Silly Billy (goat)

Early this morning I spotted five goats just at the edge of our property, nibbling on a tree. Two of them had ropes around their skinny necks but the ropes were not attached to anything as they should have been, leaving them free to wander. The other three were kids who generally follow the adults around. I looked at them for a while before rushing for the camera, and after photographing them it occurred to me that they probably shouldn’t really be in Piccolo, eating the plants…we have a little garden which we’d like to see growing! Nick suggested that I leave them alone and then they wandered off anyway – but when they came by the same tree again, I decided to take action. Still in my dressing gown and slippers, I walked right up to them (bravely), and got hold of the ropes. One of the goats probably sized me up and thought I was no match for him, so he went running off and I had to let go of his rope or risk being dragged across roads and fields. The other one, I think a female, was very docile and came with me, although stopped when she pleased for a delicacy – obviously the weeds in Piccolo taste different to the weeds and grass in her field. Had I been watching myself, I would have thought it a very funny sight – this city girl in pyjamas, picking her way through long grass, dragging a goat on a rope! The little kids seemed confused; two of them followed the first goat and the other one stayed with the female, bleating plaintively all the time. Eventually a Saint man came over and said he had been looking for the goats, so took the rope from me and took charge. I went home and continued the morning!

School was fine, no problems, except that Aaron is still slow with his writing, gets distracted, forgets how to hold his pencil, doesn’t sit properly, and isn’t writing neatly anymore. But the readings were all great. After lunch I took Aaron with me to town. I needed a couple of things from the manse and Aaron needed new shoes as the ones I bought in Cape Town had big holes in them – Caleb’s developed holes some months ago already!

This is how Caleb has been occupied in some of his free time for the past five or six days. He has already finished one whole book, which is really fantastic. He was giving me impromptu book reports along the way too, so I know he’s comprehending his reading.

While Caleb reads, Aaron sometimes browses through the more picture-intense books, often asking me what something spells. Today he was looking at continents and countries.