Phoenix was the first to replace the goats I lost in the fire. Hubby saw an ad on Craigslist for a registered Nubian doeling, and he thought we should go look at her. I was so overcome by his suggestion that I burst out crying in the restaurant when he mentioned it. (I don't think he expected that reaction! He was quite embarrassed.)


And so Phoenix came to live with us when she was two and a half weeks old. I'd talked to her breeder on the phone and by email. Another friend knew the breeder and vouched for the herd's health.

(This photo was taken with my phone, so please excuse the poor quality.)
I picked up the doeling in the breeder's barn and carried her through the cold February air. When I put her in the crate in the car, the breeder asked me if I had a name picked out. She said that the does in this line all had names beginning with F: Felicity, Fantasy, Philosophy (well, it sounds like F), and so on. I said her name would be Phoenix, and we both smiled. It was perfect in every way, my little phoenix rising from the ashes of the fire, and a name beginning with F, sort of.


For several weeks she was our only goat. Since she was an "only" and because it was cold outside - and just because I wanted her to - she lived in the house with us until I got Firefly. Fortunately we have tile floors!


Phoenix bounced through the house, chewed on my straw broom, nibbled hay messily, investigated everything, and tap-danced on the coffee table. When I'd walk from one end of the house to the other I led a parade of Phoenix, 3 big dogs, and 3 cats. Each afternoon she'd collapse exhausted into my lap for a long nap, and my heart finally began to heal.


We'd spend sunny mornings in the backyard, with Phoenix wearing a homemade coat. She spent the nights in the super-size dog crate in the mudroom.


And then Firefly came, and Phoenix went to live in the backyard (and not a moment too soon).


She's now nine months old and so friendly, even though she now knows she's a goat and not a human.


She's a calm and confident doe, and very sweet. I wonder if she remembers those naps in my lap?



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