Feb 19 marked Chinese New Year and inaugurated the Year of the Goat --
as if there were any other kind of year at MeadowWild Farm.
The air temp that morning was -23 (with an even brisker wind chill).
The deer sleeping in our back yard
had frosty muzzles.
Four days later we dropped to -25 (air temp) as the Siberian Express swept over us on its way south and east.
According to The Weather Channel, "The coldest conditions in the nation Thursday were found in parts of northern Minnesota, accustomed to extreme cold in the winter months. The town of Cotton logged the nation's low Thursday at 43 below zero."
Dustin didn't care.
He soaked up the sunlight for a while
and then went mountain climbing
on the desktop hutch.
While we've been even colder than the eastern states getting all the attention on the national news
we haven't had anything approaching their snowfalls, and so have lost our bragging/complaining rights.
We suffer from Boston envy.
(http://www.aroundtheworldl.com/2013/02/17/beautiful-boston-under-two-feet-of-blizzard-snow/)
We're also suffering from anticipation as this longest month drags on before the kidding begins. The ladies are getting impressively large. Eclipse is due on March 8
Cheeky on March 9
Momo not until March 29 (although she looks as if she's ready to drop a football squad at any moment)
and Chandra on March 30
Mojo looks at the girls and acts surprised – as if he had nothing to do with their current condition.
He doesn't recollect last breeding season:
Meanwhile, until her own arrive, Barb has had to satisfy vicariously her yearning for cute baby goats --
e.g., by enjoying photos friend Heidi sent of new kids from Lassi and Kona (graduates of MeadowWild Farm)
and by visiting Poplar Hill Farm with friend Brian (who supplied the picture above).
The goats themselves are biding their time by chewing on evergreens
and Chandra continues to sneak occasionally into the feeder.
When not thinking up names for the approaching babies, Barb has been experimenting with new kinds of goat milk soap
and has just been listed in the Minnesota Grown Directory.
