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67 a Goat Day

already preoccupied by Goat Thoughts, i hear something going on out there.  De ja vu.  i freaked out last year because they were picking on Lucky Star.  that's when i opened the other side and seperated the does.  Jenny said that wasn't necessary, but ok.  Jenny's not here now.  so.  ok.  go out and just watch.

first i try to divert attention.

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try to get Arctica to let me touch her.  Everyone gets involved in that.

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bring out a new batch of free choice minerals…always a happy moment

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but no.  the Undercurrent remains.  what IS it?

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Lucky Star is giving off some vibes.  Why.  ?????  She is about a month short of kidding.  it's the same as last year.  and watching, i suddenly think i might know.  she is an addition to this herd.  her only biological connection to it is Just Going, her doeling.

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all the rest are aunts, daughters, granddaughters sisters.  Lucky Star is the only one without that Lineage.

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everyone else here began with Snowbunny

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and three time.  i have gone out there and interfered.  Three times i have chased them away and called Lucky Star out from being cornered here in the back corner of the Guinea Hen Palace.  and for the 4th time, there she is.  She says something.  or Does something that challenges them.  she is very heavy with kid.  and i am Not a goat.  so i watch.  just watch.  try some stuff..like providing a leg for them to rub

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with where their horns would have been had they not been disbudded…rub, rub, rub,….apply one's scent on the leg.  Claim the leg for one's own self.  

Goats.  oh, Goats.  and

Goats.

and i forgot.  i forgot to hang the laundry

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25 responses to “67 a Goat Day”

  1. deb Avatar
    deb

    Do they like people perfume? Or does it chase them away..Perfume on Lucky Star?

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  2. grace Forrest Avatar
    grace Forrest

    oh, deb…this is giving me such a laugh….
    over and over
    perfume?
    i don’t know.
    i love patchouli
    and i don’t put it on myself because of them…..
    would they Mind?
    who knows.
    oh, i am laughing. laughing.
    they love their own smells.
    like that rubbing, rubbing rubbing their heads on my leg…
    what do they Think
    of perfume? i have no idea.
    they like the ME. they like putting their scent on me.
    they work so diligently to put their scent on me….

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  3. wendy Avatar
    wendy

    This is amazing. I could believe you have figured it out. This is so powerful. I’m here to catch up on twenty or so missed days but this really struck a chord.

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  4. grace Forrest Avatar
    grace Forrest

    wendy….”struck a chord”. it IS the cord. yes.
    as is the laundry

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  5. Valerianna Avatar
    Valerianna

    Its good when the knowing just comes… and the remembering, especially the laundry, always good to get help from the Gods when the laundry needs remembering!

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  6. handstories Avatar
    handstories

    & how does it feel to be “claimed” by so many? do they argue over who’s you are?
    your laundry is beautiful in the twilight.

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  7. Nance Avatar
    Nance

    Are they only putting their scent on you? Or are they also taking on your scent?

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  8. Michelle in NYC Avatar
    Michelle in NYC

    like cats, and all beasts, they mark what is acceptable, and they mark territory. We are territory—-speaking of which, I wonder does Lucky Star perhaps need her own exclusive territory for a while. Is she perhaps protecting her unborn? Just thoughts…and oh, they are all so healthy looking and soooo beautiful.

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  9. patricia Avatar
    patricia

    i do sense their heightened “on alert.” like they’re all sensing the difference. something different, but what? you may have it with the lineage idea. i imagine it’s around freshening, and Michelle may have nailed it with the need for privacy–then i remember what a communal thing birthing was with our here–and then there’s this–that in every herd, some doe/buck is all ways way down the pecking order. it must be tied up in survival instinct some how. but it can be hard to watch. and much harder not to intervene. i was never able to just be ok with what sometimes became bullying. and the other interesting thing–the way it manifests also in humans–similar genomes? but i will say this, your herd is beautiful–so obviously very well tended. no surprise there!

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  10. patricia Avatar
    patricia

    that would be–“with our herd”

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  11. jude Avatar
    jude

    some sort of natural order i suppose. so hard not to interfere. because we, you, being there are now part of it.

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  12. linda Avatar
    linda

    it is strange to think of it being natural order. i often wonder about that and what would it be without us…
    we are so against bullying.
    i am still here and watching from afar. getting closer..

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  13. Marti Avatar
    Marti

    grace, I know that you will get what I am trying to say here: whenever I look at your goat family, I hear my beloved departed Dad’s happy laughter. He was a shepherd and would be a kindred soul here. I feel that when I finally meet all of them, he will be there too, in spirit, with the biggest grin on his face, happy, along with me, to meet la familia…!

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  14. yvette Avatar
    yvette

    tomorrow a reading day
    now
    soso tired but full of gardenjoy
    hugs

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  15. Julie Avatar
    Julie

    do ANY of them let you touch them? So hard to remember that these are not pets because you love them so much.

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  16. grace Forrest Avatar
    grace Forrest

    actually, hanging laundry in the dark is very good.

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  17. grace Forrest Avatar
    grace Forrest

    argue?, sorta. just scent over scent on top of scent.
    …isn’t it beautiful, the clothesline????????????
    i
    SO
    love it.

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  18. grace Forrest Avatar
    grace Forrest

    i think putting it on me. they have scent glands around
    their horns. even when they have been disbudded. those
    glands remain. they rub eachother too, as a sign of
    affiliation.

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  19. grace Forrest Avatar
    grace Forrest

    Michelle…she can’t. she needs to find her own way
    within the herd. i watched again today and watched how
    she does these odd and snigular things that have meaning
    to the group. she extends her neck, her nose high and then
    does that sneeze snort thing that seems to express distain.
    that sets into motion. their hair raises up in a strip on
    their backs, along their spine when they are having feelings.
    i love learning these things.

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  20. grace Forrest Avatar
    grace Forrest

    watching again today, i think yesterday’s intensity might
    have been because a few of the does were in heat.
    hormones
    and what i noticed both yesterday and today is that it’s
    the young does, who are around a year old now that are
    coming into their own. so i think it’s all that. but
    i learned and separating them is no solution. Lucky Star
    IS looking, thinking of someplace to kid in privacy…hence
    the interest in that back corner of the guinea hen palace.
    When she kids, and Caroline, i will move them into the
    half of the Albatros. alone with their kids. and spend
    a great deal of time this time with the kids from birth on. but i will leave the dividing fencing open so everyone can see and watch and smell. that’s so important for them. and i also intend to seperate the moms from the kids during the night to begin doing the milking thing right. that will be hard. but needs to happen.

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  21. grace Forrest Avatar
    grace Forrest

    yes. part of it. but the IT belongs to them.

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  22. grace Forrest Avatar
    grace Forrest

    i know you are there.
    and what would it be? well…some would live and some
    would die. some would be strong and some would be weak.
    “domestic” changes all that.

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  23. grace Forrest Avatar
    grace Forrest

    yes, Marti. i know Very well what you are saying. i will
    Welcome your dad. i need his wisdom.

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  24. grace Forrest Avatar
    grace Forrest

    gardenjoy feeds the World. rest. yes. Love and dag dag

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  25. grace Forrest Avatar
    grace Forrest

    oh cripe., yes. some try to climb on my lap still. some can’t get enough. it’s only Just Going and Arctica of the does that don’t allow it…..only through the fence. when
    i put my fingers through the fence, they nibble them and
    allow small touch. but the rest, yes. some never get
    enough and push and shove to be The One. when i go out there with the brush, it’s intense.
    and all the bucks but Buckwheat. he is a through the fence one again. but the other three, Gideon and Sunny Ray would be into physical contact all day non stop. Tenzen, some.
    but it takes being in the buck pen for awhile for him to feel ok about it.
    so..really, only 3 that are shy.

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