Well, they're still alive...

so that's a good thing.

Wow--not sure how that happened--this was taken just minutes ago with my digital camera! It will not let me rotate it, so if you'd just gently tilt your head so your left ear is close to your left shoulder... (and read on, read on.)

Actually, things are going really well. On Wednesday, we went down again to help them get used to us. They still stayed away for the most part. They came over to check out the weeds we had gathered for them, but when Deer got close, Ben reached out and pet her. They ran. Gabby got her head stuck behind a gate-like-thing. Ben went over to her, walking carefully, speaking softly, and gently took her head, turned it, and pushed it back through the slot. Then, as she couldn't get out from behind it, he looked, then undid a wire. He turned to ask for help (I was already on the way) and in turning, let go of it just enough for it to fall on him. My goodness. It was very scary, but he handled it beautifully. As I carried him out of the barn (after making sure nothing was broken) he said "I saved Gabby, huh, Mama?" "Yea, you sure did, kiddo. Just like a hero." The look on his face--contemplative, and proud is one I will remember for a long time--wish I had my camera, so I could share it with you.

For the past few days, we've been trimming up around the trees, removing suckers, and taking them to the goats. They LOVE them! And we're actually trimming up the trees!!! The place has never looked so good. Yesterday, we took a few 2' branches and sat in the middle of the aisle. Deer was the first to come over, and start in eating. The others soon followed. We sat, while they got closer and closer... but this time, we just waited. Ben was such a trooper. We talked about why it wouldn't be a good idea to pet them right now, even though they were totally within reach. We decided that this was a good thing, that they came so close, but we'll wait until they come up to us when we don't have food. It was a great teaching moment for patience, and seeing the bigger picture. Plus, while I had him engaged in conversation, the goats almost touched the hand that was holding the branch. :) It was an awesome experience!

Eric is off today, so we're going over to finish up a few things at his parent's house while they are gone. It's our 5 year wedding anniversary. The traditional gift for 5 years is wood. How appropriate! We're planning on making chicken coops and dog houses this weekend!! (40% chance of rain, so we may be putting them together out in the machine shed!)

Hey--if you have one of those collapsible clothes lines, and it falls over, bend it back straight. (Our pole circumference was 1 1/4", so have your PVC be about 1/4" wider than your pole.) Then take a length of 1 1/2" PVC pipe, slide it over the entire length (from the bottom of the rubber thing, to where it goes into the ground (ours is about 2' --luckily we had a piece in the shed just shy of that!) I couldn't remember if PVC gets broken down by UV rays or not, so I went ahead and painted it with some sticks-on-plastic spray paint we had. (blue) If you're going to use regular paint, scuff it with fine sandpaper to help the paint stick. This plastic spray paint wasn't very expensive. With the PVC wedged on, the whole thing screwed together, and put back in the hole, I just sprayed it right there. ch-ch-ch, done!) I think we picked this up at Wal-Mart last year. If you are getting one new, why not put a piece of PVC around it now, so you don't have it tip over in the first place! An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

The dark spots on the PVC are from not taking my time. There is extra paint there. (gently arc back and forth, only 'ch-ing' in the middle part of the arc. And yes, that is the technical term. :) I was in a hurry this morning--I would like to hang up clothes this afternoon!

Fun fact: Goats do not eat tin cans. They do, however LOVE the glue they use to adhere the labels. (so do cockroaches!) ew.
If hungry enough, a goat will gnaw on metal objects, but it's not good for their gut.