It was a good day

I've been feeling more than a little animal deprived these last few months. Two months have gone by since I was able to find a home for the last of my foster donkeys. Critter Farm just hasn't felt the same since.

So strong was my desire for a fuzzy, furry animal fix, that on my way back from our small town post office yesterday, I spontaneously stopped in at my friend Dale's place to see what kind of animal activity he has going on. Dale's is a good place to go to when I need a big-animal boost. He's the local dairy farmer (and my grass hay supplier when I have donkeys that need food) and owns 400 head of dairy cattle. One of his girls is always calving, so very cute baby cows are always to be found:

This guy definitely had his eye on me:

But what I really had my heart set on was the goats. Dale normally only has one goat, but he currently has nine others (and a sheep), which he is keeping for a friend while the friend finishes building his new barn.

It's a bit crazy how happy seeing these faces made me:

This one, in particular, wanted to be my new best friend:

And then I found these guys. Awwwwwww...:

These little sweeties were born right around Christmas. I couldn't help myself, I had to join them in their pen. This kinda wigged them out at first:

But then this little guy started coming in for a closer sniff:

Everybody else wanted to know what we were doing. Curious bleating accompanied these curious faces:

My less-than-perfect attempt at a self-portrait:

I guess the little guy decided I was ok. He began climbing on me. Oh, it felt so good to be climbed on!:

The babies would run over to me to say hi, jump with all fours into the air, and then race back over to mama to suckle a bit:

I included this picture just because it is so...odd. Mama was extremely patient.:

Now this is the part where Dale's young son, Andy, and his friend began asking to take pictures of me with the baby goats. How could I say no?:

I didn't realize at the time that they took a number of great shots:

Action shot:

In case you were wondering, these guys were still bleating and still curious. Look at the personality in these faces!:

There's something incredibly endearing about a goat who rests his big ol' head in your hand:

What more could I have asked for? I got all this *and* the sun was out!: