I missed my usual Sunday update. Because something quite surprising happened…

The week started fairly normally. Went to see the goats on Monday and Tuesday. They were let out on grass and it was lovely to see the kids running around and having fun. It was less nice to see Bob tied down after most of his life spent without a collar. Freedom ain’t what it used to be. We got a brief hailstorm too. The goats didn’t like that much. Neither did I.

I staid home on Wednesday. Normally I would then go again on Thursday. But because of scheduling issues (blabla) I staid home then too. Thursday evening I got a call from Bodil. News from the playground. Mia had a baby.

What?! I know. If you think you’re surprised… I was pretty shocked. As were we all. That came completely out of the blue.

Actually, the thought had crossed my mind. I thought her teats were a little more pronounced maybe. I even, on Tuesday, put my hand on her belly to feel if there was something there. But I didn’t REALLY feel. Because it seemed preposterous. I just laughed it off. But yup. She gave birth on Wednesday. It’s pretty crazy. She’s too young to have a baby, no doubt. Her body isn’t quite ready for it. Her udder isn’t very big at all. And she’s not producing a lot of milk. Other than that she is doing well, though. And the baby is coming along. Sigrid told me that she had been very worried about him. It’s a him, yes. When I got to see him on Friday he spent most of the time lying down. Resting. But he did get up for a little, and even went outside with momma too. And he was eagerly trying to drink from her. On Saturday and Sunday I went to check up on them. Good thing I have my own key now. And the baby seemed to be getting stronger and stronger. On Sunday he was up a lot. Jumping around like a good goat baby. That was a relief to see. He’s still small. Skinny. Not sure on his feet. But he’s a fighter. And he still spends a lot of time trying to drink from Mia. At least he’s getting something. And he started nibbling on my pants too, so maybe he’ll be going for solid food soon. I didn’t go see them today, for more scheduling issues, but hopefully he’ll still be doing well when I see them tomorrow. We have all been very concerned of course. Because Mia really is too young for it. But she’s doing a great job. Very attentive and concerned. She made worried noises when people came in. But when it was just me, she calmed down. Cleaning and fussing over the baby. He’s a really beautiful boy. He’s black all over except for his head and a few small spots. So pretty. He looks like a mini-Bob! But Bob can’t have kids. Preben is the father. And also Mia’s father. That’s obviously not ideal. But it not a disaster. As long as it’s not something that’s allowed to go on unchecked. But so far so good.

He was born on Wednesday. Sigrid told me that some kids had called for her, saying that there was a birth. And she had said that that couldn’t be right, that was a month ago. But it was Mia. She was outside in the pen. Good thing it happened during work hours so the staff could help out afterwards. I imagine it must have been a shock for Mia too! But it’s so sweet to watch her with the baby. She’s a natural.

Meanwhile Mia’s brother and sister are doing great. Jolly big and fun. Fingers crossed everything will keep going well for everyone.

Now it’s late and I’m late. On with a load of pictures!

The boy looks a lot more like Bob than like Preben. Funny how that worked out!

Medium and Large saying hello to their… cousin?

And Mio saying hello. She’s a grandma now!

And videos. First a quick yawn from Mia. I do love the goat yawns.

And the babylog from Friday. My first day with the little boy.

And babylog from the weekend. The baby livelier and fun.

Also, a couple of goatlogs from before the baby arrival. Monday: youtube.com/watch?v=Pm-3GFcHRds. And Tuesday, with the hail: youtube.com/watch?v=Pm-3GFcHRds. As I said, the boy was born on Wednesday. Look at that video from Tuesday. Can you believe Mia was a day away from giving birth? Crazy.

And we’ll just finish off with a picture of Bob in the hailstorm.

Aw Bob.

Fingers crossed that this week will be good. I have an eye doctor appointment tomorrow and then hopefully good goat times with the babies and the babies’ babies.

I have been having fun teaching the new goat babies to jump up on my back this week. A new generation of goat tricks. Medium picked it up quite fast. Of course a raisin here and there always helps. And the next time I went to see the goats Large got the hang of it too. It’s always a lot of fun having goat babies jumping around on you. I even had them both standing on my back at the same time, briefly.

Mia, on the other hand, is too big for it now. Without my winter coat it hurts now because she’s so heavy and her hooves so sharp. I would probably still let her do it if it wasn’t for the fact that she can’t get her balance there anymore. So she falls down. I don’t want her to get hurt. I can tell she knows it’s not working as well either, she’s not so keen on trying it anymore. She did sneak in a couple of goes on Thursday, though. When Large had been on my back and jumped down. I stayed leaned over because I thought Medium was next to us on the bench. Turns out it was Mia instead and she jumped up. Much heavier than Medium! I think seeing the babies jump up on my back so much must have made her want to do it again. She’s still my special, little girl. Even if she’s really big now.

The playhouse roof was painted white. They had to take the covering off it. I’m not sure what it was made of but the goats were eating it. So it had to go. Instead the roof was painted white, to protect it from the rain. I only wished we could have brought in some American painters. I know they do a swell job. Without the covering and with the wooden board removed from the roof it was much slipperier. Making for some fun scenes of baby goats trying to keep their balance. They never give up, though.

We have had some rain, but Monday was gorgeous with lots of sunshine and probably 20C or thereabouts. The first time I dropped my jacket althogether for just a T-shirt. I hope we’ll get a good, warm summer this year. For now I’m just glad the freezing is gone. There’s still a little wool left in Bob’s fur, but most of it is gone now. I love his beautiful, black colour. He’s like a heating pad in the sunshine.

So, onwards with pictures.

Bob trying to climb the ladder. Per and the kids were cutting down branches, and of course the goats love branches.

Large and Medium nesting in the playhouse.

I can still hold them both at the same time, just.

I love those ears on Medium.

Medium getting up on my back.

Mia keeping her tongue straight.

Mio up on the bench with her babies. I like when she goes up there. Doesn’t happen often, but it looks cute.

And a goatlog from Monday. Painted roof and water buckets and goat babies learning to climb me. Good times.

And that’s all for now.

It’s been a quiet week. Nothing interesting going on really. What else is new? The weather has been quite decent. Next week we might get upwards of 20C. Now that would be something. I am looking forward to spending more times with lazy goats in the sunshine.

Had fun with the goats this week too, of course. It was great seeing the babies play around with the new house. Once they figured out how to jump up on the roof, well it was just lovely to watch. Glad they got something new to play with. And on Thursday they spent some time running around outside the pen. I’m not sure if they’d been let out before, but it was the first time I got to see it at least. I love the way they sprint around. Some of the kids have been calling them Frederik and Frederikke, but Sigrid told me they haven’t picked names yet. They will probably do the same thing they did with Mia. Picking three suggestions from a hat and then voting for those three. Hopefully it won’t be too long before they have names.

But let’s just go to the photos now.

Medium and Large on top of the world. Or the house at least. While Mio keeps an eye on things.

Goats in flight! Medium jumping off the playhouse.

A mouthful of hay for Bob.

Relaxing with Bob. Love when he puts his white socks over my legs.

Always together.

Is that a camera or a raisin you got there? Oh a camera… nevermind then.

Big auntie Kamel.

Medium and Large relaxing again. I like the way Large’s legs are sprawled out like that.

Just taking a nap with Mia as a pillow!

Mama Mio.

And videos.

The first one is the goat kids playing on the rooftop. Too much fun. Lookit them go. Large was the first one to make it up there. Medium quickly followed after a couple of failed attempts.

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And goatlog from Monday and Tuesday. Crazy times with the goats. The older goats have learned a trick or two from Medium. Both Bob and Kamel started mounting each other, mimicking the humping. It’s a dominance thing of course. But it’s pretty fun to watch. Especially big Kamel. She’s usually too lazy to get all worked up like that. Bob was chasing Medium around the pen too. It always amuses me when gets up to full speed and races around. Doesn’t happen very often. He’s like a little race horse.

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And goatlog from Thursday. Dennis put the goat kids outside. It might have been their first trip outside the pen, I’m not sure. But it was fun watching them run around and explore anyway. It’s a big, wide world out there.

And that’s all for this week. See you when the sun shines.

A nice week. Decent weather and the goat babies ever funner. I have left all my winter clothes behind now. Except the snow pants. I like the pockets. So I’m hanging on to them until the temperatures go up another notch. But I feel so much lighter without all the wool. And my back feels better when I’m not wearing my winter coat. I don’t know what it is about it, maybe it gives me bad posture. But my back aches a lot less in my lighter jacket.

On the goat front there has, as previously stated, been fun with the babies. They are so outgoing and delightful. It seems Medium has outgrown his shyness. He’s the one who is happiest to climb around on people and nibble at everything now. And he’s taking on all the bigger goats, nudging heads with them. He went on for 10 minutes with Bob, it was quite the sight. Not backing down unless he was forcefully pushed back. He’s a little troublemaker he is! They are both adorably cute.

And the goats got a new house! A little playhouse. I helped lift it into the pen. It was fun seeing the goats check it out. Hopefully they will have some fun with it. Maybe I can climb inside to take cover if it starts raining.. although, I’ll probably have to lose a little more weight first. Ahem. Working out in the warmer weather is wonderful. Www dot wonderful dot com. I can’t wait for summer to come. But it’s pretty good already. Feels like spring.

Now on with the pictures. There are some shots I really like this time. Fancy that.

Medium looking funny!

Mia found herself a nice spot to sit there.

She’s almost too big to jump on my back now, but she still tries whenever there’s a chance.

And there she is digging in the wheelbarrow, Mia. Once the big goats had emptied out most of the hay in there the babies jumped up and decided to sit in it. Adorable. You can see that in one of the videos below.

Mama Mio and the babies.

The babies melt together.

I think they’re supposed to eat from the bottom of the hayholder, but Mia decided to get up on the bench so she could eat from the top.

Large in charge.

Medium.. is not tedium. Mhm.

Mia is ready to move into the new house.

And videos.

Goatlog from Monday and Tuesday. Lots of cute stuff with the babies. Medium jumping on my back and nudging heads with the big goats.I can’t remember seeing a kid so eager to duel with the big boys before. I had to cut some of his duel with Bob because it just went on for too long.

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And Thursday. Medium still trying to have a go at Bob. And the new playhouse for the goats. They went to the far side of the pen and kept a suspicious watch while the house was set up. And then they slowly came over to investigate. The babies came over first, and they probably would have gone inside if it hadn’t been for the all the commotion the human kids were making. But eventually Mia was the first one to go inside. And Bob followed soon enough, if for nothing else than to get Mia to get out again. Always has to show who is the boss! I’m glad the goats have something new to interact with. Hopefully they will like it. There’s a wooden board on one side of the slanty roof so they should be able to jump up and stand there too, with a little luck. We’ll see if they dare.

And that’s all for this time. New times ahead.

Spring has sprung back, kindly. The weather has warmed up considerably. It hasn’t been constant sunshine. But the rising temperatures makes me happy. Good exercise and good goat times. It’s really nice to be able to leave the sweater and scarf at home. No more chemical warmers either. Just sunshine in my pocket. And what more could you really ask for?

Not much. And not much has happened. Well, some stuff not for public consumption. But I’m trying to deal with it.

Dad made pancakes for me yesterday. That’s the stuff. I’ll fly away on a flying pancake I will. Just watch me go. Just you wait and see.

Let’s go on with the darling goats. They are the stars of the show, anyway.

Large in profile.

Holding Large.

Holding Medium.

Finger lickin’ good! Medium takes a bite.

Sweet one of Mia.

The two-headed boy.

Almost looks like Medium is envying Mio’s beard. Probably just the branch she’s gnawing on. There’s a fun bit in the video below where Medium is trying to get at it.

I love this picture. Look at Medium’s ear! It’s nuts I tellsya.

They are so sweet together.

Happy family.

And video. Only one this time, but it’s a long one. Twenty minutes of two lovely, sunny days. Lots of sweet and funny scenes with the two babies and the rest of the gang.

That’s all. Now I’m starting up the pancake and heading off into the horizon.