Three week old Brees is enjoying big goat food, and is up to 20 pounds. He is really shaping into a great looking goat. He also got his first shot, and got banded today. He is ready for the fairs.
Little Miss Princess Face has been resting and exploring,...
...along with her sister, just enough to worry mom Vinegar, who is quite glad they have a gate on the stall already. 
Both the doelings have not only discovered the warming barrel, but the comfort of each other.
To explain how healthy these two seem to be, I was on the tractor clearing the snow (What?), and Dave was hand shoveling the paths, when he heard some noise from the barn. They were that loud. When I put the tractor away and shut off the engine, it was a happy noise below!!!
Both little ones are already working on nursing, though one a bit better than the other. Vinegar is a terrific mom again, and is encouraging both to move to the udder. 
She keeps cleaning and nudging, and wailed terribly when we made the mistake of picking up both at the same time to dry them off a little.
We agree it doesn't look too appetizing, but that hasn't stopped her.
The family is now moved into the maternity stall with the warming barrel, and lots of clean bedding. Brees, at three weeks old, is booted out and has to grow up fast!
I am gathering the correct wardrobe to sit on the tractor in about another hour. The snow is slowing down, but more importantly the wind has pretty much quit. 
We have thick drifts where paths and a driveway used to be. When I started to dig to the barn this morning, I couldn't find the old path to the door from the barn driveway. 
When I came out of the barn an hour later, everything I dug was gone, gone, gone. And the snow is SO dense, you can walk on it. 
With the wind chills in the single digits, the barn animals all stayed in today. The barn had snow inside from the heavy winds. The kids stall had snow in it from the vents in the foundation between levels. Those vents need to be there for air circulation, but on a day like today, the draft gets in. But they have a double stall, so they can find other places to snuggle.
This is the odd way the wind has been laying drifts. The kitchen door has a white welcome mat, but the stoop is clean.
I shoveled the path to the mudroom, and when I came back, we had these mini drifts.
No, I did not shovel this. Again, the twisting, swirling wind. The driveway is densely packed where we had it passable and clean. I have my work cut out. Its going to be heavy and slow.
The cats are no dummies though. While the goats were eating and having indoor recess, Snickers claimed the warming barrel. 
Mia and Snickers have their ways in and out of the barn. Some of them are snowed in right now, but the one below in the video, seems to work all the time. Mia doesn't seem to mind the snow does she? She followed us back to the house, and quickly dove into her blanket on the chair.
It really doesn't take much when it comes to me and fashion does it? 
While still part of my wardrobe, this year, I think its more of a leftover ski bum look.
Even the high school crowd sports the look. And the latest Blanket layer also.
My advice about boots.
Apparently there is a rule that all of them know, as they all show up the same from head to toe. 
And speaking of heads, hats are a huge part of Winter 2010. 
Hats of all shapes are IN, along with pajamas,
scarves, 
...and ear muffs.
I love my series of football (soccer) scarves that make my statement ME. Love my old ski hat too. The bells keep me company when I'm on the tractor for hours. Old fashioned IPod.
Then back to the Oldest Steeler Hat look that only a man can pull off. 
But Winter 2010 is all about warm. I think we've done it.
Since we got the two feet of snow starting February 5th the kids have not been able to go out all day into a field. The snow was too high for them. and it was so difficult accessing another gate.
That changed Sunday when Dave hand dug around a gate, and up to the shed in the upper field.
I had planned to take my Deere out and mash my way out there, but I never got to try. The fear was getting me stuck in the now heavy, slippery snow.
Today, after watching Brees eating grain with his mother, I took the time to set up a creep feeder. We have a futon frame I got for a couple dollars at an auction. With a couple of bungee cords, I cordoned off a corner, and put in a bowl of grain and minerals. He caught on very fast!
A creep feeder is a place where the kids can get to, but the mothers can't. That way there is a supply of food that only the kids can munch on. Brees already is a bit stocky for the spaces here, but it will work for a few days anyway.
Tomorrow, they will have the company of Vinegar. Her due date is the 24th, and she is "ripening" up. Her udder isn't tight yet, but that could come quickly. 
I think she looks very good with two days to go. Her hips are changing, and her belly is dropping, but she looks very fit. 
She's been put in her own clean pen so that she can relax, and have some space of her own to birth. Can't wait! She's a good mom, so I expect no problems, but the baby monitor is on!
Have I said that before? Maybe. But its true. Even better when they come and work too.
Mary and her Mom came to visit today. Not being patient enough to wait for more kids until next week-end, Mary came prepared to play, and work for her fun. It was time to trim Zola's feet, and the extra hands to pass the tools as I needed them were great. 
And what a patient girl. No complaints about dirt or yuk. Just pleasant chatter about the animals, and questions about what they need for care. Then she helped round up the hens and feed everyone their dinner.
For an eleven year old, I was impressed by her understanding and knowledge. She wants to be a vet tech. I'll give her a thumbs up!
We took the goats out for recess, but the snow is so deep, and getting heavier as the day gets longer and warmer, so they can't stay out all day. We don't have another gate cleared that we can open to a field. Even if we could, the kids are just too short and light, and someone would get stuck or hurt. There's been no way to get a surface cleaned. By doing the routine we have, I'm hoping that we work a large enough space down with traffic, so that soon there is room for them to mill around and play.
So we took the kids outside to feed them their grain, and get some air. Same routine that we have been following since getting snowed in two weeks ago. It makes for a longer chore time, but probably worth the healthier air in the barn, and healthier animals down the line.
Two week old Brees doesn't hold back, now that he's gotten over the shock of the cold. His mother Twee really doesn't ask anyway. She definitely has stall fever, and longs to get outside with the other adults.
If you're light enough, like Brees, getting stuck isn't an issue. 
You can make all sorts of adorable little hoof prints on top of the snow...
...and chase your own shadow.
Later this evening, Jock was guarding the wheelbarrow, while it waited to go to the barn for a load of firewood.
Just past the barn, we noticed a hint of color in the clouds. Another warmer day tomorrow?
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