It's 900kms to Richer, I've got a full tank of gas, a bagged lunch, a truck full of goats, and I'm wearing sunglasses.

When I am speaking to people at events about my craft I tell them that I wake up in the morning wondering how I can make my life more complicated, and I always succeed. 

For a while I have been dreaming of adding fibre goats to my herd, there are two main types of fibre goats, Angora goats, which have long curly locks, they need to be shorn like sheep and their fibre is spun into mohair, a lustrous lightweight fibre that has a distinct hale or sheen to it. There are also cashmere producing goats, one type being Spanish cashmere goats which are a dual purpose breed primarily raised for meat with the added benefit of developing large amounts of cashmere, which is their downy undercoat that keeps them warm in the winter.  It sheds out every spring and can be combed off of the goat, once you carefully remove the longer guard hairs you are left with a soft pillowy fibre that can be spun into cashmere yarn.  All goats produce some amount of cashmere but certain breeds have evolved and been bred to produce larger amounts. 

Through my research I have discovered that these fibre animals are few and far between in Canada. Angoras being slightly more abundant than the cashmere producing breeds.  I watch both angora and cashmere groups on facebook (specialty niche hobby groups are the main reason I still frequent the app), I have notifications set for listings on kijiji,  and the occasional person on the East Coast pops up, but for the most part people raising cashmere are stateside. The Canadian cashmere association website hasn't been updated since 2019 but I followed every lead there in their producers section. which were all dead ends. 

Maybe it's my neurospicy brain but when I get an idea in my head I can't let it go. 

So I continued to follow leads wherever I found them. Without putting much hope into the project, just a little whim to follow.

A couple weeks ago I found a person who offered up the name of a possible lead in Saskatchewan. Upon some digging I found a blank profile on Facebook but a couple promising tidbits of information via Google that potentially corroborated my intel.

So I reached out to this blank profile with what would be a rather random message if it weren't the person I was really looking for. But lo and behold this farmer was indeed raising Spanish Cashmere goats, the hearty dual purpose breed raised for meat and fibre AND she had 5 yearling does, female goats that are a year old, available for sale.

Being the completely rational person I am. I dropped everything during a very busy prep week for two markets and my husband's birthday to get in my very fuel efficient farm truck **HEAVY SARCASM** and travel 10 hours each way to a strangers farm along the banks of the South Saskatchewan river.

You never know what kind of experience you are going to have going to someone's farm to make a livestock purchase, and me, being the slightly anxious and awkward person I am, felt some trepidation before setting out on my journey. I kidnapped my mother from Regina along the way for the trip to the farm so I had company, and backup.

But in a delightful turn of events, the folks on this farm were some of the loveliest, most welcoming people I have had the pleasure of meeting.  They probably felt the same amount of trepidation as I did about the strange lady willing to drive 10 hours to purchase goats sight unseen, but they greeted us warmly at the gate and we immediately bonded over our shared goat experiences.  

We rounded up my 5 and I gave them each their first vaccinations before we loaded them into  the back of my truck for the long journey.  We spent a few extra minutes admiring  their beautiful herd of Texas longhorn cattle and their incredible perimeter fences, while chatting about all things goats and soap and farm life. 

They sent us off with a couple bagged lunches filled with delicious sandwiches, homemade butter tarts and fruit for the road, plus a couple packages of their own ground beef and some goat tallow. 

I dropped my mom back off in Regina and hit the road back home, not arriving back at my farm until after dark, feeling a bit frazzled but incredibly happy with how the trip went.