Well, I’ve survived another week at work! Monday and Tuesday brought computer problems, but all worked out eventually. It’s nice to actually be able to DO SOMETHING, rather than sit there and watch other people work. I’ve been told that I’m doing a great job. I still ask (what feels to me like) a lot of questions, but they say that I’m not asking a lot and the ones that I’m asking are good ones. That feels good.

I haven’t been spending as much time with the goats as I’d like – only about 10-20 minutes a day. Ray’s behavior is suffering for it, too. He has taken to biting and rather hard, from what I’ve heard. I plan on going out there this weekend and really giving them lots of attention.

The pigs are getting big. They too are bitey; so I avoid going into their pen, as much as possible. I am certain that if one stands still long enough, they will devour you.

I might do some photography this weekend. I bought an adapter so that I can use my old lenses on my new camera. I’ve only briefly tested it and for the most part it seems to work pretty well.

I’ve been maintaining my sleep hygiene; up at 6am every day (with the exception of last Saturday). I had a bad night last night, so I was draggin’ all day today. And here it’s not even 9pm and I’m already wanting to head to bed! This naturally-going-to-bed-early thing is something that I’ve never been able to accomplish. It’s completely foreign, but quite welcomed, since I’m getting up so early.  Hopefully it will continue!

Star shots from last night. I was up until 2:30 this morning, dealing with these pictures. The alarm went off at 6 and I said “Yeah, right!” Slept in ’til 7:30. I don’t think my attempt at good sleep hygiene was a total failure… After all, I didn’t sleep until 10 or 12!

Last night, silly me, I didn’t realize that it was a full moon, until I was already out there. I let the camera do its thing and when I went back out again, the sky was completely overcast. Full moon + cloud cover does not make for the best star photos!

I shot a total of 150, 30-second frames. These were then stacked in the startrails program.

Image #1 is only the first 38 frames. No color changes have been made. To me it looks like daytime!

Image #2 utilizes all 150 frames. But, the cloud cover was so bothersome, I PhotoShopped the heck out of it. I actually rather like this image…

Well, my first week at my new job is finished. I received my new computer and got all the essential programs configured. Monday is moving day at the office and I will get my own desk! Yay, enough space to stretch out!

Being that it is Friday, I am taking a little leeway on my sleep situation. I still plan to get up at 6am tomorrow, but I think I can stay up a little later tonight. Sleep deprivation won’t be so bad on a weekend. I’m taking this 0pportunity to make another star photo. Hopefully I will have it all together and posted here tomorrow. The camera has been out there shooting for over an hour now; and I’d really like for it to go for at least another hour.

I’m mad at my laptop, right now. It has decided to divorce itself from my camera, for some unknown reason. I reinstalled the software and it still doesn’t recognize it. So, I had to put the software on sweetie’s computer. I hope I have better luck! I’ll just upload the photos to his computer and then transfer them all to the network. At that point, I should be able to access them from my laptop. I hope. Fingers crossed!

I plan on getting some chores done and doing school this weekend. Yes, I’m feeling rather ambitious…

My new job is going quite well. I started yesterday and it has been fun and challenging.

I am working in the complaints department for a national bank chain and I process incoming correspondence. Basically, it’s triaging the notes and sending them to the proper departments, so they can be handled properly.

There is a lot more intricacy than I had expected and it really involves doing a lot of research (which I love!) However, I’ve found myself over-thinking some things and this hangs me up and makes me indecisive. So, I’m trying to get over that.

I fully expect to be set free and left on my own to process these things on Friday! Of course, I will have support in the form of the people with whom I will share a cubicle…

I’m working through a temp agency for now, but it’s a long-term position. Hopefully, at the end of the term, they will decide to keep me; because I really do enjoy what I’m doing.

Adjusting to working again, after being a slug for the last year and a half (almost) has also been a challenge. I’m up at 6am to be to work by 8 (there’s a 45min-1hr commute) and it is just not natural for me to be up that early!

I’ve decided that I am going to, once again, try to have good sleep hygiene. No matter what time I go to bed, I’m getting up at 6am; every single day – seven days a week! Hopefully that will help curb some of my insomnia.

Other than the sleep thing, I have no complaints at all about work. I am enjoying every minute of it!

We went to the Deschutes County Fair last night and my back has decided that I need to be punished. I haven’t had this much sciatic nerve pain, since I had my surgery! I’m hoping that with rest (and ibuprofen) it will calm down. I’m starting a new job on Monday and I don’t need to go in there broken!

But, the trip to the fair yielded a few good things, too! I got a fabulous new purse that I love immensely. And in said purse, I can even carry my camera! With this camera I can take fun pictures, like these:

We also went to see the goats. The only goats that had their horns were the Angoras (who were also in full coat). Incidentally, many of the sheep were also in full coat.

My sweetie did not like the hornless goats and he was upset that the Angoras were still in their coats. It’s been quite warm here lately, and he just knew that they were going to die from heat stress. I tried to reassure him by letting him know that their coats also insulate them from the heat. But, I don’t know if he was listening.

He also didn’t like the fact that none of the goats had their “whiskers” as he says. Their little beards… I explained to him that not all goats have them, and that females (which most of these were) are often shaved so they look more feminine. He didn’t accept that explanation and he determined to be upset about their hairlessness.

Some of the goats also managed to convince us that they were starving. They were eating their dirty bedding. It was not a pleasant thing to see, to be sure. We found some hay and gave them a little bit. We probably could have got in trouble for doing that, but we couldn’t help ourselves.

Later, we spoke to one of the older 4-H girls and she told us that most of the goats are on very strict diets and they only get fed twice a day. Ooops! Well, no one said anything to me when I carried a small flake of hay to them (and there were lots of people who seemed to be authorities around). So, maybe the goats we fed weren’t on the strict diet..? I hope…

I thought they were all very cute. There were a few mamas there with their kids, too! Talk about adorable! There was one kid that was tri-colored and had large patches of color that had polka dots inside the patches! I was instantly smitten and briefly wondered if anyone would notice if I stuck that adorable little creature under my shirt…

I didn’t take any photos of the goats, because my hunny wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible. We left, with him shaking his head in disapproval.

All-in-all, it was a fun evening out, which we don’t do very often. So, it was like we were on a fun date!

I was up way too late last night, photographing the night sky and then stacking the images into this:

It was totally worth losing a few hours of sleep…

Well, I did school today; so not much goat or camera time…

I did, however, go out to visit a few times (sans camera) and fed them some carrots, parsley and celery. They LOVE celery!

I found an electric clipper that I think might work on their fleece! It’s sold on the Walmart website; and it’s an Andis brand. It sells for about $65, but it will take ALL of their Ultraedge and Ceramicedge blades! The blades it comes with will not work, I’m sure. But, I can get some replacement blades, for a reasonable price, that should work just fine! I think I will order them on Wednesday. This will make quick work of Frank’s felted fleece. (Yes, I like alliterations.)

Okay, it’s quite late and I have a job interview in the morning; so I best get to bed!

I just noticed that it has been almost a week since my last post! I apologize for such a delay!

Well, the time finally came for the goats to permanently move out of the pig pen. The pigs are getting too big and too aggressive. They’re starting to bite and we are concerned that they will injure one of the goats. Not only that, but one of the pigs was walking with a limp, the other day. We think she may have been seriously butted by one of the boys. She’s fine now, but we don’t want one of the girls (the pigs are all female) to get seriously injured.

We tried just letting the goats have run of the big yard; that lasted all of a few days. But they really loved it, while it lasted! We were having an issue with them coming onto the porch. They could get over or around any barrier that we tried. They even figured out how to out-maneuver the hotwire! Knowing that they don’t like to be wet, I decided to try a little experiment. As soon as I heard hooves on the porch, I would open the door and squirt him (it was always Ray) with the squirt bottle that we use on the cats. It worked! The goats don’t like to be squirted with water! It really wasn’t much of a deterrent; but it got him off the porch quickly! I didn’t have to fight with pulling or pushing him down the steps; it was so nice!

Unfortunately, the goats were being mean to Thumper. So, for Thumper’s safety, we dismantled the mobile pen and used some of the panels to cordon off a large section of the big yard, exclusively for them. This way, Thumper can go outside and not have to live in fear of the horn-ed ones.

Though, it’s his own fault, really… They had an uneasy truce going; but Thumper decided that he needed go off chasing Frank, barking at him. Well, naturally, this turned him into a predator, in their eyes; and he was no longer safe. They actually got to where they’d tag-team Thumper. He’d go around a bush in one direction, one goat would follow him and the other goat would go around the bush in the opposite direction. This put Thumper right between them, to get hit from two sides. Not fun! And eventually, he refused to go off the porch, at all. The poor thing had to be put on a leash and taken out front, to relieve himself!

So, now everyone has their own slice of the yard and it’s good! We put a gate between two of the panels, so I can go in and out easily. This is a good thing, because I cut the heck out of both hands, trying to handle the panel and the marauding goats! Those panels have some sharp edges! But now I can go in and out to visit, feed, pet, love, trim and generally hang out. It’s nice!

One of our friends built another three-sided shelter for them, today. The one in the pig pen has posts that are sunk in the ground, so it can’t be moved. But that’s okay, the pigs need shelter, too. This second shelter is smaller than the first, but it’s big enough for both boys to go in and lay down. They can stand and turn around in there, but not get up on hind legs (much) while inside. With this shelter, the back is lower to the ground, so they are able to jump up on it. It was great fun watching them play King of the Castle, today!

I used my new dagging shears and cut a bunch of fur off of Frank today. He hasn’t been handled much, recently, so he was a little reluctant to let me do it for very long; but I persisted. We had several short sessions and I was able to get one side almost completely trimmed. On the other side, I was able to shorten the length of the fleece and trim the loose areas around the edges. Maybe I can get some pictures (and more trimming) tomorrow.

We’ve been discussing getting a guard animal to live with the boys. The conversation was prompted by the offer of three miniature donkeys. I vetoed the idea of the donkeys, but it got me thinking. We do have coyotes in the neighborhood and while we have decent fencing (and hotwire), I’m sure it wouldn’t stop a determined coyote.

I did some research on guard animals and I think that the best for us would be a llama. I have not done any research into llama husbandry, so I have no idea how much work they are, but I know that they eat the same food as the goats. That will be one less worry, because goats are pretty cheap eaters! As an added benefit, llamas oftentimes have long fur that needs to be trimmed. Perfect! I can have llama to spin with my goat fur!

We may not need a guardian, right now. But certainly, next year, when we increase our herd, we will want something. Especially if we have kids, which we do plan to have, eventually. Next year we will get does, with the intention of breeding. Though the breeding may happen the year after next. We’ll definitely want a guardian, when we have kids – if not sooner.

So, I need to do some research into llama husbandry and start getting us prepared for that venture!

Some by nature, some by design…

These Violas are in one of my flower beds (and scattered about the property). Some we’ve planted and some have just come up on their own. I do believe this particular plant is a volunteer.

I believe this may be Lungwort… Or the Lungwort is a plant sitting next to it. Never-the-less, I planted this in my flower bed.

The sun shining through the leaves of the Quaking Aspen. My sweetie’s grandmother planted these trees 30 years ago. I love them!

This is a close-up of what I believe to be Yarrow; it is native. I wasn’t paying attention to properly identifying the plant before I snapped the photo. There had been a butterfly enjoying the flowers; but by the time I figured out why the camera wasn’t doing what I wanted it to do, it was gone. HUMBUG! So, I just focused on the flowers, instead!

I love that the camera can pick up tiny details that my own eyes will miss. Yeah, need to get to the ophthalmologist… Yay! Bifocals!  .NOT.

Needless to say, the goats’ mobile pen isn’t coming anywhere near any of this stuff – except the Yarrow.

Most folks consider Yarrow to be a weed; but it is a remarkably useful medicinal herb! And while we haven’t used it yet, it is quite welcome in our yard.

I was able to get the goats out of the mobile pen, all by myself this evening. Yay! If I can get them out, I should be able to get them in… Theoretically…

After we had been in the yard for a bit, Frank went to the corner and stood there, stiff as a board, looking off towards the woods; Ray soon joined in. My heart started thumping a little, too, as I wondered what was out there… Coyote? Deer? Cougar? We could hear something rustling and crashing around through the underbrush. We watched intently, waiting to see what sort of predatory monster was going to come bursting through the trees. And we were poised to flee. (Yes, I think this way because I’m a city girl who has been transplanted to the country. I’m often a little paranoid when I’m outside.)

Well, in just a few moments we saw them, weaving in and out of the trees on the edge of the forest. First, a small black and white streak. Then a bigger brown, white and black streak. I realized that it was Thumper chasing Domino (aka The Demon). That meant that Thumper somehow got out.

The Demon is a kitten (about 9 months old) that Thumper raised. So they chase, and rassle, and generally play rough. Woe be to the human that tries to play with Domino, sans chainmaille gloves… You’ll walk away bloody. He’s not mean, he just doesn’t realize that humans are soft targets.

Anyways, I just knew they were going to head into the woods, so I thought I’d better get out there and try to get Thumper back in. Naturally, he was ignoring me, until I said the “C” word… Candy… Mmmm… Yummy candy… Well, he quickly changed course and came right for me. When he got halfway across the yard I started running for the door, hoping he’d chase me. He did. He fell for it… So, he got some treats for being good and coming back. Thankfully, I made it up the steps before he got to me. I feared that we would trip over each other, racing up the stairs.

James and I sat out on the back porch for a little bit, after getting Ray and Frank into the pig pen, and Thumper showed no interest in the gate, at all. I was wondering if perhaps he had realized that he could get out, or if I left it open. Yeah… I’m inclined to say that I must’ve left it open, when I went to get the boys from the mobile pen. Bad mommy! Lesson learned.

Oh, and another lesson learned this evening… The hot-wire is working! I went to lean the pitchfork against the fence and ZAP!!! The back of my wrist touched the hot-wire. Oh yeah, she’s kickin’! No worries there! It’s working for sure!

In other news, I’m bidding on a camera on eBay. I’m so tired of taking horrible, awful, terrible phone photos! Our bills are lower this week, and my birthday will be in a few weeks. So, I’m going to try to get myself a decent digital point-n-shoot camera. Then I’ll start posting project photos, more goat photos, more hound photos, maybe some kitty photos… It will be fun! I’ll know in less than four days, whether or not I’m the winner. Hmmm… Maybe I should go increase my max bid…