Goat Couture

"The wind chill advisory is now in effect until midnight cst tonight. Very cold temperatures combining with a north wind between 15 and 25 mph over much of the region this evening will produce wind chill values from 20 to near 30 below through midnight tonight. After midnight, the wind is expected to diminish to under 10 mph, though temperatures will remain well below zero in most locations until after sunrise Saturday. A wind chill advisory means that very cold air and strong winds will combine to generate low wind chills. This will result in frost bite and lead to hypothermia if precautions are not taken. If you must venture outdoors, make sure you wear a hat and gloves. "

Desperate times call for desperate measures.

I hate to sew. I absolutely detest it. I have sewn, moreso when we were very poor and couldn't afford to buy some of the things we needed. I often sewed curtains. And that is a big feat for me. My mother and grandmother are (and my great-grandmother was) amazing seamstresses. I am the black sheep, proud of myself for sewing a straight line. I just don't have the patience.

When we moved here, I packed my sewing machine away. It's been nearly 2 years, and I didn't even know where it was at. I tried to find it one day-- maybe halfheartedly.

So, today we have a very, very low temperature and windchill. When we went out to feed at 5:00, it was very cold, and the goats were shivering. I couldn't stand to see that, and we headed for town to the farm store to find some calf blankets, or (yeah right) goat blankets. I fully expected to dip into the kids' college funds to afford them, as everything that farm store sells is highway robbery. Alas, they didn't have any, and all I came away with was a rubber bucket (doesn't break when water freezes inside, and you can bash the ice out of it).

So, we headed over to Pamida, my very favorite store. They had a winter sale, and were selling these cool fleece throws for $3.99. I bought six of them, and came home and made my own goat coats. Cindi was VERY grateful for hers, and knew right away what to do (see below).

Bert was either scared or happy, but he just stood stock still, and stared out into space. Ernie, of course, tore his off before I left the barn. I put it back on and left, so I am hoping he's still got it on.

After I sewed the first one for Cindi, I took it out and put it on. When I came out with the boys', she was hunkered down for the night, and was NOT moving for anything. Check out this picture:



B and I bought new flannel sheets, and washed them up and are about to go put them on the bed. Glad I have them, but I think my cool goat coats are a close second.