I live.

Sorry for the serious lack of posting, everyone. I have been having a series of things pile up here, with family drama, and too many hospital visits. I contracted MRSA two years ago, and it seems to come back once a year at the worst of times. Whilst I am not passing out in showers this year, the petechiae (small blood clots) have returned to my legs to pester and confuse the doctors. If that weren't enough, I fell directly on my neck on asphalt back when I was in college, knocked myself out, memory loss, the whole nine yards. I'd never gotten it looked at as I didn't have insurance then, and since I was planning on going to the doctors, my neck pain decided that it should come too for the holiday season. So with with now-diagnosed bone spurs in my cervical spine, degenerative changes, and a reverse curvature (so far--possible follow up MRIs to come...), sitting on the computer has been far off of my list of things to do. Compounded with the fact that my laptop refuses to hold a charge and the charger is now dead... it makes posting nonexistent.

I seem to be pretty banged up for a 24 year old, but I can still function, I just complain a lot. ;) The animals have all been good, and I believe Odie will be scheduled for the snip-snip time with the vet. He is so good with me and with everyone else, but he has started eating Key for sport. Since I refuse to keep him alone, it will be better for him to be a gelding. A wise horseman once told me, 'A good stallion makes a great gelding.' We have one of our goats pregnant for March I believe, and possibly another if she ever goes into heat!

Plenty of things to keep me busy here, that's for sure. I'm going through physical therapy for my neck, so I'm hoping that once we have this managed again, I can get back to my computer rituals.

I hope everyone has a good holiday, and apologize for being absent for so long. Stay safe!

Happy Holidays!

Survivor Week

Hey all. Working hard to get everything ready here in New Jersey for Hurricane Irene after the earthquake that hit here surprisingly from VA.

If anyone wanted to know, horses know when earthquakes are coming! All three of my boys hauled butt to their lean-to in the middle of a gorgeous afternoon. I rolled my eyes at them and walked in the house and went upstairs, and within moments the second story of my house was shaking side-to-side by inches. I literally thought my house was falling down, considering I can't remember the last time I felt an earthquake! The horses then refused to come out of the lean-to until me and my SO went out to 'rescue' them, and found the electric wire in the fence down.

Bigger problems seem to be rolling in this weekend however with Hurricane Irene. For those of you further south then me I wish you the best of luck! Up here in the north east we aren't often prepared for this kind of stuff and our houses are rated for lesser winds/etc.. Further more, just a week or so ago we had terrible storms that brought more then eight inches of rain in two days(actually I heard nine inches, but I'm rounding down!), and we still aren't dry and are getting pummeled by more thunderstorms BEFORE Irene moves in with torrential rain and flooding. Many properties out here are still 'lake-front homes' as huge, deep puddles have yet to dry up... and we're getting more rain! Our coastal regions are beginning to evacuate in the early hours of Friday morning.

Wish us luck! We still haven't decided if we're going to put the boys in the barn or keep them out, but it'll all depend on the wind speeds, which will depend on what level the hurricane is when it rolls in.

To all those out there on the coast line, stay safe!

Goin' to a GOAT SHOW~!

Alright, I got some pictures from a couple of the shows... thought you guys might find them interesting! They aren't the best because the lighting was pretty poor for a digital camera, but you get the idea.

Bella

Also known as 'Bey-bey', you may remember her from earlier posts. She's all grow-ed up! For reference, here's a cute baby photo:

From Bella

She placed fifth out of the largest class of the show on day 1 (about 11-12 goats), day 2 she didn't place at all, and day 3 she took third! We didn't expect Bella to do that well and were pleasantly surprised. :)

Next up is 'my little buffalo', Brandy!

Bran-Bran!

Being a rock star!

Brandy was awesome! She was the youngest goat we brought (3 months) and if you've ever seen a class of young goats, it's usually just a bunch of kids being drug on their backs because they REFUSE to walk on leashes because they are GOATS damnit. They rear and wiggle and just generally carry on and they are forgiven because they're so damn cute. But Brandy was awesome and came home with two thirds and a second. Someone also told us she's the nicest brown goat she'd seen in a long time! (in the pygmy world, browns are rarer and are often targets of Krazy Kolor breeders and turn out as show rejects). She was the youngest goat in the class of four and did well against older animals, which is hard in the goat world, as the oldest animal in Junior classes usually wins (because they are more developed).

(As a side note, Brandy also participated in the obstacle course with someone who's never walked a goat before and did AWESOME!)

Next up is Bethany, the goat we acquired two shows ago. She placed first, last (ack! Couldn't find someone knowledgeable to show her and I had to show Brandy in the same class), and second. Her mother won Grand Champion Doe at the show as well, so we have high hopes for her and she was very well behaved.

Bethany

Last but not least is Brie, who was rockstar number 2 and is always awesome in the show ring. She doesn't place as well because she's going through a lanky stage where everything is LONG and pygmies are supposed to be cob-ish, but she was so well behaved.

From Goats

And here's her showing down at NC (two firsts for her there!):

From Goats

Our buck took two Junior Reserve Champion ribbons, and our goat Brooke was the only one in her class, so no competition for her :(. It was a good time and the goats were great! It's nothing like a horse show but it's fun, and these little guys are the coolest pet you'll ever have. ;)

Three Day Goat Show

Day one is down! I'll see if I can get some photos up in the coming days. It was only bucks showing tonight and our buck took another Junior Reserve Champion. Woo!