Soo tired, and impatient, but excited...

The horses are all shedding like fiends (YAY!) so spring is just around the corner. Even with all this snow we have had over the last week we've had some warm temps (and by warm I mean like 34 degrees, lol) and the sun has had the snow melting off the roof.

All the drama over the last few weeks (it seems to go on and on and on... we've had a reprieve for several days but I have no doubt we will have it creep back up) has worn me out. I've distracted myself from other people's drama invading my life by knitting emphatically, hugging my horses 14 times a day, venting about it to my dog and reading about goaties.

We got our taxes done saturday, the day tsu had one of the most Blarg-worthy birthdays ever. Virtually everyone who isn't married to him or isn't a 50% contributor to his genetic make up forgot it was his birthday. My ex in laws remembered, though, and gave him a card the weekend before. How weird but delightful is it that they remembered?

Anyway, prior to having taxes done i always convince myself we won't actually get a refund. We now get to claim Tiff every year, even though this was our year anyway. So I now know that i will get enough to get a little goat shed, some fencing and some goats.

I already have names picked out for my stock. I like to have themes in my names. My girlie horsies get names from songs. My boy horsies get names from media (book or movie characters or names of actors, etc). My goaties will get names after herbs, weeds and other non-tree type plants. But i am kind of combining my girliehorse theme with my goatie theme here at first.

See, I've had these names I wanted to use since i was a teen... My dream was to have a 4 in hand team of driving horses to use the names for but that is never ever going to happen, and i honestly think they will be perfect for my goats.

My buck will be named Parsley, and his harem will be named Sage, Rosemary and Thyme. I plan to keep a wether from my first kid crop to be a companion to Parsley and his name will be Chickory. The other babies won't get names unless they are doelings that will be added to my milk/breeding herd, because (and non-meat eaters or folks who can't handle the idea of raising your own food just skip this part, k?) I don't name food. If you have a name, you are family, if not... you are food.

here is where some folks who know me are kind of confused... because these animals, despite how much I want them and am excited about getting them and how much i will probably fall madly in love with them... are livestock. They are a crop. That means they may not have a forever home here because they are not pets. They have to earn their keep, otherwise all but my favorite two will have to go. because there is a difference between pets and produce when you live on a farm, and my goal IS to have this place be a small almost self sustaining farm.

But this presents me with an issue. These days a LOT of goaties are just pets, or pets you can drink milk from. So I am making sure that everyone i talk to understands that i will be raising goats for a tiny amount of milk but mostly for meat (and land clearing/upkeep). This has already caused a few people to say they won't sell to me. Which is perfectly fine with me, that is why I am being upfront about my plans/goals for these animals. I would hate for someone to sell me a cherished pet then have them discover down the road i am eating it's babies! can you imagine how horrible that would make someone feel? Yeesh! I could never do that to someone!!

So now... I am just waiting on Uncle Sam to give us back our money so i can get my little shed, my fence and then.... my goats!!! The waiting is driving me nutty.