Born To Multiply
Wow. Yesterday was hot. Hottt. Slammin’. How hot was it, you ask? So hot that it would be inappropriate to make a joke about it.
It’s a little cooler today, thankfully. Yup I am still a winter person, no doubt about that. It’s not that I don’t want any summer at all. It’s just that April is a little early for a heatwave. I suspect that the heat might be the reason for my lack of sleep too. Or at least contributing to it. I love when the air is cold and crisp and I can bury myself under my thick blanket. I like to have the blanket all the way up over my head, only with my mouth uncovered so I can breathe. Like a giant, hibernating bear in a cocoon. That’s how I prefer to sleep. But when the weather gets warm then I have to use my thin blanket, which isn’t even a blanket at all it’s just the covers for my blanket. And it is not the same. You can’t hibernate under thin fabric like that.
But anyway, I do think it’s getting better. I’ll be fine.
So, as I said, yesterday was like totally monster hot, you know? When I got to the playground I couldn’t see the goats. Then Per came walking by. “You can’t find them?” he asked. I said no. “Oh they probably went up” he said, referring to the buildings up the slope. And coincidentally, just then, a guy peeked his head out from up there and shouted “Hey, do you know that there are three goats up here?”. Hah. So I didn’t have to go searching for them.
Yup, there they are. Silly goats. It’s quite funny to see them up there. But it’s a problem too. If they keep wandering off like that then they’re going to end up being put back in the pen. Which is a lot less fun for me. And them. Per threatened Mads with it. “Your freedom is almost over, Mads” he said. I’m not sure Mads understood, though.
It’s odd that they keep going up there. There is a lot less vegetation. There is bare dirt and cement and buildings. Only a few bushes and such. While down the slope there is lots of yummy grass and bushes. But it’s hard to keep a goat in one place. It’s also hard to get a goat to go to the one place where you want it to go. Once they’re up that slope it’s always a struggle to get them down. It helped a couple of days ago when I had an empty cardboard box. They were terrified of it. I was sitting on the slope with them and the cardboard box was further up on the slope. Then the wind took hold of it and it came tumbling down towards us. And the goats just ran as fast as they could. And when I picked up the box they ran away even further. They didn’t come back until I had thrown the box away to a safe distance. Later on, when I was leaving, the goats were up the top of the slope. And I don’t like to leave when they’re up there. Because when I’m not there then there’s all the more chance that they’ll wander off. So I prefer having them down on the field when I leave. Closer to home. So I picked up the box and went to the top of the slope and let the box roll down and that got the goats down fast! Maybe that was a little mean of me. Conspiring with the dangerous cardboard box like that. But it’s for their own good. There’s not much juicy grass in their pen. They’re much better off being allowed to walk around on their own.
How about some more pictures from the sunny day?
Not a cloud to be seen.
Mads almost yawning in the sunshine. Dammit, I always miss the yawn!
And then nodding off, eyes dropping and little snoring sounds coming.
Fregne, through the hole. I like that wall with the holes, it feels like looking through a magic portal into a faery tale world. Although in this case the faery tale world is on both sides of the portal.
Vanilje peeking around the corner. I went to refill the water bucket. Fregne had toppled it over (168 toppled her bucket later on too). When I came back with the water I couldn’t see the goats. For a second I was worried they had gallopped up the slope the moment I had turned my back on them. But no, they had just walked into the shade there, around the corner at the building. A little respite from the sun.
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That is Mads. Or his butt, rather. He has been doing this funny thing lately. Sometimes when I’m scratching his back he’ll take a few steps forward and almost direct himself so I’m scratching his butt. At first I thought it was just a accidental thing, but it really does seem like he’s trying to get me to scratch his butt. And he seems to enjoy it too.
No, I swear. We’re just good friends.
Magnethe reaching for the branches. I bet the goats wish they were giraffes, they’re always stretching their necks for leaves. Or using me as a ladder. I was having fun with Vanilje when I suddenly felt something on my back. It was Magnethe who had walked up to me and then jumped up with her legs on me to reach up to the branches above. It’s good to know that I am good for something!
What a lovely girl.
Two lovely girls in fact.
The sunshine is much easier to handle when I’m sharing it with them. As is the case with everything else, life in general. I don’t know what I would do without them. I would be a lot less happy, that’s for sure.
Jannie just called and asked if I could feed the animals tomorrow. She’s going to Copenhagen. I said yes, of course. It is my pleasure. It is good to know that I am good for something.
Finally, a little video. http://youtube.com/watch?v=ra30nhEb2bk. Vanilje and Magnethe getting scared by a truck. See them running down the slope. And then Vanilje coming up to the camera. It’s funny what goats can be scared of. Trucks. Card board boxes. Meanwhile kids can be terrified of goats. And Plumes can be scared of people. All we have to fear is fear itself. But that’s plenty, I reckon.
PS. Congrats Desiree! Your guestbook bummed out on me again, but allow me to quote the best part: “I hope your second child may be as beautiful as your first”.