January, February, March 2003 Archives                          

It has been a prolific year with the goats. To date, we have had 3 sets of twins, some colored and some white, with two does yet to deliver. The good thing is that so far the does far outnumber the bucks, 8-2. The colors range from all black, a brown, and two that will be not quite white, who at the moment, are about the color of a ripe peach, and of course a few white ones that are color carriers.

We also have a bottle baby this year. Coco, our black doe, delivered twins, a delightfully dark brown doe, and about 40 minutes later, a completely white doe. I am not sure whether it was the fact that the second was born so much later, and breech to boot, or whether because the little doe was white, but Coco would have nothing to do with the white one from the time it was born, except push her away. I tried everything in my arsenal of tricks to get her to take the baby, but bottom line is that I am milking her twice a day, and feeding the doeling we named Snowflake with a bottle. Milking an angora is no mean feat. They do not have the large udders of a milking doe, nor are they milked on a routine basis. Coco is very begrudging in giving up any great quantities of milk, but so far she is managing to keep the bummer well fed.

We are reducing are herd, although the number kept will be the same. We must make room for the newborns we intend on keeping. We will be selling some does, as well as some of the doelings. As much as we love them all, we simply do not have enough room.

Shearing is almost done, with only 4 more to go. Spring fleeces are never as nice as the fall fleeces, in that they are dirtier from the hay feeding and the mud, and the stress of birthing. I have managed to get some pretty nice fleeces in spite of all that, and look forward to working with them. I have done some rainbow dyeing of some, in colors of slate blue, cocoa brown, and dark green. Colors of nature, changing from very intense color to pastel.

Roger made his trip to Arizona, and came back very excited about the possibilities. We have made a bid on 61 acres, but at the moment, whether we will get it or not remains to be seen. We both like the parcel, but know that if it doesn’t work out, there are many more that we would be just as happy with. So we are making tentative plans to move to the Kingman area in the spring, but much work here remains to be done. The move will be the most dreaded part, as we both have too many “treasures”, and indeed must part with some.

Life here on the homestead is going just fine. The days grow longer, as does the grass, and summer is just around the corner. Our days are full with many projects, and our bodies are weary at the end of the day.

I had the pleasure of making a trip to Arizona to look at land. I am sure some of you wonder why anyone would want to move to such a desolate area of this country. Well I must admit that much of the area is exactly that. On the other hand, we have been attracted to the area for some years. We have traveled extensively in both Arizona and New Mexico while down there doing shows. The shows we attended were only on the weekends, which left us plenty of time to explore the back roads. We found many beautiful landscapes, babbling brooks, Indian ruins, and wide open spaces.

We are focusing our search in the NW corner of Arizona, in the area of Kingman, and are particularly attracted to the area of the Aquarius Mountains. It is higher in elevation, which moderates the summer heat somewhat, and water is available by way of a drilled well. The landscape in the back country appears wild and untamed, and shows no sign of habitation other than the few stock watering tanks one finds scattered in the arroyos. The vegetation includes scrub oak, cedar, juniper, and pinion pine. The landscape includes multicolored hills, limestone cliffs, and a brilliant blue sky.

Roger is planning a trip in the near future to take his own look, and will hopefully find something for us. While we normally wouldn’t nor haven’t considered separate vacations, we found it impossible to both get away at the same time. Too many pregnant goats and responsibilities at home for both of us to be gone at once.

Oh yes, of course the goats! Crystal gave us a delightful black doe on the 24^th which we named Zora, to go along with her older sisters named Zena and Zoe. At the moment, she has blue eyes, but they do have some gold flecks in them which indicate they may change. She is a frisky little thing and Mom already has her out in the pasture. The little kids are such a delight, and it is impossible not to smile when watching their antics.

We had a slight problem with Benny, the livestock guardian dog. Not that he wasn’t doing his job, but that he was doing it to well. Crystal decided to have her kid on a sunny morning, in the pasture, and unbeknownst to us. When we did notice, we went immediately to her, but the kid was not there. A quick glance showed the little black bundle amongst the rest of the herd, licked clean, and calling for her mom. But there was some confusion. Benny had done such a good job of midwifing, licking the kid so clean, that Crystal could only smell dog and would have nothing to do with her own kid. We removed them both to a kidding stall, and had to wipe the kid down with the afterbirth, and pin Crystal to the wall to let the kid nurse. After about three times of doing this, Crystal decided that the kid really was hers, and turned into the good mother she has been in the past. Benny is now the nanny, and while shows some attention, leaves the mothering to the goat. As a precaution for the future births, we have removed the other pregnant does to another pasture, so they may give birth without all the added attention.

For those of you who may have been waiting for my monthly updates, my apologies for not producing in the month of December. Of course, you may have already excused me assuming it was the holidays that kept me from my task. You couldn’t be further from the truth. The winter doldrums hit early this year, and December became a month of dark days and lots of rain. However, the shortest day of the year has come and gone, and slowly the days are growing longer. The sunny days here in Southern Oregon are precious and few, and such days are enjoyed outside, with the sun on our faces. The rainy days find us indoors, and filling those days with many indoor tasks and hobbies.

The big news is the sale of our Camas Valley property. Roger signed papers today, and closing is just a few days away. I feel rather nostalgic about the whole thing, and I know I will miss the property. There is also the feeling of excitement, knowing we can finally start looking for our new property. We have yet to determine where we would eventually like to buy, but are looking in several states, including E. Oregon, Idaho, South Dakota, Wyoming….basically anywhere in the western United States, except California. We are in no hurry to buy and we’ll take our time looking. We are secure in our caretaking job for the next couple of years.

We have a new dog. Following the attack of the cougars and the loss of two of our goats, we were advised by many of our goat friends that a livestock guardian dog was in order. We discussed it but decided that building goat shelters where the goats could be locked up at night was first on the list of priorities. When that task was accomplished, I went looking for a dog that could live with and protect the goats from further predators. I went and spent the day with a breeder of lgds, and though she had wonderful dogs, and I would recommend them to anyone, we both agreed that her dogs may not be suited for our circumstances. I came home disappointed and Roger suggested maybe we should just get another big dog as backup for Dodger, the 10 year old mutt we already had. I started looking, diligently checking the ads in the paper, at the feed store, and on bulleting boards, even making two trips to the pound. I was not having great success in finding this perfect dog I was looking for. Then Providence stepped in and the week before Thanksgiving I received an email from a goat friend in E Oregon. She said she had heard about the cougar problems we were having and offered a solution. Her daughter, who was away at college, had won a pup in a raffle the previous year. With her away at college, and the way their property was set up, they had no need of the dog, and would we be interested in him. The dog is Benny, a 2 year old, full blood, Great Pyrenees. We jumped at the opportunity to have such a dog, and cannot thank Toni enough. He is a wonderful dog. He lives in the pasture with the goats and is very diligent about his duties of protecting the goats. In addition, he is very loveable, and friendly with people. He is everything we were looking for, and we couldn’t be more pleased.

Inside projects are keeping us busy on the rainy days. Roger built a 7 foot triangle loom for me for Christmas, and I am weaving my first shawl on it. He did a wonderful job and made it of chinquapin, a native oak, and the wood is lovely. The nails are closer together than the average loom. I spin almost exclusively mohair for obvious reasons, and like to spin it fine, so the closely spaced nails are perfect for me. I hope this one is the first of many, as he plans to build more and offer them on the website.

I am also in the midst of completing an order of painted gourds. They will be sent to the gallery, Feminine Mystique, in Tubac, AZ. If any one is in the area, be sure to stop by. Pat Aguilar is the owner and is a great person.

I am also doing some spinning, and am still cleaning fleeces, soon to be offered for sale. I plan to also do some rainbow dying, and so will be offering dyed locks. On Roger’s to do list is to build a fiber page as an addition to the website.

Roger remains on his job in the woods. The winter days are quiet and for the most part peaceful up there. We have yet to see snow, either in the mountains, or here at home. It never snows a lot, and doesn’t stay long, but we love to see it.

We have nine does expecting, and some sooner than others. We have some colored does that we know will throw colored kids. We also have some white does that are color carriers, and look forward to seeing whether their kids will be colored or white. It’s always exciting times here on the homestead waiting for those little charmers to get born.

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