Hello again friends — yes, we’re still out here!!!!
The last few weeks have been incredibly busy. As things stand, October was our best business month of 2019 for The Little Goat House! This is really exciting news, and also means I’m a bit relieved that November is looking slow. We have so many projects to tackle, and it can be difficult to get to anything when you are checking people in and out, and spending time with interesting guests.
To give you guys an idea of the craziness, we had 11 different people and 3 dogs stay at the goat house over the past 7 days. Two groups of visitors were renters, and the rest were friends — some friends from town, and some traveling through! 2 dogs came with friends, and one was a pet sit for another local friend.
Last weekend, we had a group made up of a dad and his step-daughter, who were visiting the dad’s other 3 kids who live here in town. Having 1 adult and 4 teens all booked in for a stay at my place was a bit anxiety provoking at first, especially if you know how neurotic I can be about my home and all the art and antiques inside it!!
As usual, these guests completely dispelled my anxiety by being calm, easygoing, and totally fun people to have around! The teens raised exactly 0 havoc, which was perfect for me. I even joined them in some family trivia time playing “Jackass” — a board game my dad gave me for my birthday this past year, that had as yet been unopened (turns out it’s a great game!).
After the family checked out on Monday, we got new guests Tuesday-Saturday for the loft rental. This party of two consisted of longtime internet friends who were meeting in person for the very first time! Right as these new guests were getting settled, our friends Tara and Chris Chiasson of “The Lucky Caravan” blew in as well!
On the way from their most recent motel management position in Lava Hot Springs, ID, to their next house/pet-sitting gig in Northern California, Tara and Chris stopped off for a couple of days of R+R at the goat house with their mooing German Shepherd, Maya, and their crazy little Boston Terrier/Chihuahua mix, Bear, in tow.. All the humans AND dogs were really excited to join me, John, David, and some other guests for our “animal encounter” — “In-town hiking with Urban Goats” — on Wednesday! Check out the epic photos captured by Tara here in this post, on our instagram, or on theirs @theluckycaravan.
Halloween eve was spent out and about getting drinks and playing pool with one of our bnb guests, and our local friends Greg and Aziz (for those of you who don’t know, Aziz and I solidified our “bestie”-ship last November, when Judge Judy flew us out to LA to film episode 83 of season 23 of her show, hilariously entitled: “Kicked back to Saudi Arabia?!” The spot is constantly being illegally uploaded to the internet and then getting taken back down again. It was the first ever Judge Judy episode featuring a Saudi Arabian in the history of the show!).
After some recovery on Friday, I picked up Nimbus, the awesome Husky/Yellow Lab mix that I was boarding at the goat house over the weekend. On Saturday, my friend Branden and I drove the goats and the dog out for our first “off-site” hike in the Dishman Hills Conservation Area! The boys did amazing hiking in a brand new environment off-leash, and we were even able to let Nimbus get some off-leash time with the goats!! Everyone was well-behaved and the scenery was beautiful. I still have to get around to posting the photos from that hike. In the meantime, here’s a shot of Nimbus and the goats getting acquainted 🙂
We finished off the weekend with a visit from longtime friend from undergrad, Emma, who drove over from her home in Missoula to celebrate her birthday with fancy dinner and Spokane ecstatic dance. It was such a nice way to conclude a crazy week, which hopefully drops me here, in the land of calm and productivity…
To conclude this post, I’d like to share the exciting news that The Little Goat House has acquired a second cat! Last Saturday evening, we took the Scamp camper out for her first off-site rendezvous since I purchased her back in May!!!! It was high time to actually take her out somewhere, although she was certainly well-enjoyed as my temporary home/an additional rental throughout the summer. Our destination? Regional burning man unofficial decomposition party about an hour North of Spokane in Newport, WA.
I had the most incredible time burning it down in the woods with good friends, old and new. I also discovered a “spare cat” while mingling around the fire — cold, hungry, and desperate for attention. I quickly realized that this cat needed to come home with me in the Scamp, when the owners of the property explained that he was an abandoned barn cat the neighbors had decided they didn’t want. The cat had been wandering the property for a couple of months, and he’d had a sibling that had gone missing in that time.
So, on Sunday morning, I gathered up the cat into the Scamp. I always keep food, bowls, and a litter box inside the camper for Petunia — so I had all the necessary cat supplies on hand. However, before I even had a minute to get out the cat food and fill up a bowl, the cat had identified an unopened coffee cake as the most readily available target for his consumption. Without a minute for me to comprehend what was happening, the cat had cornered the coffee cake, eaten through the plastic wrapping, and was devouring sugary, coffee-infused bread crumbs like he hadn’t eaten in ages (he clearly hadn’t).
I quickly subbed in the cat food, pulling the ravenous cat off the defeated coffee cake in a quick swoop (and yes, I still ate the remaining coffee cake later). Anyway, the cat is adjusting magnificently to his new home as a shop kitty and goat companion at the goat house. He is such a happy, snuggly, loving kitty! If you have any name suggestions for him, please feel free to drop them in the comments below.
Thank you for reading, and to anyone who came out to stay with us, hike with us, and anyone who hired goats for events from us this month or any month in the past, our eternal gratitude is with you!!!!!!! Thanks for making October and the entire 2019 high season a success at The Little Goat House!
<3 Tanya, John, David, Petunia, + Shop Kitty!!!
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