13th Goat Anniversary

Today 13 year ago I bought my first goats.  They were three pygmy goats I picked up in Ellensburg.  There’s Carrie on my lap, Ben I am petting and Annie at the end of the bale, all on the day I got them.  Carrie was a real sweetheart, friendly and gentle.  Ben was a roustabout but also friendly.  He was an add-on purchase, such a deal!  Annie was not friendly, standoffish.  I learned a lot from these goats, both good and bad.  Annie, I lost to pneumonia after a C-section.  Carrie was killed by  a sheep.  Ben died of old age.  Carrie, in particular, really stole my heart and broke it when she died.  I switched to Nigerian Dwarf goats after these three pygmy goats partly because I wanted milk and partly because I did not wish to repeat the experience with Annie.  But these pygmy goats were real delight to live with.  I fell in love with pygmy goats at the Puyallup Fair when I was a kid and if it weren’t for those goats way back then, I would have never started getting goats, then sheep, etc.  So here’s to 13 years of goats in my life!