Golden-Leaved Goat Treats

Beautiful Fall colors brighten the shores of  Puget Sound

I'm listening to the rain pour down outside.  We are in the middle of a huge storm system that has most of Western Washington on flood alerts.  During these storms I am very thankful to live on a large rock in the middle of the Puget Sound, and not next to one of our quickly-rising rivers.  But still, the water is everywhere.  Our goat yard is becoming so mucky, that even the bunny has taken refuge in the barn.

Sweet pea devouring as many leaves as will fit into her ample stomach!

Sadly, this storm seems to have officially ended the time of year when everything is covered in crunchy, colorful fall leaves.  Last week, we were watching the huge golden leaves of our Big-Leaf Maple trees rain down. And no one was happier about that than our goats.  Each leaf that floated delicately down into their goat yard was like a little piece of food heaven for them!  I let the goats out for a field trip into the sweetly scented yard of leaves and they ate and ate.  Little Sweet Pea ate so much that she looked like she had swallowed a giant MnM!  And she waddled back to the barn on her short little legs looking quite satisfied.

One of the many Big Leaf Maple trees towering above our goat yard

It always feels like the beautiful colors and drifting leaves of Fall will go on and on.  Then suddenly I look up at the trees and see that they are almost done.  And then a rain storm like this comes through and washes off the few leaves still left on the trees and renders everything soggy.  It looks like the goats are near the end of their delicious leaf buffet for the year.

Blackberry, Lily and Silver

Letting Go...

Yesterday I hopped into the shower after a hard day's work, only to discover that my hot water was in short supply.  I was, after all, showering after my three daughters.  I reached for my razor, thinking I should shave quickly before the goose bumps set in.  Only the razor was gone.  Stolen from my shower by my oldest who decided that stealing my razor would be easier than replacing the dull blade on her own.

And here we go again...life with three daughters.  My stuff disappears.  I can't keep nail polish in my bathroom.  Or tweezers.  Or clippers, or any "tool of beauty".  Same goes for hair products and lotions.  And it's not like the girls don't have their own lotions, and nail clippers.  But they lose theirs.  And somehow it is always easier to just grab mine than to look for their own.

If you're a guy you might as well stop reading now, because I am about to delve into the world of feminine products. First of all, I love that we have this name "feminine products" to use when talking about our pads and tampons.  Makes it all sound so sanitary.  But let's be honest.  It's not sanitary, not at all.  The girls' bathroom garbage can is overflowing with the wrappers that come from so many monthly cycles.  And when I need my own products, are they handy?  No, they've been raided...of course.

When the girls were little, I remember listening to my friends with little boys complain about the pee all around their toilet.  'Little boys have no aim at all!', they would sigh.  And I think at that point in life, the girls were somewhat easier--at least in the realm of potty training.  But I knew that my time would come.  I looked ahead and saw that three daughters going through adolescence might be challenging.  Other people would tease us.  They would say things like, "wow, three daughters...aren't you in for some fun teenage years." And we all had a good laugh about the future.  Yes, those are going to be some good days all right!  Well, the future is here, and I'm not laughing.  Mostly, I cry.  I find that when we are all PMSing together, it helps to simply shed a few tears.  Or a lot of tears depending on the month.

But here is the absolute, gut wrenching irony of the whole thing.  I know that I will get to a place in life (down the road a bit), where I will actually miss this.  And this is what makes motherhood so completely, utterly insane-asylum-crazy.  Every phase that drives you around the bend is also the same phase that you will miss.  I know this is true because we have been through so many phases already.  The endless diaper, breast-feeding, sleepless night phase...I miss it.  The bi-polar toddler, plastic toys all over the living room phase...I miss it.  And just recently I even realized, (and this one is truly shocking) that now that Emily is driving, I kind of miss my time driving her all around.  I know--totally crazy!!

And so it is with this history, that I acknowledge the future day when I will miss this phase of motherhood too.  IF I make it through in one piece.  And right now that is a little uncertain.

Angry Rabbits and Friendly Goats

The animals are acting peculiar. Not quite normal.  Of course this assumes that animals have a "normal" and aren't affected by the seasons, the weather and their hormones; which of course they are.

Parsley the Rabbit

And I shouldn't go so far as to say that all of our animals are acting strangely.  It's just the rabbit and one of our goats.  The rabbit is mostly angry.  He is currently an angry ball of white fluff.   Every time we enter the barnyard, we enter slowly...and keep a sharp eye out for him.  He doesn't bite or hurt us, but he runs at our feet while making these mad snorting sounds.  The image most people have of a quiet little bunny?  Not true.  Rabbits are very capable of expressing themselves--or at least ours is.

He's mad when we come to feed him and he's mad when he's finished eating.  He wants his rabbit treat, and he wants it right now!  And we do of course feed him, but he seems extra hungry lately.  After he finishes his food, he pulls the dish out of his hutch and tosses it into the air.  We're pretty sure he's using some choice rabbit swear words as he does this.  Our guess is that he senses the upcoming cold temperatures and is trying to fatten himself up.  But the anger?  Not sure why.

Blackberry is acting strangely too.  Only his change is a good one.  He is 3 1/2 years old and has been our goat since he was 3 months old.  We named him Blackberry and he's grown into the name well.  He is prickly.  Untrusting.  Difficult.  His sixth sense about goat maintenance tasks like hoof-trimming and worming are impeccable, and make him difficult to work with.  And after years of treats and care, he still maintains a suspicious eye for the humans in his life.  He tolerates us, but has never seemed to bond with us.

Blackberry

But about two weeks ago, his suspicious nature started to crack.  It seemed like he was trying to play...with me!  At first I didn't know what to make of his behavior.  He was acting like he does with the other goats, wagging his tail, turning his head, prancing and doing the crazy head butting thing they do.  At first I wondered if he had finally decided to attack me.  But he just wasn't acting aggressive.  It was definitely playful.  So I gave him a good scratch behind his ears and rubbed his back--something he rarely lets me do.

And now we have this ritual every morning after I bring the goats their hay.  Blackberry wants attention from me!  He is acting more like a golden retriever than a prickly goat.  I suddenly feel like I have a lovable animal and I look forward to his funny morning antics.  I'm pretty sure his change in behavior is a result of too much head-butting.  Maybe he's finally given himself a concussion and has forgotten that he doesn't trust me.

Either way, I now enter the barnyard poised for an attack from the angry rabbit, and ready to play with my once prickly goat.  The seasons are definitely changing.

A Mushroom Forest

Summer has given way to Fall, and Winter feels right around the corner.  Each morning I awake to a little less light, a little more dark.  The dampness is beginning to permeate the soil and the air, and I find that I am dragging my feet about going to work.  It's warm in the house and cold outside.

But I am always glad for the fresh air and glad for a job that forces me outside, even when it's cold and rainy.  The garden offers treasures to find in every season, and in the damp, cool of these Fall days, it is the mushroom forests that appear--seemingly overnight--that catch my eye.

I still haven't learned which are good for eating, so I stay away from harvesting.  But I'm hoping to someday learn this art.  First, my curiosity is endless when it comes to plants, and it pains me that I don't know the edible from the non-edible of the mushroom world.  I know most of the edible plants and berries that are native to our region, so mushrooms are the logical next frontier of knowledge for me.  But unlike most of the native plants around here, mushroom harvesting comes with danger.  Eat the wrong one and you could end up in the hospital fighting for your life.  So for now, I enjoy their sudden emergence into the Fall garden landscape, and buy the delicious local mushrooms at the grocery store.

Apple Season

My favorite season has arrived!  I love Fall for the colorful leaves, crisp evenings and abundance of fresh apples.  We live in the apple capitol of the world--or at least that is what any Washington State tourism brochure will tell you.  And any road trip through Central Washington makes it pretty clear that we grow a LOT of apples.  The climate of Central Washington, with its 300 days of sunshine and cold winters, is perfect for apple and pear orchards.  Visit the Washington Apple Country site for more information on Washington apples.

Central Washington is also a beautiful destination for a Fall trip.  Every year my family goes to Lake Wenatchee State Park, near the Bavarian-styled town of Leavenworth, for one last camping trip.  The park is nearly deserted, the air is crisp and cold, and the fall colors are spectacular.  We spend our evenings playing games at our campsite, huddled around a roaring campfire. Our days, on the other other hand, are filled with bratwurst and beer lunches at the Octoberfest celebration in Leavenworth, and hikes around Lake Wenatchee.  It's a perfect balance of too much good food, too much good beer and too much relaxing.  Definitely something to look forward to every year!

Crisp nights make for beautiful fall colors

Our trip also includes a visit to our favorite fruit stand, Prey's Fruit Barn.  The barn is filled with apples, pumpkins, pears and locally made treats.  The girls spend time at the apple sample area, tasting slices of sweet and juicy apples to help us decide which varieties to buy.  This year we bought four boxes:  one each of Jonagold, Fuji, Golden Delicious and Honeycrisp. We now get to enjoy unlimited apple eating for a few weeks, and when I get to it, homemade applesauce to eat all winter.

A Tiny Tree Frog

A little green tree frog hidden in the rhododendron

Sometimes the best garden art is the kind that surprises you.  The kind that you hear before you see, and at first can't even find.  I love the daily unfolding of life in the garden--creatures and plants working together, and me joining in the melee as both an observer and a natural force of my own.

And then, the discovery of a tiny tree frog hidden by its color, but adding its voice to the garden.  Nature once again providing the best garden art.

A Goat-proof Rabbit Hutch

Most rabbits live safe lives inside rabbit hutches.  They might be bored, but they definitely don't have to compete for food.  Our rabbit, on the other hand, lives a free life.  He is able to come and go into his hutch at will, and has a large yard to hop around.  The downside is that he shares his life with goats who are obsessed with eating his food.

We had refurbished his old hutch (time and again...) to be as goat-proof as possible; but even still, with four masters of destruction (the goats) working away on the hutch, it was falling apart. When the roof nearly collapsed, replacing the rabbit hutch moved to the top of our list. Brian and Sophie used the last few days of summer to design and build a goat-proof rabbit hutch--not necessarily something most rabbit owners need to consider!

So what does a goat-proof rabbit hutch look like?  A completely enclosed home with hidden access. The goats are totally locked out.  The rabbit door is actually a hole in the floor of the hutch that he comes up through.  And it took nearly 8 hours for Parsley's pea-sized brain to figure out how to do this. We used treat lures, a ramp, and even picked him up and put him inside to show him the "door" in the floor of his new home.  

He is quite pleased with himself now.  He is able to eat his food in peace, while the goats look longingly through the wire mesh, unable to find a way to his food.  And we are able to fill his food dish through a latched opening in the top of the hutch.  So far, the new hutch has confounded the goats.

Perhaps the best upside to the new hutch is that it is lower to the ground, and little Sweet Pea (the African Pygmy) finally has a perch that she can jump onto.  Her short little legs have kept her from being able to access the high places our other goats love, and it's nice to see her have a little accomplishment in her life.

Sweet Pea--our tiny African pygmy goat