Goat man Terry

Monica's Lopez neighbor had just acquired two young Nubian goats last year when we visited. This year he added two even younger kids to his herd, which now also includes his daughter's horse. While the baby goats gamboled and kicked up their heels in the evening, Terry told a hilarious story about dressing the young goats up in fleece vests and the like this past winter. It got very cold on Lopez and he doesn't have an enclosed barn for them, just an open-sided shelter. He was worried that they would suffer. He said -- and I choose to believe him -- that the goats liked their outfits. He removed the clothing once the weather changed; and when it turned bitter again they went over to the place where the vests and shirts were lying and nudged them until he put them back on. The photo at right shows the youngsters playing with their food. That's the vegetable and flower garden of Terry and his wife in the background.

Lopez, again

I was supposed to be waiting hand and foot on Jan and Monica for the weekend of their shared birthday, but it didn't really happen that way. I did bring a birthday cake (Silver Palate's carrot cake, yum) and some gifts, but being the youngest and most irresponsible, they couldn't count on me for a lot else. Except the snoring. I managed to serenade them nightly. At least that's what they said. I don't believe that I snore. Jan does though. It's a very little, quiet snore, as befits a person of her petite stature. But it is a snore all the same.