Thursday, June 10, 2010

My Pal Al


"I can call you Betty?"


Maybe you'll recall that I did a post the other day about a nearby duck pond.  Well, right next door to that location is a goat farm.  Sometimes I'll be walking along, lost in my thoughts, when I'll get a pungent reminder that I'm nearing this charming little farm.  There is nothing quite like the odour of goat.



As the odour intensifies, I begin to make out the shapes of the grazing animals.



There seems to be one particularly large specimen.  Hold on...that's no goat!





I've heard that it's good to have a donkey on a dairy  farm to keep skittish or ornery cows calm, but an alpaca to chill out the goats?  The goats don't seem to mind, though I have the distinct (pardon the smelly pun) impression that the alpaca is a little self-conscious.




Nevertheless, she turns in profile to present her best side for a photo opportunity.




Ready for her close up (as close as she'll let me come) she whispers with a slight South American accent,

"You can call me Al."




This post is dedicated to Shirley, for many reasons.


13 comments:

  1. Love it, love it! I'm so fascinated with llamas and alpacas -- they seem so aloof and proud of themselves and their coats make such fine yarn, but don't get too close, as I hear they are sharpshooters with their spit balls.

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  2. Anonymous10 June, 2010

    With "goat" being the English translation of my familys name, surely it was a delight to meet further members.
    Years since last I saw so many animals, Llamas probably more than two decades ago, yes, first one every day, I guess ;) A wonderful Friday for you.

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  3. Any wisdom from the Llama?
    Alpaca ma bag and head for the hills.

    WV - hipti . . . usually followed by hop.

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  4. Shirl,
    Yes, don't I know about your llama/alpaca wool fetish, and I doubt you'd turn your nose up at fine mohair yarn either! Goat cheese on the other hand... This sweetie seems rather shy and far too ladylike to do anything with saliva other than maybe making spit curls. I hope the video brought back some fond memories of a good time. Glad to see the posting didn't get your goat.

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  5. Hello Robert, or should I say Mr. Goat. Thank you for stopping by my funny farm today. I'm pleased to have reacquainted you llamas. I can well understand that they're not a common sight on the streets of Athens. They're gaining popularity as "pets" but I don't think they're quite appropriate for keeping in an apartment, so that's probably why one doesn't see them too often in a city.

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  6. DCW:
    No words of wisdom but a pretty good rendition of "Rama Lama Ding Dong" to get me hipti hopping down the road.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W54ehlomu48

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  7. One of our neighbours keeps goats and as I walk past with the bichons these goats set up a bleating like they are being attacked - cue for owner to rush out and for me to look guiltily blameless just for standing there

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  8. FF,
    Maybe the neighbour just wants to rush out and stare jealously at your adorable bichons.

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  9. Thank you for the Edsel's posting. I hate to admit that I remember both the car and the group.

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  10. I thought you might! But then, obviously, so do I. (insert sheepish grin here)

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  11. Ah, she keeps such furry company ! And they obviously had plenty to relate to you. Post could have been titled : Both Ends of the Llama

    Or perhaps : Business End of a Llama

    Or: Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Llamas But Were Afraid to Ask

    I may just have to pass this blogged goat sighting along to my pal Margaret at Nanny Goats In Panties, she's always keen to hear about all things goatish.

    So nice to meet Betty and Al...

    May just have to post some animals I met by chance the other day, including a man-eating zebra, if you can believe it...

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  12. PS oh, am so slow, just now saw your lovely Lovin' Spoonful bit about the pie in the face of a sleepy bull toad, and went to have a listen...

    My goodness, but you are just the authority to end all authoritativeness when finding incredibly obscure references to all things pertinent and piefull !!! We shall change the expression from "You take the cake" to "You sly the pie" !

    And speaking of pie in the eye, la grenouille just last night made a lovely tarte amandine aux nectarines, which was a simply sinful orgy of fruity pleasure... may just have to run up to the kitchen to see if there's any left to have with another cup of coffee here this early Saturday afternoon of extreme laziness...

    PPS posted another peony for you yesterday.... Yesterday, all my pies they seemed so far away, now it looks as though they're here to stay...

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  13. Dear Gloating Toad,

    Like the song says, Damn your pies!

    "damn your pies for taking my breath away
    for making me wanna stay
    damn your pies
    for getting my hopes up high
    for making me fall in love again
    with your damn pies"

    or words to that effect.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INrYDcQCoxs

    "tarte amandine aux nectarines" indeed!

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