The Goat Lady

My Mom Person wants to be The Goat Lady. Around our town she is known as The Dog Lady. She likes that well enough, but she wants to be The Goat Lady.

We have this book by a really lovely artist, Jane Bregoli. The book is called The Goat Lady. Appropriate. My Mom Person keeps this book prominently displayed because she LOVES the lady on the cover. This is what she aspires to. Not Grace Kelly or Princess Diana or any princess or even fabulous dog trainer Carol Lea Benjamin. She wants to be this goat lady. I think it is the look of contentment on the lady’s face.

The book was published in 2004 by Tilbury House, Publishers and is about a real person. Her name is Noelie Houle and you can watch a real video of her here.

The story is about two children and their mother ( the author and artist) who move into a new neighborhood near a rundown old farm. They like to watch the frisky goats that fill the farmyard.  After a while the kids become friends with the owner, Mrs Houle, and start helping her take care of the goats and do other chores. Mrs. Houle milks her goats every day and sells the milk to local people. She also gives goats to an organization called the Heifer Project that helps poor people in far away countries. The children get their mom to paint some portraits of Mrs Houle and she paints so many that she decides to have an art show in the local town hall. Then all the neighbors who have previously complained about the rundown farm and the unruly animals, get to know Mrs Houle and see how wonderful she really is.

This book is about tolerance and helping your neighbors and being a part of your own little community. It’s about not judging ” a book by its cover.” It’s about being happy with what you have and being resourceful. It’s about goats and about how animals provide support and understanding for their humans. It is a great book on many levels.

We have goats here. We don’t milk our goats — they are fiber goats — Angoras. The Mom Person loves those goats. Me, not so much. Sometimes they try to chase me and butt me. It’s taken me awhile to figure them out. We spend a lot of time out in the pasture with the goats. The Mom Person likes to just sit and watch them. And I like to watch her. She is The Goat Lady. But she’s also The Dog Lady. And that’s what’s important to me.

I hope you have animals to look after you. And I think everyone needs to get to know their neighbors. Do you have any neighbors that you wonder about? This is kind of the season for doing good things. Maybe you have a neighbor or friend who could use some help? Think about it!

If you would like to know more about Noelie Houle’s white goats you can check this out. And if you would like to find out more about Angora goats, you can check here.

Then check out The Goat Lady. And The Heifer Project. You’ll be glad you did!

And here is a little video of some musical goats. I don’t know what kind of goats these are but they are pretty cute!