Happy Fri-Yay, peeps. Welcome to this week’s addition of Nature Friday where we join the pups from Adventures of the LLB Gang for their weekly blog hop.

We try to share nature’s beauty here every Friday but there’s nothing that says we can’t share nature’s cute aspects, right? Well, this week get ready for some serious cute. Long story short, a former neighbor and friend who made a stop at a nearby farm for fresh eggs (Amanda is a professor of geography and environmental sciences) and ended by buying the farm which sat in a conservation easement within the city limits of Wheat Ridge (a nearby Denver suburb) in 2010 which continues the legacy of former owner Louise Turner, whose family was not interested in continuing to farm. Amanda Weaver took over the egg and dairy business and uses the 13 acre farm to provide community resources and educational opportunities for the community as well as her students (you can read more about Amanda and her journey to being a farmer here). Recently she mentioned in her newsletter that the farm had new baby goats and after a series of postponements, I went to the farm yesterday to see the now almost teenaged goats.

Amanda raises LaMancha dairy goats, the only breed developed in the U.S. LaMancha are noted for high milk production, relatively high butterfat content and their people loving personalities. They also are known for their distinctive  ‘gopher ears’ which are minuscule compared to other goat breeds. Gopher ears are practically nonexistent with very little or no cartilage.

The above pic is the surrogate mama for one of the babies (whose own mama passed away suddenly shortly following the birth of a pair of twins). Alas, one of the babies did not survive so this little cutie pie took a double loss in life but she’s making up for it with her cuteness factor running clear off the charts.

She’s a mix from her LaMancha mama and a Nigerian Dwarf buck. She seemed to inherit her daddy’s ears and her mama’s love of people.

While my friend was feeding the two mama’s, this little miss jumped up in my lap! I learned however that whenever you exit your seat, it is likely to be immediately occupied by another goat who will quickly jump up in your place.

Gah…that face! I was completely smitten. Here’s is the other mama goat keeping an eye on me while the little one contentedly sat in my lap being petted.

Her baby liked to prance around me but wasn’t interested in getting into my lap. She did however seem to enjoy delivering very soft nibbles on my hand and watchband and gave me a raspberry when I invited her over for an ear scratch.

These goats are so expressive and you definitely understand why they are so popular among animal lovers everywhere. LaManchas are a lot like dogs, wagging their tails to show their excitement. They reminded me of Sam’s Swiffer tail action.

It was way too much fun watching the kids run and prance around. Just watching their energy level wore me out and they seem to resemble wind up toys going full throttle when wound up and then a brief respite while they recharged their batteries.

Whenever needed, that little buzz saw would slow down by rubbing the fence-almost taunting me. I had to laugh at that behavior-Elsa does the same thing every morning against my bed. I’m convinced she does it to get me up and adam.

While both kids are eating grain, they were both vigorous nursers. The surrogate mama will now only allow the nursing of the tiny kid when she’s in the feeding stall. The little one’s nursing made me wince.

It was the kind of morning that made me smile inside and out despite the upper 90º temps. Both kids have new homes awaiting them once they are fully weaned over the next couple of weeks and have no doubt my friend will miss these precious sweeties but she knows they’ll provide much happiness (and milk) for their new owner.

I hope you enjoyed seeing the cuter side of Mother Nature, especially since temperature wise, she hasn’t been cute or adorable much this summer. She did provide quite the gully washer of a storm last weekend (several motorists had to be rescued-see story and video here). Pretty wild but since then, nature turned up the broiler and will do so for the next few more days, then maybe (if we’re real lucky) a slight cool-down to the mid-to-upper 80’s next week. We’re down to 41 days until autumn’s official arrival. At this point Indian Summer will likely be a welcomed relief. While the days will remain warm, the nighttime temps will cool down. We hope.

Here’s wishing you and yours a great weekend and hope any plans you have may include some time scoping out the beautiful as well as the cute side of Mother Nature.

Live, love, bark! 🐾