GOATS! Orlando picked me up at
6am to make the long drive to
Rome, NY. Only an hour into the trip, the lady behind us keep blinking her lights at us and signaling to pull over. Turns out that the
right back tire was flat. We took the next exit to Riverhead to fill up the tire. Being only 7:30 am, there weren’t any auto shops open to check out the tire so we had to rely on filling it with air. After that quick pit stop we were back on the road. The drive there felt like it took forever, but it was interesting to see how much
New York changes as you move further and further northwest. I have never driven through so many tolls in my life. I would have to say we went through at least 10 tolls both ways.
Once we were in New York State the scenery was all
forests, lakes, farms, the Erie Canal, cows, barns, mountains, beautiful tranquility. We had a couple scares with whether we were going the right way or not because once you’re heading in one direction on an interstate, there is no going back. The longest interstate was I-90. We drove over 120 miles on it. And then on I-87 we drove close to 100 miles.
One way was close to 400 miles. We were pretty relaxed on the way there, which is probably why we didn’t get there until 3pm. The farm was located in the middle of nowhere surrounded by forests. The place looked really packed and smelt very strong. I was nervous because I didn’t know whether or not I was evening going to get the goats from the looks of the place. Then someone came out.
Other than people of New Orleans, they were the
friendliest people I’ve met. Rome, NY takes the cake for friendliest in the people of New England. The man, Bob, looked like the
farmer version of Santa Claus. He was jolly and big, little beady eyes, plump rosy cheeks, a fluffy beard, denim overalls, a red undershirt, and big black rubber boots. His wife was Mrs. Claus. They were very relaxed and happy I was there and they were very considerate about the drive. Bob showed me the whole farm.
There were rabbits, chickens, roosters, goats, kids, bucks, calves, cows, turkeys, and probably many more. All for sale. That’s his business. If I ever need any more animals I am definitely going to Bob. Trust me, it’s worth the drive. He was telling me about how close he was to the goats he was selling and how it really didn’t want to part with them. Bob suffered from a stroke a couple weeks ago and his wife told him he had to sell a couple of their own animals because he just wasn’t as able to take care of them all as he use to be. I
promised to keep in touch and to take really good care of the goats. He gave me some food to last a couple days and helped Orlando and I get them into the car.
What lovely, sweet, and sensitive goats. His daughter, son-in-law, and grandson came by to say goodbye to Flora and Little Bit.
Flora is a brown and tan, two-year-old saanen and pygmy mix.
Little Bit is a white and tan, one year old Nubian, boer, alpine mix. These were exactly the type of goats I was hoping
for. I really do have good luck when it comes to animals (knock on wood). They need to be wormed in a couple weeks and their CD&T shots aren’t due until March 2010. They eat black oil sunflower seeds for selenium and they feed on milk maker, caprine or sweet feed. They are also grazers and will eat any compost.
As I’ve said before, the most difficult part about this project so far has been trying to find goats. I have called, e-mailed, and talked to over 20 people. Bob called me though. After all of my searching and frustrations he found me. How? In late June I began my search for the goats. Along my way I put up a post on farm classifieds and for a while I checked it everyday. After noticing that people only posted every couple of months and realizing no one would probably read mine, I gave up on checking and went back to searching.
What I thought had failed was actually what saved me. I asked Bob how it was that he came across my number. He said,
“the internet.” What a useful tool. After our goodbyes Orlando and I just wanted to get home. He drove
90 mph the entire drive back. At one point we had to stop at a service station for gas, but the mobile was in repair. There was an emergency gas number, which we had to call because we were on reserve and the next station wasn’t for at least 20 miles. The gas would take about 30 minutes to get to us so we opened up the doors and let the goats walk around and drink some. The people at the service station were
fascinated. There were tourists from all different places
taking pictures, laughing, high fiving, and really enjoying the sight of two goats in the back of a Honda Element. When we got the gas we were back to flooring it on the inter
state.
We stopped at my house at 9pm to clean out the car, feed, water, and let the goats walk around. The farm they were at was mainly all mud and dirt so when they were on grass they went crazy grazing. Orlando and I cleaned out the feces and urine from the mats and put down a big, black plastic bag on the floor for the ride to Bridgehampton. Getting the goats back in the car was near to
impossible because that is the last place they wanted to be after a 6-hour drive. When we got to the tent we tried to milk them but no luck. I would have to do it first thing in the morning because they were too tired and stressed from the trip to be milked. After such a long and eventful day all
I want to do is go to sleep.
GOATS! Orlando picked me up at 6am to make the long drive to Rome, NY. Only an hour into the trip, the lady behind us keep blinking her lights at us and signaling to pull over. Turns out that the right back tire was flat. We took the next exit to Riverhead to fill up the tire. Being only 7:30 am, there weren’t any auto shops open to check out the tire so we had to rely on filling it with air. After that quick pit stop we were back on the road. The drive there felt like it took forever, but it was interesting to see how much New York changes as you move further and further northwest. I have never driven through so many tolls in my life. I would have to say we went through at least 10 tolls both ways.
Once we were in New York State the scenery was all forests, lakes, farms, the Erie Canal, cows, barns, mountains, beautiful tranquility. We had a couple scares with whether we were going the right way or not because once you’re heading in one direction on an interstate, there is no going back. The longest interstate was I-90. We drove over 120 miles on it. And then on I-87 we drove close to 100 miles. One way was close to 400 miles. We were pretty relaxed on the way there, which is probably why we didn’t get there until 3pm. The farm was located in the middle of nowhere surrounded by forests. The place looked really packed and smelt very strong. I was nervous because I didn’t know whether or not I was evening going to get the goats from the looks of the place. Then someone came out.
Other than people of New Orleans, they were the friendliest people I’ve met. Rome, NY takes the cake for friendliest in the people of New England. The man, Bob, looked like the farmer version of Santa Claus. He was jolly and big, little beady eyes, plump rosy cheeks, a fluffy beard, denim overalls, a red undershirt, and big black rubber boots. His wife was Mrs. Claus. They were very relaxed and happy I was there and they were very considerate about the drive. Bob showed me the whole farm. There were rabbits, chickens, roosters, goats, kids, bucks, calves, cows, turkeys, and probably many more. All for sale. That’s his business. If I ever need any more animals I am definitely going to Bob. Trust me, it’s worth the drive. He was telling me about how close he was to the goats he was selling and how it really didn’t want to part with them. Bob suffered from a stroke a couple weeks ago and his wife told him he had to sell a couple of their own animals because he just wasn’t as able to take care of them all as he use to be. I promised to keep in touch and to take really good care of the goats. He gave me some food to last a couple days and helped Orlando and I get them into the car. What lovely, sweet, and sensitive goats. His daughter, son-in-law, and grandson came by to say goodbye to Flora and Little Bit. Flora is a brown and tan, two-year-old saanen and pygmy mix. Little Bit is a white and tan, one year old Nubian, boer, alpine mix. These were exactly the type of goats I was hoping
for. I really do have good luck when it comes to animals (knock on wood). They need to be wormed in a couple weeks and their CD&T shots aren’t due until March 2010. They eat black oil sunflower seeds for selenium and they feed on milk maker, caprine or sweet feed. They are also grazers and will eat any compost. As I’ve said before, the most difficult part about this project so far has been trying to find goats. I have called, e-mailed, and talked to over 20 people. Bob called me though. After all of my searching and frustrations he found me. How? In late June I began my search for the goats. Along my way I put up a post on farm classifieds and for a while I checked it everyday. After noticing that people only posted every couple of months and realizing no one would probably read mine, I gave up on checking and went back to searching. What I thought had failed was actually what saved me. I asked Bob how it was that he came across my number. He said, “the internet.” What a useful tool. After our goodbyes Orlando and I just wanted to get home. He drove 90 mph the entire drive back. At one point we had to stop at a service station for gas, but the mobile was in repair. There was an emergency gas number, which we had to call because we were on reserve and the next station wasn’t for at least 20 miles. The gas would take about 30 minutes to get to us so we opened up the doors and let the goats walk around and drink some. The people at the service station were fascinated. There were tourists from all different places taking pictures, laughing, high fiving, and really enjoying the sight of two goats in the back of a Honda Element. When we got the gas we were back to flooring it on the inter
state. We stopped at my house at 9pm to clean out the car, feed, water, and let the goats walk around. The farm they were at was mainly all mud and dirt so when they were on grass they went crazy grazing. Orlando and I cleaned out the feces and urine from the mats and put down a big, black plastic bag on the floor for the ride to Bridgehampton. Getting the goats back in the car was near to impossible because that is the last place they wanted to be after a 6-hour drive. When we got to the tent we tried to milk them but no luck. I would have to do it first thing in the morning because they were too tired and stressed from the trip to be milked. After such a long and eventful day all I want to do is go to sleep.
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