This picture shows Vesla on her way home. During the summer our three goats are employed by the local council to eat their way around the water reservoir up the road, thereby tidying up the undergrowth. The notice says ‘Goats grazing – lock the gate!’.
A Bad Guide 
I forgot to say that goats have wonderfully soft ears that flap when they run.
I forgot to say that goats have wonderfully soft ears that flap when they run.
I know this blog thing is new to you, but you really can’t forget to say things like that.
Now I want a goat. Or several goats.
What’s even cooler than you having a goat is that your goat works a government job.
It looks like the goats’ ears aren’t just flapping, but that the goats can move them out to the side too. The one on the left–Misty?– looks like it’s doing a Yoda impersonation.
Language Hat: Now I want a goat. Or several goats.
You could have goats, Language. You’d never regret it, nor would Mrs Language and your grandchildren would love it.
Cod: What’s even cooler than you having a goat is that your goat works a government job.
You can tell they enjoy a good day’s work. Since they’re being paid in leaves and undergrowth, it’s all untaxed.
Nij: Misty is the smartest goat we have. She is the great communicator, much more effective than Ronald Reagan.
Jamessal: there is so much to this blogging. So much responsibility, I never realised. It’s much like flying a 747.
Very nice. Having three goats must make for some interesting goat politics. If the Misty and Vesle are old enemies, does the third, unnamed goat play kingmaker?
SnowLeopard:
Ah, I’m glad you saw that. Yes, exactly, well spotted. The third goat, Holly, IS the king (or queen, in this case). I have made a diagram of the politics; I’ll put it up tomorrow.
I can’t believe how much your goats look like sheep. Did you have a paternity check, by any chance (or malchance)?
Hey, Sig, where is your blog page? Maybe about rabbits? Or fish? You can see how easy it is.
In the garden we have loads of toads. Snails too. An odd tendrak (a kind of hedgehog) visits us every now and then. Every afternoon we have two bats that hang themselves in one tree in front of the kitchen door and at night their cousins often come and make a hell of a noise. (Either they are fighting for our litchis or longans, either they are mating. I’ve never dared go outside in the dark to check.) We have parakeets flying past, and bulbuls in their hundreds too, of course, but no rabbit I’m afraid. (Actually it may not be a bad idea, except that with the dog and the cat they may have a hard time.) So the blog will have to wait for a while.
It’s the curly wool. You’re probably used to seeing goats with straight coats. When we shear them they really look like goats, mostly because of the horns. That’s really how you can tell the difference: you don’t see a whole flock of sheep with horns. Most people who walk past our house think they’re sheep.
loads of toads
I have the same problem distinguishing frogs from toads.
They’re frogs, but have you seen a movie called Magnolia? (Warning: Nij, this is a biblical scene, not for the squeamish).
I hadn’t heard of the tendrak, which doesn’t come out very often, even on google. Apparently it is called tenrec, in English.
the blog will have to wait for a while
I’d be delighted to post a bunch of pictures here, if you send them to me. We’re all dying to see.
Longans and bulbuls.
Allelujah, at least I knew the song It’s Raining Men — which was sung by one René M. if I’m not mistaken — but rains of frogs are found in Egypt only, aren’t they? Or maybe they are due to tornadoes? The only magnolia I knew was planted in the garden, but it’s gone now.
How do you know it’s not toads that we have around the house? Okay, English do not have true genders but, even if batrachians usually don’t let it all hang out, it’s not the end of the world to make out a male crapaud from a female grenouille, no?
Yes, the tendrak (or tang) is the tenrec. Together with Reunionese, Gypsies or Corsicans, we must be among the few people on Earth who happen to occasionally eat hedgehogs*. I’ve never tried though, preferring a good cabri massalé instead. (Hum…)
* bats too, by the way
Re: Bulbul
No, not the one you’ve linked to (some snow could be seen behind it!), but this one:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red-whiskered_Bulbul
(Damn thing!)
Pictures to see what? The toads, to check whether they are males or otherwise? I think that the last one that got into the house was dumped outside two or three days ago. But I promise I’ll look inside the dog’s water bowl tonight.
I’ve never sheared a goat in my life and I hope I’ll never shear a concrete beam any time soon, because I’ll be in serious trouble then.
To me goats are mostly black or brown and they wander along the Black River road. They don’t look like this at all. But maybe it’s normal to have white goats with hair like a Santa beard in Northern Europe and brown and mostly black goats in tropical countries, er?
No, not the one you’ve linked to
Sorry, I’m no expert on bulbuls.
Pictures of what? Just pictures of life on Mars, taken by Martians, for those of us who haven’t been to Mauritius.
I’m going to write about snails, now; you reminded me.
Excellent subject. “The Sex Life of an Ordinary Snail”, for instance: must be fascinating. Apparently they can be cannibals as well, did you know that? I’ve eaten some once, in France. Not that bad but it has the taste of the garlic butter you put around. They definitely cannot stand the comparison with octopuses, a true delicacy.
Martians call snails courtpas, literally “do-not-run”. They are not quite one foot long, but they can be pretty big when compared to those I’ve seen in Europe.
Now why isn’t my comment displayed when I reply to your 11:22 am comment?
“HTTP 500 – Internal server error”
Apparently a commoner cannot reply to a reply. So:
A. J. P. Crown // April 4, 2009 at 11:22 am | Reply
It’s the curly wool. You’re probably used to seeing goats with straight coats. When we shear them they really look like goats, mostly because of the horns.
I’ve never sheared a goat in my life and I hope I’ll never shear a concrete beam any time soon, because I’ll be in serious trouble then.
To me goats are mostly black or brown and they wander along the Black River road. They don’t look like this at all. But maybe it’s normal to have white goats (with hair like a Santa beard) in Northern Europe and mostly brown and black goats in tropical countries, er?
There must be something with the content. Word(sup)press doesn’t seem to like what I’m writing in this comment, God knows what. Maybe it’s the word “cøncrεte”? (Cannot be “g-o-a-t”.)
It could just be that I edited my comment afterwards. Try again. I haven’t had any spam and I’m not censoring any particular words.
Concrete, cøncrete and betøn are fine…
In Norwegian the word snailer is used for both snails and the shell-less ones which are ‘slugs’ in English. Is that the case in Creole and/or French?
Slug:
It’s limace [limas] in French and Creole. (Could be a swear word, in French, to describe someone who doesn’t have any willpower or any stamina.)
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
“HTTP 500 – Internal server error”
Apparently a commoner cannot reply to a reply. So:
A. J. P. Crown // April 4, 2009 at 11:22 am | Reply
It’s the curly wool. You’re probably used to seeing goats with straight coats. When we shear them they really look like goats, mostly because of the horns.
I’ve never sheared a goat in my life and I hope I’ll never shear a concrete beam any time soon, because I’ll be in serious trouble then.
To me goats are mostly black or brown and they wander along the Black River road. They don’t look like this at all. But maybe it’s normal to have white goats (with hair like a Santa beard) in Northern Europe and mostly brown and black goats in tropical countries, er?
Concrete, yes, I would like to read a blog about concrete if Sig would write it.
Snails on concrete, toads on concrete, and the occasional goat as a favor to Kron. I could even post a photo of Chicago concrete as a small tribute.
This type of blog has a filter for naughty words, but you have to think of them yourself and add them to the filter. I doubt if Kron knows any bad words to put in it. Maybe too many links?
“HTTP 500 – Internal server error”
Apparently a commoner cannot reply to a reply.
A bad hiccup.
There is a way to increase the number of nested replies allowed.
Oops, I don’t know why the italics didn’t close after reply. No previews here.
I clearly have a lot to learn about blogging. I’ll try to fix these things…