Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge

It was hard not to fall in love with Petal when we first met her, too small to be a complete flower, she was the significantly smaller half of a set of twins. We bought her from a lovely young lady who travelled to meet us loaded with goat milk as well as Petal in a shoe box.

We learned that goats wean much later than sheep and our love affair with Petal was to lead us to many new experiences. She made us laugh at least once every day, she made us curse on a regular basis but life with Petal was never boring. We decided that as a bottle baby she would start her life at our home in the house and that was where she stayed for almost 3 months! By 4 weeks she was clean and asked to go outdoors to do her business and we quickly realised that we had a smart animal on our hands, smarter than any dog.

Possibly smarter than the cats! The rocker/glider had always been cat territory but Petal shared it with them unless she was using it as her own personal gym, in which case the cats found safer places to be.

She went everywhere with us, to town, to the 4th July Parade, to the Tree Farm; and everywhere she went she melted hearts just the way she had melted ours.

Her favourite sleeping place was with us, she would hop up on the bed along with the cats and if we woke her she would look at us as if to ask what our problem was with the obvious choice of sleeping arrangements.

There were times when she had to be restrained from eating our garden but even then she found ways of attracting our attention and showing that she was a little Princess, not livestock.

She taught the dogs to show her a suitable amount of respect and allowed them to share any treats we gave her but she always knew to turn her best side to the camera.

She was an important part of our lives, taught us that we didn't want to live without goats, taught us a great deal about fencing and taught us that most of our preconceived ideas about goats were 100% wrong! They really are not like sheep, nothing like them.

Petal went on to become a wonderful matriarch, looking out for her family of 2 other does and Randy, the buck. She taught them manners, kept them away from electric fence and made all our lives better every day!

She greeted us everyday, as soon as we opened the door, we would hear her saying "good morning". On our trips to the barn, Petal would be the first to welcome us. When we worked in the garden she would talk to us over the fence. She was right, though she went to live in the barn, she was never livestock, she was much more than that and we will miss her. We have other goats, we will have more goats but they are only part of our lives because Petal taught us that life on a farm is incomplete without goats. Coming home from a stressful day is easier when a goat is standing at the fence waiting to welcome you. Petal enriched our lives and we will miss her.

Her hooves are now tapping their familiar rhythm on the Rainbow Bridge!