Happy Birthday, pup

My girl, Roxy, is seven years old today.

I'm not sure when and how this happened.  It seems just like yesterday that we brought her home:

A tenacious little ball of fluff she was; she looked like a tiny Ewok:

From the very beginning, she was adept at clearly communicating her likes and dislikes.
She really liked  her ball:

But she greatly disliked  being locked in the laundry room with the puppy pad:

And, although she didn't care much for school, she was able to graduate from puppy academy before moving to the farm:

...which is fortunate, because it takes a lot of knowledge and dedication to be a farm pup.

She is my faithful companion in everything I do:

She is the ever-vigilant watch dog:

She helped raise our flock of chickens from day old chicks:

And she insisted on being with them:

until the day Roopert the Rooster grew bigger than she:

Now, she just watches from afar.

She was, of course, on hand to personally greet the first six donkeys to arrive on Critter Farm back in 2008:

And Pete and Reggie, our Nigerian Dwarf goats, have been her goats from Day 1:

She takes her job with them very seriously:

And even though they are now quadruple her size and outweigh her by about 50 pounds, she is still the boss of them (which delights her to no end):

Roxy has had her share of challenges and there have been times when she hasn't felt her best:

But she is always up for new adventures:

and experiences:

And though some of them are a little unusual, she is always a good sport about them:

So, to celebrate the beginning of her 8th year of life, we had a small birthday party:

Roxy invited her favorite goats and waited patiently for her guests to arrive:

The guests, in their excitement, nibbled and licked the decorations:

These particular party guests were, unfortunately, quite impatient and more than a little pushy:

And, overall, they were not at all well behaved:

Somebody should really speak to their mother about their manners:

About the time the headbutting broke out, it was time for the party to end:

Roxy seemed more than ready to move her party into the people house:

So we did:

It was a much more civilized affair.

She really liked the flowers:

:-)

Cold day kisses from a goat with a beard

I'm trying to get back into blogging, I swear I am. 
In my defense, it's been a rough month. 

So - for now - can I just say that goat kisses make me a happy girl?:
My goat boys have extras, if you are in need.

The day Honey refused

What started out as just a little bit on Saturday night:

...became this on Sunday:

which turned into this on Monday:

 and looked like this  when we awoke this morning:

Honey made it very clear she wasn't going to get out of bed today:

No way, no how:

And no kind of enticement could convince her otherwise:

Though she was most happy to be served breakfast in bed:

Roxy, my farm pup, also opted out of her farm duties today:

Even when I gave her a choice of her three favorite winter sweaters...:

she decided that she, too, would prefer to stay in bed today.

So, minus two of my farm friends, I started the rather lonely hike up to the barn:

But, hearing something behind me, I turned around to find my faithful buddy, George, waiting for me at his usual morning spot:

And though I think he got a bit of a shock at how deep the snow was...:

he valiantly tried to follow me in the footsteps I left behind:

 I took pity on him and gave him a lift part of the way to the barn:

I think he appreciated this:

And on the trek up that hill, it was good to have a buddy:

Kai llama greeted us with a smile.  She loves this weather:

Beau, however, was still wondering why I haven't brought him his winter hat:

And Chester, just like every other morning, proclaimed his concern over why breakfast was late:

Once everything was mucked out and all were happily fed at the barn:

I headed off to the goats.  On the way, I stopped to admire the remains of the deer-netting around my lower garden.  Hmpf:

Pete and Reggie would not have chosen to come out today:

But, as a special favor to me (they are such good boys), they did finally step outside for a moment:

But literally, it was just for a moment:

In the end, they would've been happy to stand right here - just like this - and look at me all day.  Silly goats:

Excited, chattery noises from the chicken coop told me the chickens knew I was on my way with breakfast:

These girls (and boy) have seen snow quite a few times over their almost four years of life, but it's still a very scary thing when they are reintroduced to it:

And nobody likes it when a huge drift of snow falls from the trees overhead onto the chicken run roofing:

When I returned to the house after feeding, Honey still refused to come out:

...which made her more than a wee bit indignant when I had to pull  her out so I could clean out her crate:

In the end, she did agree to do a quick lap around the deck to stretch her legs for a moment:

but then...

she went right...

back to bed:

And she has stayed there all day:

Smart girl...:

The face of a chicken...

who just did her job for the day:

Good girl, Spongebob!