Cookie and I have been having an ongoing battle. She wants to take her kids to pasture, and I tell her no. It’s just too much pasture and the grass is too tall. The other day, I missed the goats going out to pasture, and, sure enough, her kids were not in the barnyard. I took off after them and found her little black and white boy (Biscuit) at the edge of the ditch. He must have stumbled down and not been able to figure out how to get back up. I carried him back to pasture and hurried out to look for his brother (Butter).
Biscuit
I looked high. I looked low. I looked all over the back hill. I could not find him anywhere. I did, however, see lots of other cool stuff. (By the way, all images are a recreation. I don’t carry a camera and rarely a phone when I’m playing hide and goat seek.)
Most of the time I was on the back hill, I was tripping over Caroline. Sometimes, I have a hard time getting her to go back with her maa so I can do my farmer stuff.
Caroline by Annie
After two and a half hours in the hot sun, I gave up. I didn’t know what else to do. I hiked back to the barnyard with a blister on my heel because I just went after them and didn’t change shoes. When I got to the barn, I immediately noticed Cookie’s second boy. I think the great goat god must have returned him because I know he wasn’t there when I left.
Butter
Anyhow. I was just grateful they were all back together. Things were going well. Cookie even took Butter out to pasture Saturday morning and brought him back home. That evening everyone went out to pasture, and I checked to make sure all the kids were still in the barn. Yep. All the new little ones were sleeping happily.
I puttered around in the barnyard–feeding chickens, getting Maggie back out of the bean field, giving my old ladies some grain. Then I noticed a handful of goats were in the barnyard. I saw Pistol feeding her kids and decided I’d milk my four girls quickly. Fifteen minutes. That’s what it took. Then I checked kids again. Cookie’s boys were gone. I was not happy. I immediately went out to pasture to try and catch up to her before they got tired. They weren’t with her. I asked her where her kids were, and she did call to them a couple of times, but she also went to the barn.
Cookie
I looked all over in the barnyard. I went back to pasture. I didn’t think they could have gotten too far in just fifteen minutes. I focused on the first hill going out of the barnyard. Once those kids fall asleep, you’re just out of luck. They won’t answer anyone but their mom (except Caroline). They sleep. They stay still.
It finally got too dark for me to keep searching. I kind of hoped they had just been really hidden in the barnyard, and I’d come out to find them with their mom in the morning. No such luck. They were still missing. I immediately started searching all along the front hill and down into the bottom. I didn’t find them, but I did notice a red-winged blackbird that kept acting really weird. Usually they just sit there and sing, but this one was circling me and yelling.
I went back to the barnyard and encouraged the goats to come out so that Cookie could call to them. I kept searching. Finally, the goats were headed back to the barnyard. Cookie did try calling when we were just approaching that first hill. Nothing. I would think I heard a kid, but the wind was so strong I couldn’t really tell.
I was getting desperate. The red-winged blackbird was still going crazy every time I came close to the bottom.
Finally, when I was on top of the hill, he was crying loudly and circling. When I looked to the ground, I thought I saw a flash of white. I focused my eyes and went straight to where it was. Cookie’s boys! They were hot and skinny, but they were standing there. I grabbed them and cried and thanked the blackbird. It was a horrible sight I’m sure.
Since this is a recreation, the kids will be played by the letter X.
I brought them back up to the barnyard. They drank and drank and drank.
I have threatened Cookie if she tries to take them to pasture until they get bigger.
She never did find me the first time. Tee hee.
Thanks to a red-winged blackbird the final score is Farmer Teresa 3/Goats 1.
By the way, the last week has been so busy, I think I have at least another week’s worth of posts from it, so bear with me if I have a weird time delay and get things out of sequence.
If you want to join me for Friday’s Hunt, I have next week’s items listed at the top of my side bar.
