BURNED!

The ever-lovely and so up beat Gavle Boken (the biggest straw goat in Gavle Sweeden-they have two) has burned to the ground!!!! At 3 a.m. this morning local time. So sad! He had a twitter page and a blog this year and he is ever so optomistic, even as his "little brother" was stolen earlier in the month.

Then:

















Now:














Perhaps next year they can sell more baby goats (stuffed versions) so that they can hire more guards to protect him. Ah well. His spirit live on!!















http://www.merjuligavle.se/English/VISIT-GAVLE/THE-CHRISTMAS-GOAT/

The Saga of Brett the Goat

In my sordid past, I was a high school student in Winona, MN, and it comes as no surprise that one of the strangest stories to come from the Viking Farve tone poem (sorry!) is out of that river town.

Seems a 21 year old girl along with a dude and a kid went to Tires Plus to get a belt replaced in her car. There, she confided in an employee that there was a goat in her trunk. Not only that, but when the guy opened the trunk, he found the goat was painted purple and gold (Minnesota Viking football colors) and had former-Green Bay Packer-turned Viking Brett Farve's #4 shaved on his side. The goat was only one year old.

Conflicting reports exist as to whether or not the goat was actually going to be sacrificed, but kudos to the repair guy for reporting the incident and rescuing the goat!

First reported in the famed Winona

The goat, now named Brett, is going to a new home. In Wisconsin.

Next up-a report on the "goat sanctuary" (some day.)

12/05/2009 -- UPDATE! Check out this page for information on Brett's home: http://schultzscountrybarn.com/default.aspx

House on the Rock

I now work for House on the Rock and thought I'd post some goat-ness from that bastion of eclectic agglomerations:













































































I'll be on the lookout for more. I'm sure there's one on the carousel. And apparently a goat named Lucifer used to live on the roof of the Mill House.

Goats+golf=FUN!

Swissland Mini-golf

I was very impressed that for the last two Sundays, there have been goat photos in the Wisconsin State Journal. This week it was for Al Johnson's restaurant (which I've already covered in this blog) and the week before it was Swissland Miniature Golf course which I had not heard of. In the article "Charting a Course," the author wrote about the 18 best holes in the Madison area. Holes 2,612 and 10 of Swissland in New Galarus made it onto their list.

Of course, the most important part about this golf course is Hershey and Marshmallow, two goats who live next to the course. I have not visited but apparently you can buy ice cream cones filled with food for them. (Note-New Galarus also hosts Heidi-fest which features goats prominently. I missed it this year, but hope to attend in 2010!)

Vintage Goat Cart Photos

I just read an interesting article in "Goats" magazine, a special issue produced by Hobby Farms Magazine group. It was about "The Goat Cart Man," name unknown, who was a guy who went around in the 20s-40s with a goat and a cart and a number of banners with the year printed on them. He would pose children in the cart, take their picture and sell the resulting photograph.

I actually have a number of these images, but never thought to look on ebay for others. Lo and behold, there are quite a few, and all very reasonably priced! So if anyone is trying to find that perfect gift for the goat maiden, do a search for "Goat photo," and I would be happy to receive any of them.

Goat breaks into home, eats cake

Found on:
http://www.madison.com/tct/news/stories/438982

Sherry Shirley of Westford, WI, opened the front door of her home to let her dog in when a goat burst into the house, jumped onto a kitchen counter and helped itself to a freshly baked chocolate cake, according to the Dodge County Sheriff's Department.

Deputies responded to a call from Shirley at 11:43 Saturday morning, but a neighbor had already dragged the goat out, patrol captain Molly Soblewski said.

"The goat didn't do a lot of damage. It knocked some dishes to the floor that broke and began eating the chocolate cake she had just made," Soblewski said. Deputies followed the goat's tracks to a nearby farm on Mill Road and Soblewski said the owners of the goat will not be cited.

"Vote for a Goat"!

In the Sunday May 3 issue of the Wisconsin State Journal there was an article on "Discovering Brodhead by Bike." Brodhead, a small town south of Madison, hosts a bike and car tour of 5 farms, including goat, sheep and emu farmers. Tour the Farms takes place on May 9 this year.

Of course what caught my eye was the "Vote for a Goat" contest! It is not clear from the article if the contestants are live goats or statues, but you can go to Tinker's Garden and vote for your favorite.

Featured goat farm on the tour is Scotch Hill, which raises Nigerian Dwarf and Oberhasli Dairy Goats;