Yesterday was so interesting that we wanted to share with you. It sure is a different world here in little Latah.
Our three goats were supposedly bred back in October, but Ray and I both started to question that when four months have now passed and they don't look very fat. The young buck that we had borrowed was coughing and sneezing and may have been too sick to do his job properly.
So I talked to a woman from the church here who also has goats. They have two young bucks. She suggested the buck rag trick to see if our girls were in the mood for a little action. Ray and I drove out to their farm to rub a rag over the bucks and bring it back for our girls to sniff. In theory, if they can't get enough of that rag, they are probably ready. Well, Dolly wanted nothing to do with the rag, but Sarah and Nova lovingly rubbed their faces on it and their tails went up and they practically drooled with desire.
So Ray and I drove back to the farm to bring back a buck. We dragged, lifted and pushed a protesting teenage goat into a little cage and took him home. When we put him in the goat pasture with our girls, he got terrified and pushed his way right over our fence, electric wire and all. We caught him and lifted and pushed him back into the cage and took him home.
Our new friends suggested that we bring the girls over to their place to see what would happen. So back we went for our fourth trip and brought Sarah back. She was obviously very happy to see the two guys and threw herself at them, but they weren't interested in her. Apparently the time of year affects male goat behaviour, and these guys must be having a rest after their exertions in the fall. We decided to leave her overnight, but nothing apparently happened and we brought her home today. So five trips for nothing.
No, not for nothing. These people are very interesting. They have 30 to 40 emus and they gave us two emu eggs today. Emu eggs are amazing - a dark, rich green with little speckles. They are the equivalent of 12 eggs each, so this will be a pretty big omelet!
Their farm is about the prettiest location imaginable - at the end of a road amid lovely hills, with a natural spring-fed pond. The first child in Eastern Washington was born in that house, which they have completely re-modeled. They have ground heat pumped in (from pipes six feet deep) and this air is a constant 55 F. They adopted two boys from Marshall Islands, whom she home schools.
The woman cracks me up. She is very petite and demure, with a head scarf and long, modest dresses. Guess what her hobby is? Karate and martial arts! We had a great conversation while we were watching to see what the goats were doing.
I tell you. We have met really interesting people out here in the country and I gather they know all about us already. There isn't much new going on, so new people attract attention. Everyone knows we were almost flooded out a month ago. They are so friendly that I'm sure we would have had the whole community here sandbagging if the river had come any closer.
Anyway, just a little glimpse of our life. Actually, the honeymoon has worn off and I'm not sure why we have all these animals if they're not even going to get pregnant!
Okay. Bye for now. Love Fern and Ray.
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