Supple as a young goat on a windy hill...

I have recently had a small operation to remove a ganglion from my right wrist and have been at home for the past couple of weeks recuperating. This has mainly consisted of reading all those books I bought from charity shops and never got around to. Some have been delight but others, why did I spend 50p on them? At least now the pile to be recycled is bigger and there's some room on the shelves for more...

Although I have been restricted in my movements somewhat, I was determined not to miss out on the basic goat keeping course we have been booked on since before Christmas. This was a week and a half after the op and I was able to drive down to Reaseheath with little pain. The day itself was great, even Agnieszka liked it, particularly when we got taken to a real goat farm where they breed various animals for their meat.

If I have one complaint about Reaseheath it's their habit of putting people into classes when they know nothing about the subject. Last time it was Mr 'I-like-to-keep-things-informal' Walton and his poor knowledge of poultry; this time it was Alan the sheep and dairy farmer. This was only an introduction, so I can forgive the lack of experience here, but for more indepth courses he would have been hopeless. He did, however, have lots of experience with cattle and sheep and came alive when he found he could transfer what he knew. You could see on the farm visit that he was relaxed around the animals, far more than in the class.

Anyway, Alan told us some excellent things, not all in the way he should. Goats, he said, had 'distinct similarities', some of which you can see in the photos. When asked about milk, he replied. 'lactation is a calendar year in terms of its lactation'. When talking about the buck, the PowerPoint slide just said 'urinating', referring to the unsavoury habit of male goats urinating on their front legs. Alan looked at that and said simply: 'There'll be lots of weeing' and then went on to explain how the smell of the buck is what attracts the doe. Now, call me old-fashioned, but if I was a girl and a large, hairy goat, reeking of its own piss, came up to me, the last thing I would be doing is turning around and thinking of England. Surely it's the smell of the doe that attracts the buck, not the other way around? I wait with interest for any response...

All in all we had a good day, learnt quite a lot and I was surprised at Agnieszka, who went there ambivalent about any animal, except maybe rats and Jack Russell terriers, but came away smiling broadly and asking me when we could get some goats. Soon, I hope.