By 
Phew! It was a hold onto your hat kind of day! Even if it was tied on! The donkeys and the goats found places in the lee of the gusts that were bending some of the evergreen trees dangerously to the east! The wind was whipping across the paddock so the jennies stayed tucked up in the woods out of the northwest wind. The goats used their shelter to hang out in the sunshine.
Funny how sometimes the wind can be so furious … and yet be rushing by in a current high above the ground. For parts of the day we could hear it rushing through the woods to the north of us. I found I stopped what I was doing and turned to cock an ear in that direction … wondering what that sound was… Our back paddock is protected from most winds by hills and woods on either side and the house to the south.
I wish I had clued in to get you a better picture here. I was finishing shovelling up the last load out of the goat house when I noticed Bella run right up to me and then away again. She was in high spirits. I figured the jennies were racing each other around the back paddock and Bella had hoped to squeeze by me to go up the Bully Road. When she came back a second time – stopped – and looked me square in the eye … and then swirled away looking back over her shoulder at me I began to wonder just what was up? I peeked out of ‘Critter Alley’ (where the coop, goat house and donkey barns all meet) to see Darby and Rosie OUT IN THE YARD. What?! I glanced over to see the gate wide open… I have been letting the gate sit closed … but today’s wind was enough to move it. I shouted out, “Darby! Rosie!” at which they both tucked their heads and scooted around to the front out of sight. The little dickens!! When Darby heard me open the door to the feed barn she knew I would be bringing a treat … Bribery gets you everywhere with these girls. Lickety split both of them raced each other to get back into the paddock. Rosie actually bumped me out of the way to get there before Darby. Never had quite that reaction before! They were some stumped when Bella got a treat too! YOU BET SHE DID! I wouldn’t have even noticed they were gone had she not warned me. First time she’s managed to deliberately get me to do something like that. Bravo Bella! Can you see her up in the woods behind the swing set – making sure I the others ‘get back’!
Darby is even trotting back – aiming for that reward in her bowl. Hmmm … I wonder if they’ll get to the point where they think if they get ‘out’ they’ll get a reward for ‘getting back in’? Now that would be a fix!
Notice Darby below – keeping an eye on the goats and their new ‘toy’.
I worked away clearing out the winter’s worth of wood chips and straw bedding from the goats’ room. When I was trimming their hooves yesterday I realized the floor was almost up to the level of the little bed/table I use as a stanchion. They were so good! When they were very little I would have them hop up onto the platform and would put a little grain into the dish at the head end. They see it as a ‘treat stand’. Then I would hold up their little feet and inspect them – usually without having to do any trimming. That ‘practice’ paid off big time in yesterday’s trim. They DID need that one!
When I had put down some new bedding the bag took off with the wind. The goats thought that was amazing and spent a good five minutes chasing it around the paddock!
Here is Rosie trying very hard to convince MayMay to walk on her back. Oh she made me laugh. She stood there … and stood there … and angled herself one way … and another. But somehow May seemed totally preoccupied with scratching her head on the seat belt of the tractor. 😉
Rosie did get a treat when she was the first to notice me readjusting the position of the giant hay bag. She loves the grains that fall out of the bag and get caught underneath. When I lift it up it makes a smorgasbord.
Rose made sure she was the very first in line. Remember, she is out tool keener. Doesn’t matter if it is a tractor, a hand saw, a hammer, or even a nail gun … Rosie has her nose right in the action. So I wasn’t the least bit surprised to find she had tucked herself right in there with me and the tractor to get first dibs.
It is dark now. The wind is still howling away. I’m happy knowing everyone is tucked into someplace safe and warm. Hope you are too!
The Meadow View 
What naughty Donk-a-Lonks🤣. Did you know Boer goats are originally an indigenous South African breed? Boer means farmer. Laura
No I didn’t know that! Ha! I remember you telling/warning me about the Guinea hens – whom I quite LOVED but who would not have survived here. Families up and down our road have Guineas. I always feel a bit badly for them (the Guineas) because they are raised over the winter and early spring and then set loose in the summer. They are treated as totally dispensable crew members. By the fall a new batch is hatched and nursed through the winter to prowl for their one and only summer the next year. Our four would not have even lasted the full summer, poor things. They were too happy to play ‘chicken’ with the traffic on our road!