Howdy y'all ... we're back ...
So our normally chatty family and friends have not left us any comments ... so we decided to trudge forward anyway.
Akita ... the riding begins
One of the major reasons ... for Akita to move was for her to be around Horses. (Eventually to get her own of course). Mama and Akita went in search of riding lessons. We looked up the closest ones to BRB ... and found 3 close to home. We called them and the first one was out of business. The second no longer provided riding lessons ... strictly "horse boarding only", but was currently flooded from the recent Fraser River flooding in the neighbourhood. And the third listed an address on Halpert which was within "bike riding distance" from BRB. True to form though ... they had moved to Mission and were currently moving again. We set up a date to view the "new" location and Jen (new super coach for Akita) took us on a tour. De Novo Training had now moved to a bigger facility in Matsqui area. Not within biking distance, but still within an easy 10 min drive (unless you get stopped at a train crossing for 10+ mins). In preparation for the big move Akita had taken some riding lessons in Langley at the A&T Equestrian Centre. She had even taken a "horse first aid class" ... just in case. She loved the spring camp and did very well according to her coaches. She started her new lessons with Jen, The first Friday in August. Jen was pleasantly surprised at how much Akita already knew as a beginner. Of course anyone who knows Akita would not be surprised at her "quick learning skills". Mama, Jen and Akita all decided that the best course of action would be for Akita to do a "half lease" option. Jen had confidence in Akita's horse grooming skills and tacking up skills (putting on a saddle and bridle) ... so we started with one lesson and two practise lessons per week. Akita has done very well with these lessons even when the added responsibilities of caring for sick cats and new kittens came along. Mama barely rolls herself out of bed and makes a coffee while Akita feeds 2 dogs, 4 inside cats, 5+ barn cats, Momma Cat (Violet), and her 5 kittens (and later 6 goats). Akita was meant to be an early morning child. MamaBear was not.
From Cashmeres ...
Remember the tale of the nesting boxes in Aggasiz ... Mama had decided it was time to get some goats. Now most logical people would study goats for a bit, make them a home, fence the yard properly and then pick up animals. Not Mama ... she often puts the "cart before the horse" or in this case "the Kids before the fencing". Craigslist is hit again and Akita and Mama go out to view some "Cashmere Goats". We drive up Sumas Mountain (near where we had looked at a house to buy last year). The guy selling the goats was nice, but the goats were not very social. The male, Bucky, was said to have one job, and one job only ... to impregnate the females. Apparently he was quite good at his job. The young cashmere (about 4 months or so) was beautiful. Black in colour and looked very soft, although we could not get close enough to touch her or any of the herd in fact. We did learn something important that day though ... if a goat's head fits through a space ... they will make the rest of themselves fit through. They are the escape artists of the herding world. Mama and Akita listened to Bucky as he "sang a little song" or mumbled a little mumble and had a giggle but were not quite convinced that these were the goats for us.
To Pygmies ...
As we drove away we decided to call a few more names on Craigslist. Left a couple of messages and then got through to a young sounding girl in Mission. We followed our GPS into a very suburban looking neighbourhood. One of us said "where would you keep goats here?" and then we turned into what looked like a park entrance. We drove up a driveway to a log cabin and Out came a young woman who led us down a path towards a fenced off area with goats (several kinds) and a really fat miniature horse. We were told that the girl pygmy goat was there and the boys, her brother and another pygmy were at a camp in a petting zoo for the summer. We hoped this would make them really social and we fell in love with the little pygmy girl goat. A big happy dog had come along with us on our walk down the trail. We then headed back "up the trail" with Mama wishing she had driven down there and Akita pushing her back up it. The happy dog trying to help too by pulling on Mama's key chain. Of course the owner of the goats ... an older man came out to greet us as we got back to the truck. Mama was now spluttering and gasping and falling over from the hill walk. She put up one finger and barely caught her breath to say "one minute". They must have really wondered about these crazy city folks wanting goats. We decided to give the girl some money to hold the goats for us. They told us we could pick them up on the following Saturday and they would bring the boys in from Aldergrove. We headed out with the best intentions of working on the fencing to the pasture. We didn't get around to it though. Next we got a return call from a lady in Langley ... she would be home the next day and we could come by and view her lovely lady Boer does. Boer doe ... doesn't it sound fancy like a fine wine.
To Boer Does ...
Another person called back to say that her goats were sold, but we figured we would have enough with the six goats we had in mind. Sunday afternoon and Akita and Mama are off to pick up DY from Scout camp in Vancouver. We stopped into see the Boer Does in Langley on the way. Boy Langley is confusing, even our GPS told us lies. Last year DY and Mama had gone to pick something up in Langley and we got completely turned around in the dark. DY has a really good sense of direction, but Mama is often lost. At the time DY said to Mama "let's not move to Langley okay? ... You will never find your way home." ... He may have been right. Mama and Akita finally find the correct 6th St. and drive up to a nice farm with a pasture full of goats, horses and chickens. We knocked on the door and we met a super nice "goat lady". She calls the goats and they all walk up the fencing where she bribes them with grape leaves. She explains all kinds of interesting facts about goats and even shows us their shelter, hay feeders and grain feeders. We discuss us taking the sister goats and we tell her we need to fix our fences and could pick them up next Sunday which is her next day off. We tell her we can give her cash to hold them for us, and she tells us "No need". We promise to call her on Thursday to tell her how our fencing is coming along, then we are off to pick up DY. After picking up DY ... we tell him that we bought 6 goats. He is not happy, but as a teenage boy ... when is he ??
Which "kids" will we choose ??
Thanks for reading and welcome to our Barns,
The Lims
By the way ... check out our Facebook Page "Lim Farm"
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