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.