Kids and Grandkids...

A number of years ago, after the last of our senior horses passed on, and the horse girl moved to town, and the former pasture was appropriated for raspberries for machine harvest trials, The Farmer told me he was taking down the paddock fence. I strenuously objected. I wanted to replace the horses, with beef cows, or goats. I was told that there were not going to be any animals on this farm anymore. My cute little “horse shed” was commandeered for storage.

Once again, I strenuously objected and said, “Well, go ahead and take it down, but you’ll just have to put it back up again because when we have grandkids, I AM GOING TO HAVE GOATS BECAUSE I WANT THEM TO KNOW ABOUT TAKING CARE OF ANIMALS!”

And he took it down. The poor little horse shed got filled up with…stuff, and three, count them, THREE implements were parked in the lean-to. The plan was to pour a cement floor in the lean-to – but The Farmer never was certain how he wanted it to be designed – not an unusual problem around here.

But I won’t digress in that direction…

So for a while 3 little implements got privileged status under the lean-to. Meanwhile, The Farmer continued to accumulate more and bigger implements, and soon, it became ridiculous to think that the horse shed would be a storage shed. So last fall, I pointed out the incongruity of his purloined storage facility, and the need.

Bless my heart, he agreed!

So plans were made to construct an additional large and open storage shed, and I was given permission to appropriate the shed for animals…But not cows, which are my preference. Oh, how I miss cows! However, their needs and emissions, shall we say, are too voluminous for the space allotted. And I knew this, which was why I had planned on goats…though that beef thing still sounds good for my freezer.

With The Farmer’s acquiescence to animal usage of the shed, I decided not to wait for the grandkids that I had made a condition on my earlier demands. Besides, there was no word of grandkids – and I had been told that any requests by me for grandkids would result in an extra year of waiting per mention.

So I was good…really I was! Though 5 years of marriage had passed for my eldest and his wife, and I expected to hear something at that juncture, there was silence. I decided to get a head start, and get some goats before The Farmer changed his mind.

…which he did, but I had gone for the forgiveness option and informed him that the goats were already purchased!

I was able to purchase a lovely little Nigerian Dwarf doe, and her cute little buck. Conveniently, son-in-law Jon has a sister that raises goats – and she was reducing her herd.

So welcome, my new kids: Imogene and Barnaby!!

 

Oh! I am having so much fun with these two.

As I said, The Farmer was tempted to renege on his permission, and then figured that we must create a perfect enclosure/habitat that would take months of research and design…

Instead, Caitlin and I made a fence that will work until the dirt piles from the storage shed construction can be removed. This way I can enjoy them all summer. Sorry Farmer – not waiting til fall, and perfection. Of course, now he gets a kick out of them too, and also admits that our enclosure is quite sufficient to the need. In the fall, we will seed a little pasture for them, and put up a more permanent fence.

For now, Imogene and Barnaby are quite content with their home. They are getting more comfortable with me, and now will come to me for treats. I am the giver of raisins, and other good things! They were first quite fearful of Daisie, and Daisie was very intrigued with them…still is! They have come to some kind of understanding. Imogene no longer has her hair stand on end when Daisie comes close, and they are fine when Daisie is in the pen with me, though Imogene always try to get a good butt in as we leave. For her part, Daisie has been trying to teach them to play like boxers do, and mistakes Imogene’s charges for the boxer play bow. She gets inordinately hopeful when this happens that the goats are finally learning!

Ironically, and MUCH MORE WONDERFULLY, a couple of weeks after I purchased the goats, Dillon and Tiffany came by to tell us some news…

YES!!!! WE ARE GOING TO BE GRANDPARENTS!!!!

I still have trouble grasping this…it’s really going to happen!!! I have hardly dared to let myself ponder on it as we have had to keep it secret for several weeks now. Poor Tiffany was feeling quite poorly, and so they wanted to tell us and not have to hide her need to rest and bug out on some events. They weren’t ready to make an announcement. I could hardly trust myself to keep silent if I thought about it too much!

This week, they made it public, so I am free to shout it from the housetops, which I’m sure they appreciate… WE HAVE A GRANDBABY ON THE WAY!

Baby is due December 8, so we will have a super exciting Christmas time! Tiffany is feeling much better now that she is at 14 weeks, and she actually has a little tummy. It’s real!!!

She spent a week in Hawaii with her parents recently, and doesn’t she look cute?!

 

So now we are putting thought into what equipment we need to accommodate a grandbaby at the house…high chair, pack n’ play, extra car-seat...

But I don’t have to worry about the goats…I’m ready for the grandkids on that one!