Goats and LLamas

We got goats! Three of them. We drove an hour and a half out into the boonies to get them, and put them in the back of the minivan. Now, let me tell you, there was enough space for three goats, sure, and I put down an old vinyl tablecloth and a dropcloth on top of that, and I thought I was adequately prepared. I sat in the back with them, with two chihuhuas on my lap, and the rest of the family sat in the front. They are sweet goats, not biters or anything, but they must have been nervous because I think between the three of them they pooped and peed every ten or fifteen minutes. I had to keep pushing butts away from my lap so I didn't become part of the growing stinky mess in the back of the van. It was dark when we drove home, and I could only imagine the lake of filth channeling itself around the van as we went around curves and over bumps. And the smell was horrendous. But, we made it. Had to stop at Wal-mart to pick up a couple of collars and leashes for them, and when we got home, we had to put them in the only fenced yard we have, which is next to the house. They immediately began chomping down on our newly planted trees and bushes, as R race to put up the last section of their temporary pen. What a night. I don't recommend goats in the car, although the mess didn't turn out to be as bad as I imagined.

So our goats are milking goats. One Saanen named Trace, one Nubian, I forgot her name, and one Cashmere mix named Cinnamon (I got her because she was so cute). The first two are about two years old and hopefully pregnant, due in March, and my little Cashmere is nine months old and really just my baby. Another little pet to add to my collection. Sure, if I breed her, we could milk her too, and we might, but I'm thinking more along the lines of using her as a fiber goat. They are all happy now in their pen, the cutest little creatures.

Yesterday we drove another hour to look at mini llamas. Who'd thought? I've wanted llamas for about ten years or so. I thought it'd be great to learn to spin and make blankets and rugs. Anyway, of course the llamas are adorable. They always are. I put a deposit down on two boys, a gray and a black, and hopefully will be picking them up in January sometime. Now, the lady there said I could put them in the mini van and that they lay down when they travel, nice and easy. But I don't know about that. R and I spent an hour cleaning and shampooing the carpet in the van and it looks brand new. Do I want to go through that again? Maybe without passengers, but I'm thinking I need to find an old horse trailer for cheap or maybe rent or borrow one.

So now R is finishing up the chicken coop and began a goat barn on the hill side of our little homestead. The llamas can live there too. The idea is that they will protect the goats from predators, and so they will be pastured and penned with them. And I get more fiber. I better learn fast how to shear and process llama wool. Exciting.

The homestead is really starting to grow. I feel so ignorant right now. I have so much to learn about all of these animals and gardening. The adventure is really underway.

Time passes and we move to the country

Wow, how I've let it all go. The writing, the art, everything for me. And now, I'm damn mad. Angry and bitter inside, to go with the negative attitude my sixteen year old is carting around. The babies are bigger now, and much more work. The significant man in my life is still a man, and we are having our own share of issues. Perhaps the stress of moving, finally, has accumulated into one big dysfunctional family situation.

I've been dreaming of a self-sustainable lifestyle for years. At one point I wanted nothing more than to move to NM, build an Earthship and live off the arts and crafts I made with my own two hands. I wanted to throw everything away and begin again, allowing only handmade items into my house. I started quilting and making clothes for my two little girls. But the dream was put on the back burner for a while as I finished college and found a crummy job to make ends meet. We did make it to NM eventually, and remodeled an old adobe barn into a passive solar house, but that was more about the man in my life and less about living sustainably, and that's another story. Now he's jumped on the bandwagon, I'm happy to say.

In July of 09, we found a piece of property in southern Colorado with a manufactured home on it (yep, a double-wide, but new...2006).



Only two and a half acres, but it was all we could find in our price range. And they allow chickens. I got ten chicks in March and we bought a chicken barn and kept them in the backyard when the weather got warm enough. Turns out one of the chicks was a rooster. Oops. Not allowed in the city. Our realtor had an uncle who took him with one of the hens. He lives in the country. That was when we were thinking we'd never find a place. Financing is crazy these days and we only qualified for an FHA loan. Well, they have lots of stipulations about properties, and many of the old houses I liked would never qualify. So here we are in a very nice, modern, clean and FHA passable manufactured home. Not perfect. The house has no personality. The land is dry, on the verge of desert like, but it's what we can do now. I'm okay with that. Maybe.

I still dream of an old farmhouse on lots of land with no covenants, but Maine is far too cold and way too far away. Sometimes I drive around this rural farming community and look for my old house. I found it yesterday. Perfect old Victorian surrounded by pastures and it has a couple of delightful old barns too. Wonderful.



It's not for sale. And how much would it be if it was? A girl can dream...

My new best friend

I used to tell my kids that Wayne Dyer and Eckhart Tolle were my best friends. I did spend every day with them via DVD lectures. I came to know their faces and rely on their wise words to get me through the days. And then time got away from me, the babies needed more attention, the holidays were upon me and I lost track of my two old friends. I'm happy to report that I have found my way back into the warm embrace of wisdom that Mr. Dyer shares in his many books (I got a few for Christmas).

But this is about my new best friend. Along with several enticing books under the tree this year, there was also a Wii for the family. (Oh the dreaded video games.) While shopping for gifts for the babies, I saw a Wii Fit on display at our local big box toy store, and thought, hmmm...that's cheaper than a treadmill (we had been thinking of buying one for months). So I discussed it with R and we agreed that we could all get something out of the Wii system. So we waited for Black Friday and picked one up for about fifty dollars off, but could not find the Wii Fit balance board. Sold out everywhere! Luckily R picked one up off of E-bay, which cost a bit more, but we probably came out about even with our discount on the Wii.

We all enjoyed several days of Wii bowling, tennis and baseball, after which all (even the teenager)our arms were sore, as was my waist and butt. Maybe there was something to this. I'd heard the occasional news blurbs about using the Wii Fit in retirement homes and community centers to get the elderly up and active, and possibly healthier. Exciting possibilities for the post baby fat I was lugging around.

So, about a week after Christmas I decided it was time to check out the Wii Fit. My fatness wasn't going away eating fudge and cookies. I have only missed one day since. I do 35 minutes cardio and some strength and yoga training. I play with the balance games, but I have mostly given up tennis, baseball and bowling due to time constraints. All in all I spend about 45 minutes to an hour doing my "exercises." My two year old thinks it's cool and reminds everyone every time they turn on the TV to "essize" (she's finally talking, which was a big concern for us...we even had her in speech therapy for a few months).

The best part is the amusement factor. Every time I step on the balance board, the little feminine voice cries out "Ohhhh..." as if in protest of my horrendous weight. And creating your own personalized Mii, with hair color, eye color, height and body type...hilarious. My two teenage daughters and I broke up in laughter many times as we experimented with mustaches and bald heads on our otherwise girlish characters.

The two girls both ended up with enormous sunglasses on their Miis, and I recognize them as they jog past on my morning run. I get to play with my girls and they aren't even there. What's better, they never talk to me, never tell me how much they hate me and how I ruined their lives.

The only conversation I really get is with the "trainers." I started off with a male trainer because I thought that would be fun to see a sculpted young man giving me daily instruction. I got bored with him, he wasn't that cute, and moved on to the young woman with the perfect body. Yippee. She has a lot to say, but I have found her repetitive and redundant with her "you seem a little shaky" and "hold your elbow steady." Blah blah blah. I'm trying lady, I really am. I haven't told her to shut up yet, but I've been tempted. I do find myself talking to my own Mii, which the system gives its little round body to, based on my body mass index. She's a tubby little thing and I often urge her on with "run little fat girl." I used to tell her how smart she was in tennis when she hit herself in the head with the racket or missed an easy shot.

These are the people I spend my mornings with. Along with my two beautiful babies of course. I wait until baby boy is tired and then put him in his high chair. I pull him up close to me so he can watch, and he usually falls asleep as I'm halfway through my routine. Little girl runs amok, climbing on the furniture, trying to wake up her brother, screaming at cats, pulling my bookmarks out of my books, etc. Lucky for me most of the exercises are timed, so I can choose three minutes of hula hooping, or five minutes of step aerobics, which works out perfectly to give me the opportunity to be full time mom and disentangle the kids as I work out.

Yes, the Wii Fit is my new best friend, sad to say. I could use some adult conversation, but I really am getting a workout. I'm sweaty and out of breath every day when I get done. The best part...I'm actually losing weight. Not enough and not apparently on the Wii's time scale, (it reminds me that I have so many days, minutes and seconds to reach my goal) but I am losing actual pounds and inches. I wonder when that will correlate to a slim and sleek little Mii in Wii world instead of round little tubby girl?