Pussiere De Lune

                               

                                                      Need a closer look?  Try this one....

This would be Ellie May holding up a three and a half month old goat because "The others never let her eat the good stuff."  For perspective, the kid standing right in front of them is the litter mate to the one that is in the air.


And this would be the child that tells me every day how much she hates goats...


This is the story of Moon Dust. 

Also known as Dusty, Doodles, and occasionally as "The Poodle." 

This is probably the most beloved of all the kids born at Tail's Up. (Note the semantics, carefully crafted so as not to offend my sweet Chickory Blossom.) <Chickory wasn't  born here.>



Ellie May snoozing in her chair with Moon Shine, Moon Shadow, Moon Pie and Moon Dust on their birthday.

 Go back in the archives and you can read about Moon Dust's very difficult birth in "We're Kidding, No Kidding 2010."  I will spare you the details here, but know that she was used as a battering ram by her three siblings who all wanted to get out of the birth canal first.  She was weak and had fluid in her lungs, didn't stand on her own for three days, and a whole bunch of other stuff.  She shouldn't have made it, but we fought hard to keep her.  And in the process we spoiled her rotten. 

Dusty spent the first month of her life in our living room, complete with room service and private quarters.  We had two play pens set up, one for the new kids (remember, every kid spends at least the first 72 hrs in the house with us,) and one for Dusty, her heating pad, and a kid du jour....for company.  Doodles did not like being alone.

Dusty at about 1 week.

Doodles was the goatie that i started making goat sweaters for.  She had trouble holding her body heat (hence the heating pad) so i snagged one of Jewels' sweaters, and The Poodle was born.  By the time she graduated to the barn, she had an entire collection of sweaters, a dress, and a rhinestone studded collar.  (I will only claim responsibility for the sweaters.)

Laugh if you will, but the goatie sweater has turned out to be a great discovery.  In years past, when the weather was bitter, we would have to bring the kids back in the house for the night.  Now when there is a cold snap, we just slap a sweater on 'em and toss 'em in the kid pen with a couple of heat lamps. 




Dusty was a VERY laid back goat.

 

These pictures were taken at about 2 weeks



  



 

No, Doodles was not narcoleptic.  She was just extremely bonded to Ellie May.  Every time Ellie picked her up, Dusty practically melted into Ellie.  And when Ellie was in the vicinity, Dusty's feet rarely touched the ground.  I didn't really realize this until i went to look for pictures for this post.  I found only one picture of Doodles actually standing, and it was on the milk stand for her "kid pic," to document each years kids for composition and structure.

Dusty had a little trouble eating in the beginning, so it took four times as long to feed her as it did the other kids.  While most kids will drain a 10 ounce bottle with non-stop voracious sucking, Doodles was more of a snacker.  She would have a few slurps, then ask how the weather was.  Have a few more swallows, and stop to give you a kiss.  Take another sip, then comment on a film she had recently seen.  She didn't eat.  She Dined.  We decided, therefore, that she must be French, and thus, at mealtime, mademoiselle was called to the table by the moniker Pussiere De Lune, the French translation of the name Moon Dust.

Doodles went every where with us the first couple of months.  Note the outfit above.  This was her "going to town" frock, a sassy little lavender number with pink and purple fuzzy edging, custom made especially for Dusty, as requested by Ellie May.  Unbelievably, as much as she wore that sweater, we never got a good picture. 

In this picture, Dusty is handing Ellie may a napkin, because Ellie was a little messy.  We try to eat a fairly healthy diet around here, and aside from our Sonic addiction, we don't eat a lot of fast food.  We do, however, have a problem with cheddar potato wedges.  Yes.  I know.  But we don't have them too often, and we always bless them.   Anyway, this was the day that we discovered that Doodles loved cheddar wedges.  Actually, she loved the cheddar on the wedges, followed by une petite quantite du ranch dressing.  You know how the French are about their sauces.

One day, when Dusty was about five months old, Ellie May came in the house, cradling Dusty in her arms like a baby.  Now, look at the size of that goat in the picture below.  It is at least a 50 pound goat, but there she was, belly up, legs all in the air.  I looked at them and asked, "What are you doing with that goat in my house?" 

"The donkeys traumatized her!" was the pitiful response.  It seemed that while browsing, the donkeys had tried to chase Dusty, and it was just more than her delicate system could take.  So Ellie May took the babe to their favorite chair, and they snuggled, Dusty's head on Ellie's shoulder for better than half an hour, and every three or four minutes The Poodle would release a huge



***SIGH***

It was just short of a Blanche DuBois swoon.

I kid you not.

Sadly, about a month after this, we lost Dusty.  She died in Ellie's arms, the two of them nestled in their chair, just as they had spent so many hours, looking pretty much like they do in the picture above.  It was a very swift demise.  Nothing Susan, dear Susan nor i could think to do would save her.  Dusty never really thrived, and i think we were darned lucky to have her for the time that we did.  I don't think she should have survived birth, to be honest. 

We loved her.  Still do.