Almost a sun break: more goat pictures

The sun started to peak through the clouds, so I ran outside with my camera. I grabbed my old Pentax SMC DA 18-55 lens, which came with my original Pentax ist DL body. It's just a kit lens, priced at $50, but every time I use it, I wonder why I don't use it more. I love this lens. I'm using it on my Pentax K10 here. The lens is sharp and has the best color I've seen, which of course, is something for which Pentax is famous . Simply put, this is great glass!
 
This is the view out my front yard to the street. We used to have to hike up that every day with our books and groceries back when our driveway was washed out. When the city put in the new driveway and culvert, they took out two huge firs and a lot of smaller trees and bushes. It looks so barren to me now.
 
Note: All goats are herd name Goat Mountain View unless otherwise specified. Yep, these are my breeding, and I love them!

I tried to get the does to go out to pasture so I would have lovely green grass in the background, but they saw the sky and refused. Goats hate to get wet. They came out this far from the gate and then raced back into the barn.

Hopeful was the only doe who agreed to follow me out to the pasture. She will be a year in June. (out of MR Mac X Hailey). She's polled.

Ice Cream (out of Blythmoor PayDay X Hailey) She's polled.

Here's Ice Cream with her brother Muru.

Nehemiah (out of Blythmoor PayDay X Limerick) with mom Limerick behind him to the right. This was Limerick's ninth freshening. Limerick is a sweet, sweet doe and a very attentive mom. All the does in my herd (that are of my own breeding) have Limerick somewhere in their lineage.

Brothers Ezra and Nehemiah out of Blythmoor PayDay X Limerick. Limerick always has beautiful kids.

Best friends Hopeful (MR Mac X Hailey) and Magnificent (MR Mac X Lyric)

Tiny baby Violet is the most adorable kid, and she's got a cute personality to match. (out of Tuppence Magnum Opus X Virelai) She might be polled; no horn buds yet at 2 weeks old.

It's a lot of fun to take pictures of Violet. Even though she is teeny, tiny, she has a personality as big as the sky.

 This is Violet's mom, Virelai. (out of Oasis Storm X Poem) She is polled and also quite small. (Hailey and Violet are behind Virelai. Virelai is exceptionally mellow and sweet.

Violet is best friends with Twilight (black and white doeling out of Tuppence Magnum Opus and Tahoma Almond Joy). Both Tahoma Almond Joy and Virelai were first fresheners, so they got to stay together for the first two weeks in the large nursery pen. Their babies act like sisters. Twilight is the shy one, but she has lovely conformation. I expect her to be a knockout after she matures.

Tahoma Almond Joy, now 2 years old with a baby of her own: Twilight. Almond Joy is really turning out nice as she matures. I'm very grateful for this generous gift from Joan Hicks.

Chanson is my pretty girl, and she has the LA score to prove it. But, I think you can see for yourself. (out of Oasis Storm X Tahoma Mikado)

Arumugam (out of Blythmoor PayDay X Tahoma Mikado). Aru is named after my colleague at TNQ.

Aru and Chanson. Aru chose to have Chanson (Mikado's daughter) as his mom instead. Chanson absolutely adores him.

This is Mansa. (out of Blythmoor PayDay X Tahoma Mikado) She is Aru's sister. I believe she will be stunning as she matures. She has a very sweet personality to match. Most of PayDay's kids have that white bracelet on their leg. Mansa is named after my supervisor at TNQ in Chennai.

Poem (out of Oak Tree Meadows Hurricane X Reverie) giving a bit of auntie advice to little Vidhya (out of Blythmoor PayDay X Hailey). Vidhya is named after a friend I used to work with at TNQ, who has now married and started a family.

This is Vidhya. None of the customers wanted her because she wasn't a flashy color. So, I'm keeping her. She is polled. Vidhya is super sweet, a real snuggler, and a bit shy with strangers. She is out of Hailey, who is my superstar in the herd for milk production and butterfat. So, I believe she has a bright future in the hoof prints of her mom.

Here is the doe herd, afraid to come out of the barn lest a drop of rain land on any of them. Front Left: Mansa and Ice Cream; Center L-R: Chanson, Aru, Tahoma Mikado, Hailey, Poem (screaming at me for attention), Muru, and Vidhya; Magnificent (Maggie) is resting on top of the  manger; Limerick is peeking out from the sleeping area in back with her bucklings. You don't see Hopeful in the picture because she has climbed up on my shoulders as I try to get the picture!

Chanson, Aru, Mikado, and Hailey

On my way out to the pasture to find the buck goats, I met up with our old blue American buck rabbit named Swift.

Here are the bucks out in the orchard. They don't care if they get a bit wet.

MR Blue MacLibbyHeart (Mac) is our senior buck at 3 years old. He sired all the kids last year; we retained Hopeful and Maggie. He's really quite something. Mac is my younger son's number one favorite goat.

Our second most senior buck is of my own breeding: Goat Mountain View Dusty Storm (Dusty). (out of Goat Mountain View Oasis Storm X Goat Mountain View Poem) He is polled and has magnificent width through his rump and hocks. He's also very sweet and gentle. Dusty is the grandson of Goat Mountain View Xlnt Storm, and we are grateful to keep this magnificent line going through him.

Blythmoor PayDay, who just turned a year old last month, sired most of this year's kids. He is just stunning, and he appraised quite well as young stock last June. He was a bit too busy trying to get enough grass before the rain hit hard, so I didn't get very good pictures of him. He throws his coloring and markings, as seen in his kids; it will be exciting to see if he also throws his awesome conformation and his mom's superior udder (SGCH Blythmoor HM Almond Joy 3*M).

The youngest buck is 10-month-old Tuppence Magnum Opus. He's still a baby, but he's already got kids on the ground: Violet and Twilight. He comes from one of the finest Nigerian Dwarf herds in the nation, whose breeder is Penny Tyler. I am very grateful for Penny's generous gift of Magnum.