Neighbor S met me at D&L’s place this morning just as I finished cleaning their pellet stove, and helped me tow the Jeep to the shop in town. The towing went well, then just as we were trying to maneuver it into some semblance of a parking spot the transmission locked up and we ended up towing it backward against the shop’s yard fence while the rear wheels scrubbed. So clearly things could have gone worse. The shop is closed on Saturday, so I’ll go back Monday and explain what it’s doing there. Hopefully they’ll be able to give me an estimate for a used or (more likely) rebuilt transmission without too much delay. There are some other small things I want them to do but they’re all irrelevant while the Jeep is totally out of commission.
I went home, grabbed a quick sandwich, and then went to Landlady’s place to do today’s main chore…
S&L scored a bale of new straw, allowing a much-needed sweetening of the big chickenhouse. But first…
…the whole thing needed to be raked out, and that’s my job. About forty five very dusty minutes of raking shit-infused dirt and rotted straw out the door to the chicken yard where wind will take care of it. I was about halfway through the job when I saw shadows passing under the front door of the chickenhouse, as if somebody was walking back and forth. But there were no voices and nobody tried the door. I went outside and saw…
This is becoming a real bother. The goat people can’t keep their animals penned up on their own property and haven’t shown a lot of interest in trying to do so. Underfed, the goats wander all over the place. Kind of hard to convince a large puppy not to charge off after them in the face of such temptation.
It’s difficult to chase them away, because they’re basically pets and have no fear of people whatsoever. Indeed they expect to be petted and talked kindly to. This is a main reason I like a revolver instead of an autoloader…
Ammo flexibility! I most commonly just use it as a noisemaker to get pests to go away, and I don’t have to shoot up my expensive commercial ammo to do it. I keep the gun loaded with commercial .44 Special rounds, but also always carry speed strips of heavy magnum rounds for the next time I have to climb under a house after a bear and light reloads for plinking and making noise. You really couldn’t do this with an autoloader.
So I hopefully ruined these goats’ day, noisily chasing them back toward home. Then I went back to the chickenhouse to finish raking and spread nice new straw for the chickens to scatter.
And now I need a shower in the worst way.
Joel: Goats are rather, um, inventive creatures. The neighbors may be outmatched.
I bet you could develop a hankering for fresh goat meat if you tried. Just an idea,
We had a Nubian who would climb into the car for a ride if you let her. Or on top of the car… 🙁 She was named Dolly after her rather large and pendulous…um, nevermind.
Goats, like chickens, will eat anything that won’t eat them. Or die trying.
If Tobie likes goat meat, I see a way to reduce your pet food bill…..
Goat meat is one of only 2 things that I miss about having goats.
OK, I’ll bite: What’s the other thing about goats that you miss?
Back when we were first considered raising livestock on our place, we considered goats. I’m glad we rejected that idea. Too much climbing and destruction of property. They also love to eat the cambium layer of the juniper trees. Yes, they have interesting personalities, but that’s not why we would raise them.
We have 2 sheep. We got them back in May. I use a spring pistol with the 6mm balls to shoot them in the butt when they get interested in things that we think they should avoid. Much more relaxing and effective than screaming, running, throwing sticks, or any combination of those activities.
I am looking forward to some lamb when the temps get good for processing the little ‘tards.
Robert, the other thing I miss about having goats is the fresh milk. It’s fattier than cow milk and I could never taste the difference between it and cow milk.
Thanks for responding. The stuff tasted “gamey” to me, but my sample size was one goat so it’s not a very robust comparison.