All posts by Nan Hassey
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
After he stormed the tractor and was taken captive, Finn defected to our side. 
As a trustworthy ally, Phil showed Finn all the controls and gauges so he could operate the machine. 
Finn learns how the steering wheel works. 
Unfortunately, he doesn’t seem to have figured out which direction he should be looking. 
After his failed attempt at driving the tractor, Finn decided to downgrade to a simpler vehicle. This one doesn’t need to be steered. It just goes forward and back. Very easy. Please don’t run over Pac-Man! 
Farmer Lois and the War for the Tractor
When the tractor wasn’t occupied by Phil or Nubbin, Lois took her turn in the driver’s seat. It was a good vantage point from which to snap candid shots of the goat castle going up. 
It was also a good vantage point from which to snap candid shots of this photographer. 
Lois seems slightly perturbed by the full frontal assault being waged on her machine. 
“Where do you want me to dump you, Nubbin?” 
As more goats arrive on the scene, Lois attempts to deal with the one who has breeched the top defenses and is now making his way boldly toward her lap. 
“What do I do if he refuses to leave?”
“I guess I take him prisoner!” 
Nubbin lends a hand
I mentioned that Nubbin is the Tower Queen. I did not mention that she is also the Tractor Queen. As those who follow the Goat-O-Rama adventures may recall, Nubbin has a great affinity for trucks. Well, it turns out this gal just likes machines!
While all the other goats sun themselves in the grass, where is Nubbin?
Why, on her tractor of course!
“Check out these hydraulics!”
“Power steering!”
“This seat is not made for a goat. Perhaps I can modify it!”
Turns out Nubbin was modifying that seat in more ways than Phil cared to discover.
Who needs right shoulder support anyway?
“I CAN TO still fit!”
How she managed to squeeze not only her body but her extra-large udder through this door will forever remain a mystery. 
A riot of color. We love our patchwork goaties! 
The construction of “Cuzcotopia”
Here’s how it all came together. We’re calling it “Cuzcotopia”.Phil and his dad, Jim, begin gathering the spools.
Cuzco is thrilled that Jim got his old shed back into working condition and goes in for an inspection.
Jim instructs Phil on the placement of the top spool.
The preliminary inspection.
Phil surveys his handiwork. Pac-Man also surveys Phil’s handiwork.
The Goat Fortress
When Phil’s parents came to visit, Phil and his dad built a goat fortress. The spools were generously given to us for free by the nice guys who work in the yard at the San Isabel Electric Association. We pulled up with a horse trailer and they got the forklift and loaded us up. For the base, Phil’s dad fixed Cuzco’s old shed that blew away and crashed in the scrub oak last fall. Phil used the tractor to stack the spools, and Phil and his dad built the ramps to connect them.
Nubbin is the nearly-undisputed tower queen. She and Finn have this thing figured out, but Nubbin doesn’t let Finn share a spool with her, so Nubbin claims her spool and stands up there looking down on everyone like royalty.
An outing with the crew
Yesterday we took the goats for a walk around our property. Up to now, we’ve been calling our goats a “herdlet”. But I think they’ve grown beyond herdlet status at this point. With eight goats, it’s now a bona fide herd.
We’re all ears! 
Snickers and Sputnik learned to play “King of the Hill”. 
Lilly’s progeny. Aren’t they a colorful crew? They aren’t posing very nicely but they’re all here: Lilly the matriarch, her daughter Petunia, her son Huckleberry Finn, and her grandsons Snickers and Sputnik. 
Kids: meet kids
My mom, my sister-in-law Jill, and her kids (my niece and nephews) came to visit on Jill’s birthday. They wanted to see the baby goats while they were still little.
Snickers was the calmest so he got held and cuddled the most. My mom helped Robert hold Snickers on his lap. 
Robert tries to engage Finn in conversation, but Finn has the attention span of a typical kid. Lilly seems casually interested though. 
Jill poses for a portrait. 
Finn enjoyed showing off his wall-walking prowess for my relatives. 
Sleepyheads
It’s been a long weekend. I went out Friday morning to discover that Petunia’s kids were frantically nursing without result. They were hungry and frustrated and crying. I ran a mastitis test and the left side came back positive. She probably developed it before she kidded. Her udder was full to bursting for two days before she delivered, and her enthusiasm caught up to her.
So I spent all weekend doing massages and hot compresses and stripping the udder almost round-the-clock. I had to make an emergency trip to Pueblo Saturday morning so I could pick up antibiotics from the vet. Then more massaging, stripping, hot compresses, Bag Balm throughout the day, late at night, and early in the morning.
This is what I looked like Sunday night. 
Phil and I like to watch movies with baby goats on our lap. We’ve always had to fight over one baby before, but since we have twins now we don’t have to play tug-o-war!