"I've got a new invention. It's a revolving bowl for tired goldfish." - Lefty Gomez

Uff-dah. It's 89 in the house and 98 outside. We've got doors and windows upon to catch the tiny breeze and the fan going at mid-speed right in front of us. Tomorrow it is supposed to be another 5 degrees hotter.

But we're not going to the coast like we'd planned because something else has come up that's a higher priority. We're going price shopping.

We drove further into the woods south of Noti - about as far into the woods as you can go, another mile past the end of a dead-end road - to meet Marta. What a very nice lady who agreed to let us come see her goat setup and ask her questions about raising Boer goats for meat. She has a very high quality herd of Boers, a significant investment in an expensive breed, and is THE lady to talk to if you have questions. I did, and she answered them all.

But what fun just being there! She must have 25 Boer goats of all ages, including two very young adorable kids we bottle fed while Marta answered questions. She knows them all by name. Marta showed us her barn setup, how and what she feeds, how she breeds them, and schooled us on shots, trimming hooves, and the problem that happens if you band a buckling too soon (not good!).

Then we walked out to one of the fenced pastures (we talked about fencing, too) and she called out a name that we can't remember. Out of the woods comes bounding a very big white dog, and 5 seconds later a herd of about 10 more goats in tow.

The dog is an Anatolian Shepherd (!) who "is not a pet, that's his herd." He has killed coyotes but never lost a goat to a predator. You can see Pam petting him in the upper left in this pic. He loves attention!

We explained that we're trying to decide if this is something we want to do before we spend limited funds, basically the proceeds from the timber, on fencing, a goat shed, and goats. Again, Boer goats are special, somewhat rare, and not cheap. Marta's herd is very high quality, so she gets top dollar for those she sells.

She recommended we go with "commercial" grade Boer wethers off of Craig's List. They rarely show up for sale, aren't registered, pedigreed, but just fine for butchering.

Back to Marta. She's pretty much living our dream. They have 80 acres way back up against hills that are covered in giant fir trees. A modest house, acres of fenced pasture, barns, shops.... Her husband can do anything and has a saw that turns trees into boards with which he builds everything from fences to barns. Pam commented at dinner that Marta is clearly a very contented woman living simply, not consumed with having stuff.

Their whole family is CMA (Christian Missionary Alliance) for generations and her daughter is marrying a Kenyan guy she met while on a missionary trip there a couple of years ago. They went out to Africa to meet him, so we also talked about our parallel experiences there. We just really connected.

I sent her a message after we got home saying we appreciated her time and patience, and that we'd be out pricing things necessary to get into goats, and heard back from her almost immediately. Gracious response that said we could have easily talked all day. (agreed)

OK, back up for a bit. She told us about what she does with her kids. Some are sold for meat, some for breeding, some stay in her herd to replace aging goats, and some are sold to 4-H kids. A weaned goat brings her $150 for a weather, twice that for a breeding doe, and more for a breeding buck, though she rarely sells those.
Then there are "bottle kids." These are doelings and bucklings that she sells at 1 or two days old and have to be bottle fed until they're weaned. She'll have her next bottle kids in November. $50 each!
!
When she replied to my thank you message she said, "You guys are officially at the top of my list for bottle kids in November."
WOOT!!

That's why we'll not be going to the beach, but will be going to a few places that sell field fence, T-posts, electric fence....