Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Goat Fashion

Look out, Vogue—there’s a new fashion icon in town, and she’s got four legs, a rumbling stomach, and a firm grasp on the phrase “I do what I want.”

Introducing: Babydoll, modeling this season’s must-have farm accessory—a dazzling, oversized plastic bucket around her neck.

Was it intentional? Of course not. Was it fabulous? Absolutely.

This particular piece is from the "Feed Room Casual" collection—simple, durable, and previously filled with alfalfa pellets. It features a wide opening (perfect for head insertion), molded handles (which conveniently slide over ears), and an aerodynamic design that thwaps gently against the chest with every step.

It’s practical and dramatic. Every movement echoes with a hollow plastic "bonk," ensuring that all eyes—and ears—are on her. She clunked around the barn aisle like a runway model wearing designer heels two sizes too big, and she owned it.

The herd watched in silent awe.

One goat fainted (might’ve just tripped on a shovel), another tried to chew the bucket off her neck. Myrtle attempted to wedge her own head into an old yogurt container, declaring, “It’s called upcycling, look it up!

But Babydoll? She didn’t care. She was serving bucket realness.

I tried to intervene. I really did. Twice, actually. But Babydoll took one look at me, squared her goat shoulders, and clonked herself right past me, full bucket swagger, like, “Touch the bucket, and you better be ready to rumble.”

You know what? I respect that.

Not only was she setting trends, she was thinking ahead. By wearing her lunch pail, she’s always ready for dinner, no matter the time, no matter the place. Some goats chase the grain buckets. Babydoll is the grain bucket now.

She may not know who she is yet, but she knows she’s hungry. And if she’s going to wander the farm looking for her next snack, she’s going to do it in style.


NEW! From the makers of “Hay in Your Hair” and “Poop on Your Boot” comes…

The Babydoll Bucket!

Now available in:

  • Classic White

  • “Oops, I Stepped in It” Brown

  • and Limited-Edition “Mystery Slime Green”!

✅ Lightweight plastic
✅ Fully neck-compatible
✅ Doubles as a sound effect machine and personal feed storage
✅ BPA-Free (Bucket Perpetually Attached)

Buy now and we’ll throw in a free headlamp for night grazing, a goat-sized mirror for preening, and a warning label for humans who try to help.

Call now! Operators are standing by. (They’re goats. Don’t expect much.)

Please leave a comment below. I love hearing from you.

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Well, Well, Well

The work crew showed up this week to start digging the new well for our fancy-pants geothermal heating system. Now, don’t get me wrong—I’m thrilled at the idea of not having to spend another winter hauling in enough firewood to heat a small village. But my lawn, folks. MY LAWN.

It was beautiful. It was lush. It was the result of years of careful neglect, the kind of natural beauty that only comes when you let the grass grow wild, mow it semi-regularly, and shout at the chickens to stop dust bathing in the good spots. And now? Now it looks like a herd of caffeinated hogs held a motocross tournament.

Seriously, if you dropped someone in my yard right now, blindfolded, they’d swear we were digging for Civil War artifacts. Or hiding a body. Or both.

My grandson, in his innocent voiceyou know the one: soft, sweet, and usually followed by a comment that’ll make you reevaluate your parenting skills—looked out the window and said, “Gram, how long did it take you to grow that grass that pretty?”

I just stared at him. “Longer than your last three Call of Duty marathons, your summer vacation, and that awkward family reunion where Aunt Linda wouldn't stop talking about her bunions.That grass was a masterpiece. It had texture. It had soul. And now it’s just... battlefield debris.

But you know what? If it means I don’t have to get up at 5 a.m. to thaw my eyelashes and split wood like a pioneer woman possessed, then so be it. Let the dirt fly. Geothermal is the future. And if I have to reseed the entire yard while muttering like a cartoon villain, then that's just part of the price of progress.

Now, of course, no construction project on this farm would be complete without the Official Goat Oversight Committee.

The moment the truck pulled up, the goats swarmed like a group of nosy neighbors who heard a rumor about free food and outrageous gossip. Heads high, ears twitching, and tails wagging with anticipation, they lined up to supervise like they were union foremen with performance quotas to meet.

If you’ve never been stared down by a team of goats while someone’s operating heavy machinery, let me tell you—it’s unsettling. There’s something about that wide-eyed, sideways glance they give you that says, “You didn’t measure that trench properly, Steve. And we both know it.”

One particularly bossy doe, Alice, took up a post next to the trench like she was waiting to give a TED Talk on soil composition. Another tried to eat the survey tape. Twice. I caught a third attempting to climb onto the backhoe, presumably to check the hydraulic fluid or give the operator a critique on his digging technique.

At one point, however, the work crew threatened to mutiny if I didn’t get the goats behind the fence. Apparently, it’s difficult to operate heavy machinery with a goat licking the control panel, another chewing on your tool belt, and a third trying to scale your leg like you’re a human jungle gym.
One of the guys said it felt like working in a petting zoo run by anarchists. I told him, “Welcome to the farm. Now duck—she’s about to sneeze hay in your face.

So we compromised. I bribed the herd with a bucket of grain and herded them into a pen, where they immediately began plotting their escape like it was the final act of The Great Escape: Ruminant Edition. They bleated their displeasure loud enough to make the excavator backfire.

But the hole got dug, the piping is in, and someday soon that warm, toasty heat will be flowing into the house without me having to split another log or sweep up a metric ton of bark chips.

And as for my poor, mangled lawn? It’ll come back. Eventually. Hopefully. If not, I’ll turn it into a goat yoga studio and call it landscaping with purpose.

So if you're ever feeling too confident about your home improvement project, just invite a few goats to supervise. They'll humble you real quick—and probably eat your blueprints while they're at it. 



Please leave a comment below. I love hearing from you.