Got baby goats?

Had lunch Wednesday with two friends.  Sylvia, a friend from the gourd club and another from the goat club that I use to belong to. Her name is Jane and I've written about her before. She has Alpine goats.

Every year I call her up and ask, " How are the goats? Got any babies yet?" and she usually says "Yes." So I ingraciate myself and ask if I can stop by. I have even stopped by unannounced... that's how bad this goat lust is.
On Wednesday I didn't have to grovel. We had already planned to met with another friend, Sylvia, from the gourd club who lives close by, so we met at Jane's house.
This is how it went...

The babies greeted us at the gate.

 "Hello friends of Jane. We really like company. Got any milk?"
(Jane carried in the goat food while Sylvia played defence with the little escape artists.)

"Hey, we're on the outside. Run... while she's not looking"

"Yes, I'm eating the grass. I'm a special goat. I had lots of attention from some other humans for a while and I expect special treatment. Got any milk ?"

 "Hey, what happen. Who put us back in here? I'm mad. I'm not even going to look at anyone"
"Did you see that? They just pulled me back in here by my pretty collar. I thought it was an embellishment for my awesomeness but it's not... it's to control me. I'm going to have to use my charms now.

I watched my friend, Pink Collar. She knows how to make humans do anything. She's good. Watch her."

"Hi there. Did you say your name was Sylvia?"

" Aren't I the cutest little goat you ever saw? Do you have treats in your pockets? Can you open the gate... please."
"Well, that didn't work, but maybe Pink was having a slow day."

Meanwhile...
The grass hay was spread in the feeders and it was chow time.

Most of the young goats were eating grass hay and very serious about doing what their moms do at the feeder.
But there is always one that wants to play with its food.

Or maybe this little one was just hamming for the camera. It finally hopped down and joined its sibling at "got milk" central...

 But mom was getting a little tired of all this. She kept walking away.
 "It's time for you little ones to stop using me. I need a rest. Enough is enough."

 And then there's the mother who wants to feed her young forever and even lifts her tail to invite them over.. or maybe she is just peeing. I'm not a goat expert.

After their lunch, most of them walked out to the big tree in the back...

 to rest in the shade.

So we thought this would be a good time to make an exit. Jane left first to get ready for our lunch.

"Wait... where are you going Jane?"

 

"Jane?"

 Then Sylvia and I shimmied through the fence gate, said goodbye to the little one , who seemed perplexed as to why we were leaving, and we drove to Sacramento for lunch.


These are Alpine goats. This link will tell you all about them. They originated in the French Alps. They come in all colors and they are heavy milk producers.
Watch the video at this site and get your goat baby fix for the day.
Thanks Jane for always letting me come to visit and spend some time with your goats. They are beautiful and charming animals.

This is Jane's oldest goat. I can't remember her name.

 "Hello there."

 She's beautiful and has a wise countenance.

She's retired and knows that she will be taken care of for the rest of her goat life.

Jane is a wonderful shepherd (goat-herd? goat keeper? goat angel? ) to her animals. She loves them. I think they love her too, in their own goat way.

I miss my goats and will always have great memories of them. But, at least once a year, Jane gives me a chance to visit her Alpines and her new kids... and get my goat fix for a while.
Thank you Jane.

( For some interesting facts about goats and some funny photos, go here and enjoy.)

A Lovely Day

Yesterday was one of those Fall days in the Foothills when the weather was just about perfect. This is what we mean by California Dreamin'... it is the quintessential day; that wonderful time of the year when the temperature never goes above 85 degrees and because of the cold nights, it takes all morning to warm up. This is "sweater in the mornings and shorts in the afternoon." weather and... If you're going to be outside you had best use some sunscreen. It may not feel hot but it's still going to do some damage if you're out in it for a while.
I was meeting some friends for lunch. They both live down in the valley so we planned to meet in Ione.
This is an interesting town.

Ione is about 10 miles from where I live. It use to be the supply center on the main roads to the mines during the Gold Rush and was the agricultural hub of the area. It was called Bedbug, Hardscrabble and Freeze Out at different times in the past.
Now it has a population of about 7900 folks and almost half of them reside at Mule Creek State Prison which is located at the north end of town.
Dave Brubeck, the famous jazz pianist, was raised here.

I found a parking place right on Main St. and took pictures while I waited for my friends. This is the Restaurant that we chose to meet at.
It's called Clark's Corner...

While I was waiting I saw a lot of trucks with horse trailers and huge cow trucks come down Main Street. More than any other town in the area. There are lots of farms, horse ranches and cattle around here. It's evident that, even though they put a fancy golf course in a few years ago, the farmers and their critters still rule this little town.
My friends arrived and we went inside to have some lunch.

In the 1800's there were six saloons in this town. (and they thought Jackson was wild.)
Clark's Corner has metamorphosed into a wonderful eatery.. but it was once a SALOON.

Dedicated to the spirits within..? Would that be liquor or ghost spirits?
And how original... Old Red Brick Building. I think that was more of a descriptive way of finding the place that a name for the bar.  As in..."Meet me at the old red brick building on Main St. I'll buy the drinks."
Or...
"I need to be in Ione by Friday. My brothers, James and Virgil are meetin' me there. Can I pay you with some gold dust?"
"What was your name again?", the train station ticket man asked.
"Earp. Wyatt Earp. I need one ticket."
No problem, Mr. Earp. Gold dust will be fine."
I'm on my way to San Francisco. Got some things to take care of."
"None of my business, Mr. Earp. Not at all. You have a nice trip." 

Well, it could have happen. Wyatt came to California a couple of times. He lived in Santa Rosa for a while. He died in Los Angeles in 1929.
He might have had a drink and stayed over night  at the Old Red Brick Building Saloon. It's possible. Isn't it?
I love to think about who visited or worked in these old buildings a long time ago.
I love to think that I might be stepping on the same old floor that Wyatt, or Joaquin, or Mr. Muir. might have.

Now the old saloon is lookin' spiffy.

I'll bet Wyatt didn't get a French Dip and raspberry ice tea.... or a chocolate chip mocha scone for dessert. No he didn't. But we did.... just to name a few delicious lunch items.
The food was very good.
The tables all had a lot of history under the glass for us to read while we ate.

And there were some old photos of local families.

And some tough looking men.
What a great idea to put all those photos under glass so you could read the history of the town while eating.
The restaurant is also a community meeting place for local issues, Internet communicating and just taking about what's happening in town.
We ate lunch and talked. Then we went and got dessert and then... ate and talked some more.
One friend, Sylvia, is the president of the California Gourd Associating and she is also the vice president of our local gourd group. She gardens, grows gourds and makes beautiful gourd art.
Jane, another friend, is a member of our goat group and owns a wonderful herd of Alpine goats. Alpines are really lovely animals. She has a beautiful old horse and two big ol' dogs and lives with a guy named Richard ...so I call their farm DICK AND JANE'S, like the children's book.
There's no SPOT but that's OK. Their two goofy dogs make up for not having a dog named Spot. We wouldn't want to get too silly about this.
Sylvia and Jane have known each other for many years.  We had such a good time together. We laughed and talked about all kind of things... But, as the saying goes...
What is talked about in Ione, stays in Ione... or is that Las Vegas?
It doesn't matter.
We had a great time.
Right ladies?