{"id":993,"date":"2010-05-04T09:40:31","date_gmt":"2010-05-04T16:40:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ruffledfeathersandspilledmilk.com\/?p=993"},"modified":"2010-10-20T03:52:07","modified_gmt":"2010-10-20T10:52:07","slug":"its-that-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/ruffledfeathersandspilledmilk.com\/?p=993","title":{"rendered":"It’s That Time"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>When it’s over 70 degrees at 6am, I know it’s time.\u00a0 Finally.<\/p>\n

Summer is here.\u00a0 It’s time to wash the goat coat and pack it away.<\/p>\n

You might call yours a barn coat.\u00a0 And, officially, that’s what it is.\u00a0 The coat actually spends as much time carrying chickens under a fleecy sleeve and pinning the sheep down for a hoof trim as it does cuddling goat kids during their morning bottle.\u00a0 The Great Pyrenees does try to leave his mark with swaths of 5 inch long white hairs.\u00a0 And the pony has been known to wipe green alfalfa pellet mouth foam on it from time to time.\u00a0 But since the goats are the most odiferous of our farm critters, they leave the most lasting impression.<\/p>\n

Hence, the comments when I drive the kids down to meet the school bus after the morning milking:<\/p>\n

“Mom, can you crack the window, please?\u00a0 You smell like goat.”<\/p>\n

Or when people enter the mudroom and pass the coat rack:<\/p>\n

“What smells like a goat in here?”<\/p>\n

Of course, my favorite is:<\/p>\n

“Is there a goat in your pocket or have you been wearing that barn coat all winter long without washing it?”<\/p>\n

The answer is:\u00a0 Yes, I have been wearing it all winter.\u00a0 Without washing it.\u00a0 I just can’t afford to spare it for the time it takes to wash.\u00a0 Frigid mornings require it’s fluffy, fleecy warmth while dumping and refilling frozen water buckets.\u00a0 Even in the afternoons the hood is necessary to cut the chill of the wind while hauling wheelbarrows of dirty bedding to the garden for spring compost.\u00a0 By evening feeding time, I need the pockets to carry the flashlight in case it turns dark before I finish up.<\/p>\n

That is what I’ll miss most of all during summer.\u00a0 Oh, those wonderful, voluminous pockets.\u00a0 Filled to the brim with scissors for cutting hay bale twine, extra gate clips to replace those that drop into drifts of fall leaves, wire cutters to instantly clip the sharp edges that dare to scratch you as you go about your business, and even a treat or two for a pony that endures an afternoon bareback ride from Little or a livestock guardian dog who walks away from the egg laid within his reach instead of eating it.\u00a0 Wherever you are on the farm, whatever you need, the goat coat carries it in (hairy, stinky) style.<\/p>\n

Without the pockets of my winter goat coat, I will have to switch to the free tool aprons from Lowe’s to carry my supplies.\u00a0 Which are handy, but just not as comforting as slipping into the goat coat’s fragrant folds.\u00a0 What?\u00a0 You didn’t know Lowe’s gave away free aprons?\u00a0 Sure, they do.\u00a0 The second and fourth Saturday of every month they host a free kids building workshop.\u00a0 Every kid gets a free tool apron and goggles to wear during construction.\u00a0 If you have four kids (like me) and you go at least once a month because you think you should never turn down a chance for someone to entertain your children for free (like me) and you’re not embarrassed to wear a kids tool apron tied around your waist during summer farm chores (like me), then it’s an opportunity to amass an impressive tool apron stockpile (like me).\u00a0 That way when one apron gets a hole in the bottom where your poultry staples will slip through or the pocket dividers unravel, leaving you with a gaping pouch that drops eggs out as soon as you collect them, you can just replace it with another one.\u00a0\u00a0 Aren’t corporate marketing tactics wonderful?\u00a0 I am still trying to think up a way to use all those goggles.\u00a0 Hmmmm, when do we need eye protection around here……….?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Luna, a.k.a "The Tongue"<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

Anyway, although the washing of the goat coat is bittersweet, it does usher in one of my other favorite clothing items.\u00a0 The summer farming flip flops.\u00a0 I know it defies all legitimate safety concerns–snakes in the leaf debris, hooves stomping on your instep, chickens pecking at your pedicure, but, oh,\u00a0 the delicious freedom!\u00a0 No more socks, no more shoelaces, no more heavy mud boots.\u00a0 I guess every season has its benefits.\u00a0 Some are just better downwind. \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When it’s over 70 degrees at 6am, I know it’s time.\u00a0 Finally. Summer is here.\u00a0 It’s time to wash the goat coat and pack it away. You might call yours a barn coat.\u00a0 And, officially, that’s what it is.\u00a0 The coat actually spends as much time carrying chickens under a fleecy sleeve and pinning the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[84,85,69],"class_list":["post-993","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-barn-coat","tag-great-pyrenees","tag-summer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/ruffledfeathersandspilledmilk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/993","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/ruffledfeathersandspilledmilk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/ruffledfeathersandspilledmilk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ruffledfeathersandspilledmilk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ruffledfeathersandspilledmilk.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=993"}],"version-history":[{"count":28,"href":"http:\/\/ruffledfeathersandspilledmilk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/993\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1022,"href":"http:\/\/ruffledfeathersandspilledmilk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/993\/revisions\/1022"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/ruffledfeathersandspilledmilk.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=993"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ruffledfeathersandspilledmilk.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=993"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ruffledfeathersandspilledmilk.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=993"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}