And Rachel got hit by a herd of goats...

Every winter, our neighbor goes down south, and every time me and Sarah, partner up  and do her animal chores for her.  Of the animals she has, are goats. 

This was taken last spring.  The goats are much wider like a barrel right now.

They are put out in their pen morning and brought into the barn at night.  And they usually,knock on wood, go where they're supposed to. 

And then....
All chaos broke loose.
All because...of one...little....black....dog.

At the time, it seemed like a great idea.  I mean, why not?  Why not bring Skeeter and Lucy along with me while I do chores?  They can search around in the barn for varmints, mess with the cats and run off some energy.  Who knew what was going to happen.  It didn't enter my mind that maybe barking dogs, especially a certain little black one, would spook the goats.  Or that a dog that had never seen goats in its life would chase them.  Nor did I think that I could be so easily knocked down by a bunch of goats. 

So... this is how it went down. 

I opened the stall door in the barn where the goats were to let them out to the north side of the barn. We started out fine when.. *cue barking dog*.  Spooked, goats run to the south side of the barn towards the open entrance.  I didn't want them to get out that way because they can't get to their pen that way, and herding them back into the barn would've been a back breaker.  So I go dashing off to try to get in front of them to block them off.  Turns out, those goats are sturdier than I thought.  I can't remember how I ended up in the midst of the goats, but I soon realized that goats are sturdier than you think not to mention they're like puffer fish right now.  Knocked down to my knees, I'm scrambling to get back up before I'm fully trampled.  Got out of the mob, and blocked the doorway. 

Whew!

Now to get them to go the other way.  Turns out, Lucy is blocking that way.  Goats won't budge that way and are trying to escape.  Thankfully, Lucy gets bored and goes back to exploring.    With her out of the way, the goats go down their normal route and get out into their pen. 

So chores were a bit more exhilarating than normal.  And thats when I noticed that the cats were clawing up the rafters of the barn.  I guess they were none too pleased with Skeeter and Lucy's visit either.   

Lessons learned:
1. You can't just knock a goat the way you want it to go.  They're like cement walls.
2. Goats don't like dogs, same goes for particular dogs such as mine.
3. Don't bring the dogs while doing chores.

Sillies

Meltdownish

There's water, but at the same time its frozen back over.  So I guess its keeping the water somewhat temporary. 


Water across the road



All icey in front of the barn

Flooded field

 

I went to do chores for our neighbor and when I got there it smelled like smoke.  So I walked around a bit, and I found the problem.  Apparently, when the rain leaked through the roof, an extension cord to a water heater got wet.(this extension cord was questionable to begin with mind you.)  It was smoking and buzzing at where the water heater connected.  Guess I won't be using that cord anymore. 

Whelp, thats all I got. 

Ice Ice Baby

I know I'm a little late getting this up seeing how everything has melted and is flooding everywhere.  But, I figured I might as well put it up. 

Flooding pics hopefully to be coming soon!

Little Screechy Dog

This is Lucy.

Lucy is a dachshund mix.  You can tell that hound part whenever she's barking at something; its real low and loud.  She whimpers, yelps and makes all the other sounds that dogs make. 

However, there is one sound that she makes that lets you know that she's chasing something.  Its sounds like a screaming banshee pretty much.  Just this high pitch screeeecch.  

This is Moonbeam, who is my 10 year old cat.  Not many know that we have an inside cat.  She's a bit shy, usually spends the day in the drop ceiling, and making her apperance at night when its safe(kids are in bed) 

Well, usually its safe.  Sometimes she meets Skeeter and Lucy and then the three of them are scrambling with me tripping over my own feet trying to catch the dogs. (You wouldn't think that they'd be fast on their little legs, but whew boy!)  And that's when the screeching sound is usually produced by Lucy.(unfortunately, because the kids are sleeping)

Oh well.  I guess I'll always be able to find her when she's on the trail of something.

Things that go bump in the night.

Sam and Dad left on Sunday to go to an auction on Monday.  They went early so they could look at things before hand.  Therefore, the older men of the house were gone. 

So...
 Nighttime came.
 And with it came noises. Noises that usually don't bother you, but since you're in the house by yourself you get to thinking.  (The little kids go to bed at 8 so us older people usually scatter to the kitchen or our separate bedrooms.)
You get to thinking that maybe...  theres more to that noise. 
That something made that noise. 
You imagine images like this:



What I meant to say is, you WISH this was the image you were thinking of. 


 

Needless to say, I wasn't suffering this problem.  I go out in the dark by myself all the time, sleep in the dark, whatever.  Usually have the mind set that since I'm wearing my rubber boots, I'll just kick whatever it is to the next county.;)

However...
Mom was a bit nervous.  There were these periodic bumps outside. (I believe it was chunks of ice falling off the roof of the house.  That's my theory anyways.)  I was downstairs spouting out inspiration onto paper when she comes running down.  It kinda reminded me of this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHsZFxnG6g0&feature=player_detailpage
(sorry, I don't know how to get it to show up here.)
Anyways, here's some vital information you'll want to take into account if you ever stumble into this situation. 
1. Stay calm.  Two peoples imaginations running wild isn't good.
2. Don't scare the person though its an opportune time to do so.  You'll won't be able to sleep all night because they'll keep you up to sit with them or they'll be in your bed.
3. Reason the situation out.  Come up with a theory.  Robbers, monsters scary things, ect  shouldn't be words coming out of your mouth.  (Go back to #2)
4.  Don't over think your theory.  Don't think at ALL.  Just go to bed and hide under the covers if you must.  Some prefer under the bed. 

Needless to say, we are all looking forward to Dad coming home.  Not that we aren't with Sam as well, but I think Dad is more effective than he is. 

Skeeter, Lucy and me didn't lose our sleep over the noise. :)