four weeks

You know how I mentioned yesterday that I am having trouble

getting decent snaps of Tansy and Fern?

Here's why:

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day five

Yesterday, Tsuga took her 4-day-old kids outside for the first time. She considered it the day before, but was prevented; I placed a 12-inch board across the barn doorway so Tsuga could step over it to go in and out but the kids had to stay inside, nice and dry. The barnyard area is SO wet. Residual ice is slowly melting under a layer of bedding the hens have thoughtfully thrown out of the barn. I can do nothing about this mess until the ice is gone.

But yesterday was sunny and warm, and when Tsuga called the kids they just leapt and scrambled and tumbled right over that 12-inch board, so I took it down. Then I built a ramp for tiny goats to play on. This involved setting one end of the board on a rock and getting out of the way.

I didn't get any good pictures of the kids on the ramp yesterday, mostly because I was laughing so hard. But if you've never seen the flexibility of kids, you might like this snap:

Last night it was very windy - trees were bending hard and I called Piper back from a romp in the woods because I could heard big limbs cracking everywhere. And it was cold. This morning, long after the sun was up it was still only 32F and there was a biting wind, so guess who was wearing a coat again:

Training for Half Dome

And guess who else was wearing a coat today:

Yes, both the kids were nattily dressed today!

Tsuga is still wearing a bit of cashmere - she's plenty warm!

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Here is another little video, taken today.

I moved three of the yearlings into the adjacent pocket paddock,

and at one point, you'll see the babies

meeting Azalea.

Azalea is not a big goat.

The babies are tiny!

Technical (ha!) note: I recommend "muting" this one.

There was heavy machinery roaring

through the whole thing, 

and Campion was yelling his annoyance.

(Which was kind of annoying!)

I didn't think of recording without sound.

Such a rookie...

Happy Thursday!

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assuming nap position

I took this yesterday morning, when Tsuga's little black girl was having breakfast (again) and her little grey girl was settling for (another) nap. Hope it makes you smile!

Today before sun-up, I was watching the goatcam and laughing like a loon. Both babies were bouncing around, full of beans. It is astonishing how quickly their coordination develops, literally from the moment they are born. These first couple of days are mind-boggling, every time.

It's a rainy, raw morning, but all is well in the cozy barn.

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By the way:
if anyone has advice about posting videos, please let me know in a comment or email. I tried going direct-to-blogger using the video link in the editing bar, but after loading this video the quality was so poor I took it down immediately. Not entirely comfortable about putting my goats on YouTube, but so far it's the only solution I've come up with. And I'm still not satisfied with the quality; the original is quite sharp.

Any advice appreciated!

ETA: I just switched the little player button to HD and watched it fullscreen. I recommend this if you want to see every wavy little hair on that grey kid. And I'm pretty sure you do  :)

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wordless wednesday

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at your request

More baby goat video, taken yesterday morning.

This time, with some words!

(Move over, Chris Chibnall.)

Enjoy.

By the way, I want to assure you that the little black doe is

just as energetic and bold as her brother,

and the little silver buck also spends many hours sound asleep

and oblivious to his sister's repeated efforts to rouse him with a prodding hoof.

Their individual - and frequent - energy peaks are a bit staggered,

which seems rather tough luck for Lily!

But both kids are already so agile (mostly) and

so reliable about coming when she calls them (mostly),

that yesterday Lily decided she could have a few minutes of "Me" Time,

alone in the Chalet, while the babies were sleeping 20 feet away in the barn.

They grow up so fast, don't they, Lily?

Hide the car keys.

~~~

P.S.

A few minutes after I saved that videofile to my laptop yesterday,

I went back out to clean the barn.

When I reached down to pick up a water bucket,

my camera fell out of my shirt pocket. 

plop!

Straight into the water bucket.

Uh-oh.

It's been drying ever since, and I'm trying to be patient.

Tonight I'll put the battery in and press the On button.

Fingers crossed!

Meanwhile, just on the off-chance, 

I looked up my purchase info.

Lo and behold!

I had the foresight to pay for 

the Unfortunate Water Bucket Incident Service Contract,

and it should still be in effect.

Whew.

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