Slice of Almost Heaven Blog

The Box Vampire

10/28/2019

We have a strange creature in our home, he tries to look so cute, but he is far from it. He appeared out of nowhere back on a full moon in June. Up until that time everything was safe and cozy in our home among the hills.

But now.......our paper products tremble with fear. For they have come upon an enemy that takes no prisoners....he is in it for pure chewing pleasure....he is

THE BOX VAMPIRE!!!! (cue scary music)

The box vampire is always hungry. He is always seeking his next victim. He is cunning and he has no pity for his prey. He has no natural enemies the only thing he fears is.....

Not garlic

Not holy water

Not even crosses

The only known thing that repels him is a camera. He does not fear the camera when he is “camouflaged” but when his fangs come out the only pictures of are of the aftermath of the havoc he has dealt. No box or package is safe from

THE BOX VAMPIRE!!!!!

Photos of some of his "victims"

Remembering.....

9/11/2019

Something strange happened today, a lone figure was seen before dawn slowly walking towards the 9/11 memorial at the downtown campus. As he approaches it he sees the two cadets standing vigil. He slows his approach. He then stops and utters something through a veil of tears, it sounds like “thank you", but because of the hoarseness of the voice it is hard to determine. But the cadets can see that he is visibly shaken. He states, "I was there that day.” He then quickly walks off not saying another word. They can see him sobbing as he quickly walks away. He is not seen again that day. They do not know anything about him, just his greaf and his thanks for remembering...

I am that man...

Today is 9/11, for those my age or older, this is a very somber day. Over the last 18 years I have observed a variety of ways how people who lived through it cope with their grief, this is my way.

I'll Be Watching You....

8/18/2019

Every breath you take
Every move you make
Every bond you break
Every step you take
I'll be watching you ..... from the Police

But the goats give it a different meaning...

I'll be watching you.....

Recently during the cool of the day, the does were on the pasture running and playing.

Suddenly, all play stopped, eyes fixed on something, to be exact.....someone......

Michelle was nearing the bamboo patch, she had clippers in her hand. As she started to nip off boughs of bamboo they watched intently. Their gaze bored holes in her as they try to will her to deliver this delicious treat to them. As she gathers up the boughs and approaches them they start to pace and stomp their hooves in the soft green grass. As she nears the fence and pitches the bamboo over the once passive and refined does transform into a pack of hungry vegetarian wolves and pounce on the delectable leaves and stems. In a few short minutes it is over. A few look up as if to ask “what, no more?”.

It is now time to resume enjoying the cool of the day. But there will always be someone watching you.....

Bite Me!?!

7/29/2019

The term "Bite Me" is quite common in our language today. It usually has the same connotation as our "unofficial" state "bird". Here at Slice of Almost Heaven Farm we have given that term a more literal meaning.

According to Dairyfusis, Confucius's dairy goat owning brother; "If you have treats in pocket, watch your backside!" Michelle did not heed this saying. During evening chores the other day I was walking toward the bucks barn, all of a sudden, I hear Michelle yelling at the bucks. I could not make out what she was saying , but I could tell she was hopping mad. I ran over to the barn thinking something was very wrong, and that she was in dire need of help. When I get there, out of breath I horsley asked her what is wrong?

"Junior is the problem" she blurts out. "He bit me on the (proper term replacing word just spoken) gluteus maximus!" I try to refrain from laughing, but could not, which garnered me a "stink eye" look.

What happened was Michelle had forgotten to remove the extra treats from her pocket before coming back to the bucks. Junior, our butterball Nigerian Dwarf does not pass up an opportunity for food. He could smell the peppermint treats wafting from her pocket and after locating the source just took a nip to see what he could get. What he got, was tongue lashing, then he gave the "sad goat face" and was able to woo Michelle into giving him the treat. So in the end he was successful.

The moral of this story is if you travel with treats in your pocket expect to get bit on the........

The offender....

A Girl and Her Goat

7/24/2019

Little girl and Mr T

This is a picture of "Mr. T" (Sliceofamostheaven Mr Tumnus), he is one of our bottle babies from the spring. The little girl next to him is his new best friend.

Let me explain, this girl's other goat died a few weeks ago and she was missing him so much. So her parents went out to see if they could find a replacement for her most beloved "Jack Jack". Mr T and Basil (a wether) were up for sale, animals at this time are not selling as easily as in the past, usually we would be sold out by this time. But I think the Lord had a plan for this girl and this goat to meet. Just like in the story by CS Lewis, "The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe" Mr Tumnus consoled and kept company with his friend. Big difference, (besides talking) was the character of Mr Tumnus was only 1/2 goat (he was a faun).

So the day came for pickup, the goats were loaded and went to their new home. A few days later, her parents sent us this picture. Our hearts melted knowing we were able to give this little girl so much joy!

All the long hours and bone crushing work seemed to melt away and it was replaced with joy. We know the little girl will always remember these goats. But with this picture we will always remember it as the day she got her new buddy!

Milo 20??-June 14, 2019

6/14/2019

Today we had to send one of our long time housemates over the rainbow bridge.

We have had Milo since October 2008, but we do not know for sure how old he was, because he was an adult when he became part of the Liga household. We had gotten Milo as a buddy for our older cat Mozart and they became fast friends.

Mozart on the left and Milo on the right

Mozart and Milo got to spend 2 years together before Mozart crossed the bridge in 2010.

In the meantime Xavier came into our life in 2009, but he just was not a buddy to Milo the way that Mozart had been. Then in 2014 Henry happened. Milo and Henry were best buds. They hung out with each other and played all the time. They acted more like littermates then any two cats I ever saw. They enjoyed each other's company and loved to snuggle with each other and with their humans. As seen in the photo below.

Milo was such a great cat. For a cat that was horrendously abused before he came to us to be so loving, that is what made him so great, he was everybody's buddy. He even tolerated the baby goats running around the kitchen during kidding season.

It was hard to say goodbye to him today, but it was his time. This world held no pleasure for him anymore, therefore it was time for him to return to the earth from which we all come from.....

Good-bye Milo, thanks for being part of our life!

The Remains of the Day

6/8/2019

I have written before about mornings on the farm (see link). But the cool of the day is another special time on the farm. You see in the late spring/early summer, the air starts to cool and farm comes back alive again.

The afternoon heat is now gone and all the livestock venture back out to enjoy the cool sweet air. If you listen closely you will hear the thundering of many hoofs as both the bucks and does run and play on their respective fields. Young and old join in this time, all the time you hear the ting-ting of all their bells clanging. It is comical to see a herd of milk laden does try to run and play right before milking time (imagine Dolly Parton taking a lap around the track). The bucks run, jump and joust with each other to keep track of the pecking order in the herd.

The chickens and ducks refreshed from their afternoon nap go out to forage some more before the day draws to a close. It is so peaceful at this time of day you almost do not want to make any undue noise but just savor this moment in time....

Remembering Mom

5/5/2019

With Mother's Day fast approaching some of my coworkers were chatting about "Bring Your Kid to Work Day". We had several of our crew bring their children to work. I asked them if they had a good time on that day? That sparked a memory, of a time long ago in a place far from here. We were still living in New Jersey shortly after Michelle and I were married. My mother had suffered a heart attack and would need open heart surgery. As the day loomed closer, Michelle ordered me a copy of a small children's book. It was titled "I Love You Forever". She went on to relate to me how she had given this book to her Mom on Mother's Day a few years before. She went on to say I should read this book and give it to my mother before her surgery.

Well I read it and the tears flowed hot and long, I then took it to her and asked her to read it for me. Her surgery went well and she lived several more years. By this time we had moved to our farm in the mountains of West Virginia. I would call my parents each week to share with them the progress for our new homestead. I would ask my mom if she would like to see our new place and pictures just would not do justice. She would politely decline and we would move on to other topics. A few months later my mom was in and out of the hospital. The reports from the doctors were good and they told us she was going to be ok. A few days later, while cutting the grass my cell phone rang. It was my older sister Barbara with tears in her voice she said " We lost momma!" We dropped everything and drove home. After the funeral my sisters told me a story.

A few days before my birthday my mom asked them to take her down to West Virginia to see Michelle and I. It was a surprise birthday present for me. The next day she was rushed to the hospital. Again we were told she would be ok in a few days and would soon be released. She never made that trip. But she gave me a gift I will always cherish. Her own dad had died a few days before Christmas when she was a young girl. She told me there was no Christmas that year for her family. She died a week after my birthday through sheer force of will. She would not forever taint this joyous day with sorrow. It was her last gift to me!

So when I think of her I pull out my copy of that book and cry over each page remembering the wonderful mother I was so richly blessed to have.

Link to the Author's Website where you can hear him reading the story and read the backstory for the book.
http://robertmunsch.com/book/love-you-forever#

Moving on Up...

4/14/2019

The goats on the farm go though several different stages of housing from birth to adulthood.

They start right after birth in the baby goat tote. The tote is taken from the birthing area into the house where the kids are dried off, receive their initial medical exam and given their first meal. Once they get their legs under them and can escape from the tote, they go to goat jail.

Goat jail is a large enclosed cage in the house. Depending on temperatures outside some kids are lucky enough to skip goat jail. From there they go to the steel cage, a large pen in the milk barn. Here they learn the best WWGW (World Wide Goat Wrestling) moves like running up walls and body slamming their fellow contenders.

When they outgrow the steel cage they go to the apartment. This has a calf hutch that has a small play area. In here they can see and interact with the older goats.

Once we are sure they understand outside and where to go when it rains. they move again to the condo. The condo is a hutch with a large play area, here they will stay until they are sold or are big enough to join the adult herd.

The Lord of little things.....

3/5/2019

Below you see an image of Cinder and of her two kids that were born on March 3rd. Most of you would say, "big deal it is just a goat and her kids". But, I beg to differ, for this group of animals are extra special and show the blessings of a Big, Big God in just the little everyday things.

Let me explain.....

This was Cinder's 2nd freshening, but the first to a full size buck. She was going along well until Feb 2-3 when we had a setback. She stopped eating and I had to find out why. I combed all of my resources including a Facebook group called "Successful Goating with Rosie". But the first thing I did was pray for the Lord to give me wisdom to find out the problem. I discovered that she had Pregnancy Toxemia (similar to preeclampsia in humans) and if I didn't get her eating she and her kids would die. The people on the aforementioned Facebook list gave me all kinds of ideas and suggestions. I prayed that the Lord guide me to what she needed the most. I progressed through several remedies and she was improving, but still not eating. So even though she was not "down" I gave her the "Downed Goat" recipe. This entailed me going to Walmart on Superbowl Sunday and trying to find a stout beer, like one of the WORST days to try and find beer!!! I did finally find all of the ingredients I needed and I started to feed her. This whole time Peter was covering us all in prayer. She started coming around and her ketones dropped to negative. Now we just had to get her eating again. The Lord prompted me to try a cud transfer. So I did, that was the thing that kick started her rumen again and within and hour of the transfer she started eating.

It was time to decide if I should take her kids. She was only at day 119, if I took her kids now, they would not survive. But if I did not take them, then I had a chance of losing her along with the kids. I took this to the Lord and He prompted me to wait that it would be ok. So I did. From Feb 3rd until I induced her on March 2nd (day 146) I was on a roller coaster. Wondering if I would come out and find her dead, or the kids aborted. I had faith, but ask Peter, I am a pessimist at heart. Then on March 3rd, one month from the day I thought I was going to lose her she presented me with a buckling and a doeling. Of course the first thing I did was praise the Lord for his goodness and then got those kids inside, cleaned up and fed.

All are doing well and I take no credit for this, it was all the Lord. I have trusted Him for many years, but having this little farm has taught me how to trust Him even more.

I see His hand in everything, no matter how small....when I see a birth I can't help but think of how wonderful our God is.....

Cinder just after I induced labor.

Sliceofalmostheaven Mr Tumnus and Sliceofalmostheaven Lucy