Butterscotch

We brought Butterscotch home exactly one week after Sally came home! As you can see from the pics, the girls get along just fine! Butterscotch is very much a "people goat," and is convinced (rightly so!) that Andrew is her boy! She will follow him around and play chase in the yard with him!

As to be expected for an "older" goat (she only just turned one year, but compared to Sally...), she can be quite headstrong and not respond as well to coming when she's called. So oftentimes, much to her chagrin, I will have her on a leash, while Sally just runs and plays around us like a little puppy!

Butterscotch is very vocal, and will talk to me whenever she sees me in the window, or talks to the boys when they come out...and gets persistent about it if they don't head over to give her some attention right away. The other day she started talking away, so I looked out to see what was going on. Jacob was headed by the pen on his way to the swingset, and wasn't even stopping to say howdy to her! :)

As we suspected, she does assert herself as "queen" sometimes. At first it seemed like a definite "putting Sally in her place," as she would butt Sally off the top of the little house in the pen. Then, it turned into more play, as Sally tries valiantly to butt back! I don't know how their rules work, but I find it quite amusing to see the different positions they end up in for sharing the space!

I had read that goats like routine, and whoever wrote that wasn't kidding! We got ourselves (the goats and I) into a regular "bedtime routine," which cracks me up b/c all of the parenting books encourage you to have the same with your human kids! But at bedtime, I go let them out of the pen to wander around the yard while I change their water buckets, spot clean the stall, and refill hay/minerals/baking soda. It didn't take long for them to discover the willow and alders in the front yard, and Butterscotch is undeterred in getting to them! (Which is sometimes okay, and other times I worry about the dogs in the area. I've told her that until she learns to enjoy the alders in the backyard, she's going to be on the leash)! Then, I let them back in the pen-sometimes leading Butterscotch with some fresh branches (she is getting better, as I used to have to carry her back at times). They had started complaining about being penned up. So, for two evenings I broke off some of the alder branches to put in the stall, with which they settled right in. Well, two evenings creates a rule in a goat's mind, I guess, so now they holler at me if I don't bring the branches right away after I pen them up!

I know this may seem strange, but I find I'm genuinely enjoying these routines and "goat chores." I suppose part of my perspective comes from the fact that after being cooped up with three small children all day, it gives me a respite from the routine, time to be outside by myself, some space, or maybe it's just something innate from becoming more self-sufficient, back-to-our-roots type of independece. Or maybe it's just because Mark takes on the kids' bedtime routine more often...he knows I've had a rough day if I head out early to put the goats to bed! (My husband is such a good man, btw)!

Kindra and Jordan went with me to Anch. the day I picked up Butterscotch. Kindra and I love it when a chance to go to town works out, since we get 4 solid hours of time to talk and catch up on life. Jordan, being a true animal-lover, made a valiant case for tagging along, claiming she could keep Butterscotch calm and happy in the back. She won, and she did exactly what she said. :)