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I just heard a very sad thing. Friends Sarah and Blake, who live near me, just lost one of their dear pet goats. His name was “Spike” and he was truly “Mr. Personality”.
Spike was from a set of triplets born on March 2, 2003. His siblings were “Sam”, a rather shy guy, and “Boppy”, who was also rather shy. Their sire was “Whiskers” who is a most handsome fellow. Their mother, Daphne, a beautiful silver fleeced doe, had a dismaying history of imparting to her young that they should avoid humans. For whatever reason, Daphne’s kids were usually difficult to socialize into the human family. Her kids were always gorgeous with truly lovely fleeces but they were never easy to catch nor were they comfortable being handled. They certainly weren’t mean, but they were most definitely shy. However, that was never really the case with “Spike”.
Spike was a pistol from the moment he was born. He was the runt but he never really knew that about himself. At the end of a long work day, I would head down to the barn to sit among the goat kids and watch them play. Most of them would come over for their individual attention and back scratches, and would try to climb all over me. Spike would be right in there with the rest of them trying to untie my shoes or pulling at the back of my jeans. This tiny little guy would make strafing runs at me, running full tilt, zipping by at close range as if he was daring me to catch him. He always appeared to be laughing and truly enjoying himself. Whenever I couldn’t find him I knew to look closely in the hay feeders which were his favorite napping places since he was the only one small enough to climb inside them. Spike was VERY small - he wasn’t a dwarf or anything like that, but he was quite a bit smaller than the other kids that have been born on my place. This just made him all the more cute and everyone who visited the farm agreed that he was very special. In fact, he was so special that I knew that if no one wanted to buy him I would be THRILLED to keep him!
But then, Sarah and Blake from down the road found themselves looking for some nice wethers to join them on their little farmstead. (sigh) I knew the minute they walked in amongst my goaties that Spike would tug at their heartstrings. I also knew from the moment they picked him up to snuggle him that I would let him go live with them (along with two of his fellow barnmates). It was obvious that they were going to love him as much as I did and I knew they would give him the best of care. Although Sarah and Blake love all three of their goaties, I know that Spike has a very special place in their hearts.
It’s unfortunate, but not all stories end happily. Sometimes accidents and mishaps occur which are totally out of our control. Sometimes life in the goat herd, even a small 3-goat herd, can be rough when you’re the little guy. As in human families, disagreements occur and roughhousing can get out of hand, sometimes resulting in life altering injuries. Such is what happened to Spike. His human family, Sarah and Blake, did everything they could – Spike received veterinary care and attention, but the injury to his leg was such that he would not recover.
Spike’s short journey through life was filled with love and attention. He was the darling of the herd. He made us all laugh and his zest for life endeared him to everyone. According to Sarah, Spike’s last few days were good – he ate his treats and basked in the sun, but his “clock slowly wound down”. He went to sleep one night, snug in his little barn, dreaming of the people who loved him, and I’m sure he knew how much he would be missed. He never woke up. Spike is probably zipping around the Rainbow Bridge right now, kicking up his heels and, as Sarah says of him, “tossing out sass and attitude”.
If you’d like to see a little photo of Spike, check out Sarah’s blog at: http://www.slaphog.com/sarahblog/ see the entry dated March 20 titled “The Best Goat”
Susan
I survived my week in Orlando. I was there on business and had a wonderful time. I ended up with a free 1/2 day so in true fiber fashion, I skipped going here and instead went shopping here!
I wasn’t as adventerous as I normally am - I’m used to getting plopped into a new city with a rental car and map and figuring my way around. This trip I made sure my car had an onboard GPS unit - and it’s worth every penny! However, traffic was totally NOT fun and I was suprised to find many wild, zippy drivers. So I spent some of my free time relaxing with my knitting!
Our natural-colored rovings are done and are being shipped to us this week! Can’t wait because they’re always so nice…
I thought it would be very cool to post a blog entry while sitting at PDX
(Portland airport). I’m headed to Orlando on business (my day job).
I’ve got one free day on Friday and I’m hoping to visit some Florida yarn
shops. Those should be “spring-break, crowd-free” - at least that’s my hope!
Not too bad for an old goat farmer!
Terry
Yesterday was the Spring Fiber Sale at the Abernethy Grange in Oregon City. The weather was absolutely perfect - what a fabulous day!!! Hmmm, let’s see….. beautiful spring day, really nice facilities, and fiber everywhere - what more could a spinner ask for?
Here’s the grange hall…..
And here’s a view when you enter! (note, this is just part of the main floor - there were a bunch of vendors on the lower floor as well as a great lunch area set up by the grange ladies)…
And here’s our booth - Susan is assisting a couple of customers (we forgot to bring those pain-in-the-butt cubes, so our booth looked a bit different today). We had several folks tell us it looked like Christmas!
We had a wonderful day and enjoyed chatting with fellow fiber friends, our great repeat customers and fellow vendors.
Now I’ve got to pack my bags and print out some maps for my business trip to Orlando, FL tomorrow. Yikes!!!
Terry
Whew! Back online!! Thank goodness. A loss of internet is always a big deal to me, but not so much my husband…usually. This time, however, he was upset. After all, how can a guy do any serious “Truck Shopping” without internet access? I was very surprised to hear him snivel about a lack of internet service. He must like it more that he will admit. I bet that’s it. And I’m thinking he surfs more than I realized. You wouldn’t know it by listening to me on the phone - talking him to a website because both Susan and I have left our houses (once again) without a map and we need him to read instructions from a website. I thought Susan would laugh her head off the last time I had to do that. He is a great sport and should get bonus points for helping us out rather than leave us lost in Tacoma.
This poor blog needs some photos, doesn’t it? Saturday we’re off to the Spring Fiber Sale at the Abernethy Grange in Oregon City. This is a great venue - lots of vendors and gorgeous fibers on two floors! Will try to remember the camera. Then on Monday I’m off to Orlando, FL on a business trip. Oh yeah, was going to bring DH and make it a combo business/pleasure trip with a few extra days at Disneyworld - but the travel agent informed me this is one of the busiest weeks down there (something about “national spring break”). YIKES! So we’ll keep this strictly business and take a vacation down there at another “off season” time.
I do, however, have all day Friday to myself - think I’ll go looking for some Florida yarn shops! Ha!
Caution: venting ahead!
I’m typing this at work (shame, shame on me!). Problem is that I can’t get online at home. Why? Because I live out in the toolies and have two choice: dial-up and satellite internet. I’ve had the Wild Blue satellite internet since last Oct and have been quite happy about it. If you have Wild Blue and have not had problems, count your lucky stars! If you’re thinking of signing up to Wild Blue - quick! Turn around and run away right now!! These folks may offer high-speed internet, but no-speed customer service. I can’t troubleshoot the danged dish up on top of my house and the external modem is a black box, too. There’s nothing wrong with my pc - so I’m stuck.
My installer is “too busy” to come over for a service call (read: red flag #1).
I called Wild Blue direct, and they have a third-party contractor who handles these types of calls. But they are absolutely buried in your area at the moment (hey folks, that’s red flag #2!).
It’s going to be at least ONE week, but perhaps TWO before they can get out to my house. I was absolutely flabbergasted! I asked the customer service rep on the phone, “why on earth would I renew my subscription to a business that handles their customers this way?”. All I got was silence, then more of the scripted replies. Ack!
This is just terrible. My husband told me to call Clark Howard! Heh.
Good thing I can check my emails, etc during the week from my place of employment!!
Terry