Now, Grandpa had a whole lot of animals, and it was going to take him a very long time to get them all ready for the party. So Grandpa started planning what they would wear to the party many weeks ahead.

Grandpa had asked all of his animals to be helpful, but there was one animal that wasn't being very helpful at all. It was Grandpa's goat, Blinkie, and he was causing more trouble than you could shake a stick at.

It wasn't that Blinkie meant to be bad. In fact, he was quite good, accept that he had one big problem. He wanted to eat everything he could get to, and he usually did.

Not just hay and oats and carrots and things you'd expect a goat to eat, but anything! Why, he'd frequently eat old paper bags and old milk cartons and even old shoes. Stuff like that. And once a neighbor even said that he saw him eat an old tin can! Can you believe that?

Well, the problem wasn't so much what he ate as the messes he kept making trying to get to the stuff. He'd go into trash cans and the garage and even sneak into the house and go through Grandpa's closets. And wherever he went, he made a mess like you wouldn't believe! Stuff was thrown all over the place and things were spilled and things were broken. It seemed like Grandpa was spending half his days and nights just picking up after Blinkie.

Now the party was now only a couple of weeks away and with all the trouble Blinkie was causing Grandpa hadn't done hardly anything to get ready. That's when Grandpa got an idea how to make Blinkie behave.

When Grandpa was planning what the animals would be wearing, he remembered that Blinkie's coat was very old and worn. Blinkie had asked for a new one many times. But it seemed that every time he asked he had just made a mess somewhere and Grandpa was too upset to even think about a new coat.

Now remember, Blinkie wasn't a bad goat. He was just doing what goats do when they are around people things. But Grandpa needed Blinkie to act very special until Rusty the dog's birthday party. And Grandpa figured that Blinkie would try really hard if he offered him a special treat. A brand new red coat!

Grandpa was right. Blinkie was very excited about the new red coat. He did his very best to be helpful and he only ate goat food.

But as hard as he was trying, Blinkie did have one accident. It was the day before the party and he was so excited about his new red coat that he peeked into the house to see if Grandpa had bought it yet. When he peeked in, Blinkie accidentally knocked two jars of strawberry jam off of the kitchen table.

The jars crashed onto the floor making a terrible racket. When Grandpa came running to see what was the matter, he found jam and broken glass smashed all over the place.

Grandpa was upset, but he didn't get mad at Blinkie because Blinkie had been so good lately. Grandpa knew that everyone makes mistakes once in a while. Though Grandpa did notice that Blinkie had to peek pretty far into the house to have knocked two jars of strawberry jam off the kitchen table and onto the floor.

Grandpa had bought the new red coat for Blinkie and it was hanging in he coat closet. After Grandpa cleaned up the mess, he decided to give Blinkie the coat right away so that Blinkie wouldn't think that Grandpa was mad at him.

He called to Blinkie to come and Blinkie thought he was going to get a scolding. But instead, Grandpa had a big smile on his face and he was holdng up Blinkie's new red coat.

Blinkie was so excited that at first all he could do was jump up and down. Then he put on the new red coat and it fit just right. It was so beautiful, Blinkie didn't know how he could sleep that night. Rusty the dog's birthday party was the very next day, and Blinkie would get to wear his brand new red coat.