The Great Goose Caper

I went to the Amish/Mennonite Sale and Auction Saturday. I was bound and determined to come home with some live stock; my first choice was chickens and or geese.

The poultry barn was crowded with people and birds of every age and description and making it feel more rural part of the barn was where the horses were kept before they were auctioned off. The sights and smells were dramatic. there is nothing quite like the smell of an old barn full of horse sweat/manure and bird shit mixed with tobaco smoke and that feeling I get just before I spend money sort of nervous anticipation. I was getting real intense, spending money does that to me.

The bidding on the stock was held outside the barn in the weather which was cold with a light wind carrying some small snow flakes. There wasn't enough snow to cover the mud though. I got to bid on my birds two geese. This was my first time bidding at an animal auction and I was over anxious; I ended up trying to bid against myself and the auctioneer looked at me and said I have you at fourteen already! I tried to be a little less intense and go with the flow I got the bid on the birds and I ended up buying some pullets also and took them all home.

The geese were not happy about the trip home. and when I put them in the barn and let them loose they were mad. They strutted about and glared at me as if to say "come on just try something we'll kick your butt"!

I left them some food and water for the night; the real fun was in the morning.

Went to the barn to check on the geese and they were waiting for me. I forgot to put my dog up and when I got the barn door to slide open I had to use both hands and swoosh in went my dog a yellow lab and there go the birds!

I yelled at the dog who had a confused look for me and decided to heck with the yelling old lady I am having a run at these geese YaHoo! The next thing I know we are in the barn yard I am mad at the dog and concerned about the now free and loose geese. They strutted about the barn yard and made like they owned the place. The dog was still confused. Then the blasted dog barked and one of the geese flew over the pasture fence and its mate followed and they headed for the farm pond.

For the rest of the day the geese played around on the pond and ignored the world, they had found their play pen. Being Sunday I had to go to the next large town to buy equipment, feed and stuff for the geese and the hens I bought. When I got back the geese were gone they had moved over to my neighbor's pond; a much larger pond and that pond had something mine didn't, geese. So, there swim my geese fat, sassy, mean stinkers wagging their tails and blowing me off.

The neighbor's kids may be able to catch these wayward geese, but their Dad said that the geese would just come back again as geese like to be around other geese.

Sigh, another lesson learned the hard way.