Biscuits for Brownie

"Did you miss me Brownie?"
"Yes, farmlady, but I'd like to talk about the colors of the new sleeping place."
"Why, what's the matter?"
"Well, three of us are brown and white. Bart is the only one of us that is gray and black."
"So you don't like the colors?"
"I just think you should have asked us what we thought."
"But Brownie, I was going to paint the house red and white at first and that wouldn't have matched any of you."
"That's true but those colors would not have favored just one of us. Red would have been politically correct."
"Come on , you mean that because I painted your new house gray and black that I wasn't being democratic?"
" Something like that. All Murph', Freckles and I are saying is that you were favoring Bart by using those colors."
"Good grief. I'm sorry that I have offended the three of you but I'm not repainting ."
"Hey, they all wanted me to say something and I have. This doesn't mean that I'm going to get less of that delicious grain does it?"
"No Brownie. I wouldn't do that. All of you have the right to speak out when you think there's been inequality but this is kind of picky. I have a lot of things on my plate right now and I don't need to worry about what the goats think of the colors that I painted on their new house."
"Plate? What plate? Did you come out here with a plate of food? Did I miss something? Hey guys, Farmlady had some food and she didn't give us any." Did you get anything Bart? She said she had something on her plate. I don't see a plate and I don't see any food. I'll bet she gave some to one of you when I was getting a drink of water. Who got something? Maybe it was Murphy because he thinks he's such a big celebrity. Murphy..., did Farmlady give you some extra food?Where are you, Murph'.

"I'm over here Brownie. Settle down. Farmlady has the camera and I'm giving her my sweet and wonderful goat look. You never know where these picture are going to show up. Maybe I should do a little dance for her."

"Farmlady, you are my very favorite two-legged besides the prospector. You know that don't you? You care about us and protect us
and I just want you to know that whatever you have on your plate will be fine with me because I'm not that picky. I was kind of afraid to say this to Brownie, but I really like the gray and black. It's sophisticated and classy."
"Thank you Murphy, I thought so too."
"Your welcome, Farmlady. Brownie will be all right. He just gets upset when he thinks that no one cares about him."
"I will be more careful next time. I didn't mean to upset him."
"It's ok. Do you have any crackers?"
"No, but I'll bring some with me, later, when I close you in."
"Oh, thank you. ..., and Farmlady?"
"What Murphy?"
"Bring two for Brownie."

And so the little goat house was finished except for a few things like overhangs and some gravel, in front, before winter. I checked later on that night to see if Brownie had been watching the Democratic Convention. What a commotion about equality and fairness; but then I thought to myself that some goats are right. Brownie needed to be heard. He wanted a say in how his life was affected by a decision that he had no part of.
This week I listened to all the speakers at the Democratic Convention and I will listen to all of the Republican speakers next week. I'm kind of undecided about this election, but my discussion with Brownie made me stop and think about the democratic process and how important it is that everyone votes and that I shouldn't say "I have a lot on my plate"unless I have food on it ,because some goats and people rely on others for their food and they don't use this expression as a euphmism for having too much to do.
The little goat house will stay the color it is, because it was a lot of work and I'm not changing it...., but I will take five biscuits out there tonight and two of them will be for Brownie. One for courage and one for affection (mine)...., and I'll serve them on a little plate, just for him.

What! No window box?

What!..., wait a minute, where's my...., oh no!! Where is my window and the window box I was going to put the flowers in. The prospector made a management decision and ....














Don't you think that a small window would have looked good here. It would have broken up the big space, and with a window box below it I could have put real flowers in it because there is a hose and water close by.
Actually, we did talk about it and he said that we could put one in later if we needed more ventillation. The doors are dutch doors and will have a screen door behind them so , as you can see in the second photo, there will be lots of air flow on hot days.

So I'm thinking that I will fill up that wall with all kinds of things. .., pots of flowers on the ground, old signs and vintage farm things on the wall . Maybe an old window frame in the middle and a WINDOW BOX underneath.

There's no goat DECK either but I have see the error of my ways on this one. Goats like to sit in the dirt or go to sleep in the goat house, or run and play. So, a covered deck would have looked good but probably not have been used much by them. Especially after we fence the area below the house and they spend their day eating grass. What can I say. I got carried away. I'm a decorator . I always want to embellish everything. So, when I finish painting the whole thing I will work some magic on that wall. I've got about a 3rd of the painting done so far. The siding is really soaking up the paint. I will have to do two coats on everything.


Do the goats care about all of this? No..., they are just as happy with an old wash bucket.


They have slept in their new digs for two nights now and the Prospector said that they woke him up at 2:30 last night playing around inside the goat house. He said they were making a lot of noise. Must be the full moon. Silly goats!

I leave for the Bay area today to see my Mom. The painting will be put on hold for a few days. I will be back on Wednesday.

The Goat house rises and the fires spread

This morning

Tonight

About the Fires

It was 108 degrees on the front porch today. There is very little wind and lots of smoke. We have no fires that are close to us right now. Thanks to people being careful, I hope. Most of the big fires are south, along the coast and in Northern California. A friend of mine spent the 4th of July weekend in Santa Barbara and she said she could see the fires from the plane as they flew down the Coast range. She said it was frightening.
We called a friend of ours this afternoon. He lives in Magalia near Paradise, which is east of Chico. They are ready to be evacuated at any time. The fire is in the canyon on the north fork of the Feather river and moving in their direction. I hope that they will be all right.

It's all so sad. So many folks have lost their homes. The fires seem uncontrollable. Please think about us here in California. We love this state and it's on fire. We live in fear of a lightening strike, a campfire left to smolder or a lit cigarette thrown from a car.

We are so appreciative of all the fire resources ,from other states, who have come to help us. They are all out there fighting these fires as if it were their own places, but even with all the help..., a prayer or two won't hurt . This is going to be a long summer.

A productive holiday: report on the homefront.

The prospector is trying to get the new goat sleeping quarters done before his Pinecrest fishing trip at the end of the month. As you can see the only help he is getting, in the photo, is advice from the goats. This man amazes me. He is 64 years old this year and we've been married for43 years ; and he still astounds me with his ability to get things done. He just makes a plan and goes to work.

I help, sometimes..., I hold things. I hold a 4x4 while he nails. I hold the level while he moves the boards up and down to make them "plumb". (I even know some of the lingo, like "plumb" and "4x4 pressure treated lumber". Wow! I'll bet you're impressed now.) I'm great at giving careful advice in the form of question, like..., "Hon, is there going to be another door on the side that has the storage room on it so we don't have to walk too far to dump the hay in the hay holder?" or " Do you think we need a step up into the the shed, kind of like a porch, for the goats?" or " Wouldn't a flower box look pretty under the ventilation window?" You know, practical things....

Then I get the "Haven't you got anything better to do" look and it's time to move on; at least until he needs another helping hand.

So....,
I went in and made some Strawberry Jam.
This was a new recipe that I found on the internet. The last one I made, even though it was more like strawberry SAUCE, tasted better.
This one doesn't use pectin but you have to cook it to death. I think the fresh flavor of strawberries is missing in this batch. By the time you cook the strawberries, sugar and lemon to 220 degrees F. , at a rolling boil, for more than an hour, it looks like cut up tomato soup and even scorched the bottom of the pan a little.
We taste tested the jam this morning and it's good..., and it's thick. I just like the other batch I did, a while back, better. That was at: tomsdomain.com/recipes/strawberryjam.
His had pectin in it and I don't know why it didn't jell. I'm no expert at jam making. I just follow the directions. But I'm determined to find a perfect recipe: Fresh like Tom's Domain but thicker like Katharine's at : allrecipes.com.

I Just love doing this. I'm getting to be the "Jam and Pesto queen" around here. It's so satisfying, so domestic...., so real. I may try tomato or apple sauce this year.
The basil is growing all over the place in the garden this year so I need to make a batch of Pesto soon. This I know how to do.

But first I will go out and see if the Prospector needs any help. He hasn't asked for any help today. I wonder why?
Maybe he's thinking about my "goat porch" idea and flowerboxes. After all, if we're going to have to look at this little house from the back porch everyday...., it should look *PRETTY*! Don't you think?