Goat Wrangling

Yet again I discover renegade goats. This time there are four: Pepper (Boer/Angora wether), Mud Pie(Nigie wether), Moon Pie(Nigie wether), and Latte(mini mancha doe).
I'm beginning to think that Ranchman John fails to securely lock the Wooly's gate on purpose. All it takes is one wrap around the gate and post followed by the snap lock and they're in like Flynn. Otherwise this is the inevitable result.The kids arrived first on the scene, to the relief of the renegade goaties.
The next on the scene is our resident goat herder, our GSD, Zuni. This is the reason why I think Ranchman John 'forgets' to secure the gate. He is working on training Zuni to herd the goats. She's pretty good at it, except she often forgets to listen to any commands and believes she knows the best way to get the goats where they're supposed to be. I watched helplessly from my tower window and worried about my sweet little Latte. She looked terrified. Thankfully she's not interested in biting, but only in chasing and herding. Zuni eventually herds Latte directly to Ranchman John and his friend who stopped by for a visit. Ranchman John scooped up Latte and returned her to the Wooly's paddock. (In case you were wondering, Mud Pie and Moon Pie, the smart nigie twins ran right into their paddock as soon as they saw Zuni coming)
Next up to be herded was Pepper. He's a wiley one, and fast, too.
Baby Doll says, "Run Pepper!"
Zuni, in her excitement ignores commands, and gets on the wrong side.
Somehow it worked out and she got back around. Jax tried to help catch Pepper, but fell over instead. Zuni stayed on Pepper's tail until he headed in the right direction.
Zuni turned Pepper over to Ranchman John, who opened the Wooly's gate so Pepper could run in.
Job well done, Zuni!
Whoooeee! The things I see from my tower window!

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Okie Dokie, I just want to thank all of you who were so helpful in leaving your 'Buggy Lists' and sharing the things you like and dislike about where you live. I learned a lot and it was fun, too.
Several of you reminded me that I forgot to include my own 'Buggy List', so I'll include mine here:

~Location
Central Mountains of New Mexico

~Dislikes
1)Wind and sometimes freezing temperatures and lots of snow.
2)Limited variety of restaurants
3)No delivery (never was an issue until I couldn't drive. Hubby and kids are limited in what they can cook. My palate is bored)
4)Some people move out here and drive like they're still in the city
5)Those same people move out here and try to turn our rural mountains into the city where they came from.

~Likes
1)Fresh air, nature, grass, trees, wildlife, snow and mountains.
2)Quiet, gravel and dirt roads, no traffic.
3)National forest, BLM, Open Space and Wilderness trails right out our back door or within 10 minutes of driving.
4)Only 25 minutes to a major city(Albuquerque), 10 mins. to a major interstate(I-40).
5)Friendly people, small town feel, uncrowded post offices, stores, restaurants. People call you neighbor even when you live 5 miles from each other.
6)Never needing to use air conditioners (or swamp/evaporative coolers) in the summer. We just open our windows and let the cool summer breezes in.
7)Good weather and sunshine at least 300 days of the year.
8)The spicy winter aroma of pinon tree smoke from woodstoves.
9)Green and red chile and delicious southwestern/New Mexican cuisine.
10)Unique Southwestern Adobe style homes and Mountain style homes.
11)No cookie cutter houses and houses set too close to each other.
12)Big blue skies during the day and dark clear star-filled night skies.

I love New Mexico!

We moved here in 1992, from Maryland, and fell in love with our state. Unfortunately in 1998 we had to move, due to a job transfer, but we knew we'd be back one day. We leased out our home and moved to South Carolina for 7 years. I dreamed about New Mexico ever day and was terribly homesick. The humidity, mosquitos and monster sized Palmetto bugs (giant flying roaches!) in South Carolina were horrible. If it weren't for our camping trips to the beautiful beaches those 7 years would have been unbearable.

Finally, hubby and I retired from the airlines and made our move back to our enchanting New Mexico. Setting my eyes once again on the impressive Sandia Mountains, and seeing the sage and juniper covered high desert spreading out for miles, made my heart sing. I was finally back home!

In my music Playlist there is a song by Kutless, called "Strong Tower". The words of that song describe my heartfelt feelings towards these beautiful mountains that shelter and watch over me. For me, mountains ground me and lift me at the same time. The mountains fill me with spiritual energy, and I feel closest to God when I am closest to the mountains.

Well, there ya go. A lot more than you asked for 'eh?

What makes you feel more spiritual?
Mountains? Ocean? Desert? Church? Or just hanging out with your animals?