The calendar says it is spring, and the singing birds agree. The pasture is a mix of old tattered snow, and mud. So much mud. It sucks at my boots and the animals seem to hate walking through it. I can't blame them.
The ducks are in their element, wandering from puddle to puddle, dabbling their flat bills in the wet. They are on the move all day, after a long winter of being kept close to the coop due to the snow.
Looking out the window I see little white goat kids bouncing and flouncing all around. We have never had them all be one color. It's hard to tell them apart, and we have taken to spritzing dots of color on them so we can tell which kid belongs to which mama goat. Jane's kids have red dots, Ella's, green, Spirit's, blue. The kids Celeste abandoned are kept in a separate area, so they remain unsullied.
Interestingly enough, the baby goats don't stay with their mama's all the time. They leap and twist around the pasture, grab a snack from the mom milk bar, then pile into the goat cozy for a communal nap. I rigged up a little lean-to for them, and they gather there, safe from the hooves of the big goats. It's the sweetest thing. Each kid lies touching it's brother/sister. They bond early, and tightly.
They love to climb, and will happily leap up on anything within reach. Spirit goat has her own two kids on her back, and one of Ella's, for good measure. She is patient with all the babies.
Kids are curious about every creature they meet.
Poodles, kittens, chickens... they examine each animal with bold curiosity.
We are all enchanted by them. Even this guy.
Spring time. Mud. Kids. And lots of smiles.
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