Time Wasters

I have such a good story for the next post. I wrote it three nights ago on my tiny iPhone keypad, using one finger... But since I'd pre-loaded the baby duck photo, the giraffe video and the picture below, that story had to wait its turn. So please check back in a day or so! In the mean time, this post is part of the continuing series of Adventures that occurred on our honeymoon. By virtue of spending 3 wks in New Zealand and an additional week (too short) in Australia, I collected a plethora of adventures in nature, ranging from the usual to the outrageous and extreme.

Today's mention fits into the category of the former, though having never spent time with goats, let alone ones names Ringo and Lilly, I personally found nothing usual about it!

This is on the rolling 40 acre homestead of my friends who moved from LA about 6 years before, to live out their dream of a simple, good life. They found this land with a house they've since rennovated - mostly with their own hands. While these two goats are theirs and they hope to have more animals, for now they lease out much of it for sheep to graze (a great way to mow and fertilize the land while bringing in a bit of cash). They mulch, they built and grow most of their own fruits and vegetables and make most of their own furniture. He's a volunteer fireman and edits arthouse movie trailers, she started a theater co., helped wheelchair bound kids experience freedom by learning to ride horses, writes,sews and goes into nearby Auckland to see plays. They're great cooks and have made lots of friends to keep them busy, as if the things I've listed aren't enough!

All of this is to explain the title of this post. These goats are so amusing that my friends feel they spend far too much time being distracted from their many chores by them. Hence their nickname -- time wasters! They come right over to you at the fence like this and won't let you go. They want treats, pats on the head, their ears scratched. That's Ringo in the foreground with a look that says, " Drop the camera and give me BETTER attention!" I admit it took a little getting used to their eyes- the pupils are horizontal rather than vertical, which gives off a kind of alien vibe.

They are leash trained so they can come out of their pen to enjoy long walks. Perhaps the funniest part is when they may wantto go faster or stray off the path and told no. They express themselves by delivering a nice little headbutt to the behind of whomever's holding that leash. Once our friends finally free themselves from these two hooligans and indeed get back to work Lilly and Ringo can be seen settling in atop the tin roof of their shelter (as goats love to climb) perhaps to keep an eye on their masters, or better yet, coerce them into coming back.

Though I have much yet to write on our adventures in New Zealand, there are a few others to be found under that label on the right of this page