spark of life

Today I faced the cloud of doom I call mediocrity yet again. Great relief to find I'm perfectly happy to make the stance not to fit in that "comfortable" bracket. I have my pride. Hurray! 

So is it worth hanging on to what we believe in? I think so. If we sell out, cop out, lose out, or 'smile out' then what the heck are we doing here anyways? I hadn't planned on becoming a planet drone with a Wallmart sticker across my face. In any case:always a good thing to figure out what we want to define us and if we don't get too excited about what we currently see: to devise an Evil Plan to remedy our situation! We have times when we get discouraged. We look at other people who just pop dazzling electricity like a regular bowel movement. But in all things amazing: we too can share something worthwhile by just finding our own voice. (Read here why we can and why it matters.)

As my friend Ivan Campuzano says: "Doubt is just a word that explains the desire not to participate in life". So: in short: we need to simply do what we need to and want to. This also means doing crazy stuff and stupid stuff which could be embarrassing stuff. It's all part of it. Ivan has written another beautiful post about "sharing your gifts". Read it here and decide to pursue at least 2 of his list today. Sign up for wild water rafting, singing lessons or finally go and knock on the neighbors' door to say hello.

Because changing our perspective and adding onto it with unhampered enthusiasm shapes the world. Literally. What excites you? And then: how can you help other people feel more awesome? Because making other people feel better about themselves always make you feel better too. (I see daily proof of this when tending my goat and cattle herd. Evidence stares you in the face below. I love it when I see them smile. They can you know.)

Yes my friends: we can do it! Hang on to that spark of life before thinking about retirement and settling for something. Today's the day.

because there are goats...

Want to travel and eat good food? Have you heard of WWoofing? It has been suggested to us to become Wwoofing hosts once the farm is fully "goatified". Why WWooff? Well "because there are goats" that's what... of course! Waha. Great vids.







We have heard mixed messages about the WWoofing experience when we came to New Zealand, and Nico and I decided not to go there but pick apples instead, where we learned many things, mostly which was unexpected. And yes the memories are quite extraordinary, and give inspiration too for the future. But hey, it's also hard work being on a farm and mostly it's doing simple things, including manure scooping. Good thing goat poop is so clean really, bless them.

goats and lighting

As I am a goat herderess (and proud of it) on this design/ lifestyle blog there are bound to show up some goat related items now and again. To show you that these are of course cool as heck and by no means cheesy (pardon the chevre pun) I would like to showcase the custom made lighting made by Yellow Goat Design, a business located south of Brisbane, in Australia. Surprisingly they are a family business.

They say: Our business is lighting – we excel in the design and construction of lighting for casinos, clubs, hotels, resorts, apartments, shopping centres and homes.

This family business was born 10 years ago when I designed and built a small table lamp for my artist’s studio – I paint and sculpt. From that simple beginning we have grown to create some of the most beautiful and unusual pieces in the world. 

We have a data base of over 5000 architects and designers around the world to whom we email a monthly new design bulletin. This features up to 6 of our latest creations and has become a very popular and widely anticipated pictorial. Why not sign up – It costs nothing and never fails to excite.


And yes... exciting they sure do.

goats man, that's what

In case you were wondering: goats rock the kazba. Oh yeah.



It may seem incredible: much of the story behind the new feature film The Men Who Stare at Goats (featuring Jeff bridges, George Clooney, Ewan McGregor and Kevin Spacey) is based upon secret U.S. government programs to turn paranormal phenomena into operational intelligence.

For more on the story behind the goatstarring: movie trailers and writer Jon Ronson

necessities

Every day we may be running around trying to all on our 'to do list' and by the end we always feel we have forgotten something still. We collapse in a chair, either with wine in hand, watching some funny sitcom or falling asleep.



Tonight though I will be doing something different: I will be trimming Harry's hooves again (pic above). They have grown so quickly that he's been having some troubles. Aside the fact that I know how to trim goat hooves (yes all the things you don't think of when getting on a lifestyle block but eventually get the hang of anyway) it's good to have a 'refreshing course' on it. It's actually not always so simple to clip them right back as the goat may have developed a funny shape hoof over time, so it's better to get the right shape back by continuing to clip them with a few weeks in between the pedicures.

So too after winter I think, looking at my physique and squeezing some extra bits around the middle. I had started running again in the weekend. The next day I was so sore I could hardly walk properly and Nico was making fun of me. Of course our sheepdog Glennie who had accompanied me was fine and keen to go again!

The necessity of maintaining both hooves and my shape made me realize the importance of keeping up with things regularly which is not my strong suit. There for I have been scribbling things on a board in our hallway and in my diary to ensure I keep more consistent tabs on re occurring activities. Because if I don't it creates more hassle and soreness...

Have your cake and eat it too

And now for something fun! That’s what a goat thought in Madison county: crike how hilarious… hahahaha! I can SO picture that.

Goat breaks into home, eats cake

Aaron MartinCapital Newspapers — 2/17/2009 9:02 am
TOWN OF WESTFORD -- What do you get when a goat follows a dog into a house?
For Sherry Shirley of Westford, the answer is a big mess.
When she opened the front door of her home on Lake Road to let her dog in Saturday morning, a full-grown goat burst into the house, jumped onto a kitchen counter and helped itself to a freshly baked chocolate cake, according to the Dodge County Sheriff's Department.
Deputies responded to a call from Shirley at 11:43 Saturday morning, but a neighbor had dragged the goat from the home by its horns before officers arrived, patrol captain Molly Soblewski said.
"The goat didn't do a lot of damage. It knocked some dishes to the floor that broke and began eating the chocolate cake she had just made," Soblewski said.
The chocolate cake caper, however, was far from a perfect crime. Deputies followed the goat's tracks to a nearby farm on Mill Road and had it behind bars by 12:35 p.m. Saturday.
Soblewski said the owners of the goat will not be cited.
"It was just an unfortunate circumstance," she said. "I feel sorry for the lady, but it is kind of funny."

Sometimes it’s quite ok to have that cake and eat it too. Just don’t end up behind bars for it like the goat did. Poor thing.

The deal with the Goats

Yes I like goats. You heard me. Fuzzy white creatures kitted out with intelligence and naughtiness. My mob is hilarious. I got 1 Angoran buck, 5 wethers (boys without their dangly bits) and 8 females. Being equipped with a sense of humor and playfulness they bounce around like there’s no tomorrow. All the girls have kids. We have 14 small critters in kindy class flying about. The biggest I named Robbie, after my dear dad. Robbie’s mum, Jezebel, wrecked dad’s arm muscles and tore them as dad tried to catch her for drenching when he was last visiting. He needed to wear this special strap on his elbow for ages…. So never underestimate the Power of a Goat.

So how come an urban working girl, living in the WOPS, has goats? Good question. Because: 1. We are not keen on sheep 2. They keep the grass short 3. They are great entertainment. Mainly it’s door number 3!

We have learned a lot about goats since we got them. We lost three of them due to this bugger of a worm infection. Apparently central Otago has this worm disease that wiped out whole flocks. Our vet, bless her cotton socks, knew about this particular nasty worm and gave us a drench that works and prevents the goaties from being eaten alive. I know it is gross. Seeing a goat being cut up for a post mortem wasn’t exactly a picnic first time round, but hey its part of life and the biological display eventually was quite fascinating. Good pink colors, healthy organs, what goes where, that sort of thing. The poor goat boy in question had been put to sleep as to cease his suffering. Of course I was sad, and actually had no time to blubber my eyes out as there –quite literally- was hay to be made! So off we trot to spend HOURS in the paddocks getting the hay in with the help of our neighbours.

Bottom line: goats bring joy and sorrow. Only sorrow when we lose them because of stupid worms. We have learned our lesson, look after them carefully and appreciate the company of these wonderful creatures.

They live in the Now and the Force is with them. Bless the fluffy beasties.