Goodbye Fred and Ginger, Goodbye 2010

Dropping off Fred and Ginger to their new home seemed a befitting way to end the year on this farm. I was desperately sad to see them go, but it was time to move on.

Fred had worn out his welcome not only with us, but with his mother too. I had successfully separated him from the herd for three days and thought that I should give him a little time with his mama before he hit the road. But she was so done with him and his silly flirting. He chased her around the yard with that low bawling cry, tongue wagging, and blubbering to which she replied with screams interjected by headbutting. Mini Casanova was not deterred. He kept right at it and even included a pee on his own face to try and win her over. Charming. But no dice.

I felt pretty bad for poor little Fred, left with only the chickens for company. I tried giving him extra attention, as he is a sweet boy, but his love smells. Strong. And it's always punctuated with the emergence of his nine inch, pencil-thin manhood with the weird flap of skin at the tip. It's pretty scary. All alone, he cried like a baby for those three days. Seriously, it sounded as if a colicky infant had been abandoned in my backyard.

Though his cries were nothing to Lucy's wailing ever since I brought home Ethel rather than her kids. Both goats are acting weird, as if they don't know each other anymore. Ethel barely recognized me when I picked her up, but did remember how to get to her pen once she was home. She has reverted to her young, untamed, wild ways, refusing pets or snuggled. And she's such a big, fluffy snowball right now I can barely keep my hands off her. Things should get back to normal in a couple days, which I look forward to. The sexcapades and howling around here have left me with nerves of tissue paper.

Regardless, the goat project this past year has gone well. We have milk and more on the way with Ethel pregnant.

In preparation for the new year, I took a look at the projects I had set out to accomplish in 2010.

1. Finish landscaping. Done! Last year I was slipping and sliding trying to get to the animal area, but now we've got all of our retaining walls done and stairs.

2. Use less gas and electricity. Half done. We were definitely able to conserve on electricity by being more conscious about turning off lights and power strips. And we got solar panels, which was pretty darn awesome. As for the gas, our main use is the dryer, stove, and furnace, which is an ancient gravity heater that we were hoping to replace. That won't get done until next month at the earliest. Oh well. We did upgrade one of our windows to double paned, which I think has helped somewhat.

3. Install gray water system. That didn't happen.

4. Four seasons of planting. I think I got three in, though my summer and late fall plantings have been pretty disappointing. Actually, my thumb is feeling quite brown these days. It's something I need to work on.

Today I'm looking backwards, but tomorrow I will look forward and set my 2011 goals. Talk to you in the New Year! Have a happy holiday and be safe.


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