Knit On

". . . . don't do it."
"Why not?"
"Remember what we talked about?"
"You mean how I shouldn't be giving my knitting away?"
"Right."
Pshaw!

Over the last few months several knitted items were sent on their merry way, disguised as yarny goodness gifts:

• Two Diagonal Garter Stitch Baby Blankets, Lily Sugar 'n Cream cotton yarn.

• Twelve Comfort Scarves, Handmade Especially for You, magic yarn balls.

• Personalized labels attached to each scarf.

• Four beaded coasters with hand-stitched felted bottoms, Noro Daria Multi yarn.

 

 

• Personalized rustic gift wrapping.

The Man thinks it hurts my feelings if I don't receive a note of thanks for the knitted gifts.

Pshaw, again.

Most folks do call or send me a note. Hmmm, maybe to find out what it is they have received?  "Um, thank you for the knitted, um, item".

Besides 1) people are busy, 2) they're gifts, and 3) it's a most excellent way for me to use up my ever growing yarn stash.

x   x   x     post current pic of yarn stash here (or not)     x   x   x

Carry On

It has been a better week.

The first few days of the week were spent ensuring the safety of the remaining animals. Our neighbor, Matt, set up his game camera to monitor the night-time activity around the pen. (None.)

Zeke is sleeping in the garage and for most of the week Mele was volunteered to keep him company.

(And, hey, guess what, Zeke uses a puppy pee pad. I kid you not. He's "house-broken". The first night he peed on an old beach towel, the next night I covered the same towel with a "Super Absorbent Training Pad" and he's been using the pad ever since. The small poops (dry and odorless) are sucked up with The Man's Industrial-sized Shop-Vac.)

The chickens returned to their coop after spending a single night in the garage. The mess and smell nearly bowled The Man over when he opened the garage door. Sorry, Ladies, you've got to live in your own home.

For future security, The Man constructed and installed a lion-proof gate on the goat house. I'm not entirely certain a clever cat can't get their paws through the wire so I'm asking, ahem, nagging The Man to reinforce it with a finer metal mesh. In the meantime, we'll keep Zeke in the garage at night.

For the first few days we spent as much time as we could with the scared, lonely goat. Luckily, Zeke immediately bonded with Mele and followed her everywhere.

We thought things were progressing well. Then one night The Man went outside to put everyone to bed. It was already dark, he found both dogs sleeping in the garage, but Zeke wasn't with them. A few long minutes later, with a flashlight, The Man found the scared goat wandering in the dark, looking for Mele. He was quite a distance from the house. Not sure who was more scared: The Man or the Goaty Boy. Zeke needed a goat companion ASAP.

The next day we answered a Craigslist ad for two Nigerian Dwarf bucklings born on August 11th. They would we weaned, wethered (neutered), and available in October; there was also a female. We made arrangements to visit on Thursday to take a look at the boys. On Wednesday, while at work, Wendy texted me that one boy had been sold.

Over these past three years we have been very fortunate to have the friendship and guidance of Goat Mama Peggy (the Goaty Boys' Mom). I once again turned to her for advice. Peggy didn't think a female goat would be too bothered by Zeke or the dogs. I was reassured and went to our appointment with an open mind.

On Thursday, we put dibs on the remaining boy. Such a tiny baby, I'm sure our chickens weigh more than he does.

 

We also came home with Bitsy, the one-year old female, the buckling's Aunt. Goat Mama Wendy thinks Bitsy is too small to be bred safely. She offered her to us for free.

I was pleased that Wendy liked and/or trusted us to gift us with her beautiful doeling. Then, when Wendy started walking towards the house, the itty bitty Bitsy opened her tiny mouth and SCREAMED. You know those funny goat videos with the bawling, yelling goats? She could've been the star; what she lacks in stature she certainly makes up in volume. Wendy said, "Um, yeah, she's a little vocal." A little? Really?

The Man didn't seem perturbed by the vocal onslaught (nor did he seem to notice me trying to catch his eye so we could talk about it first).

And Bitsy came home with us. So, now I'm thinking maybe Wendy was happy to rehome her goat before they got in trouble with the neighbors, heck, the whole neighborhood!

Phew, it's been three days and finally things are settling down . . . and quieting down.

But I gotta say: Bitsy. Talks. All. The. Time. (To Be Continued.)

We received many emails of support and sympathy from family and friends. How amazing that animals can touch our lives and make us better for it. Thank you everyone.

A Better Week

Last Sunday evening, per usual, we were sitting outside overlooking the Vista. Overhead a Cal Fire plane flew over us. Then another right behind it. We checked the Cal Fire SLO website, and sure enough, a fire had just started on the Cuesta Grade.

Fire Investigators believe one vehicle heading north on Hwy 101 started multiple fires along a 125-mile route. The first fire was reported near Buellton at 4:30pm, then three fires along the Cuesta Grade at 6:15 pm, and then Cholame, not too much later. In our drought-stricken area, a vehicle dragging a metal chain - creating sparks - can cause disastrous results.

Monday evening

Over the next few days the fire threatened the small town of Santa Margarita. The town is less than 8 miles from our home; we're separated by undeveloped ranch land and the four lanes of Hwy 101.

We hoped for the best but prepared for the worst and went through our evacuation checklist. The goat crate was loaded and ready to be occupied.

After a few days, the weather turned mild, the cool nights and the marine layer (fog) helped the fire fighters gain the upper hand. We breathed a sigh of relief.

Yesterday morning as I prepared to write this post The Man came in to tell me that Duke and Wyatt had been killed. Zeke was unharmed.

The brothers were killed during the night while they slept.

Our windows were open. The dogs didn't bark. No one heard a thing.

Two of our neighbors came by and agreed that the predator was probably a mountain lion. They saw the arrangement of our pen, the height of our fencing, and the electrified "hot" wire, and did not think coyotes could have climbed into the pen. Later, we found the mountain lion's tracks.

Last night, The Girls and Zeke slept in the garage with Mele.

Today we buried Duke and Wyatt.

We're hoping this week will be a better one.

Duke

Wyatt

~ ~ Duke and Wyatt, you made our hearts sing.