Cheese Glitch

It was about 37 degrees this morning. Just enough cold to send a chill up your spine, but not cold enough to put on the parka. We ended up breeding two more does yesterday. I should have about 60 does left to breed. We should have about 105 does this year kidding. Lots of milk next milking season. David and Ali got up at 5:30 this morning to get their chores done before they had to leave at 6:30am for Broadway Farmers Market in Tacoma. This market is from 9-2 today. I will stay home and get some extra stuff done. Like Bookkeeping! We are not doing home school today - though Danyel has to get her report done for a presentation in Biology. Ali will just read her book.
I got the chevre made last night but not without a hitch. First, last week while I was making cheese David thought it would be a good idea to have the alarms go off to let me know when the pasteurizer hit its temp., so he messed with the gray box with all the electrical buttons, modes, the recording chart and such. I don't do anything with that box except turn on the pens and turn off the pens and replace the chart when its full. Well he couldn't get it to do the alarm thing - but put it back where he thought it was set when he was done. No big deal. The next batch of cheese I made that week didn't record right... I had to do it by hand and when he got home I told him of the problem. He must of forgot to fix it so when I went to make Chevre yesterday afternoon.... guess what? That gray box didn't want to record right. So David spent probably 4 or 5 hours trying to get it to do what its suppose to do. While he was working on it I made dinner, did chores and then I took the kids to church at 7pm. While the kids were at church I ran to Adna to vacuum pack the marinated feta. And you know what, I got that done and back at the church to pick the kids up on time. When I got home David had the gray box working right. So I started pasteurizing at 8:30pm and needless to say it was 12:30pm when I finished. So the cheese got made but I am tired. I'll hang it this afternoon and it will be ready by Friday morning to package for Sat. markets. I'll clean up the processing room today so I'll be ready to make another batch of cheese - maybe tormorrow afternoon. I sure could use another batch of Chevre in the freezer for the winter season. I will start some yogurt this morning and also some buttermilk. The buttermilk will be used tomorrow to make the Chevre.
At 10:30 I'll run Danyel to her Biology class today and then run to the Farm Store and get some more Udder wash, and then run and get some color ink - as the last package I got wasn't color and black it was only black. So I have run all my color out. I can do that before I pick up Danyel at 11:25 today.
Well I'll be on the computer most of the day doing bookkeeping - something I don't enjoy so I do it at the last minute. Like that is going to make it easier or less dreadful.
I hope you have a great day, look at all the colors in the trees and think of each leaf as friend in you life and then say a little prayer for each. See how colorful your life is!

Grange Night

Yesterday was a very nice day. The milking in the morning went well and the goats were all healthy. I have my two daughters trade off each week doing the milking of the does. This way the other one has to grain the other goats. So Sunday night is a big night when they switch jobs. They do a good job and I have to pay them cheese and yogurt for their work. I think its a fair trade and it sure makes my life easier. I took the cheese over to Rocky Run Dairy and gave it to my girlfriend, she was very appreciative. I visited with her as she was giving a work crew directions on things that needed fixed around her dairy. I didn't stay long. Got home and home schooled Ali until Danyel got home from her one class - we ate lunch and then hit the books again.
We had to do chores and milk early, because we needed to be at the Grange by 6pm. I am the lecture for Hope Grange in Lewis county, Washington. That means I do all the programs, either find interesting people to give presentations or I give them. I love doing this it gets all my artistic juices going. Last night a lady talked about her great grandfather who drew for the audobon society. He made several books and painted pictures too. It was a very interesting presentation. At grange we take a potluck dish and eat dinner as a group. There were about 30 people there last night. We meet once a month. Next month we are having an Indian Chief tell us some Indian stories. Anyway the food was great last night. We got home around 8:30pm. I read for a half hour to the kids before they went to bed.
I still haven't made my cheese yet.... Today! I have no choice its down to the wire now. Glad we are not doing Pikes yet, as I have to make cheese up until the does give me no more milk and I have to make it as often as I have enough to go into the pasteurizer. Right now its kind of lazy. It shouldn't be as I have to get stocked for the three months I have no milk. I just feel lazy and tired.... anyway I'll work on the cheese today.
We have to go over to Adna and vacuum seal some marinated Feta for market on Thur. so I will be in and out of the house all day. It really puts a strain on my home school day. This morning we are going over to the grange hall to do computer class. The girls like working on the computers and they are learning a lot. Then we will run Danyel to her Biology class and come home. I'll go pick her up at 11:30. Then come home and eat lunch and then work on school until 3pm today. David also has to get some grain today. It seems we are always running.
I like staying at home and having him do the running. David will do inventory today and load up the truck for market tomorrow morning.

This photo is the Broadway Farmers Market - our booth set up- this summer.

Well, hope your having a great day and enjoying your freedom to come and go to worship and to communicate with your neighbors - I am and do.

Just another Day at BRD

Yesterday was a blustery day and wet. The boar goats head out rain or shine but my dairy girls stay put in the dry barn.
Up date: on sick goat. Her milking was fine last night. No blood. Its was probably just getting butted in the bag. Gail was back on line and out with the herd.
I didn't make cheese yesterday, I guess I was still recovering from Sat. and Sunday. But I am ready to go this morning. I'll haul about 40 gallons over to the processing plant (across the driveway) and start my batch after chores are done this morning. I'll be making Chevre. I have enough for Thur Farmers Market but will need it for Sat. Markets.
My cheese class is filling up, I have about 7 slots left and the 25 slots will be full. I am going to go get some more colored ink so I can work on those booklets I make for my cheese class. My rennet and cheese cloth is ordered.
I saved some of my Pepper Rosa for a dear friend who convinced me to make it. So after I drop Danyel off at Biology class at Napavine Highschool, I'll run over to her house. I'll also ask her if she will have milk for sale at my cheese class. She has a "raw goat milk dairy. By the time I get back from Napavine and the cheese drop off it should be time to cool down the milk.
Those frozen yogurt cycles turned out great. I'll start another set this morning. Its cold out but the kids still love those things.
I scrubbed down the floors in the milking parlor last night, with bleach. It is a little cleaner looking and smells fresh. I think this week for occupational education - painting skills - the girls and I will put the finishing coat of white in the milk parlor where my bulk tank is. My painting has come to a stop as the weather is not helping me inch my way around the farm. I am sure I can find things to do though, so don't worry about me being bored.
This picture was taken this summer. This is my daughters truck parked in the field. And this is the only goat that thought she should climb the mountain. I bet she was dared to do that. Ali is trying to get her off.
Have a great day, climb every mountain - up there you'll see more clearly!

The day after!

We got up at 6am on Sunday and did our chores, things went well. David loaded up the van for our treck back to the Pomeroy Living Farm to sell one more day,9am. When we got there at 11am it pored down rain harder than yesterday. We put the tent up and set up our wares and waited. The festival didnt open until 1pm. So we sat under cover and ate some garlic and dill chevre and some bread. Oh yes, the girls and I dressed up in our civil war costumes and then took a gift of cheese and bread over to the civil war team that was set up at the festival. Needless to say they bought some cheese by the end of the day too. You would be surprised to see all the people that came and got pumpkins. I think there were more people on Sunday than on Sat., but we sold more on Sat. than Sunday. Crazy! But we all had a good time, it is always good to see old friends.
We got home at 8pm and then did our chores. We got done at 9pm and boy were we tired. We unloaded and counted cheese and put things away and then everyone went to bed. The goats were very glad to see us. As were our inside dogs who were locked up all day inside.
I got up at 6am and went and cleaned the parlor, and then woke the girls up at 6:30am.This morning David is heading over to get some hay, and then unroll it into the barn. We had one goat with bloody milk last night. It will be interesting to see what she does this morning. We don't put that milk into our bulk tank and that is why we strip one squirt into a cup before we hook up any goat on to the milking system. Last night we put this goat - Gail - into a pen for observation. She is acting healthy and ate fine and there are no visible sores on her udder. I suspect another goat hit her hard in the bag while they were playing or fighting over hay. But we'll wait and see.
This afternoon I'll start 50 gallons of milk pasteurizing to make a batch of chevre and yogurt. Oh all the yogurt that didn't sell this week I'll put sticks in the containers and freeze them. The kids love fozen yogurt. Well try and have a good day and see the blessing in rain. Like green Northwest.

15th Pumpkin Festival, Pomeroy Living Farm

I got up at 4:30am yesterday to clean the parlor. I got the girls up at 5:00am to start milking and do their chores (milking, feed the chickens, dogs, cats, and grain the goats that are not milking). David got up at 6am to start haying. The girls have Civil Air Patrol at 7:15 this morning. I am excited because Danyel was taking one of her tests to move up in rank. And when I got home I found out she passed. I am so excited for her. Ali will take her test next weekend. But I left at 6:15 for Battleground Wa. to the Pomeroy Living Farm Pumpkin Festival. It is about an hour and a half drive. It was so windy out and then the rain came down. I have known how crazy these people are about getting their pumpkins at this farm.... rain or shine this is their annual event to go for a hay ride and visit the animals, check out the 20 vender's at this event and maybe have some lunch. And sure enough they came out, not in groves but in good numbers. This event is so well run and so fun. There were free games for the children to get out of the weather and a sandbox under cover with trucks and scoops and things. But the new thing this year was the Civil War Re-enactment team was there. There were maybe 20 people, civilians & soldiers. They did a rifle firing for us. They had their tents set up and their campfire going. It was a true step back in time.
The weather yesterday was on and off rain and then clearing, even one time the sun shone through and it was warm. Our sales were slow but that would of been expected at any market yesterday. I got home about 7:30pm, the market closed at 5pm. David was in Longview, WA and they closed down before two because they could see this one big black cloud coming and they had already had several dumpings on before. So we did about one normal farmers market sales yesterday between the both of us.
Today the whole family is going to the market in Battleground. We will load the van and leave about 9am. Today the market opens at noon but we have to be there by 11am. It runs till 5pm. The weather is suppose to be better today. My girls love the hayride and I have to admit we even get out pumpkins there (Danyel and Ali like to carve elaborately on their pumpkins). But because the Civil War guys are there we are going to dress period too. Anyway us girls. David said he'd take pictures and watch. But any chance us girls can wear our pretty dresses and hoops (only two of us have hoops) then we are on it. We will take a bowl with some garlic and dill chevre in it as a gift for the troops and deliver it in period style.
Today should prove to be a fun day at market.
We will milk at 8pm tonight, but we also started at 7pm so the goats wouldn't be to stressed out. Well got to get busy loading up and getting ready for our dress up day.

Busy Day at the Cheese Plant

Well its windy this morning but its warm. It fells like fall and smells like it too. I think this transition is my favorite time of year. It always feel clean and crisp. The goats are beginning their new year. It will be five months from now that those kids will be on the ground. Its the anticipation that really keeps us all on our toes. Everyone here at the farm has their doe that they look forward to how and what kind of baby will come. Our boar bucks look so good this year and Ice, our Sannen buck looks great too. These guys are our back bone to the dairy.
David didn't do very well at the market yesterday..... I hate the end of the markets - they slow down so much its like why bother. But because of your customer base you stay and the market managers are great too.
My feta is ready to be cut and salted in the processing plant. That will keep me busy this morning as well as packaging Marinated Feta and Grande Rosa and Pepper Rosa for this weekend. David will take the packaged cheeses to Adna, Black Sheep Creamery, to use their vacuum packager. I need to run to town to get ink to print out some more flyer's about my cheese class Oct. 25 (More info on my web page). I will start making my booklets for the class. I designed the booklet about 3 years ago and they are still working great. I up date anything that needs to be done before printing. I need to order Rennet also, its gone up $50 for one gallon now. That is crazy. I'll order cheese cloth also and that way I'll have some to sell at the class. I started my list for shopping for the soup I make at the class also.
I have to mix up my yogurt and make labels for them today too.
I am also going to work on my bookkeeping and get the homeschooling done.
Last night I painted a cute table David got me at Tue. farmers market. Its the colors of my milking parlor. I'll tole paint some roses on the top of the table.
Well we are ready for the day and I hope your ready for your day. When things look hard or bad just look at a flower and the beauty it brings and watch the sides of your mouth curve up into a smile. Its the simple things that keep us going. I think for me what keeps me going is just the smell of the rose.

Winter is coming

Well this morning it is warm and if you didn't know rain was coming you'd believe it was going to be warm and sunny out. But the weatherman says its going to rain. So I think I'll make Feta today. Today is also Milk pickup today. Mt. Capra comes and picks up my left over milk from the week. I use the first three days milk for my first batch of cheese and then I do another batch in two days and then they pick up the last bit of milk, its usually about 50-100 gallons left in the pot. So that its fresh milk only 2 days old. So we are all within the guidelines of the State of Wash. I packaged the peach & honey yogurt and some raspberry yogurt yesterday.
This will be a pretty slow day today for me. David and Ali (my daughter) are at Farmers Market in Tacoma and Danyel and I are left at home to do school work and putt around the farm. Though I'll be in and out of the processing plant working on my feta. I'll have to get out and get the milk this morning before the milk pickup truck gets here. So I guess that is my sign off note.... and hint of getting to work.
Have a Great Day and Enjoy the little things in life --- like a spider web in the garden.