Here comes the Snow again.

This is a picture one of the girls took of ice and snow melting off the roof of the milk parlor.

Good Evening. Wouldn't you know it.... the snow returned. But he brought his friend the wind with him. Together they could cause everyone to worry. And we did. Cloe, our female anatolian shepard was back out in her dog house. The snow started coming and coming and coming - soon all the green that we saw the day before was gone and the driveway was white and untouched again. But it was the wind that caught us watching the trees and roofs for damage. Then I remembered Cloe in the pasture with her dog house.... and sure enough that wind had blown it over and Cloe sat in the snow waiting. The girls put her in the barn. Where she dried off and was more protected

David went around and fixed fences today. Man the snow really messed up our fences, with limbs and packed snow pushing it down. The goats knew yesterday the fences were down. As they were out of the pasture yesterday and today. Its crazy that they can hear that hum on the wire.

I turned the cheese over again in the processing plant. I am getting about two gallons a day of milk that I am freezing so that maybe I can make another batch of feta. We only have two pieces of our fresh left. Anyway we'll see.

David took Monday and Tue off and is going to try Wed. at Pikes Place Market. He'll work

through Sunday.

Market has been going pretty good. We are selling alot of our Grande'Rosa and Pepper Rosa. We are cutting the rounds at the market. It seems we are selling more of the cheese doing it this way.

I am back to homeschooling the girls after our Christmas Break. Its hard to get back into the routine. We got a lot of school done today. Danyel had Biology today too. David ran around town paying bills and picking up a few things we needed.

Tomorrow David will go get some grain and set us up for this week. We have a big day tomorrow. Danyel is getting about 14 inches of her hair cut off. Her hair has never been cut before. But she wants to donate her hair to Locks of Love. Her hair will be a little longer than her shoulders. She is really exicited. Getting ready for Civil Air Patrol will be alot easier putting the bun in. I'll show pictures tomorrow the before and after.

We will have Grange tomorrow evening too. So I have to make a potluck dish to take.

Sunday we finally got to go to church. It seems like months since we were there. The music was great and the message was good too. After church we had company, Lacee and her husband Ben. They ate chili with us. We visited for a long time. It was really good.

We started our next puzzel,1000. Our last one was 550, so we figured we were ready for more of a challenge. Everyone works on it.

If you can find good in everything you will not be burdened with the heavyness of worry.

More Snow and Ice

Good Morning:

These are our goats on a snowy day! Warm and Dry. Bernie (Anatolian Shepard lives with the goats and Dutches (Pappillion) herds our goats.

I was up at 5am to make garlic and dill chevre for David to take to market. I also had to package and label some more marinated feta. David sold alot of cheese yesterday. Its a blessing cause our house payment is due in 15 days and we needed the sales. Ya!

I turned my cheese yesterday and this evening they are coming out of the molds and will be salted.

Danyel and I got the house cleaned and all the Christmas stuff up in the attic. Its refreshing to start with an orderly house for the new year. Now I just have to get my desk cleaned and all the data entered. Our tax guy likes the taxes early like January so I need to finish that too.

Today I need to get to town to get dog food. Its pretty icy this morning - hope it warms up cause I couldn't go yesterday because I was waiting for my son to come - and I didn't want to miss him. But around 2pm I called him and said don't come - the snow started coming down pretty heavy and was sticking again.

Danyel and I did chores at 4:30 and when I was done haying, watering and cleaning the parlor I came in and made stew for dinner. Then we worked on the puzzle and watched Pirates of the Caribbean, until David got home from market.

Today its Ali and I all day. We have no big plans.

Have a Great Day and take a deep breath outside and smell the crisp air.

Looking Ahead to the New Year

Good Morning,

This is a picture of "Kusco" this summer looking through the milking parlor window to get a grain treat from Danyel.

Well, we all celebrated the New Year. But..... I was thinking Jan. 1 isn't a farmers New Year. Our New Year starts somewhere in the middle of Feb. when our does start having babies. Anyway I hope everyone has a Great Year! I can't believe we have two inches of new snow this morning. The forcast says warming but possible more snow. I hear the water dripping outside and its 36 degrees - YA!

I cleaned the bulk tank for the last time this season. We are milking only 8 goats and they are slowly giving way to thier bodies message of stop producing. I would love to make one more batch of fresh feta to get us through till Feb. I made a 22 gallon batch of Grande Rosa and Pepper Rosa on 1/1/09. That gave me about 6 rounds of cheese. We are down to two gallons a day - so maybe in a week I'll have enough milk to make a batch of cheese. I have to also make yogurt for the Pikes Place Creamery each week too.

Yesterday we went and got some hay. The van is fixed - David stayed home on the 29th of December and took the van to get the estimate. OUCH! but now we can haul hay again. I took it in on Tue and it took about 1 hour to attach the new hitch. Danyel and I sat in the lobby and read our books and glanced at the TV (a real treat for us). We went to the library in Winlock after the van was fixed. Then we went to the Thrift store in Winlock - looking for a new coat for Danyel. We found - a swade black coat, a formal blue velvet dress trimmed with black around the neck line, black satin shoes, and a black small purse - I got a new jumper and dress. The cost was $18. WOW! I was so excited. Danyel loves her new stuff too. I am so thankful my daughters don't have to have designer stuff - and that second hand is as exciting as brand new. Thanks Lord for such awsome daughters - in fact all my children are like that. I think its because I don't do it. Its the same with make-up. The girls do it for dress up and play rather than to hook a guy or to make themselves look HOT!

Well I am going to call the vet today about Kusco.... I haven't shared this with everyone because its hard to tell about such serious sickness. But Kusco disloacated his hip bone. We have waited to call the vet. because we thought with tender loving care it would relocate. It hasn't and then our next thought was to put him out of his missery - which I can see in his eyes each day when we feed, water and re-adjust his position. But David told me yesterday to call the vet and see if there is anything we can do for him. Kusco is Danyel's pack goat. She has been training him for three years and he is an awsome goat. The call to the vet, didn't do any good - he's out until the 5th. So I'll call then. I'll keep you posted.

I'v finished the book Animal, Veg., Mircle and I got so inspired. I have to say the last chapter talking about evolution turned me off. But I can glean alot of information from this book. It was a fun book to read.

We went to Market on Wed. and did pretty good on sales. Then we came home and unloaded the car and packed the girls sleeping bags and such so they could spend the night at the church with the youth group. They of course didn't sleep - but they got to ring in the new year with friends. David and I spent about an hour at the church playing scrabble and cribbage. Then we came home counted cheese and then went to bed. Before the new year!

New Years Day was mostly just relaxing and catching up on like fixing the fence after the snow - making cheese and working on our puzzle. The girls slept most of the day, and were in bed by 9pm that night.

Today Danyel and I are taking down all the Christmas stuff and putting my house back in order. And clearing some of the other stuff on the china hutch away and simplifying my house again. This time of year is when our house slows down for a few weeks and there is so much I need to get done before kidding season and the really serious cheese making takes place. I'll be back to three times a week making cheese and two times a week going to markets. We are planning on doing at least 10 different markets this year. On top of milking about 80-100 does. This will be a very busy year.

Hope everyone is taking a look at thier plans for next year and keeping our sites on the future and realistic goals. Have a Great Day.