I got up, dragged myself through my morning chores and routine, even though it wasn't really morning yet. The sun wasn't up, after all. It was drizzling rain and I hoped it wouldn't rain on us all day while we picked blueberries. There are two most common extremes for berry-picking-- burning sun or pouring rain. Usually, it's one or the other.
I drove to a friend's house to pick up her two 8 year old boys to help with the picking (since my dear friend just had a baby and is not yet up to berry picking) and then drove to another friend's house to pick her up.
I had spent a 45 minutes in the car already, and we weren't even at the berry farm yet! So we drove another 45 minutes. Thankfully, the rain stopped, though the bushes were still drenched, so we managed to get soaked well enough.
We picked for 3 1/2 hours and got 75 pounds of blueberries!
(That is not 75 pounds in that picture. It's just my 15-pound take... Wish I had taken a picture of all those berries together, though!)
After we were done picking and ate some lunch, we decided we hadn't spend nearly enough time in the car, so we drove yet another hour further north...
...to buy a goat!
After which I retraced my steps (tire rotations?) back home to get my new girl settled in.
Oh, and my van stinks.
Like goat pee.
Ew.
She's very sweet and friendly, gives a flood of milk (I know because it all ended up all over my milk stand when she started to dance and put a foot in the bucket!), and she's a little camera-shy.
She also doesn't have a name.
I mean, she does... the name on her papers... "Twiggy Shins Black Baby".
Ack.
Not sure I've ever heard a worse one...
I mean, ya might as well call her "Rumplestiltskin."
Seriously.
So I need to give her a real name. Some thing I can call her. Something sweet and feminine, because that's what she is.
Since my other girl is "Cappuccino", I thought maybe I should continue with the coffee theme. "Espresso" is the obvious choice. But that's doesn't exactly roll off the tongue now does it? Neither does "Starbucks". Nathan said, "Call her 'Dark Roast' and we'll call her 'Darky' for short." and I said, "Um... nah."
So then I thought, a cappuccino drink has milk in it, right? (Right?) So maybe the theme should be "milk" since that's what I have them for. Buuut... nothing comes to mind. She's black so maybe I should go with something chocolaty... "Cocoa?" But she's not really that color...
Or I could give her a name from the Columbia River Gorge, like "Rowena" or "Celilo"...
Or maybe I should just give her a froofy, feminine name like "Daphne" or "Fiona".
Or maybe I could hang it all and call her "That Black Goat".
Yeah, so I'm having trouble with this.
Okay, dear reader, this is your chance to weigh in with your favorite goat name! I'm counting on you to come up with some good ones!
Posts
Wheeee! I'm first!
ReplyDeleteHow about Henrietta? You could call her Henry for short ....
Or Gertrude .... Gerty the Goat!
Or Prudence .... Is a Prude really camera shy?
Or Carol Paul .... but I don't know how the Congressman's wife would like having a goat named for her.
Dad
Oreo
ReplyDeleteIt's go to be Oreo.
And I thought naming a dog ws hard. (Casey) I can't imagine a goat. But, I like Gertie. It sounds very goat-ish. :)
ReplyDeleteAwesome! Is this the goat with the foot problems? She is cute. We saw a Nubian at the fair today that was as big as a pony. The biggest darn goat I ever did see. HUGE
ReplyDeleteSomehow I expected Dave to say "Gertie Goat". I think I've heard that before!
How about Latte?
I'm thinking "Lait," "Leite," or "Leche", since "Milk" is just a crappy name, but milk in French, Portuguese, or Spanish makes your goat have some culture or something. You could go with "Milch," but it sounds like "milk" and German is ugly.
ReplyDeleteI actually vote for "Celilo"- I like that name I guess.
And "La Negrita" is just obvious if you want to call her "the black one". "La Poderosa" is "the powerful one," since I can't think of another way to express the fact that she gives a lot of milk.
Finally, "Arándano" is a rough translation of "blueberry" in Spanish, though the word also means "cranberry," since both are extremely rare in Latin America.
Oh, come one... EVERYONE names their black and white animals "Oreo." Everyone. I'm trying to be original, here.
ReplyDeleteI thought about "Latte", but wouldn't that be more fitting for a white goat?
If I call her "Celilo" I'll only be able to think of that girl on the boy's baseball team. "Come on, Celilo, keep your eye on the ball!"
I like the idea of calling her "blueberry in spanish", but I'm not sure "Arandano" rolls of my tongue...
One of the first things that popped into my head was Black Udder. (You know, "Black Adder" :) )I realize there are several problems with this name: it's a girl, she probably doesn't really have a black udder, and it's not something that rolls off your tongue, but I thought it was kinda funny.
ReplyDeleteI guess I lean toward flowery names. You know, Petunia or Dahlia or Violet. SO many possibilities!!
Well, if you don't like "Oreo" (neither do I; that's right- mini fatwah against Martin here in the comments), you can go with "Galleta"- that's "cookie." It actually is pretty flowing. The pronounciation is "gai-etah."
ReplyDeleteOh man, she looks kinda like Shady. Not good! (Maybe you should name her Shady, for old times sake).
ReplyDeleteHow about Frappuccino? Cappuccino and Frappuccino :)
Her white lines look foamy, like the swirly top of a...foamy coffee, whatever they are...cappucino or latte?
ReplyDeleteLa Negrita is good. You could call her Rita for short.
Ok, I have a handful of name ideas for your charming goat; all in Italian:
ReplyDeleteMirtillo= means blueberry
Cafe'= means coffee
Bella= pretty girl
Capra= goat (feminine)
Beautiful blueberries by the way!
You guys are crackin' me up! "Frappuccino" Hahaha!
ReplyDeleteI actually really like "Mirtillo" and "Galleta"... Hmm...
I got another suggestion today-- that I call her "Opal" and all her kids can be named after other gems like "diamond", "ruby", "onyx" etc. And then Cappuccino's kids can be named after coffee and milk related things...
Just so that you all know, Katie never takes my suggestions either.
ReplyDeleteHer husband.
Hmm. No cookies for you!
ReplyDeleteMaybe - badger? Badger the goat. Kids might have a complex growing up, though. ("Mommy, is he *really* our grandpa?").
The badger underneath the pole barn is practically big enough to grandfather a goat.
ReplyDeleteHi, Katie. I'm late in the conversation, but here is one more suggetion: contrary to a previous opinion, I think German has some fine words. After all your doe IS, evidently, a Toggenburg, isn't she? That's Swiss, so she would take offense at being given a Spanish, Italian, or Scottish name. If you want blueberry, Call her Heidelbeer (Hi' dell bare, with a very soft r, or Heidel for short. She will give better milk for sure.
ReplyDelete"Heidel" Hm, I like that!
ReplyDeleteHowever, she is actually French Alpine. Therefore, she's sure to take offense at ANY name that is anything other than French, right? Though, I think French Alpine goats are still a Swiss breed. Maybe the French-speaking Swiss are not as snobbish as the French French...
Sooo... how do you say "blueberry" in French?
How about Misto? (Starbucks half drip coffee half steamed milk)
ReplyDelete