Shut The Front Door!

Rule #1:  If you don't want a goat to get in somewhere, don't give 'em the opportunity to get there.

Brought Inga into the milking room and let Cindy, Esther, and Tessie out into the pen.  Finished working with Inga.  As I let Inga out, Esther was basking in the sun by the barn wall.  Took the rope and went around to get Sheila from her stall.  All was going according to plan, and then all hell broke loose.  Coming around the corner with goat #2, I saw that the door to the milking room was open and Esther wasn't lying down beside it.  She was in the room and had discovered the mice's stash of grain.  I got Sheila up on the stand and tried to get Esther out.  But then Cindy came in (door not shut) and I had two to contend with.  Both Cindy and Esther were pushing Sheila out of the way to get to her cereal bowl.  I finally got the rope around one and then the other's neck and out of the room and shut the door.  Whew!  Settling down to milk Sheila, I heard banging and baa-ing from the back stalls.  Oh good grief!  In my rush to get the invaders out of the milking room, I hadn't quite shut the gate to the rear of the barn.  All four of the others were in there, pushing and shoving in the aisle and going in and out of the stalls.  This was the reverse of a clown car; instead of tumbling out, goats were getting in everywhere.  When I'd finished with Sheila (first things first), I went around to chase the miscreants out.  That's when I found Tessie in Cindy's stall and someone had slammed that door and shut her in.  It's hard to be mad when you're laughing.  With a certain degree of calm restored, the rest of the morning went well.  Lesson learned.

Spent a lovely afternoon poolside at Cam's with the Ladies of Fair Play.  We all enjoyed a potluck buffet, cooling libations, and good conversation.

After a somewhat crazy, rough start, it was a good day.