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

High Winds and Fire

The first phone call came during dinner. “You know you’re under an evacuation order? There’s a fire.” We already had no electricity. Now high winds and fire threatened.

The argument between winter and spring is fierce in the Ozarks. One refuses to leave. The other insists on coming in. This is where high winds happen.

high winds and fire are a bad combination
These flames were creeping across the hill behind the house on the day after the big fire. The winds had died down. What little breeze still blew was blowing against the flames. Burning leaves put up a lot of smoke.

Do We Leave?

There was no immediate reason to evacuate. The fire was on the hills above us. It was driven away by the winds.

If we evacuate, we have goats, chickens and cats to take too. Two friends offered their places for us to stay, but the crowd would be a bit much.

Saving Thunderstorm

Rain arrived behind the high winds. The fire died down. It burned 750 acres, two houses and some other things.

By the next day the fire was starting up again. It was a no high winds and fire routine, only the fire slowly working its way through the fallen leaves. We watched it as it crept across a field and started down the hill toward the house.

Damp ground, dew and killing frost ended this gambit. Or so we thought.

Dent County Fire District truck
The leaf fire had been creeping along the hill toward the house. It was taking its time and didn’t seem to be much of a threat. Then the Dent County Fire Protection trucks arrived as the neighbor had seen the smoke and called them.

Another Round

Smoke rose up from the hill beside the house. I walked down the road and saw a line of fire stretching up the hill. High winds and fire were at it again.

This was still a small fire burning leaves. We watched and waited.

Our neighbor arrived. He’d called the sheriff and fire department. His house was in danger!

His house was not in danger. It was across the road from the fire and almost a mile away.

setting a back fire
The fire fighters were concerned the high winds could blow the fire across the road. They set a back fire to stop the fire line before it got to the road. The winds were brisk, but not full of big gusts, which helped.

Fighting the Fire

The Salem Fire Protection Department arrived. Four big trucks turned into the driveway. Men put on their gear and marched off to stop the fire.

A few hours later, the trucks left to stop another flare up on the hill behind us. This one burned down a house.

Our hills were blackened as though a prescribed burn was done. We were lucky.

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First Spring Hike

The grass is starting to grow hinting at mower time coming. The wayside speedwell and early cress are blooming in the yard. So I went on my first spring hike looking for the earliest wildflowers.

Disappointment

The upper Meramec River is a short hike away. Usually I find harbinger of spring there.

Not this year. This year the river bank is totally different after the big flood that came through the end of last year.

Debris in the bushes marked the high water mark. It was over five feet up. Fallen logs were swept away through much of my hiking path. Sand was left behind.

Dreams of crossing onto the gravel bar in the center of the river were mostly cancelled. The river had cut into its bank, toppling trees and leaving sheer drops of four to ten feet into deep pools. This summer’s swimmers with their small children may not want to stay here this year. Already the party crowd has gone elsewhere as the far gravel bank is now inaccessible.

first spring hike find: American Elm flower
American elms aren’t doing well in my area of the Ozarks. Those near the house have all died. A few hang on in the river floodplain. My first spring hike was timed well as these trees were blooming. I was lucky to have a branch within reach to get a few pictures.

Only One Flower

A few spring plants are trying to force their way up through the sand. Some of the dirt areas are still clear. However, I found no early wildflowers.

Silver maples grow along the river. They had finished blooming. I don’t worry much about getting pictures of them as the flowers are thirty feet over my head.

The American elms had washed away in the area I had found. There does seem to be others further down and these trees were in bloom. One branch was even within reach of my walking stick-hooked on the end.

Later On

This first spring hike was mostly exercise and looking around. My next forays along here will hopefully find other flowers in bloom.

Some, like Virginia bluebells, rue anemone, false rue anemone, Confederate violets, are nice to see again. Another, Virginia waterleaf, is one I need more pictures of. I’ve found it along here in the past, but my return trips were thwarted by stinging nettle. Perhaps the flood swept most of these away. I can hope.

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GKP Writing News

Finding Plot Holes

Finding plot holes is such a mess. A main character in Life’s rules has a birthday including family party. Except it never happened. Oops.

This is where a good plot outline would help, I suppose. Or maybe not. Sarah’s birthday wasn’t really part of the plot originally.

Finding Plot Holes

I write from a list of bullet points. These are a rough idea of what the plot looks like, but doesn’t really add any details.

None of these points is definite. Some get ignored. Others get added as the plot takes shape in the rough draft.

In Life’s Rules, there are several subplots. Some of these are being eliminated. Others are being expanded on. Keeping track of them is complicated especially as spring brings so many other activities fragmenting my writing time.

My method to keep track of them and find problems is to make an outline as I rewrite the rough draft. It’s not a formal outline, just a list of day events as the novel unfolds in days.

Another Outline

There are many characters in Life’s Rules. Some are families. Parents, spouses, children, grandchildren all need names and an outline of relationships.

Each also needs a few details about each character. The ages, grades and interests of the grandchildren are important.

I didn’t do this outline once. One of the characters changed names over the course of the novel. Catching this mistake luckily happened before the final draft.

cover for "Dora's Story" by Karen GoatKeeper
This story too had a massive plot hole in it. It took several outlines to finally get the plot and timing done correctly.

After Finding Plot Holes

Once a plot hole is spotted, the rewrite begins. Since this particular hole is a major problem, the rewrite is like writing a new rough draft at this point until the other events can be placed on new days.

The frustrating part of this is how I keep rambling on with text full of goings on. Each has a bearing on the main plot, but one goal of this rewrite was to cut the word count, not add to it.

So, I now get to do another rewrite after finishing this one to try again to shorten this massive story.

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Latest From High Reaches

Goats As Pets

People driving by stopped asking about my goats. It seems they want to buy one for their grandson. I cringed. Goats as pets often does not end well for the goat.

Many people think of Nigerian Dwarfs or Pygmies as pets. Perhaps these work out better than my Nubians as they are small. I have no experience with them.

Nubians get big. I have a six-year-old wether. His back is over three feet up and his weight is well over 200 pounds. Yes, he is a pet, although I kept him as a lead goat which role he rarely fills.

Goats as pets can work
Yes, this Nubian wether is called Pest among other names like Big Lug which he is at over 200 pounds. A wether is a fixed buck goat and is better suited as a pet as he will not usually be as aggressive and won’t stink during the fall. Pest was very small when he was born and was raised on a bottle. He is very laid back. Still, he is big enough to hurt me without trying.

Goats Can Be Dangerous

My Nubians are as much pets as livestock for me. Even so, I have one doe who is spooky. If she panics, she will climb right over the top of me. She is at least twenty pounds heavier than I am and has four feet ending with hard hooves.

Long ago I knew a woman with a commercial goat dairy. One of her bucks, a Toggenburg (another big dairy breed), broke her leg is three places. Newly out of the hospital, she tried to stop him from deliberately killing another buck. She went back in the hospital.

I have had a broken hand, numerous bruises and almost lost an eye from my goats. The goats involved were not mean nor did they try to hurt me. But they did.

Goats As Pets

Goats are herd animals. They need another goat for company. People wanting a pet goat often think they can get only one and wonder why the goat cries. A baby Nubian can be heard for a quarter mile.

A goat is not like a dog. Yes, they love petting. Yes, they will follow you around to see what you are doing. Getting shoved can leave you on the ground.

In addition, goats eat fruit trees, gardens, stand on vehicles. They are curious and get into everything.

Horror Stories

Goats take lots of good care. Pet goats often don’t get the proper food or care. They get abused and turn mean. They get sick and die. I know of all of these things happening.

Will I sell my kids as pets? I would rather not.

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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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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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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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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.