered that our neighbor had told us that someone hit a deer in front of our house the other day, then came back with a gun to finish it off. The carcass was hidden behind the neighbor's fence where they were sitting. My approach startled them and they flew off to line up on the neighbor's roof.

Now this is a sight you don't want to see at your own home or nearby...

They're still hanging around today. They've been swooping our deck, and lining the fence again.

There must be something in our genes that tells us to be disturbed by this sight...

Fine Vines for Goats

2010-05-23T22:13:00.002-04:00

Our two goats have an insatiable appetite for vines, and we have a plentiful supply. Well, I use the word 'we' loosely. In this picture, I'm afraid the muscadine vine Emma is enjoying actually belongs to our neighbor. I'm sure they wouldn't mind, though.

Arlene also enjoys our own vines down by the pond.

Sometimes she's joined by a little white cat, who tends to prefer grasses....and field mice.

When the goats get tired of getting their own vines, they walk over to the trees, and look longingly up at the vines, then over at my husband. They have him trained well. He comes immediately to their aid. They help him select the best of the vines, usually by doing a little taste-testing while he holds it down for them, and then he pulls the selection of the evening down.

Yes, they're completely and udderly spoiled. (Sorry, sorry, I tried to make myself not go with the bad pun, but it was just impossible.)

Visited By a Butterfly

2010-05-23T22:00:00.001-04:00

My husband and I were sitting outside this evening, and a butterfly landed on his hand. It stayed there, and even let him wave his hand around. It stayed so long that I finally ran in to get the camera.

I didn't get a good picture, and am not sure what kind it was. We imagined that if we looked it up, the description might say "remarkably friendly butterfly." It finally flew off, but then came back and landed on his foot.

Again I didn't get a good picture. So it was a friendly butterfly but not photogenic...because of course it must be the butterfly's fault if I didn't get a good picture.

It wasn't a Gulf fritillary butterfly, but the passionflower vines are blooming down by the pond, so we should be seeing those soon.

We should also see whatever kind of butterfly this little fellow is going to produce. (I'd look it up but I'm too lazy today.)

I'm hoping for a good butterfly year...

Black Swallowtail Butterfly Hatches

2010-05-16T14:23:00.004-04:00

We planted two bronze fennel plants in our front flower bed last year, and this year we've got gorgeous black swallowtail caterpillars all over it.

Some of them have turned into chrysalis (if I have that term right).

And today we're watching one in the process of turning into a butterfly.

They've eaten part of the plant, but that's perfectly fine.

I put the plants in the wrong place, actually. I didn't realize that they're supposed to grow four feet tall, so I put them in the front of the bed, since they were really small when I bought them. Fortunately (?), they only got to be two feet tall, probably because of the heavy clay (construction backfill) in that bed. I've been working on amending it, but it's slow going.

I planted three more fennel plants today!

Happy Goats

2010-05-09T19:32:00.001-04:00

Our two goats have really been enjoying the gorgeous spring weather we've been having for the last few weeks. They romp and play, rearing up in the air and then head-butting each other with what seems to us to be great force. They have so much energy, which really pleases us because they were infected with parasites when they came to us last year, and we've obviously gotten them through that.

It's so much fun to sit down by the pond and watch them play. It's interesting that goats play...but ducks don't, at least as far as I can tell. Ducks are very focused on food. Today their cracked corn bin was empty, and they followed my husband up to the house, and went into the garage looking for it. They've found it before in there, and tore open the bag, which is why we don't keep it there any more. Duck poop is not something I want in my garage.

Back to the goats, though....I love how their long, floppy ears curl when they're bouncing around.

I can't imagine what it would feel like to have one of them head-butt you. They're very careful not to do that to us, even when they're pounding past us running after each other. The cats are almost at their feet sometimes when the goats are playing like that, and I worry about them accidentally getting run over, but so far they always just miss them.

Funny how relaxing it is to see another species just enjoying life...

The Geese Stop By

2010-05-09T09:24:00.002-04:00

Like last year, we're starting to see more Canadian geese at the pond. Yesterday fourteen of them turned up. We've had two pairs that have been dropping by off and on for the past month, but this is a sudden escalation. You can see the goats are a little disturbed about it. For the most part, it's 'live and let live' around here, but the geese must have been standing somewhere the goats wanted to be, so they forced the issue a little...

...and the geese went into the water. They're beautiful to have around, but I have to say that they certainly are messy. We learned our lesson last year and don't feed them now, so they don't visit as often, and our pastures are less crowded with goose poop.

It was a beautiful evening. My husband fished for a bit, and I sat by the pond reading. Then we just watched the pond, soaking in the cool evening breeze after a 90's day, and felt very lucky.

May you all have many peaceful, happy evenings...

A Typical Evening

2010-05-01T19:06:00.001-04:00

I was just finishing up making a vegan black bean chili when my husband called me to come help him deal with a persistent large turtle in the front yard. I say it's persistent because this is the second time we've had to take it back down to the pond. It's probably cursing us in turtle language, because I'm sure it thinks it's going somewhere (probably to lay eggs), but it keeps heading for the road. It got caught in the fence last time trying to get to the road.

I turned off the burner, grabbed some gardening gloves, picked it up and carried it down to the pond to release it.

Emma-the-goat followed me closely and stood on the shore with her head down toward the turtle to watch it swim away. Big mistake. While she was distracted, Arlene head-butted her from behind, nearly pushing both of us into the water.

As I caught my balance, I heard loud quacking, and saw Corky, the huge Muscovy duck in the picture below, attacking T.O., one of our two small mallard females. We have no idea why, but he's been brutalizing T.O. and P.J., the two females, recently. He almost drowned P.J. last night, and it appeared to be deliberate. (I know that's ascribing a lot of motivation to a duck, but what he's been doing is beyond the normal rough mating. He really does seem to be trying to kill her.)

I picked up a stick and started waving it to scare him off. As he ran for the water, G3, the male mallard with Corky below, flew over to take up the attack on T.O. I scared him off too. Have I mentioned recently how glad I am our neighbors can't see into our back yard?

I'd love to know why the three males, abetted by the older female Mallard, are forcing the two smaller females out. When they're not attacking them, they're ostracizing them. As a result, T.O. and P.J. spend a lot of time together. In the picture below, they got separated, and ran up to touch beaks before going off together. It was touching, especially considering what they've been going through.

P.J. stands for 'Plain Jane,' and T.O......well, that stands for 'That One,' because we never can remember what we had decided to call her. What does G3 stand for? Gus III...because we moved here with a cat named Gus, and then got a horse named Gus, so my husband insisted on naming a duck Gus too. He actually wanted to name all eight ducks Gus, but I held the line there.

Yes, we're weird.

As I stood there worrying about the two females, I felt a tug at my glove, and looked down to find a goat gently pulling on it. She wanted to be petted, of course.

I obliged her, then trudged back up to the house to put the stew in the fridge. It's a hectic pace we set here in WannaBe Land...

Goats Have Personality

2010-05-01T17:35:00.000-04:00

I know most people probably think that goats don't have personalities, or at least not individual personalities, but that couldn't be more wrong.

For example, I know exactly what this look from Arlene means.

It means she wants my husband to pull some of the muscadine grape vine down off the tree for her to eat. She'll go look at the vine, or the branch she wants to eat, and then turn and look pleadingly at my husband. Of course, he gives it to her. He can't resist The Look.

This next look, however, means 'pet me.' She loves having her head and ears rubbed, and will beg for it like a dog does. She's also amazingly gentle with us considering the power she's got in her body and horns. When she and Emma play by butting heads, we can hear the thud across the pasture. They must have incredibly thick skulls.

This look, of course, means 'Put down the camera and pet me -- NOW.'

Back later...I've got goat petting duty...

Evening With a Goat

2010-04-17T17:36:00.001-04:00

We've been trying to sit down by the pond in the evenings now that the weather is so beautiful. We're using those folding chairs that the goats smell dog on, so we constantly have goats nosing around us.

Irving the cat likes to hang with us too. When he jumped up this time, he and Arlene the goat actually touched noses, but of course I missed that picture, so I got this one instead.

If you're wondering what Irving is staring at, of course it's the ducks.

We're certainly a bizarre little family...

Irving Catches a Duck -- NOT

2010-04-16T20:49:00.001-04:00

Irving the cat is such an embarrassment. He really thinks he can catch a duck...and the ducks think he's a complete buffoon.

In the picture below, he starts to stalk two of the smaller female ducks. (I hadn't realized when I took the picture that I caught the goat sticking her tongue out too.) Halley, our white cat, takes up the stalking stance too, but she's a smart cat, so quickly gives it up and goes to roll in goat urine.

Then Irving decides it's better to try catching Corky, the huge Muscovy duck with claws.

Corky ignores him and walks away, so Irving tries the two female Mallards again. I promise you that they know he's there. They just don't care. They walk away several times, and he stalks them again, each time getting this close. You can see how concerned they and the other ducks are.

They continue to ignore him, so finally he looks at us with this 'shouldn't I be higher in the food chain than this?" look.

Irving, you're an idiot. But in a good way.

Be Careful, Irving!

2010-04-14T19:57:00.002-04:00

I can't decide whether Irving the cat is brave...or a foolhardy idiot...when it comes to the goats. They're so much bigger, and have horns, but he stays put even when they get way too close for comfort. Emma was feeling itchy yesterday, so she laid down to roll in the dirt, right by Irving. (He blends in, so look for him in the dirt just down the hill from her.)

She started to roll, while Irving watched with interest.

I love the expression on her face here.

But I really love this next picture. Look how Irving is clearly nervous, but holding his ground.

Of course, I guess being brave doesn't exclude being a foolhardy idiot...

Distracted By a Goat

2010-04-13T19:20:00.002-04:00

I took a folding chair, plus a book and a local newspaper, down to the pond to relax yesterday evening. It wasn't as relaxing as I thought it would be.

First a goat came and licked my newspaper.

Then she gently head-butted my knee until I abandoned my chair. She knocked it over, and then bit it.

It didn't seem that bad to me, but it came from my mother's house, and I think it must smell like dog. At any rate, they didn't like it, and pushed it around while I watched. Then Arlene noticed I had dropped my book on the ground and tried to eat it.

I pulled it away from her and tried to gain control over the situation. It turns out that goats don't really understand a firm 'NO,' like cats and dogs do.

They wouldn't listen to me at all...but one look from my husband, and they walked away and started grazing.

I can't even get respect from a goat. How pathetic is that?

Life In the Pond - Tadpoles

2010-04-10T18:32:00.001-04:00

In a walk around the pond this evening, I saw thousands of tadpoles massed in a swarm in the shallows by the dam.

Last year -- our first year in this house -- we noticed that this pond didn't have cacophony of frogs that the previous pond we lived on had. We speculated that it was because the builder had used Roundup all along the pond so his cattle could get to it.

We haven't used any herbicides or pesticides, and I think this spring we're going to hear the results!

Green Has Consequences

2010-04-07T20:45:00.001-04:00

The spring pollen is here with a vengeance. It's collecting at one end of the pond. We're seeing pollen dust devils in the driveway. I think it's worse than last year, but I could just be blanking out last year.

One of our goats prefers hay to grass. Look at the difference between her nostrils...

...and the nostrils of the goat who prefers to eat the pollen-crusted grass.

I wonder if goats have allergies?

Inappropriate Place for a Camera

2010-04-06T19:34:00.002-04:00

This picture says "If You Find This Facility Unsatisfactory, Contact Fire Department." What's unusual about that? It's in a public restroom. Now I want everyone to know that I don't normally take pictures in public restrooms, but this was irresistible. It's at a park on Jekyll Island, GA, a barrier island off the coast of Brunswick, Georgia that's two-thirds undeveloped by state legislation.

It's a small island, so I guess the fire department does pretty much everything. It's also one of the most beautiful places on earth, along with its sister Sea Islands. The area has gorgeous marshes, history, coastal forest, and pretty beaches.

My family's originally from the Brunswick area, so I may be biased, but the live oaks with their Spanish moss alone make it worth the trip. We were there over the last few days, and the weather couldn't have been more perfect.

I love where I live, but there's something about the beach that's so relaxing...

Foot-Petting a Goat

2010-04-03T07:58:00.001-04:00

I'm not kicking this goat, I promise. My husband and I were sitting on the bench by the pond, admiring the afternoon. I had my legs crossed, and Arlene the goat came up and gently but insistently pushed her head up under my foot. She wanted to be petted, and she didn't care how.

I foot-petted her for a moment, then she ran off to play again.

After having these goats, I understand now that petting zoos aren't for the children...they're for the goats!

Playmates...Sort Of

2010-03-26T15:33:00.000-04:00

I think our cat Irving has attention deficit disorder. Our other cat, Halley, tries to get him to focus on playtime, but he gets distracted easily.

She's just dying to play, but he doesn't even notice.

She finally gets him into it....

...and then he's distracted again.

Poor Halley...

The Vultures...Uh-Oh

2010-03-24T21:15:00.001-04:00

After the vultures finished off the remains of our duck, Mrs. Howell, they settled in on the fence. My husband got this picture of them apparently watching to see who might be next.

Hmmm. If you look at the picture a little more closely...

...the second vulture from the left is actually watching the house.

I think I'm glad they were gone by the time I got home.

When the Vultures Come

2010-03-23T18:27:00.002-04:00

Mrs. Howell, our white female duck, died last week. She was fine one day, and then all of a sudden she was floating in the pond.

We're pretty sure this fellow caused it. I probably shouldn't say how, but when I saw him at the flea market and thought how beautiful he was, I wasn't thinking about how much bigger he was than our female ducks.

Let's just say that ducks can be rough with each other this time of year. I've read that drowning of female ducks has become a bigger problem as domestic ducks get bigger and wild ducks don't, but I would have thought Mrs. Howell was big enough for it not to be a problem.

The vultures showed up for her today. Cycle of life....

Playful Goats

2010-03-21T17:12:00.001-04:00

It was really pretty here yesterday, and the goats are starting to feel like spring. They were romping and playing all over the pasture, with Irving the cat sitting watching them. They almost ran him down a couple of times, and he never flinched.

In the scene below, Emma charged Arlene as she reared up and stomped...

...and then Arlene chased Emma out of the frame...

....leaving only a cloud of dust behind.

Today is rainy and back in the 50's. We're all so ready for spring to arrive and stay!

Burning - Scary Close

2010-03-21T08:20:00.003-04:00

Yesterday I posted pictures of the smoke caused by a controlled burn of the large pine forest behind our house. At the same time, I got pictures of the fire by standing at our back fence line and pointing the camera through the trees. You can see how close the fire got. It's not on our property, but just barely.

I could hear it crackling.

It was in a line all along our back property line. I'm speculating that they were making a firebreak. We're not sure if it'll stop with that, or if they'll continue to burn more of the forest.

I'm confident it's well controlled, but it definitely gives me more empathy for people who have had homes (or lives) threatened by wildfire. I can't imagine looking at that and knowing it was uncontrolled and couldn't be prevented from taking my home.

Controlled Burn...We Hope

2010-03-20T17:08:00.004-04:00

There are two hundred acres of commercial pine forest behind our home, and the owner set the part directly behind us on fire today.

We own about an acre and a half of the woods on the far side of our pond. It slopes downhill to a small stream, with a logging road on the other side of it. It looks like the fire was set in the forest along the logging road. You can see in the pictures how close that is.

From our pond-side bench, we could hear the men working on setting it. From what I've read, controlled burns are part of pine forest management. We have to trust that they know what they're doing, and I know that controlled burns are regulated, but it was scary close.

I mean, if you saw the scene below from your house, wouldn't you be concerned about how competent the people who set it might be?

A couple who lives down the road saw us outside and stopped to ask us if we knew what was going on. They were worried, of course, since it was close to their home too. Fortunately, we had seen it last year so knew it was done on purpose.

We never actually smelled the smoke. I went down to the far side of the pond, and I could see the fire and hear it crackling, but I couldn't smell it. It was really surprising, and very reassuring, since we know they'll be doing more of it, and my husband is sensitive to all types of smoke. We're wondering if they had to wait for a day when the winds were blowing away from the handful of homes in our little area. It's also supposed to rain tomorrow, so maybe that's part of how they selected the day. It would be interesting to know, and this isn't a heavily populated area, so I imagine some day we'll meet someone who knows how it works.

In the meantime, I'm just going to imagine that the people who are doing it are all highly trained professionals who have the equipment to handle it if, say, the wind should suddenly shift. I'm pretty good at deluding myself, so that's working for me so far...

Goats Like Treats

2010-03-19T21:03:00.001-04:00

Our two goats, Arlene and Emma, get a carrot and apple as a treat every afternoon. I'm sorry to say that they're not dainty eaters.

They definitely gobble. We have to dole out the treats so that they don't try to get too much into their mouths at one time and choke.

We also have to worry about them getting their heads stuck in the fence trying to get to the food. It has happened before. My husband had to cut the fence once to get Arlene's head out.

Their pasture is greening up now, so they've got grass to eat again, and pretty soon they'll have weeds (yum). We've had a good bit of rain this year so far, though, and the ground is pretty saturated, so they have to step carefully in some places. The picture below was from a couple of days after the last rain, when the water has normally drained off.

This weekend is supposed to be our first really nice weekend of the year. I can't wait!

Irving Learns a New Skill

2010-03-14T10:00:00.002-04:00

We were walking around the pond the other day, with Irving the cat eagerly trailing us, when all of a sudden he ran up a tree.

We haven't seen him do that before. I'm not sure if it was a sudden impulse, or if he's been practicing it and wanted to show off. It's not exactly a skill that's going to help him in life, but he was very excited about it.

He did it again, and got down easily both times.

He was so proud of it that he decided to get up on the fence post. Yes, this is what we need -- a sentinel at the gate.

Beware, all ye who enter here...

Irving the Great Hunter

2010-03-13T16:27:00.007-05:00

Irving, our cat, continues to be intensely interested in the ducks. He's picked out the smallest female as either prey, or someone to play with. Sadly, with Irving, it could be either. (To my knowledge, by the way, he's never caught anything larger than a cricket, and he's about a year old.)

Here the duck is getting ready to enter the water, with Irving crouched behind her.

She went into the water without incident, so he came up to sit on the bench while I took more pictures of the ducks. Most of those didn't come out, because -- like most people taking photographs of ducks -- my arm was getting jarred by a goat pulling on my jacket, asking to be petted.

I gave up and scratched Arlene the goat behind her big floppy ears for a while, and Irving resumed the 'hunt.'

Doesn't he look dangerous? The duck, who had come back up on the bank close to where Irving was, was clearly terrified, though she was brave and didn't allow the fear to disturb her nap.

I don't know how the ducks know that he's useless as a hunter, but they obviously do know...

Interactions...

2010-03-13T16:17:00.005-05:00

I was in the back the other day, and looked up to see our white cat, Halley, sharing a moment with the goats. She and Arlene, the goat who's closest to her, seem to have some sort of relationship.

When Halley first showed up at our house last year, she spent a good bit of time trying to interact with the goats. She partially succeeded with Arlene. I'm not really sure why either would be interested, but it's definitely a friendly sort of relationship.

Our older cat, Boot, also tried to come down into the pasture, and the goats chased him out. Again, I have no idea why. He's over 18 years old, and pretty cranky these days, but not really a threat to anyone at this point in his life. I think you can see the crankiness in the picture below.

He was born in Cairo, Egypt in early 1992, and has made five transatlantic flights, and lived in more than 10 houses, apartments and hotel rooms with us in various countries.

I guess he's entitled to be a little cranky.

Light in Red Clay Land

2010-03-13T07:42:00.003-05:00

Much as I curse the Carolina red clay when it's ground into my carpets and bedspreads, or when it turns our white cat a blushing pink, it does produce beautiful colors when the light is right.

We're in the spring stage where the buds are starting to show promise, and a few small bulbs the previous owners planted are coming up. Down the street, a cherry tree is in full bloom, and the Bradford pears in so many yards here are greening up.

On the other hand, we have to lose an hour of sleep tomorrow to the time change. My husband tries every year to convince me that this is a good thing because we'll have light for longer in the evening, but all I know is that it's an hour of lost sleep, and as he will be happy to tell you, I don't handle lost sleep well.

Beyond Detente To Bizarre

2010-03-06T16:19:00.003-05:00

I'm starting to suspect that Irving the cat may actually be trying to be friends with the ducks, rather than working his way up to attacking them.

Here's some evidence.

He's not there for the food. It's cracked corn and he has no interest in it. He sat there and waited while the ducks came up from the pond to feed. They paid him no attention at all, finished a leisurely meal, then strolled away.

He got distracted -- can cats have ADHD? -- but stayed there. I'd say that he was lulling them into a false sense of safety, but honestly, that would be a plan, and I don't think Irving can plan things.

Corky, the big Muscovy duck, stayed until the others had left, probably as a protective measure, but he also didn't seem disturbed at all by Irving's presence.

Irving seems more disturbed by my presence than the ducks. He's got a huge duck with claws behind him, and he's upset because I'm taking a picture?

Irving, what are you up to?

Where Goats Sleep

2010-03-06T15:37:00.002-05:00

Our goats have a three-sided shelter where they can take refuge during the rain or sleep on cold nights. It has a little attached corral where we can pen them if necessary. It works really well...for them. Unfortunately, it has to be cleaned. It's not nearly as bad now that we don't have a horse, but cleaning it isn't the most pleasant chore in the world.

The goats like to help, though. The other day I filled several bags with....stuff....and put it in the wheelbarrow to take up the hill. After I went back into the shelter, I heard a crash, and came out to find they had knocked the wheelbarrow over. It works much better this way, don't you think?

To clean the shelter, we use a special upturned rake with narrow tines -- goat poop is very similar to deer poop -- and then spread bags of Equine Pine over the entire area. It's a pelletized product that puffs up and spreads out after a thorough wetting. It's really a wonderful thing. (My standards for what's wonderful have really changed since we moved here!)

Here's a 'before' picture...

...and an 'after' picture. Doesn't it look fluffy and (relatively) clean? You'd think they'd be delighted at the change.

Evidently not....

Cat and Ducks: Detente?

2010-03-04T19:09:00.001-05:00

Irving the cat seems to have reached an accommodation with the ducks. He'll give them the proper respect, and they won't peck him to death. It works for everybody.

The ducks have started spending a lot of time in the marshy area at the side of the pond. The other day, Irving decided to walk the narrow path between the two areas, which took him right by the ducks. He checked out the situation first...

...then carefully walked by them to check out an insect that needed a cat's attention. On the way back, the ducks came out to see what was going on, and he got caught between them and the pond.

Finally they walked on, and I got this picture of him looking back at them, with the goats in the shelter, and Halley the white cat on the ledge next to them. Halley loves to watch Irving get himself into a pickle.

Irving tried to act cool about it, but his tail stayed puffed up for an hour afterward.

Those ducks are scary, man.

The Geese Herald Spring

2010-02-28T13:38:00.001-05:00

We marked a full year in the new house this month, so we're starting to see some events repeat, and first among them is the arrival of the Canada geese. Eighteen of them have arrived, just like last year. They come and go, and two of them are here more often than the others, so we suspect they're the pair who had the goslings last year.

They're noisy, territorial, and messy....but as long as they bring spring with them, that's perfectly fine.

Emma Jumps the Fence

2010-02-28T09:36:00.001-05:00

Emma jumped the fence in the front yesterday! It's the first time one of the goats has gotten out since we had the fence redone last spring.

I went out in the evening to give them their carrot and apple treats, and Emma stood up on the fence the way Arlene is doing in the picture below. It sagged beneath her weight...

....and then with one push of her powerful hind legs, she was up and over the fence, and standing in front of me in the yard. I don't know which of us looked more surprised. I grabbed her by the horn, but quickly realized that would just spook her and I couldn't possibly hold on to her.

Fortunately, if you're carrying carrots and apples, you don't have to manhandle a goat to get it to do what you want. All you have to do is look like a complete idiot walking across your front yard dangling a carrot in front of a goat, until you get to the gate on the far side of the yard. You do a complicated juggling act to try to hold on to the carrots and apples while fending off two goats, one on each side of the gate, and you carefully open the gate while a large goat is standing up on it pushing against it. Then you coax one goat through while keeping the other from escaping. Wave at the passing cars as you go. Piece of cake! One goat returned to its pasture....relief all around...passers-by amused. What could be better?

She hasn't done it again yet. Fingers are crossed...

Fun With Ducks

2010-02-26T15:18:00.001-05:00

I don't know why, but I think it's so funny to walk by the pond and see the ducks' behinds sticking out of the water. I was lucky recently and caught the action as one desperately tried to force his plump, water-repellant body under the water to feed. I love that orange foot flailing in the air.

In the shot below, you can see both orange feet out of the water. This picture was actually on the day the cats were pretend-stalking the ducks, and you can see three of the duck armada sailing in to assist their comrades in the horrific cat-duck war. (The cats never did anything but stare menacingly at the ducks, who were obviously not terrified.)

Rusty, the little wild red-headed duck who has been visiting us for months, stays near the domestic duck flock most of the time. A local who visited the pond recently said it's been a long time since he's seen a red-headed duck in this area. We speculate he's either old or got separated from his group somehow. (I mean the duck, of course, not the local.) It's nice that he feels comfortable enough to stay. He's a really pretty duck.

And speaking of good-looking ducks....

Doesn't the black-and-white one look like a penguin there? It was doing some complicated contortions to clean itself. Irving the cat was about 10 feet away at the time. Nice to see he's treated with the proper respect by the ducks...

Don't Drink Out of That Glass!

2010-02-21T19:09:00.001-05:00

We used to be able to leave half-full glasses around the house.

Then we got Irving.

If you come to our house, I strongly recommend watching your cup.

Does My Cat Have a Death Wish?

2010-02-21T17:10:00.003-05:00

I've mentioned before that we have a huge Muscovy duck with claws, and that we also have an idiot cat, Irving, and a smarter cat, Halley, who likes to egg Irving on to do stupid things.

I guess we should have seen this coming.

Irving has it in his head that he can catch a duck. Yesterday he got right down to the shore, within a very short distance of a group of the smaller ducks, who are still bigger than he is. Halley, of course, was in the background watching. Can you see the little cat smile on her face?

Irving got as close as he could, with the ducks not reacting at all, because of course they know he's an idiot. Afterwards, he and Halley exchanged the cat equivalent of a high-five....

....and then Irving decided to go after Corky, The Duck With Claws.

In the picture above, he looks like he's looking somewhere else, but that's actually a clever tactic designed to avoid Corky's notice....because of course Corky can't see him if Irving's not looking at him. Irving followed the whole duck flock up the hill to their corn bin, and then followed them back down. I'm not sure if they actually didn't notice him, or if he's so inconsequential that it didn't even occur to them to react to him. Probably the latter, but of course he's all puffed up now because he chased the ducks and lived through it.

I'm afraid Irving has a harsh lesson coming, though. The Canada geese have come back. We had 18 for a while yesterday. (Last year they alternated between our pond and our neighbor's pond.) I mentioned to my husband that if we get goslings again this year, Irving might attack them. He just laughed, and then I remembered that the geese parents killed a snake last year. I imagine Irving won't be spending much time down by the pond for a while.

It says a lot when I'm more worried about the cat than about the birds...

Pink Cat

2010-02-21T17:03:00.001-05:00

Our cats like strong smells. No one who has cats (or dogs) would find that unusual, but I can tell you that there's a big difference between having cats in the suburbs, and having them in the country.

Yes, my cats like to play in horse poop.

And no, I don't want to talk about why there's still horse poop on the ground when we haven't had Gus the horse since January. (Hey, it's been cold outside. We'll get it up one of these days.)

Halley, our white cat, likes to roll in the red clay. It turns her pink. When the sun hits her, she's really pink.

Unfortunately, the cats also adore rolling in goat urine. Sometimes I really wish we didn't have a cat door.

I also wish they didn't sleep on the bed.

Goats Like Nice Weather Too

2010-02-21T16:59:00.001-05:00

It was a beautiful sunny day in South Carolina, and our goats loved it. We sat down by the pond for a while and watched them romp in the pasture. They ran, chasing each other along the pond bank. Check out Emma's right ear flying here.

Then they wheeled, and came racing back toward us, as we cowered. They're sweet as can be, but it's easy to forget that they are really quite powerful, until you see them in action.

They veered off in time, of course.

Arlene came up afterward and, visibly panting, stood by my husband to get petted. Then she went to her hay basket, which was -- gasp -- empty.

Don't worry -- it's full now! Playing goats need calories...

Goat Fur & Calisthenics

2010-02-21T16:54:00.002-05:00

See what looks like cotton in the picture above? It's goat fur. Poor Arlene is losing her winter coat, and it's itchy. I had no idea that goats would beg to be petted just like dogs. We sat down at the bench, and Arlene came up and nudged my hand with her head. I started pulling her fur out, and she stood quietly and blissfully for me. I toss the fur to the winds, figuring that the birds can use it for nice, soft nests.

Here's Arlene with fur stuck to one of her horns. She's holding her head like that so I can scratch between her horns and behind her ears. Never thought I'd be able to read goat body language! (Of course, most goat body language revolves around some version of 'do you have food for me' but then my husband tells me my body language does too.)

Then she settled off to the side to do some complicated cleansing rituals. I'm very relieved to report that a goat can bite its own toenails, just like a cat can.

I'm relieved about that because otherwise I'd have to clip them for her. You may have noticed the horns? She's a very sweet goat, but any of you who have clipped a cat's claws before can imagine what the procedure would be like with a goat.

I learned from a friend to wrap the cats in a towel to clip their claws. I just had a mental image of my wrapping the goats in a huge beach towel to do their nails.

Once again, I really am so very glad we have a private back yard. Not that I'd actually do it, of course, but hmmm...I wonder if it would work?

The Diving Mallard?

2010-02-15T17:49:00.003-05:00

I've shown this picture before because it's a great picture of our Moscovy duck, but this time I'd like to focus on the brown female mallard in the upper part of the picture.

We have two of these. Mallards are dabbling ducks, which means we spend a lot of time laughing at their little upturned behinds as they reach for food just below the surface. Mallards dabble. They don't dive.

Except for this one. I was out there tonight for quite a while, and she was diving all over the place. It was clearly intentional, and the other female mallard didn't do it once. You can see in the picture below that they're virtually identical.

I did a little online research, and apparently mallards have been seen diving, but it's unusual.

The interesting thing is that we do have a visiting red-headed duck. He's been with us for weeks now, and he's a diving duck.

Could this duck possibly have learned to dive from him?

Grooming a Goat

2010-02-15T17:34:00.001-05:00

I think I mentioned before that Arlene, one of our two female Boer goats, grew a thick fluffy coat for the winter. I have no idea why she would start to shed it now, but she's been shedding for about the past two weeks, and it's obviously itching her, because there's now white goat fur all over our fences.

So of course I had to brush her.

Irving the cat had to watch, of course. He needs to know about everything. Arlene's fur is shedding so much that I can pull it out with my fingers. She was fascinated by being brushed, and held perfectly still for it.

Can you tell she's enjoying it?

Emma, the other Boer goat, who was smart enough not to grow a winter coat for a South Carolina winter, took the opportunity to grab a bite, while Halley the cat checked for the ever-present possibility of something to play with. (And yes, that's an antique baby crib. Doesn't everyone use one to feed their goats?)

Of course, Arlene's winter coat did come in handy during our recent snow, but check out her fur all over the fence behind Emma. I think I'd rather be a little cold during a two-day snow than have to shed all that fur.

Nature Is A Quick-Change Artist

2010-02-15T15:39:00.004-05:00

Last Saturday morning, our little world looked like this. This is one of several abandoned houses along our South Carolina country road.

It didn't feel like we were living in the South.

And now we're back...two days later it looks like this again.

Hayseed...

2010-02-13T15:52:00.003-05:00

Our power went off shortly before noon, and stayed off. After a few hours, the snow had mostly melted, and the sun was shining, so I went out to give the goats some hay. The electric company truck drove by just as I finished, so I flagged them down to say that our power was still out, and they said it was a problem throughout the area, and it should be back on soon.

I went in to tell my husband what they said, and told him how strong a country accent the driver had. He sounded like a real country boy. You could almost describe him as a hick, I said.

My husband smiled at me.

Then he reached out and gently pulled a large piece of hay out of my hair.

Oh well. The power's back on, at least.

Pretty, Pretty Snow

2010-02-13T08:32:00.002-05:00

I can't resist more pictures of our snow. I don't know why, since so many other people out there have much more dramatic pictures of much bigger snowfalls...but this is MY snow.

I think the birds below are scoping out the cracked corn we just put out for the ducks.

Here's a comparison to the original picture of the front of the house while the snow was starting to fall yesterday evening.

Our big hardship so far has been that the snow somehow prevented our local NBC affiliate from showing the Olympic opening ceremonies in HD. This hurt my husband deeply.

And a shot of our country lane. Doesn't it look like an old-time Christmas postcard?

A pickup truck just went by! The road should be clear enough for our little car soon.

Snow Goats

2010-02-13T08:13:00.002-05:00

Well, we think we got about four inches of snow last night...here in not-so-sunny South Carolina. The goats are reacting pretty well for their first snow experience.

They spent the night in their 3-sided shelter with plenty of hay and water, and ventured out this morning to find that the snow has bowed some of the smaller trees down so they can eat the leaves and branches.

That's better than hay.

We put out more cracked corn for the ducks, and refilled the feeders. Now we'll settle in to wait until enough pickup trucks have gone by to clear the road.

Because pickup trucks WILL be going by. The ratio of trucks to passenger cars out here is about 2 to 1, if not higher.

This snow is nothing for most of the rest of the country, so it's just fun for us...

The Danger of Being Smug

2010-02-12T18:05:00.003-05:00

So...I've been watching the news of the storms up north, thinking how smart we were to move to Georgia, then South Carolina, when we came back from overseas, instead of to the D.C. area. No more snow...no more shoveling...no more icy roads.

Oops.

I guess this is my punishment. It started snowing around 4:00 p.m. today. These pictures were taken after it had been snowing about an hour, and we've got probably about 2 inches now. They say we've got at least several more hours to go, so I'm guessing we'll end up with 4 inches or more.

The schools closed early today. That may seem like an over-reaction but, trust me, if you think people drive badly in snow where you are....

The cats and goats are completely freaked out, since of course they've never seen snow. It does snow here occasionally but we've only had a light dusting once in the five years we've lived in this area.

It sure is pretty, though, and we're snuggled with the cats watching it come down, with a 3-day weekend ahead. Life is pretty good...

Power Play -- Ducks and Cats

2010-02-07T13:31:00.003-05:00

Our eight ducks and our three cats have a pretty simple relationship. They mostly pretend the other doesn't exist. I think the cats ignore the ducks because the ducks are really too big for them to take on, and they don't want to be embarrassed by trying something and having the ducks kick their little furry behinds. I'm not really sure why the ducks ignore the cats. Maybe just because they can?

At any rate, interactions are rare. But today is sunny off and on, and I took advantage of a sunny moment to sit on the bench down by the pond. The ducks were snoozing nearby, and Irving, our brown tabby, decided to join me.

At first, Irving just sat on the bench with me and watched the ducks, who -- wait for it -- ignored him. Unfortunately, I didn't bring a camera, so these are taken with my phone's camera. You can just barely see two Canada geese past the sleeping ducks.

Then Halley came squeaking down the hill to see me. She greeted me, then turned and walked toward the ducks. Here she is about 10 feet from the ducks, between them and me. They and the geese continue to ignore her.

Bored, she decides to investigate the pond bank, as Irving watches.

Finally, one of the female mallards woke up and decided to check the cats out. With no hint of fear, she approached. Shelby, the black-and-white possible Muscovy mix, joined her, but still with no apparent worry about coming near Irving. Irving just watched them approach. This is as close as they came, then one of the white ducks sounded the alarm, probably just because a smallish female had left the flock, and they all waddled slowly and awkwardly into the water.

The Canada geese just continued to graze. They never acknowledged either the ducks or the cats.

Now, shouldn't that whole thing have been a little more exciting? A little more 'Wild Kingdom'? It's not that I want any attacks, but I'm a little embarrassed for the cats all the same. It kind of reminds me of the time the squirrel tapped our sleeping orange tabby on the back, then ran away. It's like the whole wild animal kingdom knows our cats are a joke.

Sheesh.

In Place For Super Bowl Sunday

2010-02-07T09:14:00.002-05:00

My boys are taking up positions for Super Bowl Sunday. Now, it's a little early -- only about 9:00 on Sunday morning -- but apparently it's never too early to practice. I have to say that I don't get the whole Super Bowl thing. I probably shouldn't admit that publicly. Based on the look of shock on my husband's face everytime I say it, I think it's a pretty serious, and probably un-American, thing to admit on the Internet.

I did make chocolate chip cookies for the great day, and I think that should count, but I have a feeling it doesn't.

I guess I probably also shouldn't say that during the 89-hour exhaustive coverage of all things Super Bowl that precedes the actual game, I'm going to be watching HGTV and working on my Quilt University 'Filament Fantasy' class. I'll be doing that even during THE ACTUAL GAME (gasp!).

Come get me, Super Bowl police. Watch out though, I'll have a needle in my hand...(but you can have a chocolate chip cookie).

Sun Shines...

2010-01-31T15:55:00.002-05:00

The sun is actually shining here in South Carolina today, after several cold and rainy days. I know what we've had is nothing compared to a lot of the rest of the country, but the sun feels really good anyway. Halley, the white cat above, was sunning herself on the porch...until Irving came along, at least. They may look peaceful in the picture, but trust me, her peace will not last.

The goats were peaceful too, lying calmly in the sun. Until I stepped out to take their picture, of course. I always forget that our presence signals treats of some kind, so my goat pictures normally look something like this.

Or this....I didn't manage to catch her tongue darting out to taste the camera, drat it.

As I write this, they're back lying down in the pasture, but will I ever get that picture? Nooooo....

Duck, Duck...Goose

2010-01-29T12:51:00.002-05:00

My husband got a couple of great closeup photos of our Muscovy duck, Corky. I love the green and blue plumage with that bright red beak.

In the picture below you can see the claws on his foot. Pretty impressive, huh? This is one duck I wouldn't want to meet up with in a dark alley.

I wouldn't want to be a female duck around him either. Let's just say that we may get some odd-colored ducklings at some point. Below is a picture of the gang in all their variety. You can see he's bigger than the others, and he doesn't hesitate to take advantage of that.

And the first Canada geese have reappeared! Does that mean spring is near? The goats aren't happy about it. Emma chased the geese away last night, though they were probably just ready to leave anyway.

We've had as many as 18 Canada geese at one time before, last year when the one pair had the goslings. They're beautiful, but leave the pasture a mess...though the goats don't exactly have any room to talk about that...

Please Play With Irving...Somebody...Anybody!

2010-01-24T08:21:00.002-05:00

Irving the cat has been a playing maniac lately. This morning my husband tried to use the wand toy to play with him, but Irving didn't seem to understand how to play with it, so my husband dropped it and went to get his coffee. A minute later, we heard the sound of the wand toy being dragged through the house after him, then Irving appeared with the toy in his mouth...and Halley stalking him. She wants to play but doesn't quite know how to do it.

Irving dragged the toy to my husband, dropped it, and waited expectantly. Poor Irv...it's coffee time, and no sane being gets in the way of human coffee time.

Later, Irv.

The Mergansers Visit

2010-01-23T17:27:00.003-05:00

We woke up this morning to find that a male hooded Merganser duck and two females were visiting the pond. They're beautiful birds. You're probably expecting to see pictures of them, but you're not going to. Why? Because I went down to take pictures of them, and succeeded in chasing them away without getting a single good picture.

So you're going to see landscape pictures instead. I love how different the scenery looks when the light changes. It's overcast today, so everything is muted.

I really like that rust color that the dog fennel turns in the winter. That's the feathery plant around the pond. Someone told us it's called dog fennel, and we can't find anything to say differently so that's what we're calling it.

The pathway below is where the ducks like to hang out.

I like all the white feathers littering the ground. I'm trying to imagine what they're doing that causes the feathers to fly, since I've never seen them doing anything but sitting there. I have kind of a lurid imagination so at least I amuse myself thinking about it.

And yes, I know it's pathetic that I sit around thinking about it.

Carolina Red Clay + Rain & Goats: A Bad Idea

2010-01-23T17:11:00.001-05:00

It's been raining off and on, and the ground is soaked....the red clay ground. We have two beautiful, sweet Boer goats...who like to lie on the ground. Sigh.

I think the red looks kind of cute, but I've noticed the last couple of days that they're starting to also smell....kind of goaty. They've never smelled at all before. We realized that we haven't cleaned their run-in shelter as often because of the rain and cold. Oops. I sense an unpleasant chore coming on for tomorrow.

This morning we were discussing the idea of getting a miniature donkey. We did some research online about them, and they're apparently very easy to care for, and make great pets. We almost had ourselves talked into it, until we read this line: "Remember though, that they are LOUD! So I would at least warn my neighbors."

Somehow I just don't see us going to the neighbors and saying, "Oh, by the way, we're getting a really loud donkey. You don't mind, do you?"

The Duck Armada

2010-01-18T17:42:00.001-05:00

Our duck flock has been acting strangely lately. They keep forming and reforming. We think they're trying to decide whether to stay as one group of eight, or split up into groups. Who knows how ducks decide these things?

I can tell you that a lot of quacking goes into the process. Shelby, the black-and-white possible Muscovy cross duck, is a loud quacker, so we always know when the group is in dispute about something. We have two Muscovies, two white domestic ducks, and four mallards, plus Rusty, the red-headed wild duck who's joined the group. There are five females and three males, which probably accounts for some of the angst. (Rusty's contribution to the gender mix is unknown at this time.)

Shelby and Corky, the two black-and-white Muscovies, should theoretically pair up, and sometimes do, but Corky likes a lot of 'me' time, so Shelby hangs with the group. The two white ducks, Gilligan and Mrs. Howell, appear to be a pair, but prefer to be with the group. The mallards are anyone's guess.

I enjoy watching their group dynamics...it feels like a mini-UN, except that they mostly get along. It's oddly cheering, in its own way.

Still Life With Irving

2010-01-17T15:21:00.002-05:00

Doesn't Irving look dignified? Unfortunately, the picture lies. Right after I took it, he looked down at me, whimpered, and then tried to come to me on the steep, wet slope of the wooden railing leading down the stairs.

I grabbed him just in time to keep him from tumbling 15 feet to the ground, whereupon he immediately started playing with a string hanging from my robe. Then we fought over which chair I got to sit on.

The ironic thing is that I'll probably be sad when he grows up and stops acting like an overgrown kitten.

Scenes From a Pond

2010-01-17T15:17:00.001-05:00

The light over the pond was luminous this morning. It highlit all the golds and reds in the landscape, and treated us to spectacular views in between waves of dark clouds presaging the insistent rain we've seen most of today.

I can't get over the way the light changes the landscape. Outside my window right now, the grass appears a dull buff color under the dark clouds, but this morning, it was a range of vibrant colors.

Even the leafless trees add line and definition to the scene.

Early in the morning, after dawn, the light changed the grass to a deep reddish-orange.

I knew we would love this land in the warmer months, but I wasn't expecting it to be so beautiful in the winter light.

Claw-Footed Duck Vs. Small White Cat

2010-01-17T09:46:00.003-05:00

Aren't birds supposed to be afraid of cats? I guess when you're a huge Muscovy duck with freaking claws on your feet, you can defy the natural order of things.

What you can't see in the picture below as Corky the duck approaches the gate is that there are bins full of cracked corn at the base of the wall between him and Halley, our small white cat.

The lure of the corn is clearly stronger than the fear of our little white predator. She appears to be certain that she's going to eating duck a la Corky soon. Is a duck-cat confrontation next?

Alas, no. Corky sat there and ate corn for about five minutes while Halley loomed over him, then he sauntered away.

Poor little cat can't get no respect.

This Isn't Supposed to Happen Here

2010-01-10T11:47:00.003-05:00

It was 16 degrees last night, and the pond froze. This is SOUTH CAROLINA. We're not supposed to have frozen ponds.

When we bought the house, my husband asked the owner, who's lived in the area his whole life, if the pond ever froze. He said confidently, "Oh, that could never happen here."

We didn't think it would happen either, because the pond is spring-fed, so always has water moving through it. It didn't occur to us that...duh...the springs would freeze.

That's the first time Irving has seen ice. All around the pond, the small springs feeding it are iced over. Irving put a paw out to walk on it, then thought better of it, and padded all the way around. I'm sorry to admit that I had the camera ready to capture his first experience walking on ice, but it was not to be.

Only about a third of the pond froze, so the ducks still have plenty of space, but the frozen part near the shore was thick enough that I could stand on it (briefly and cautiously).

I love how the ice swirled in the frozen parts, probably because of that moving water.

It's beautiful, but I'm ready for spring.

It's Not Supposed To Be This Cold Here!

2010-01-04T11:01:00.002-05:00

It was 12 degrees here in sunny South Carolina this morning. We're down on the border with Georgia, and it's just not supposed to be this cold here. I know those of you in the north of the country get this all the time, but we're not set up for it down here.

Yesterday morning one of our well water pipes froze. We ran around in a panic, with no idea what to do. My husband finally took a hair dryer to it and got the water started again. We went out to the store to get insulation for it, and came back to find the electricity out. Fortunately, that didn't last for long. I can imagine that people all over this area are suffering from broken water pipes and broken heaters, so we definitely got off lucky.

The goats' water was so frozen this morning that my husband had to take a hammer to it. (We're still looking for a water bucket warmer to keep this from happening. Apparently they're not big sellers in this area.)

Hope everyone out there is staying safe and warm!

The Great Horse Adventure Ends

2010-01-03T14:35:00.005-05:00

We got Gus the horse last March, shortly after we moved into our new country home and a woman we met said she had a horse who would love to live on our property. For years we'd talked about having a place where we could have an old horse and some goats, and now we did, so we gladly accepted him.

We knew absolutely nothing about horses. I bought books and consulted the Internet treasure trove frequently, and we kept Gus alive and healthy.

But it turns out that having a horse is a lot of work, and I wasn't finding the time to learn to ride him, and we really didn't have a good or safe place for me to ride him. So we called his owner last week, and she came and got him this morning. He was thrilled to see her, and he's gone to a good home with all his old horse companions waiting for him.

In the picture above, Gus is pointing with his head at the shed at the bottom of the hill, where I'm supposed to go feed him. In the next picture, he starts toward the shed, figuring that although I'm obviously an idiot, I should be able to get a really pointed hint.

He continues down the hill....

Then he realizes that I'm not following, and stop to give me The Look.

The Look means 'you don't know nothing about taking care of horses, lady.' I've gotten that look a lot since March. I know, Gus, I know.

His owner commented on how great he looked when she picked him up. That's my husband's doing. He's shouldered most of the burden of horse care this last year. He's fed him twice a day, picked a mountain of poop, and worried about him when he's done something we didn't understand, like lie down in the middle of the pasture. And he did it for me, so I could realize a childhood dream of riding. He didn't really want a horse, and he's had health issues that have often made the work difficult, but he never complained, and didn't even let me know he'd be happier with Gus gone until I brought it up. He's a special guy. Thanks, sweetie.

Now we can take trips...and sleep in on the weekend...and let the wounds to the earth from those big horse hooves heal.

But I'm still glad we did it. We stretched ourselves, learned new things, and had the experience of knowing a majestic creature who is profoundly different from us. There's nothing quite like looking out the window and seeing that beautiful animal in your own pasture. I'll remember that forever....but when I imagine it, I'll also see in my mind's eye a steaming pile of poop beside him, and that special glint in his eye that means he deliberately put it someplace where it's hard to get.

Who says horses don't have a sense of humor?...

Experimenting with Irving

2010-01-01T18:33:00.002-05:00

I'm not actually experimenting with Irving, but with pictures. (You probably guessed that, right?) I learned how to make my pictures bigger on the blog, but now they don't show up on the my blog feed in Facebook, so I'm trying a different method to see if that works.

Doesn't Irving the cat look healthy? And by healthy, of course I mean...fat. Why don't people say I look healthy when my weight goes up? It's just not fair. But he is fat and healthy, and I'm so glad, after all his trials and tribulations when we first got him.

Happy New Year's Day

2010-01-01T16:42:00.002-05:00

From Blogger Pictures

The light is gorgeous today. A cold front is apparently moving in, and we have a lot of clouds passing through, so the light is moody. When the clouds break briefly, it's blue sky and this golden light. You can see Gus and the goats enjoying the slightly warmer day, which is good, since my husband tells me there's a Arctic front moving this way. Brrr...

You can just barely see our pond bench on the left. I went down earlier and found it on its side on the pond bank, almost in the pond. Apparently it offended Gus's sensibilities and he pushed it down the bank. I pulled it back up and set it into place. It'll be interesting to see if he lets me keep it there.

Hope you all are having a wonderful New Year's Day after a happy New Year's Eve!

Experimenting with Gus

2009-12-31T20:37:00.004-05:00

I'm working on making the pictures in my blog larger, so I'm experimenting with an old picture of Gus. Thanks to Pix from Rural Rambles (http://waterloofarms.blogspot.com/) for the instructions on how to do this! (Eventually I'll figure out how to make the extra spacing go away.)

From Blogger Pictures

Let Sleeping Cats Lie, Darn It

2009-12-27T08:56:00.002-05:00

My husband says that I am constitutionally unable to let sleeping cats lie.

I have to admit that he might be right. Can you see in Irving's eye the knowledge that he's not going to be allowed to have a nice quiet nap in front of my computer monitor?

Poor Irving. But hey, do I feel like playing with string every time he wants to? Nooooo.

So man up, Irving....it's time to amuse the humans.

Eight Ducks A-Feeding

2009-12-20T16:43:00.002-05:00

Wait, it's supposed to be 'eight lords a-leaping,' isn't it? Oh well, I never was good at singing. At any rate, our duck flock is growing by leaps and bounds. We started with three, and we're up to eight.

Here are some recent additions: Corky the Muscovy duck, and Shelby the black-and-white mongrel duck. They're huge, as ducks go.

Our most recent addition is a female white domestic duck. (Apparently all white ducks are domestic ducks.) Even though our ducks flock together, they pair off by type, and poor Gilligan, our big white duck, had no mate. My husband felt sorry for him, and brought Mrs. Howell home. (I wonder if you have to be of a certain age to think the pairing of the names is funny? Are there reruns of Gilligan's Island?)

You can see the two white ducks below, along with our one male mallard and the three female mallards. There were supposed to be two male mallards, but one got eaten by vultures.

Notice anything odd about the duck in the far left of the picture?

It's not a domestic duck. It's a wild red-headed duck that showed up on its own a few days ago. It joins our flock when it feels like it, but spends much of its time on its own also. We're happy to see it; according to our bird book, its numbers are declining due to over-hunting and destruction of its habitats. It's a beautiful bird.

Speaking of over-hunting, a picture of our animals wouldn't be complete without a picture of a small white cat. You can see how terrified the ducks are of her.

A Sunny Day...Finally

2009-12-20T13:29:00.002-05:00

I looked out the window a bit ago and saw a great picture in the making. Gus was quietly eating hay, while Arlene the goat sat nearby watching him. I've noticed that she has a special relationship with him. I went to put hay out for them all earlier today, and Gus threw a fit because it wasn't time for his grain. After he calmed down, Arlene ran up to him, tilted her head to look at him, and maa'ed softly. She was clearly trying to communicate with him. She's usually near him out in the pasture, while Emma, our other goat, really doesn't pay any attention to him.

At any rate, I went out to take the picture, but of course my presence changes things. Below you can seen Arlene starting to stand up, and then....

...it turns into this.

And then this. I must look like a walking grain bin. At least he's warm and dry now, after all the rain of the last few days. You'll notice the bin on its side. He kicked it over, of course. There's no reason for an empty hay bin to be upright.

Everyone is enjoying the sun today, though it's still only in the high 40's.

I feel very lucky to be living in the Southeast today, and so sorry for all the people in the Northeast whose holiday travel has been disrupted by the snow. Here's wishing all the travellers a safe trip!

The Winter Hungries

2009-12-13T15:50:00.001-05:00

I'm embarrassed to even complain about the cold here in South Carolina. It's in the 40's, and I'm miserable. The horse is miserable, the goats are miserable, and the cats....well, actually, they're just asleep on the couch. I know it's so much colder in most of the rest of the country, but try telling that to Gus the horse.

He's cold, wet, and muddy. All I can think about as I look at him is how much work it's going to be to get that mud off of him later on, especially with his nice thick winter coat.

Everyone's hungry all the time now. It feels like a full-time job keeping them all in hay. We tried 'free-choice' hay for a while, by putting a bale of hay in a baby crib and setting it out, but they wasted so much of it that they were going through a rectangular bale a day, with much of it just getting trampled into the earth. The county extension agent told us that's actually good for the soil, but it's not so good for our pocketbook.

Even the cats are hungry all the time. Irving, the brown tabby in the picture below, brought his wand toy to the door in front of the food room, and settled down to play quietly with it while waiting to be fed. Halley joined him.

After all, it was only two hours until feeding time.

You can see that Halley (the white cat) hasn't missed any meals lately. In fact, I suspect she's suckering us into double-feeding her. She was spayed recently, and she went almost overnight from a bone-thin kitty to what you see here. We actually went and researched whether a cat can still be pregnant once it's spayed. They can't, but tell me that cat doesn't look pregnant...

Goofy Goats

2009-12-12T21:07:00.001-05:00

It's been cold here for South Carolina. Today was mostly in the 40's, and we had to break the ice on the animals' water this morning before they could drink. Both the horse and the goats are growing thick coats, but the weather still isn't fun for them, especially since it's supposed to rain tonight and all tomorrow.

The goats have been such fun to have around. Arlene, in the picture above, has changed completely since we got her. She didn't like to be touched at first, but now she loves to be petted, and she has such a sweet, gentle way about her.

Halley the cat is still fascinated by the animals, and she still 'helps' my husband with all the chores. She especially enjoys checking the hay over.

This is the normal look we get from the goats. It means: 'Didn't you bring food? You didn't? Okay, pet me. Then go get food.'

Halley also tries to supervise Gus the horse while he's eating. I honestly don't understand why he puts up with it, but he does. It terrifies me when she gets in among his feet, because he can't see very well there, but somehow he always steps around her.

Feeding Frenzies

2009-12-06T14:44:00.001-05:00

Sometimes it seems like our lives revolve around feeding animals. We've fed cats for years, of course, and it was always easy...until we added a third cat, something we'd never had before. Now Irving has to be put in his isolation chamber (my sewing room) while Boot and Halley eat, or cat feeding time degenerates into a hissing mess.

Now, goats and horses don't hiss at each other, but it's also hard to feed them at the same time. We fill the goats' trays with grain and minerals, and set them outside the fence. Then we go in and feed Gus the horse in the run-in shed. If we put the goats' food down first, Gus will push them out of the way and eat it.

As you can imagine, the 'feed the horse first' regime doesn't win any popularity contests with the goats. This is the look I get coming back from feeding Gus.

Then it gets up close and personal, just in case I'm secreting goat food on my person. I rarely am.

There's a lot of loud maa'ing going on with this. I'm sure the neighbors think that we regularly chase the goats around with sticks, based on the cacophony at feeding time.

If we're lucky, the end result looks like this. If we're not, there are overturned trays, and a trip back up to the storage area for more grain.

And of course, when the goats finish, Gus comes out and licks the rest of the minerals off of the trays. He's not supposed to have them, but oddly enough, I haven't had much success explaining that to him.

We've actually gotten a lot better at feeding the animals. If you remember any of my early posts about feeding times, you'll sense a slightly less hysterical tone to this one. We're starting to feel like we know what we're doing, which of course means a painful lesson is just around the corner...

Betrayed

2009-12-06T07:37:00.002-05:00

So I'm back after a week-long business trip. I'm sitting in my sewing room, vegging with HGTV, and Irving the cat comes in. He spies his toy. It's got feathers at the end of an elastic string attached to a toy fishing pole. It's so cute how he comes running to get me to play with him and his toy. He really must have missed me. I grab the fishing pole and shake the toy at him.

He takes it in his mouth, and starts to pull it away....

...toward the door. Then he pulls the pole out of my hand...

...and drags the toy into the living room...

...where he gives it to my husband.

I guess THAT will teach me to go away.

December Days

2009-12-05T16:31:00.001-05:00

I was away this week, and came back to a cold, windy day today, but with beautiful clear light. Gus the horse is growing a longer coat for the cold to come, and is looking a bit shaggy.

One of the goats has developed a beautiful soft fur-like winter coat that makes her feel like a sheep, and the other goat hasn't changed at all. They're the same breed, so it's a little puzzling.

Even the evenings get great light now...

Before we moved here, I had never realized that mistletoe really does grow on trees, and I had certainly never seen it. It's the ball of leaves near the top of the tree below.

Apparently it's believed to be a parasite that will kill a tree, and some people shoot it out of trees with shotguns to save their trees. Supposedly it won't kill a tree, but I kind of like the idea of it being dangerous enough to warrant being 'killed' with a gun. (Hmmm, maybe I've been living in South Carolina too long? You'll know that when you see a gun rack in my little Ford Focus...)

Irving Becomes Part of the Family

2009-11-28T18:03:00.001-05:00

New cat Irving is passing the final test for becoming (and staying) part of the family. Our 18-year-old cat Boot predictably put up a fuss at the new arrival. Boot's lived in six countries, and has seen his share of impudent new cats, and he was NOT happy with this latest one. Lots of hissing and screaming, but we finally got to this...

Eating in the same room is huge. And this afternoon we saw this...not a good photo, but the story it tells is a good one: Boot asleep on his favorite porch chair, while Irving watches the world nearby. No screaming, no hissing. They're certainly not best friends, and young Irving is still too rambunctious for poor frail Boot, but they're coming to an accommodation.

Irving's been through so many 'tests' since showing up as an abandoned cat on our deck. He's survived peeing on a new mattress...an almost lethal cold...and scrutiny from two other cats and a husband who were thinking 'we don't need no stinking new cat.' With a lot of tolerance from my sweet husband, skillful care on the part of the vet, and an 'oh darn it, okay' from the cats, it looks like he's found his home.

How to Make a Man Happy

2009-11-28T14:57:00.000-05:00

No, not that - this is a family blog!

THIS is how to make a man happy....brand new 'Black Friday' HD TV and a good football game...

Counting Our Blessings...

2009-11-26T14:59:00.002-05:00

It's been a beautiful Thanksgiving so far. I'm grateful for so many things...

* This beautiful new life we have out in the country. We love having animals, watching the scenery change, and enjoying the peace and quiet. I'm grateful to have a stable job in this dire economy so that we can afford to live here.

* Most of all, I'm grateful for my husband. We've had 27 great years together. I always appreciate him, but this week especially, after a dear man at work lost his wife last weekend. Truly life is a fleeting thing, and we must make the best of it while we're fortunate enough to be healthy and happy. We sat on the front porch together this afternoon, and enjoyed the sunshine.

* I'm grateful that new cat Irving can't catch anything bigger than a grasshopper. I'm also grateful that slightly-less-new-cat Halley doesn't catch birds very often, though I have to say I'm amused by the drama when my husband sees her heading toward the house with a bird in her mouth, and he leaps to close the cat door. And I'm ashamed to admit that I laughed last time at the audible 'thunk' when her head hit the door.

* I'm also extremely grateful that our immediate and extended family are all well and happy this Thanksgiving of 2009. I miss my Dad today, but I'm happy we had him as long as we did. I wish we were with our families in Arizona, Virginia, and California, but I'm glad they're all enjoying the day together.

May all of our blessings last....and the same to all of you!

Recipe for a Bath

2009-11-26T07:44:00.001-05:00

Take one goofball, naive young cat.

Add one wily, slightly older, farm-smart cat with a dash of humor.

Mix in a couple of goats.

What have you got?

Wily cat teaching goofball cat to roll in GOAT PEE.

Post-recipe cleanup: Goofball cat's first bath.

Irving is WELL

2009-11-22T19:22:00.001-05:00

It's been a week since Irving the cat came home from the vet, and it appears....fingers crossed....that he's completely over his horrific cold. We really thought he wasn't going to make it, so this is a huge relief.

Irving looks relieved too, don't you think?

Actually, he just looks goofy. That's because he's a goofball. He blunders around, and can't understand why the other cats don't just accept him right away. We're getting there, though.

I don't want to think about how much it cost to get Irving to this point. Multiple vet visits and a week living at the vet's getting mega-antibiotic shots every day, not to mention keeping him shut up in my sewing room for over a month, giving him pills twice a day, watching him struggle to breathe on his bad days, and gritting our teeth over the mattress he peed on. (Yeah, that's right, Irv, you thought we'd forgotten about that one, didn't you? Uh-uh, bud -- that's going on your permanent record!)

Why on earth would we go through all that for a cat someone else just abandoned? But what was the alternative? He's such a sweet, quirky little guy, and so accepting of everything that's happened to him.

We're all just weird about our pets, aren't we?

WannaBe Rider

2009-11-15T17:12:00.002-05:00

It was a beautiful day here again today, so we decided to try saddling Gus and riding him. I got him saddled, and got on, but had the same problem with him refusing to move, or refusing to go in the direction I wanted him to go in. I decided that I must have saddled him wrong, because clearly he's a very good horse and he wouldn't just refuse to do what I asked him to do.

So I got off, and then my husband said, "I want to try." I was surprised, because he had already made it clear that he didn't want to ride. He mounted, and gave Gus the same signals I had given him. Gus immediately moved forward, and my husband was riding.

Huh?

It was ME.

My husband got off, and said, "I could just tell he wasn't taking you seriously." I got back on, and urged him forward more decisively. Sure enough, he started to move.

We went for a ride halfway around the pond and back. The colors are incredible today. It was almost 80 degrees, with a soft breeze, and that crystal clear light that turns everything to gold.

So I still stink at riding, but I'm making progress. At least he goes forward when I ask him. That's kind of a low bar for success, I know, but it's definitely progress over last time.

Next step: riding lessons.

Ducks...Cats...Beautiful Day

2009-11-14T15:34:00.001-05:00

My husband got some pictures of our new Muscovy duck that show off how beautiful he is.

Check out how the reflection in the picture below shows off Corky's red beak. I love the green tint to some of his feathers. He's really added a new element to the pond, compared to the relatively drab mallards.

Irving the cat came home today! I guess I never really said that he'd been gone. He spent the week at the vet's, getting mega-shots of antibiotics and trying to recover from whatever hellacious virus he's had that's lasted so long. We picked him up today, and he's much better. Now comes the task of reintroducing to our other cats, when they hardly had a chance to get to know each other to start with. Here he is below play-fighting with the other abandoned cat, Halley. At least, I hope that's play-fighting. There's no screaming involved, so I think it is.

It was a wonderful day here today...clear, sunny, and 75. You don't get many days like this....they're meant to be savored!

Rainy Veterans' Day

2009-11-11T08:40:00.001-05:00

It's a cold, rainy and windy Veterans' Day here in South Carolina. Everything's relative, isn't it? Cold here means that it'll be in the 50's today. The wind was howling, though, and it's been raining since yesterday, so the animals are pretty miserable.

I went out to feed them this morning, and as I started down the hill with the hay, Gus the horse started neighing for all he was worth, the goats started maa-ing, and Shelby the Muscovy-mallard cross duck started quacking loudly. I burst out laughing, thinking about how my life has changed in the last year. I'm grateful for all our blessings.

A big thank you to all the active duty military and veterans out there for all you've done in serving our country. I am continually impressed by your dedication, willingness to sacrifice, and concern for your fellow soldiers, airmen, sailors, and marines. And let's not forget the Coast Guard!

Equine Holiday

2009-11-08T16:04:00.002-05:00

It was a gorgeous fall day here, so I thought I'd try riding Gus again. I hurt my back after buying the saddle so haven't done much, but I'm feeling better so it seemed like a good day. My very kind husband carried the saddle down to the pasture for me, and watched with amusement -- and, unfortunately, a camera -- while I saddled Gus for only the second time. (For some reason, those pictures wouldn't upload to Blogger. Very strange.)

We did some trial-and-error and discovered that I really need the step stool to be able to mount without pulling the saddle over to the side, since I can only tighten the cinch so far. I ended up on top of him with the saddle, and me, listing to the side like a sloop in a strong wind. There were some amusing pictures of that, too...perhaps even a video...but once again, technical difficulties prevent you from seeing those. Darn.

Doesn't Gus look great with his saddle on?

Unfortunately, he didn't feel as good as he looks. He was vaccinated and dewormed the other day, and hasn't been himself since. We thought he was feeling better, but he obviously did not want to be ridden. I really appreciated that his method of showing me that was just not to move when I asked him to...as opposed to the more dramatic 'dump the novice rider on her head' method. He was so good last time I rode him that I knew he just wasn't feeling well this time, and there's always another day.

Halley the cat came to investigate what we were doing, of course. She needs to know about everything that goes on. It was fortunate that she stopped by, because it turns out that a saddle is the best cat toy EVER.

It has great smells...it has strings attached to play with...and you can hide under it. What more could a cat want?

Big Teeth...and Snot

2009-11-07T16:25:00.002-05:00

Can I use the word 'snot' in a blog? Can I show a picture of it?

There's really no other way to describe what Irving, our new abandoned kitty, did to the wall by my computer desk. A friend who was visiting recently and insisted on taking this picture was kind enough to illustrate the location of the huge lugy with that blue arrow. Irving hocked it up, spat it onto the wall, and then settled in for a little nap behind my computer monitor. (I picture him mentally saying, "There -- I've decorated it for you.")

Unfortunately, Irving isn't doing too well. He came down with the cold a few days after someone dumped him on our back porch, and is not recovering, despite several doses of increasingly stronger antibiotics. The vet sedated him yesterday and took a nasal swab to send off to a lab for diagnosis. You know your cat isn't doing well when they have to do that. He's probably the sweetest cat we've ever had, so we're hanging in there with him.

On a lighter note, the same friend got this really classy picture of Gus the horse. I'm pretty sure that the editors of some equine magazine will see this picture and want to put it on the cover, so I'll be monitoring my incoming e-mails for their offer.

The equine vet came last night to give Gus his vaccinations and deworm him. Contrary to what the (clearly doctored) picture above might imply about him, he was a gentleman and took it all calmly. The vet said he's the 'perfect weight for his age.'

I tried to get her to say the same about me, but she said she wasn't qualified to make that judgment. I think she was just trying to get out of it, personally.

Invaded by Communists

2009-11-07T15:48:00.003-05:00

Well, they're not really Communists but that's a more exciting title than 'Bought Some Muscovy Ducks' today, isn't it?

Here's how they came home. We went to the flea market looking for some more mallards, and saw these beautiful huge black-and-white ducks. We wanted big ducks (more on why in a bit), and these are the biggest ducks I've ever seen. So we bought what the seller said was a pair and took them home in a big cardboard box. The seller taped the box, and we watched the tape nervously all the way home. These are BIG ducks, with claws. Who knew a duck could have claws? (Talons?)

They were quiet, though, and we made it home safely without having one of those tragic three-car pileups caused by the usual 'ducks with claws flying around in a car driven by two idiots.'

We took them down to the pond, and with a bit of caprine assistance, they jumped into the water and swam away. They immediately saw our other ducks, and sailed majestically toward them. Our ducks, being smaller, cleverly decided to flee rather than turn and fight, and we were treated to the sight of the two new ducks paddling desperately after the fleeing group all the way around the pond until they were back where they started. At that point, the (alleged) female Muscovy abandoned her friend and joined our group, leaving the poor male to follow the group pathetically at a distance. We're hoping they'll all join up at some point.

Here's the dramatic release.

So what's a Muscovy duck, you ask? I'm glad you asked, because I've just done a lot of Internet research and would have been disappointed not to be able to share it. Muscovy ducks are native to South/Central America and Mexico, and were being raised as domestic ducks by various Indian groups when Columbus discovered? invaded? visited? the Americas. They're the only domestic duck not descended from mallards. The males can get to be 8-15 pounds, which is a very good thing in our hawk/vulture-infested area. The name apparently comes from the original name, which was 'musk duck,' and they actually have nothing to do with Russia or Moscow.

Unfortunately, I haven't yet been able to get good pictures, but here's a blurry one. The whiter of the two is definitely a male Muscovy, but the other one is questionable, since apparently Muscovies should have a red face, and this one doesn't. So it may be a cross, but according to Wikipedia, the Muscovy-mallard crosses are infertile.

Also, according to Wikipedia, Muscovy ducks are called Barbary ducks 'in a culinary context.' I can't tell you how much I admire the delicacy of the phrase 'in a culinary context.' The seller told us that most people buy them for culinary contexts. (He may have phrased it a little differently.)

Here's a closer picture, though still blurry.

I'm thrilled by this purchase -- cheap at $12 a duck -- because I wanted some 'different' ducks, and I also wanted big ducks. We've already lost one of the three mallards we bought recently to a vulture, I'm afraid. My husband was fishing at the pond, and came across a pile of feathers. He looked over at the ducks, and realized one of the new males was missing....and that there was a group of vultures sitting in a nearby tree.

I try to accept the cycle of life, but it's not always easy...especially when we're paying for the vulture feast...

Fall Arrives in South Carolina

2009-11-01T14:37:00.001-05:00

We had a beautiful, moody day here yesterday. It was a very cloudy day, and we got rain later on (poor Halloweeners!), but when the sun peeked out, we got these views.

If you click on the picture to make it bigger, you can see the range of colors.

A blue heron visited. He comes by from time to time, but didn't seem to catch much this time. I love how the wild shrubs around the pond have changed colors. That tall plant we couldn't identify before is dog fennel. It turns wild and lush in the fall. The county extension agent told us that the reddish plants are willows.

Then the clouds would shade the sun again, and we'd get this....all within the space of a few minutes.

I think fall is my favorite season. We do get four seasons here, just not as dramatically as in more northern climes, but I like it that way. I don't care if I never see snow again...

Red Clay Stains on Goats

2009-10-31T17:17:00.002-04:00

I've noticed that our white Boer goats have red clay stains on their coats, but I never thought about how that happened. Today I caught Arlene applying the red clay. She found a little clay hill and first dug in it to loosen it up.

Then she started applying it to her body.

She looked a little ungainly, but it was clearly a deliberate action.

After she finished, she moved away and bit at some itchy spots.

How'd you like to be this flexible?

This is obviously something we need to look into, since she's most likely self-medicating for a skin condition that's causing itchiness, but I just hadn't realized she was applying the red clay on purpose. Gus the horse rolls in the sand but I haven't seen the goats doing anything like that.

I tried to research itchy skin in goats on the Internet, but most of the information was about using goat milk soap for itchy skin in humans. I can certainly understand why we'd rather use that than the red clay...

Ladybug Invasion

2009-10-31T17:06:00.001-04:00

The ladybugs have started to swarm. They're all over the outside of the house, especially on the areas painted white. The dots you see in the picture below are ladybugs.

Want to know something embarrassing? I never knew ladybugs did this in the fall. I never knew that these ladybugs I've seen all my life aren't actually native insects. Instead they're Asian lady beetles. (There apparently are native ladybugs but they're not spotted like these.)

According to my Internet research, they're moving from their summer feeding grounds to warm spots where they can spend the winter, and our house looks like Nirvana here in the woods. We never had these large numbers of them in the fall in either our old suburban neighborhood in Georgia or our suburban neighborhood in Maryland.

I'm just going to speculate that's either because of the amount of pesticides used in those neighborhoods (by other people), or because now we live near agricultural fields where mass quantities of them may have been let loose to kill pests.

I also never knew that people consider them pests themselves. I've always thought of them as beneficial insects. They are, but apparently during the fall they can infest people's homes to an annoying degree. One of the articles recommended just vaccuuming them up if that happens. That's something I never thought I'd be adding to the winter checklist! (Put away summer clothes. Bring out winter clothes. Vaccuum up the ladybugs.)