Well, fans and friends, 2012 has been quite a year for us here at Mountain Top Fibers.  We said so long to Norman, our friend and herdsire, and hello to his son Geronimo who will be the herdsire for 2013.  Norman had developed into a very handsome buck, a perfect gentleman, who only gave me fits when it was breeding season.

We miss him, but, don't want him breeding his daughters, so, he got another job and moved to West Virginia (it's ok if he breeds his daughters in West Virginia... hahahah)

His son, Geronimo, is trying like the dickens to be the clean up buck, making sure everyone is preggers, and he is just acting like some obnoxious 18 year old boy

So, now, because he has to be SEGREGATED so he doesn't try to breed the little girls (he has no couth... acts JUST like a goat) the wench asked if I would try to teach him some manners.  Sheesh.  I have to do everything around here.  I told that wench that I would need more pay and a promotion to take on all this extra responsibility.

Therefore, I am pleased to announce that I, Frankie, have been promoted to CEG of Mountain Top Fibers (that is Chief Executive Goat for anyone who doesn't know).  Here's my corporate portrait:

notice, I have to wear a tie to work now.  Oh the price we pay!!!  I do get a little extra grain each day, and all the cheek scritches I want, and animal crackers, don't forget them.  THEY are my favorite.

 

I do take my new position seriously though, and consult with the wench and the builder on a daily basis about what is going on in this joint.   The builder is busy (what's new) with his new toy, the sawmill, building huts.  The first thing he built was a new chicken coop and pigeon loft and goat shed combination.  This edifice is located at the top of the hillside pasture

The chickens are out of the barn (thank God, they were SO MESSY) and will be working to assist the builder and wench with the gardening.  All of the uh, fertilizer, is dumped up by their new house and they rototill it, adding more fertilizer, eating the bugs, etc.... (everyone around here has a job to do) and producing eggs.  The actual garden will be fenced to keep the deer out and then the chickens will get the weeds, etc. in their smaller outdoor pen which is adjacent to the garden.  Twice a year they will get free range in the actual garden itself, to do their thing.

The pigeon area is in the first part, and a flight cage is attached.  Pigeons don't really serve a purpose, but the builder and the wench both have dads who always had pigeons, so, they wanted them to honor their dads.  I guess that's a good thing.

Over on the side, by the tree in this picture, is a little goat shed so, just in case someone is in this hillside pasture and it starts to rain or something, we can get out of the weather.

Thanks to Pam Williamson, our neighbor, who had some trees taken down and so she donated the logs to make this house.  We love Pam around here... she always comes over and pets me!

The other hut he built was a house for the sawmill itself, to keep it out of the rain:

In this picture it isn't exactly done yet, but he's working on it.

He also is making new pens for us, out of lumber this time instead of poles.  It will be much more comfortable when it comes time for babies, and will afford each momma goat some privacy.

In other news, we have some new stuff going on at the rabbitry part of the barn.  Welcome, please, a new breed of angora:  the SATIN angora, which is a rare breed, almost extinct, and so we are starting the conservation of this bunny.  Meet Gay's Josh:

he looks a little stuck up in this picture, but he's really very nice.  And his betrothed, Divine:

isn't her fleece just Divine?  so shiny. This will complement the french angora/mohair/wool blend we do here, very nicely.

Just for the "cute factor" wench brought home a few of these guys, too, a month or so ago

LIONHEADS.

Haven't we got enough cute around here?  Well, Elsa and Kimba are the does, and Aslan is the buck, and once we get a litter from each of these girls, they'll be looking for pet homes.  Any takers?

I think the cute factor is already covered around here between the baby goats and me. gheesh.  But, we do have some cute baby rabbits....

this is Abigail-Elizabeth's litter, just starting to come out of their nest.

and this litter was born to NW Nimbus and GW Duckie just last week!

This is Nimbus, being shy.  Her two daughters from last year are bred, too:

Athena

Aphrodite

Mutiara had a litter of two just the other day, but she wasn't having any pictures taken this morning.

So, anyway, it's been a productive year, we've said so long to some friends and made some new ones.  2013 should be a good year - now that I'm in charge of things, maybe we'll sell some yarn!  So, as usual, thanks for reading Frankly speaking..... have a happy new year! kiss kiss