F is for FRIENDS and FOUNDATIONS

This post is a bit of a sentimental one - and I couldn't post ALL of the pictures I wanted. This is kind of a tribute to the goats who have laid the foundations of the herd here at CBF Nigerians. This LOVELY doe is Esperanza SJ Patience we bought from a dear lady Katie at Double SunDog Ranch - Patience was everything Katie said she was - and she finished her MCH in record time but she did not like US. Patience is the dam of Nizhoni's DW Tirzah, who I believe wholeheartedly will live up to her mother's example.

El Cerro Wind in the Willows was our first Nigerian. She is a doe with body capacity and a huge udder. We almost earned a star on her but i believe she did not like being away from home. She is a lovely doe who did well in the ring most all of the times she went in earning herself several Reserve Champions and 2 Best Udder in Show. My biggest complaint about her was her teats are too small and she didn't like me. She loved Alyssa and when Alyssa decided to get out of goats we sold Willow to a sweet gal named Janice - who said Willow is great. Willow is the dam of Dixie and CBF Seredipidy's Laikla who resides at Camino Allegre and has done Fantabulous for them - including earning her milking star at 2 years old as a first freshener and producing triplets (2 does/1 wether) this past year.

Nizhonie's Joie de Vivre. This doe is my best/easiest Nigerian Milker and she's a very dairy doe - she does unfortunately lack some udder attachment, a problem we are trying to fix but I must say she is a milker's dream earning her star as a 1yo 2nd Freshener. She is the dam of Twinkle Lil Star (Malina) and Skye who resides at Darkwind Ranch in Colorado. Also her two sons who are wethers are at Laughing Orca Ranch (Moon Pie and Mud Pie). Joie is also here as a representative for her sire: PiddlinAcres Peaceful Voyage. We have two granddaughter's of his here at CBF (Joie and Tirzah) and a grandson (Storm). He has made an impact on our herd and we hope he continues to do so - we just fell in love with him when we saw his daughter Gretel who resides at Double SunDog (who is a daughter of our favorite doe from PiddlinAcres - Fraulin who is also Storm's Paternal Granddam.)

I really wanted to put a picture of Entei but couldn't find it. Entei is the sire of two of our Jr. does - Malina and Dixie. Shalom is Entei's dam and she is a lovely doe who now resides at PrairieWood Ranch. It was so hard to sell this doe but we wanted to keep both Entei and his sister Chickorita and had to make this very hard decision.

The rest of my post is about FRIENDs. I have to say I have made more dear friends through the goats. What a huge blessing this whole adventure has been to us.

When we got into goats we made friends with several folks who really took time to mentor us in the goats: Lora from PrairieWood, Darlene from Nizhoni and Anne from CurrierRockinMinis.

These ladies babied us through the first few years and I can honestly say that we would have quit several times over if it hadn't been for the kindness and support shown by these folks. And I can NOT forget my best friend Tara Joyce who encouraged us and supported us and also bought goats not long after we did. Tara's grandmother gave us our first milk pail and strip cup which we used until Tara needed them when she got her goats and then she gave them back when a move forced her to sell her goats. Miss ya Girl!

In the last few years our circle of goatie friends has expanded GREATLY and includes many 4H buddies as well as buddies who are off across the US. The Sedillos at Camino Allegre who bought our first doeling and have shown her and earned a milking star on her. The Martins at SleepyKid Ranch who own Willow's brother Captain Pellew who have gone to great lengths to get Dairy goats more recognized locally at the County Fair, Kat at Flying Goat who has become a Fiber buddy as well and who blessed us with Flying Goat Jazzy Blues (I so miss him - I can't wait to cash in my free breeding next fall!) Sandy at Twylite Star who sold us Storm. Terri who has Angora's and has become my spinning/knitting mentor, Wendy who bought two Oberhaslis from a lady in AZ after meeting our Miss Priss, Lori - my walking partner and goat buddy whose daughter is also in our 4H club who also fell in love with Miss Priss and bought a Nigerian doe from us and two Oberhasli does from the dairy where Priss came from. Kathy, Doc Z, Joyce, JoDawn, Donna and all the other folks from SouthWest Dairy Goat Club who chose not to judge us because of our love of the little goats and allowed us to join their club! Jeannie Strickland of Darkwind Ranch and the Allen Family of Allen'sMountainView have become VERY good friends of ours and we treasure their friendships a ton!

Last but not least all the wonderful folks I've met through our yahoogroups list - too numerous to even get everyone down but talk about a bunch of folks who have blessed us abundantly with

advice, support, encouragement, prayers, and kudos for accomplishments. Fern, Pam, Kathy, Jaimie, Katie, EVERYONE - you all are counted as blessings to us and we just wanted to give you guys a huge KUDO for just being you. CBF Nigerians thanks and loves each of you!!!!!!