Not the smartest…
But she’s definitely cute!
Tag Archives: goats
The circle grows
Last Sunday, I spent quite a lot of my time at the big barn since I never really get to it. Two goats in particular made an impression. The first was a sweet boy named Liam who met me while I was taking pictures of his friends inside the barn. He rounded the corner and came to a halt in the goat in front of him so as not to run into me. I reached out a welcoming hand and he backed up. When I turned away, he tried to walk past me but there wasn’t enough room to get by without making contact, so he stopped. He stood frozen, hoping that he was invisible, I’m sure. The rest of his friends ambled around, sniffing me, disregarding me, going about their business. But Liam stayed stock still and stared at me.
Much later, I went back to the barn and sat outside. All of the animals had been fed and many were coming back out. One goat started to dance with me the way that Gulliver did when our friendship began. The butt bump sort of a “hey, there buddy, just checking you out, no big deal” kind of a welcome. I started patting his head and we became quick friends. The difference in petting him verses other goats was that he had giant horns. He liked to dig them into my back (in a friendly way! A goat massage, if you will). Somewhat awkward but certainly worth putting up with in exchange for everything else. His name is Jackson.
And these are his beautiful horns.
While we were hanging out, Liam quietly walked over and set up camp a few feet away from us, just watching the scene. No contact was made but I’m hoping for some in the future. As my circle of friends grows at the farm, my heart swells to include them.
Filed under goats, photography, winslow farm
Whimsical Winslow ~ Levi + Bunny!
Levi is in love!!!!
Filed under bunnies, goats, videos, winslow farm
Farmtastic! ~Snippets of the Week~
I like that Pandy chose this spot to watch Deb.
The girls had their greatest greatest haircuts yet. A little New Wave? Perhaps a bit Tina Turner?
Nothing exciting to report about Levi, except that he’s still adorable. Look at that ear! He still hasn’t graduated out of the cat house…
I haven’t mentioned my turkey friend in FOREVER!!! I was stalking the peacocks this week (photos to come) and he tracked my movements from inside the bird house. I love that little guy so much.
Zoey, here, hitched a ride on my back while I took photos. She purred like a crazy person and head-butted me. Super distracting!
And then she took a well deserved nap on top of a pile of wool. It’s tough work being so cute!
Filed under alpacas, cats, dogs, goats, photography, turkey, winslow farm
Gulliver’s play date
Last week, I noticed blood on Gully’s head. So after I’d fed him this time around, I checked it out:
I actually climbed up on the bench and took the shots standing over him. He was very confused.
I’ve never seen him playing with his friends so I was excited when I practically bumped into this grouping (they moved around a lot).
They were pretty subdued. I was expecting all sorts of head bashing but they were just hanging out, moving around in circles. They kind of seemed to be hugging each other!
But the fresh blood on Gully’s head (above) indicated that I must have missed the real action.
Filed under goats, gulliver, photography, winslow farm
Still the one
I think that Gully’s been feeling a bit left out since Levi came along, so I spent a bunch of extra time with him this week. (Shh, don’t tell him that I visited Levi in the cat house on my way out.) But to be fair, Levi is graduating out into the big boy pen next week and I won’t have the same “nowhere to run” access to him. He celebrated by bleating on the top of his little lungs for extended periods of time while standing on top of the stove. I held him one last time. Well, two last times, since he leapt from my arms on my first try. He’s already getting heavy. What a cutie…
Back to Gully!
I sat down with him and went to pet his head like I always do. He started bobbing and weaving to get away from my hand. This was so unlike him. I finally got close enough to check out the situation and saw that he was bleeding in the horn area. I, of course, got all panicky but it turns out that he’s just been spending his days head butting one of his buddies. I never said he was smart! In lieu of noggin scratches, I stroked his beard. He nodded off comically until his nose touched the bench, then he jerked back up. But he fell asleep!
You’ll always be number one in my book, Gully.
Filed under goats, gulliver, humor, photography, winslow farm
Little Levi
I visited the kid this week, whose been named Levi, and he firmly entrenched himself in my heart after I decided to pick him up. Expecting him to squirm out of my arms, I was surprised when he just went kind of limp. I cradled him and he looked at me for a bit and tried to shove his nose up my nostril. Then he started chewing on my chin. Pure bliss! Levi was trying to nurse! He sat there contentedly nibbling away while gazing into my eyes. I am not rendered speechless very often but barely a squeak emanated from me.
Sure, it’s blurry, but I couldn’t help sharing his failed attempt at climbing up onto this ledge.
Look at those little legs!!! Those tiny knees!!!!
I heavily contemplated walking out of the barn and driving right on home with him. Unlike last time when I was kind of kidding, this week I almost did.
Filed under goats, photography, winslow farm
Words don’t even begin to cover it!
I am not sure that I can even explain how great it was being at the farm this week. I arrived and Deb asked me if I’d met the new addition. I just about fell over when I saw this little guy! He was so freaking CUTE!! All he did was eat hay – seriously. I visited him in the cat house twice. He spent the entire time face down stuffing himself – and try to avoid me petting his ears (unsuccessfully, I’d like to report).
I tried leaving a bunch of times and even got the “where are you?” phone call from Matt, worried that I was stranded somewhere, but I just couldn’t get out the door. He checked my bags when I got home to make sure I didn’t have a stowaway. I didn’t even tell him about my plans to steal the goat! Ah, love.
After I tore myself away from the little man the first time (sooo hard! Did you SEE his tiny horns???), I continued on to the barn and spent time with my friends. I did a little grooming, a bunch of feeding, a lot of petting and spent time antagonizing the pheasant (for reporting’s sake! Usually, he just antagonizes ME!!).
Being around my feathered stalker is like participating in the most violent game of Simon Says ever. When I leave the barn, he walks parallel to me. If I run, he runs. But when I look at him, he freezes. Turn my back? Oh, that’s just “game on” right there (don’t forget you have to tag Simon. This is his favorite part). Swing around to face him? Freeze! Closer and closer he gets until he can safely go in for the attack. When caught, he backs off and starts all over again and the dance continues. He was a bit confused in this video because I turned the tables by following him around. I definitely recommend watching the whole thing though, it’s worth it!
(See? Told you!)
I also brought my Nikon with me. My old rule of “no camera on working days” kind of went right out the window. I even went as far as balancing giant food bowls in one hand and the camera in the other in hopes of capturing everything I could. I’m starting a new trend here on Minding the Minis and will be posting more often. Get ready for Whimsical Wednesdays (where I’ll feature videos. I couldn’t think of a good video alliteration. Visual Vendsdays? Ohhh, vampires…) and Photo Fridays (obvious, but it works!)!!
It was a glorious day on the farm. The weather was even better than last week, there’s a new kid in town (HA!) and I spent time petting munchkins like this:
Can’t beat it!
Filed under bunnies, goats, pheasant, photography, videos, winslow farm
Gulliver fell asleep while I pet him today.
It was awesome.
He also put his head on my lap and later he tucked it into my shoulder. Both these actions were new, too. The way he usually cuddles is by leaning into my hand and resting his forehead on my arm.
But really, it all goes back to that final nod of his head, sending him into a short but happy slumber.
Filed under goats, gulliver, winslow farm
Minding the Minis 