so who’s moving

Since I was 18 years old I have complicated the logistics of my life with animals and today is no different. Big moves aren’t easy to begin with—when you throw in a horse, 3 goats, one sheep, 2 big dogs and a rabbit things get a bit more complicated, to say the least. Joe has hoped for years that I would outgrow my affinity for 4 legged creatures or at least ones that lived with us— not only have I not, our daughter inherited my genes and is well on her way to happily complicating her own life with animals. Instead of house pictures (next time) I’ll introduce you to the whole family:

Landon & Lucy

They go almost everywhere with us, our most normal 4 legged family members.

Elliot the House Rabbit

Elliot joined our family at the start of Covid to help our daughter cope with all of the craziness in our world. He originally just lived in her room— he’s like a cat with a litter box— but moved to the bathroom when we aren’t home and free ranges when we are. We’ve had lots of rabbits over the years but never one that lived in the house —so we had no idea that rabbits can be Very passive aggressive. When Elliot has all of the attention he wants from his human and all of the freedom he wants, he’s perfectly well behaved (other than chewing lamp cords) BUT when things aren’t just right, he lets you know and takes it out on his human’s bed, but only her bed. Luckily Elliot was accepted to college and will be moving into the dorms with Paige in the Fall. I’ll be happy to see him when he comes home for a visit—just not every morning in the kitchen when I’m making coffee.

Prize

Prize is a jumper and was supposed to be going to college with Paige and Elliot but unfortunately she had to be retired from jumping recently due to an injury. A big disappointment but probably for the best—a lot of extra responsibility for a new college student (I know, I had 3 in college) and I’ll be happy to take good care of her. Prize will be at a barn close to our house with an arena and trainer for when she needs a tune up.

Callie the Tennessee Fainting Goat

I rescued Callie when she was very pregnant 5 years ago. She is a Tennessee Fainting Goat and was part of a herd at a local tourist attraction that had not been responsibly taken care of for years. They are really cute and when startled they faint, not a good survival trait and one that unfortunately gets capitalized on by some. For years, this particular establishment had umbrellas guests could open quickly to make them faint—pretty funny but not nice. Most of the older goats got used to the umbrellas so they let them keep having kids, with one father, to keep the tourists entertained—basically an “uncle daddy” situation. We (a group of locals) rehomed over 20 new moms and babies—Joe’s lucky it was only Callie that stayed with us; well, Callie and her 2 kids that showed up a few weeks later:).

Tess & Miles

Cute, right?! They are still cute and total characters. Miles and Tess are both like dogs, they walk on leashes and would be more than happy to live in the house if we would let them. Tess was born with some respiratory issues and is a lot smaller than Miles but the toughest of the bunch. She had 2 horns but knocked one off in a goat spat with a much bigger goat when they were evacuated to another farm during the fires. Here they are now -

Molly

Last but not least, Molly. Right before Miles and Tess were born my mom, Molly, showed up at our house with a tiny day old baby lamb that had been left in the field in front of their house at Sea Ranch when the herd was moved. Not being a farm girl and knowing I couldn’t say no, she headed to our house where we had a nice warm barn…seems easy enough—not! Baby lambs need to be bottle fed every three hours, day and night. Stumbling to the barn in the middle of the night wasn’t going to happen. So “Molly”, the lamb, lived in our kitchen and garage and rode in a dog crate in my car when I needed to be out for longer periods of time— definitely complicated my/our daily life. After a month or so she moved to the barn where she got to spend her days with baby Miles and Tess. She grew up to be a very large girl. Molly’s a hair sheep so instead of having to be sheered she sheds her hair in big clumps and for several months each year she sports a really nice mohawk with a ridge down her back that doesn’t come off as easily; quite the look. Maybe it’s because I spent so much time with her when she was a baby but I definitely have a soft spot for her, something the rest of my family doesn’t quite understand. Molly thinks she’s a goat— happier to be with her little goat herd than with her own kind. They were in a pasture with other sheep for a while and she was clearly above them . Sheep are not the sharpest tools in the shed, not that goats are brilliant, but definitely smarter. I guess a little of their fainting goat brains rubbed off on her.

Our property does have the barn but it’s not set up for animals and Joe was pretty adamant that they wouldn’t be living at our place. There is a very sweet B and B farm that my Mom and I stayed at this last year very close to our house that kindly agreed to let me board them there. A beautiful spot with lots of grass, a little barn and a very charming menagerie of other farm animals. Fortunately for Joe and our marriage, a good horse friend will be transporting the farm crew up to Washington ten days after we move and settle a bit. Will let you know how it all goes….