Happy SPRING! 

Goats are notorious for getting into trouble! 
Ours opens the door to the chicken coop & turns off  & on the light switch, & helps him tot he chicken food after he opens the garbage can.  I am very amused with our goats but  ‘this goat’,  was inspired by another. 
This goat tries to break into a cannabis farm & it makes me laugh every time I hear it, it's really soemthing that has made me smile this past year. Grateful for goats, creatures in general.  The look of defiance on his face in photos I have seen make me laugh out loud.  Goats like company and are very playful & will win in a stare down contest, most times.

Thank God for creatures who are funny, entertaining, inspiring & loving. 
Grateful for the inspiration - clearly I enjoyed the ‘Notorious Big’ special on Netflix.  Notorious big did what he needed to do & made no bones about it  & believed in himself… & Jesus.  With faith in yourself & all that is possible.  We rise up, by helping raise others up. Biggy was Proof.  He had many who believed in him & more now.  The Lord works in mysterious ways I ponder,  as we boogie to Biggy @ 8a.m… glueing goat gems.
Hee hee hee

Our Goat behaves like an ass!  Indica  gets up on his hind legs and dances treats out of your hand, and will push you over  & doesn't let the ladies have any treats - he head buts them when they try.  he would be the glutton of the petting zoo. Everyone is excited for spring - we see  it as they spring around the  pen, excited for the day.
Goats teach us to enjoy the moment. 

The last step of this painting was to add the gems this morning, much more difficult than I anticipated. 
I walked out to our deck and looked at the new coffee table top Norm created, it was covered with dancing diamonds  of frost in the sunshine - Gods gems! A gift for me to see  in the sunshine before the heat melts them. Heat.. 3 above freezing.  Inspired I raced into the studio - Oh my.. next thing I knew, I had Norm helping ‘peel off’ the tiny gems as I glued - TEAM work is the DREAM work! 
BAG the necklace took almost as long as the painting. I'll source out new gems for furture Spring Bling!  

We “high fived"… my five higher than his, grateful for Gods medicine helping me get past the fact, I can’t pick ff these tiny Gems. This lesson makes me aware & appreciate these tiny gems called hands, I’ve often taken for granted.  

I hope ‘Notorious Goat made you smile on this glorious first day of Spring 2021
We are created to create Joy.    

Our little Nugget is getting bigger, sweet to watch playing with her mom & step dad  ;D
We don't know if Indica is the father perhaps I should book him on the Maurey show. Nugget tries to head butt her mom and you can see they are teaching her, much more gentle than with each other.  They all sleep snuggled in the tiny loft in the goat barn & their body heat really keeps it warm in there, it's also insulated.
 
They seem very content,  Indica has taken up playing with the dogs through the fence & it's comical.  We're happy we decided to put them where we did because we can see them through the kitchen window & it's amusing to see them looking back.  I must have an incredibly rare breed of goat - this goat Indica,  he turns his nose up at most things we offer him & gives a disgusted 'SNORT' just to make sure you know his displeasure.  Sativa & Nugget eat everything. They did NOT eat the cannabis plants last summer but did enjoy some dried leaves & branches,  I'll plant one for them this year to try again.  
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Cannabis &  Hemp are good for all, humans and creatures.

Goat Gate Create

For as long as I remember I’ve wanted a gate.. as a kid - I always wanted to live on a farm - what kid doesn’t? Probably those raised on a farm, hee hee.   Farms are work,  life is work so this is good. I absolutely LOVE our little farm and goats & chickens - Im very excited as we have a couple of new baby chicks in the spring coming!  Prissy, Petunia & Petal signs will be added to the farm name board.

     The other day I was looking at my gate & my goat idea arrived, it did not take much thought, just a measurement or two - Norm cut it out & I painted him - he instantly had us giggling - Norm carried it up and it fit the gate like a glove!   So now I have a goat on my gate to greet my guests with a smile - which he has succeeded in doing.    
Next I’m creating a gate bear & maybe a donkey.    Actually, we had a problem with the goat on the gate & have removed him until the spring.. our dogs thinks someone is standing at the gate & growl constantly ..lol  when the weather is better I will walk them up and remind them it’s just a goat on the gate.    

I laughed out loud when I actually saw it on the gate as the udders are perfectly placed.   This is my goal - to make others smile with my art - especially at this time, not many are smiling.  

A friend who lives in high-rise told me the super’ told someone to “wear a mask” & the woman told him to suck her..   holy cow.  I think everyone is sick - OF COVID-  not from it. 
There’s a new level of nasty, some can attribute it to covid  stress & some are just intentionally nasty  using covid as an excuse. 

This is human nature 

I’m creating a list of positives from Covid, I recognize in this chaos the order.
It’s a blizzard out right now, time to warm up the brushes & log on! 
Here is a updated photo of Nugget to make you smile!  She’s so sweet - her horns grow fast and are quite dangerous at the moment, Norm almost got a horn up the nostril the other day and is more aware. lol ​ Norm is getting the goats use to walking on a leash- they don't seem to mind - we might let them explore in the spring.

Have a creative day.

Just a tiny blue monkey with a leaf.
​Acrylic on canvas 6 x 6.    
I'm exploring colour.

I had an editorial make it into the local paper...  yay! 
 & Nugget is growing like a weed.  
Lot's to paint!
​Much inspiration on the tiny farm.

                                        Gloating Goat acrylic on wood panel. 12 x 16

Indica is a content goat.  I like to see him basking in the fall sunshine in his chair.
I wonder what he is thinking...    The yellow in this painting 'pops in the sunshine. 
We have happy goats & chickens,  no wonder my goat gloats'...    he loves to be brushed and is super cheeky, when I go in the coop- he stands against the door (locking me in) looking in the windows, he is quite playful.

I forgot to show you the goat barn Norm whipped up. Hee hee.
We thought the goats would stay with the chickens but it will be too crowed in the winter we think so.. the goats needed their own place.  They moved themselves under the coop at first and we close that in.. but decided it would be too cold in winter. Canadian winters - brrrr.

Norm decided to make a barn, he had the plans  from our shed he built  15 years ago.  It's so sweet - smaller than the coop but it doesnt feel like it & it is a replica of the coop & our house.  It has us planning our guest BUNK bed bunkie (to be continued at a later date).

  The goat barn is raised of the ground and fully insulated with a vent. It has room for storage like their big metal can with locking lid (will be dented shortly after you put it in) for goat food. It's lined with straw for the floor and winter warmpth. Apparently you just keep adding straw (we do take out the poop tho) and this too will help insulate the barn - keeping the goats warm all winter. Im not worried at all.. Oh, theres also light and an outlet where we might put a heated bucket - for water in the winter. We'll see. NO HEAT LAMPS!!   I can not tell you how many times I read over & over about the dangers of heat lamps, glass, fire etc.  enough to convince me NEVER to put in a heat lamp.  Why our coop & barn and fully insulated...  Baby - you know it's gonna get cold out.

Raised feeders on the wall with a cinder block to step on, mineral block  beside feeder on wall out of way & keeping dry &  a hay feeder Norm made in about 10 minutes, they love it!  With lots of storage - a shelf up top for extra food (the goats can't reach)  a raised 'bed shelf" &  smaller loft as Goats don't like sleeping not the ground.  What turned out cool is they like to sleep in the tiny loft together and they keep warm - but they are high up enough to see out the windows.  The windows are screened in & will have plexiglass windows placed on them soon.  Norm still needs to put on a strong  tiny barn door' but the goats are good to go - int winter! I read we won't hardly see them & if it's anything like rain - they never came out of their barn other than to stretch or if I called them out but only then to run under the coop- they really did not like the rain.  It's been a fun learning adventure to sate & thanks to Norm - a first rate adventure! The goats don't try to escape- they know how good they have it. lol   I'm painting a sign for the Barn:  

No Grumpy Goats
             Barn
We have happy goats & chickens. Poppy is the goat police! If she see's them doing something they should not- she is on it! & shes been BUTT a couple of times. I teach her to stay by me. Sativa has a thing for the little dogs. I think she thinks she is playing.  Shemight be wearing pool noodles on her horns soon.

What an awesome adventure. So happy to be here. Thanks Norm! 
​ Thank you Jesus!  Baaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

That's what I hear everytime the goats call.. "Maaaaaa!!!" 
When Storm visited he picked up the goats to show us it couldbe done.. wellby him & Norm.. not me.  They need to be picked up if hurt or in trouble and to have their nails trimmed.  The actual picking up was the challenging  part, once up the goats did not move only yelled:  "Maaaaaa!! "  Whcih made us all laugh.   Goats are so much fun. 
The more they like me tho- the more I learn.  I was almost goosed by my goat when i turned my back on Indica to feed Sativa treats- he bumped me to let me know- turn around. LOL which I did!  He clearly was playing but I can now see how a real head butt to the butt would be felt indeed.

I showed the goats the painting- Indica was jealous and they started to fight over it as seen below...

Sativa was obsessed with it,  I don't think I'll hang it in the barn - as I like it too.  
Sativa  would not leave it alone, clearly loving her special portrait with Storm.
These goats make me laugh every time I'm out there, I wonder how they'll like our Canadian winter.  They have a new insulated, beautiful goat barn, I'm sure they'll be fine.
These wooden panels are fun - I like how you can stand them instead of hanging them.

Have a creative day & a lovely weekend.  I'll be painting, something.
We have BIG - LITTLE news next week, life changing- for us.  Yay!
with TLC & THC
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I love Kombucha!  I have tried many - especially in California when there.
So, when I saw Lucs Brew I picked it up and it's delicious! I was impressed.  
​It's all it claims: Bubbly, tasty and refreshing - made with this cool, crisp  Haliburton water.
I finally, LOVE drinking waater from my tap. The best I've ever tasted. if I do say so. hee hee!  I Found the company Lucs Brew on IG and then learned he delivers! Yay!!

We instantly hit it off, he's a really nice young man who is working tirelessly at his passion & craft along with his family & friends contributing...  isn't that lovely?  How it should be ;)  He's educated on his herbs/ingredients & the reasons for good health - body & mind. & he's learned the gift of being attentive to those speaking to him.  I don't think he's 'like this' to be a wise business man- just a good person, but it will clearly  help his business.

During the winter with limited contact with the outside world, I asked if I could paint him  - "..sure!"   My intention was to add bottles in the background but for some reason the forest just appeared - which is very suiting for Luc imo, he seems quite comfortable in his enviornment.  I've learned he is a very nice human, as his his lovely partner, both have visited to check out the coop.   They going to do well, I know...  
 I think he's helped with me not missing Storm as much.  :)  
 Now, I understand WHY the kombucha is so good - made with lots of love.

I'm trying to decide 'who to paint next, I was thinking of  Eve' after reading the 12 Rules of Life.  I have such great photos from Storms visit I'm having difficulty picking which one to try to paint next. We also went on a Hike & it was a very impressive foray, I'll share some photos next. It's mushroom painting time - Today is a beautiful day to do just that! 

with THC & TLC
Georgia

I might paint this - It makes me smile every time I look at it! :D

Time to paint myself/something happy!  What better than our entertaining goats.  We are utterly facinated  with this pair.  Sativa does not have utters, but I googled & goats have two - looking like a pair' hee hee - so I added them just for the fun factor.  The agility of goats is no secret but to watch it daily - is fascinating!  They jump and land as if jet propelled & land on a dime.  I'll be hanging this one in the new 'goat barn'.. much smaller than the chicken coop - but more than comfortable, for goats to sleep.

I understand why goats like company - these two are alwasy together, they even play hide & seek and have me playing it now too. They love it- the moment they see me run arond the coop they follow and peek around the corner - I jump out and they run the other way- and turn back to look for me again. Who knew we'd have so much joy with chickens and goats.  Thank God.  Oh - they got loose! LOL -  but they looked into the forest , at Daqisy and we chased them back & they ran back  in the pen,  I don't think they will take off. Still no roaming until they have on collars and come when called.

It's been a difficult week... trees down,  TN, weather, local shooting and watching the USA - almost 1000 deaths today - 940 (I think I read) in one day.  Arizona is storing refridgeration trucks for bodies and people still rebel against wearing a mask.  :(   No wonder Im beat, in bed before the chickens - the thunderstorm last night was enough to get all the rain barrels over flowing! A few friends seem to be feeling the same- I'll be glad when Covid is gone.

Yesterday, I was sent a gift from a someone on instagram ( a stranger really- we've never met)  - sweets - Yay!  A box of Pulparindo  (!the last time I had it was in Mexico - I loved it)   it's hot , spicy & sweet & a box of DeLaRosa  Marzipan - which is not like traditional German marzipan.  The kidness of 'strangers...  Go figure.  It was much appreciated.

It's Friday & I enjoy listening to "the Cannnnoooeee!"  100.9FM to unwind into the weekend. I keeop meaning to mention they have a Podcast as well that discusses many enviornmental issues in Haliburton & area- such as natural burials, tree loss, turtles  many topics & ways to help or educate yourself.  Have a listen. I know a few of my American friends have/do and enjoy it, the Canadian content is outstanding!  Why all radio stations (in Canada) do not encourage or play this much Canadian music is a beyond me. 

We gave away our first eggs! Yay!  I'm making a chicken to put up by the gate and when I have extra eggs I'll tell my friend to pick them up on the way by!  So far so good. It feels good to give - even if I did'nt lay them. hee hee  'Fresh laid Butt Nuggets'. (on PIN)  It's a dream come true - to be here... to be neighbourly  & help others around us, if we are able...  I thank God for the timing & the journey. 

Oh, the orange kitty was taken - Good, I'm glad.  I'll be patient & wait for God to give us our next - adventure.  I'm overwhelmed with happiness at our new family - dreams come true.  The fact that they go to bed every night on their own.. wow.
I hope my goat painting made you smile. Indica & Sativa LOVED it!   They told me so.  ;)

With TLC & THC
Me.
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