Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Spring is Beautiful and Bittersweet

The renewal of life never ceases to amaze; much like the beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains is always awe-inspiring. New little ones fill our hearts with joy but they all cannot stay forever; and neither can spring. As we move towards summer, many of them find new homes and we are just glad to have know the pleasure of their company. We are also mindful to be thankful for the increase and appreciative of the abundance of life under our care. ________________________ Today we noticed that one of our Highland cows, Merry Kate, is in labor so we fully expect an overnight delivery. Lil' Hot Shot is not far behind as her udder is filling steadily. These two lovely ladies (doeling kid from this year and a bred yearling) left Sunday for their new home in Marion. We will be down to 10 goats from 18 soon but Hot Cocoa (solid black with oatmeal cashmere) is due to kid in a few months.

Fuzzy Yellow Kudzu









The ducklings are growing like kudzu and I believe they eat, drink, and output more than the cattle! Cider, the Vizsla, sure likes to babysit...he claims he's a bird dog, not a gun dog.

BO Ducks





Tuesday, April 5, 2011

The Grace of Goats

We are very pleased to report that Milly, Molly and 4 wethered friends will all be going together to a new home not all that far away. Milly and Molly were our very sweet foundation does from Virginia and we will certainly miss their presence here. Seeing them standing gracefully on their back legs, necks outstretched, reaching for thorny black locust leaves was like watching a farmyard ballet of sorts. We are keeping Molly's young doeling from this year as Molly's replacement and we'll enjoy watching her grow to take her mother's place.