Author: Karen GoatKeeper

Karen GoatKeeper loves to write. Her books include picture books, novels and nonfiction for science activity books and nature books. A recent inclusion are science teaching units.
The coming year has goals for two new novels, a picture book and some books of personal essays. This is ambitious and ignores time constraints.
She lives in the Missouri Ozarks with her small herd of Nubian dairy goats. The Ozarks provides the inspiration and setting for most of her books.

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Latest From High Reaches

Busy Moving In

There’s nothing like being locked up due to the weather to help a new goat fit in. Huckleberry has been busy moving in.

New Routines

Everything was different for Huckleberry. Of course, the herd was new. He looked them over. They looked him over. An uneasy truce was reached.

Then there was the milk room routine. Huckleberry soon decided this was the place to be. Oats appeared in his dish followed by a handful of alfalfa hay.

The difficulty was getting on and off the milkstand. He finally found he could jump up after climbing half up a few times. It was getting out again that troubled him.

To get out of the milkstand, a goat must back up. Goats don’t easily back up. Huckleberry is considerably bigger than I am. Still, I pulled him out a time or two. He’s a smart buck and does fine now.

The next step is going out of the milk room once you are done eating. He is still working on that.

Busy moving in Nubian buck Terrell Creek Huckleberry
Before the snow and cold arrived, I introduced Nubian buck Huckleberry to the pasture. The herd was busy searching for new blades of grass. Huckleberry wasn’t too sure about being out in a pasture. Once the snow and cold go away, we will try again.

Before Winter Returned

Another new routine was going out to pasture. Huckleberry stood and watched the herd go out, then wondered where they were. Fresh hay in the barn helped pass the time until the herd returned.

I tried taking him out to where the herd was busy nipping off new grass shoots. He stood looking around.

After several times, he has learned grass is good to eat. This is true as long as I stand out in the pasture. As soon as I go back to the barn, so does he.

In Lock Down Once Again

Goats will go out in the snow. They will ignore a fresh bucket of water and eat snow. Sunshine is the true lure as they can stand, bask and get cozy warm.

However, the barn cools down to the outside temperature once the door is open. When the temperature stays around ten, the door stays closed, sun or no sun.

Huckleberry feels right at home this way. He is used to spending most of his time in a barn.

Once the snow leaves again, Huckleberry will keep busy moving in by learning to go out with the herd. Maybe.

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Latest From High Reaches

Welcome Huckleberry

The pasture stood empty. Someone was supposed to be there. Now someone will be there. Welcome Huckleberry to High Reaches.

Officially the new buck is Terrell Creek Huckleberry. Unofficially he is Huckleberry or Big Boy.

Finding My New Buck

I started with the ADGA (American Dairy Goat Association) yearbook as I wanted to find a registered Nubian buck not too far from home. However, I also checked out Craig’s List. I am not on Facebook for several reasons, time being one.

Yes, I know I should look over pedigrees, relations etc. But, that came second this time as his pictures told me this was the buck I was interested in. I sent an email about him.

Nigerian doe at R Corner Ranch
This very spoiled Nigerian doe at R Corner Ranch is one of several that wander around. She is very pregnant. Many of the Nigerians have blue eyes here. All are beautiful and milk very well. This is a dairy operation.

Getting the Buck

I no longer load, haul and unload goats myself. It’s one of the casualties of getting older. So, I called a friend. She was free the same day the buck’s owner was free, sort of.

Emily Reed of R Corner Ranch in Silex, MO, works with her goats full time. She is concentrating on her Nigerian Dwarfs and selling her Nubians. That put Huckleberry up for sale. It’s kidding season at her place.

The trip was an all day affair. The weather was winter coming in again, overcast and icy cold. Luckily, Huckleberry would be closed in and out of the wind chill.

Welcome Huckleberry, new Nubian buck at High Reaches
This is Nubian buck Terrell Creek Huckleberry loaded in the truck, ready to move to High Reaches. It took several hours. He wasn’t too sure what was happening, but glad to arrive and get out of the truck.

Welcome Huckleberry?

Sunset was over by the time Huckleberry arrived at his new home. The pen I had spent days cleaning out would be too cold, even bedded with straw. The barn stall wasn’t set up.

Much to my herd’s disgust, Huckleberry moved in. No one is in season right now. He has the company of other goats, something he is used to. Another plus is his easy going nature.

In the morning, I came out to welcome Huckleberry to his new home and routine. The herd is still looking him over.

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GKP Writing News

Writing Unknowns

One of the big annoyances in reading is looking through a book about a familiar subject only to find the author didn’t really know the subject. The book, often part of a series, was written by a freelance writer from research. They were writing unknowns.

Two Nubian goats are loud
Dairy goats have their horns disbudded so they don’t grow. This is safer for the goats and the goat owner. Rose and Drucilla aren’t show goats, but they don’t look like the common caricatures many people draw of goats.

Examples

The library shelved a picture book on goats. Of course, I checked it out. The text was suitable for a picture book. The pictures were sharp and clear. Except the goats.- dairy goats! -in the pictures had horns.

Anyone familiar with dairy goats knows breeders disbud their kids. Horned dairy goats aren’t shown or, if they are, have lots of lost points because of the horns. This goes back decades as dairy goat owners wanted a positive picture of their beautiful goats, not a billy goat gruff caricature.

My friend owned an old John Deere tractor for years. Reading through a book on such tractors no mention was made of a quirk of such tractors. The writer had never owned a tractor and it showed.

Writing Unknowns in Life’s Rules

I have no Facebook account for several reasons. I’m not online at home and don’t have a cell phone. Rural Missouri has reception issues and the hills surrounding my house compound them.

In Life’s Rules, the main character Stephanie must get an email account, a Facebook account, a credit card. She goes to places I’ve never been. She speaks languages I have little familiarity with. I am writing unknowns.

This is when a writer must depend on others to look over the draft. Is the description right? Are the conversations right? Should the names be changed?

In the meantime, I am writing unknowns trying to sound like I know what I’m writing about. After all, I need a draft for others to look over.

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Latest From High Reaches

Six More Weeks

January thaw finally showed up with beautiful, warm sunny days trailing into February. So, the back yard ground hog got up to see what was going on, saw his shadow and announced six more weeks of winter.

Big Surprise – Not

This is the beginning of February, still considered the middle of winter. Spring doesn’t officially arrive until the end of March. And, the last few years, spring has been lucky to oust winter by April.

That doesn’t mean the drop from a pleasant seventy degrees to a cold forty was appreciated. It definitely wasn’t.

Disappointment

That ground hog was in for a hard time scrounging for food. The goats have noticed too. A few blads of grass are trying to grow, but the five inches of snow stopped any thought of spring. The snow decided we had six more weeks of winter and green grass.

My cabbage and leek seedlings are hoping the weather will moderate into a semblance of early spring by March. That’s when they are supposed to move into the garden. In the meantime, they would like fifty during the day as they can move out on the front porch instead of sitting under grow lights. Sun is so much better for seedlings.

Early Bloomers

The wayside speedwell started blooming during January thaw. Its cheery blue flowers are the color of a summer sky.

Down by the river, the silver maples are blooming. I’d love to get some pictures. To get these pictures I need to climb up thirty feet. There are lower branches, but the flowers are on the top ones.

During those six more weeks of winter, the garden gets renovated. Barns get cleaned out. Hiking plans will be made. Seedlings will be started and grown.

The endless tasks of spring and summer are on the horizon. Perhaps a bit of extra sleep should make the list too.

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Latest From High Reaches

Buck Shopping

It’s been years since I last went buck shopping. My last outside buck was Goat town USA Gaius over fifteen years ago.

In the years since things have changed. Then I was still involved with other goat owners. Now I’m one of the only ones with Nubian dairy goats in my area. Nigerian Dwarfs and meat goats are popular here.

Getting Started

Looking at my herd seems a strange place to start buck shopping. However, a buck affects the whole herd. A good buck for your herd carries traits that improve weak points in it.

Some of my udders aren’t as high and round as they could be. Legs on my does tend to be too straight. Milk production is always a consideration.

Color is important to many people. I do like nice colors on my goats, but that doesn’t matter as much as those other points. I also like polled bucks.

With Nubians there are two body types. One is a streamlined, more Swiss breed shape. The other is the old double triangle shape. (Look down from the top and the sides flare out like a triangle. Look from the side and the triangle runs from the brisket back.) These Nubians are bigger, heavier, more the dual purpose breed it began as. I prefer this one.

buck shopping starts with the herd
Meet two of my High Reaches Nubian does (This picture is several years old.). The black spotted one is Agate. Her back feet turn out a bit. Her pasterns are too straight. She had a dip behind her shoulders. The brown doe behind Agate is Daisy. Notice her udder is set in, not flush with her back legs. It is also a bit long. Yes, I’m being picky. But these are things to look for when considering a new buck. The buck will hopefully have a stronger background in these areas. This will result in better kids. One other thing I look for is having more of the old Nubian shape like I saw with the Copper Hill herd years ago.

Where to Look

My herd is a registered American Nubian herd. My new buck needs to be registered. Sale barn bucks don’t come with papers, pedigrees, chances to see related goats and can bring diseases with them.

The first stop is the American Dairy Goat Association (ADGA) membership book. There are around 200 goat owners listed for Missouri. Winnowing the list down to Nubian owners fairly close to home drops this down to about five.

Next comes an internet check as many goat owners have websites or Facebook pages with pictures of their goats. Some owners also sell their goats online.

Last Considerations

A registered buck is not cheap. As I’m no longer building my herd, the kids must be saleable.

So, why bother with a registered buck? Because I’ve spent fifty years creating a herd of registered Nubians. I don’t want to throw that time away now. That leaves me buck shopping for that special, registered Nubian buck.

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Latest From High Reaches

Nubian Buck High Reaches Augustus

High Reaches Silk was so proud of her little spotted boy. They were always together during rest times. Other times he raced around her. This was High Reaches Silk’s Augustus.

Young Nubian buck with mother
This is a favorite picture of young Nubian buck Augustus with his mother Silk. He was born the end of November and this is a couple of months later.

Growing Up

The big buck in my herd at that time was Goat Town USA Gaius. He was from Oklahoma and came home when I was writing “Goat Games”. I loved his regal bearing and deep red color.

Bucks get old faster than does. I liked Augustus and so did Gaius, as much as any buck respects a rival. They did play together for several years until Gaius got old and Augustus got big.

Nubian kid racing
This was a lucky picture. Augustus was out racing around. Nubians are fun to see do this as their ears fly as though getting set for take off.

Then the two had separate quarters. They still shared their pasture during the day.

One day Gaius was gone. Augustus was the big buck in my herd. He ruled the herd for many years.

Nubian buck Augustus trotting
Even as a young Nubian buck, Augustus was confident. Here he is striding off across the pasture to catch up with the herd.

Getting Old

I knew Augustus was getting old. He lost weight and wasn’t as lively. He did still love to be with the girls.

Special days were those when no one was in season and the entire herd could go out to pasture. Only my big wether Pest complained about those days. Pest might be bigger than my old buck, but was no match for him.

Adult Nubian bucks playing
Butting heads is a favorite play for goats, especially for bucks. Here Nubian bucks red Gaius and spotted Augustus are playing.

Going Forward

I had intended to stop breeding my does after Augustus died. There is a flaw in this idea. There are still nine does plus Pest. They eat a lot. They still need care twice a day, every day. Several does are young enough to breed and give milk.

It seems ridiculous to still be doing all the work and having to buy milk. So, there will be a new big buck for my herd.

Two of my oldest does going back to Gaius are bred. High Reaches Spring kidded with two nice little bucks. High Reaches Drucilla is polled. A polled buck would be nice.

Nubian buck High Reaches Augustus watching for the herd
Nubian buck High Reaches Augustus watching for the herd to come in. He was still doing fairly well.

Then again, I may go looking elsewhere. After I stop missing Augustus.

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GKP Writing News

Are You Obsolete?

I’ve been collecting books for decades. Many of them wound interesting, but I’ve never found time to read them. One of these came off the shelf the other day and made me think ‘Are you obsolete?’ about these posts.

Internet Writing

Millions of people write on the internet. Their topics are almost anything you can think of.

I’ve been posting to a website for over ten years. My topics have been on nature, hiking, science, goats and my books.

If the writers could go back and read something they wrote many years ago, what would they think about it?

John Gould

Back in the late 1940s to 1950s, John Gould wrote short topics that were published in newspapers, magazines and books. The book I read was “Neither Hay Nor Grass” published in 1951.

Gould lived in rural Maine. He wrote about living there, the people he knew, things that happened. This sounds a lot like internet posts of today.

One of the reasons I read this book was to find out more about the times it was written in. It certainly did that.

Gould’s wife was mentioned several times. Usually the mention was about her wonderful cooking. His daughter was to learn this.

Education was not very important. Rural ways and values were more important.

cover for "Broken Promises" by Karen GoatKeeper
I wrote this novel using the events of 2008. Do you remember that year? That was the beginning of the Great Recession when the stock market had a meltdown. It refers to a big Ponzi scheme that unraveled then. Is this trilogy now obsolete?

Are You Obsolete?

Gould was writing about a world about to see major changes. Most people would cut their ties to the land and become urban. Women would be able to be more than housewives and cooks.

Jobs were becoming more demanding, requiring better educations. Pollution was about to be confronted as “Silent Spring” was published.

My conclusion is that I am obsolete and many of my posts are not even close to mainstream. I may have grown up urban, but I’ve become rural to a great extent.

Will I change? No. My posts reflect my lifestyle. I can’t write about urban topics as I haven’t been in the big cities for decades.

Perhaps other internet writers and authors should ask themselves ‘Are you obsolete?” An honest answer might change what they write. Or it might not.

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Latest From High Reaches

Ozark Winter Strikes

All day small bits of snow drifted down. Remnants of ice and snow vanished as the snow accumulated. So this year’s Ozark winter strikes.

As the snow accumulated, future plans moved into wish territory. Driving to town is not impossible. But the reasons for risking an accident aren’t enough to try.

Ozark Winter Strikes with snow
The ice started to melt. Then five inches of snow fell turning the road into an expanse of white. Branches held layers of snow on them. Brush had snow attach to the ice still coating them. This was a picture book in black and white.

Picture Book World

When the snow started, the temperature was in the mid-twenties. That makes a dry, powdery snow. The temperature rose to thirty and the snow stuck on the branches, anywhere it could.

After the snow stopped, milking time came up. The temperatures were cold, but they seemed warm after days of teens and twenties. I left the door open to look out across the white fields.

I read a book about the north woods in winter. It was illustrated with pen and ink drawings. The trees were black patterns in a white world. This was the scene I saw out the barn door.

Ozark Winter Strikes with ice
Freezing rain is a winter hazard in the Ozarks. If the ice is half an inch thick or more, branches and trees can break under the weight. Only a quarter inch coated the trees this time. When the sun comes out, the ice turns the world into crystal.

Ozark Winter Strikes Down Walking

The chickens are resigned, not happily, to staying inside. They refuse to go out in the snow. I leave their door closed.

The goats tromp around the side of the barn to stand in the sun. They bask. Then, it’s back into the barn for hay.

The snow was perfect for snowshoes. We left them up north. I walked around a little, but slogging through five inches of wet snow is hard work.

Cabin Fever

That leaves us inside too. We have plenty to do. Cabin fever isn’t having nothing to do, it’s being stuck inside doing it.

We stand at the windows and look out as today’s sun knocks snow off the branches. I shoved it off my truck. The snow on the ground dimples and sinks.

Tonight the snow will freeze into ice. I have no ice skates and don’t know how to ice skate anyway. Walking to the barn will be treacherous. Dawn will bring more sun, more melting.

That is one thing about when an Ozark winter strikes: It is often gone in a few days.

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GKP Writing News

About Picture Books

I’ve published three picture books and have a series in mind. Still, I don’t know that much about picture books.

Reading

One way to learn is by reading picture books. I’ve always liked to browse through them, rarely listing them on my reading list. There are so many good ones, I wanted to share those I’d read.

My Goodreads blog was a way to do this. I now read and review four to six picture books from my library weekly on my blog.

Another reason for reading so many of these books is to see the range of text and illustrations in them. Ones I’ve read run from ones with only pictures to one with no pictures at all.

The illustrations can be highly detailed, elaborate ones to those looking like museum paintings to casual comic book images. They can be painted, collages, line drawings, photographs or combinations.

My preference is watercolor. Recently I read a book about Tasha Tudor (“The Private World of Tasha Tudor”) and have requested some of her books. She uses watercolor and the images I saw in the book are highly detailed which takes great skill with watercolor.

cover of "For Love of Goats" by Karen GoatKeeper
Although people usually think of illustrated books as picture books for young readers, they can be for any age. “For Love of Goats” is illustrated, but is for older people who love the sounds of words and goats.

Research

Another way to learn about picture books is to read books about how to create them. I am reading one now (“Writing With Pictures”).

The basic steps are what I already knew. This book is expanding on these, adding details and suggestions.

Planning and Implementing

There are a few sketches done now for my Agate and Opal series about two adventurous Nubian kids. As I look these over and consider others for these first two books, one about Opal and one about Agate, introducing them, I’m using the knowledge I’ve gained.

First off, my sketches don’t need to be perfect. This is hard for me as I constantly fight the mantra of not good enough. They only need to be true to my Nubian goat kids.

Secondly, I want to do a picture book series, not illustrated stories. That changes how I will do my text. The pictures tell the story. Text only adds a few bits of information.

Most of the text will be reserved for the information page at the end.

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Latest From High Reaches

Cabin Fever

Everything is coated with ice and snow. Ice looks pretty when the sun hits it, but is treacherous to walk on. People and livestock are stuck inside and quickly develop cabin fever.

cabin fever in chickens
The hen house is too crowded to do much, according to the chickens. Most of them spend their days inside standing on the roosts.

Chickens

These birds hate snow making it an easy decision to keep their door closed. Now, the chickens could flock out to the goat barn, but it’s locked up. They would try under the goat gym, but there isn’t much to do there.

In their room, the chickens have feed and water. They can stand around on the roosts, the floor and the nests.

One day, maybe two, the chickens are okay with this. After that cabin fever sets in and they squabble.

food trumps cabin fever for Nubian goats
As long as there’s hay, my Nubian goats are too busy to indulge in cabin fever. Once the hay is picked through, the squabbles begin.

Goats

My herd is used to walking all day. They do this even on winter days when there is little for them to nibble on.

Hay is not as good as fresh grass, even winter grass. Ice or snow covered grass is another matter. Hay is now top of the menu.

Since the herd is much smaller, there is room for them to wander around. There are favorite spots and that leads to arguments. The door is closed, so the arguments soon involve more goats.

The only goats without cabin fever in a day or two are the kids. They run and play or curl up and sleep.

People

We are outside people. Walking, gardening, work take us outside much of every day. Ice and snow make trips outside occur on an as needed basis only.

It’s not that we don’t have plenty to do inside. The bookcases are loaded with books. Housecleaning is a never completed item. Cooking is an option. I could even get a lot of writing done.

Cabin fever isn’t about having something to do. It’s about being stuck inside.