Professional Day

Today was a long day. No school for the kids so Mark took Tali and I took Finn to work with us for our professional day. They were excellent, so after voting we took them to dinner at Lorenzos. Voting was a fiasco. The line was long and slow moving because three people in front of us weren't on the list and had to vote provisional. Every time that happened, the little old ladies (all 4 of them) had to stop what they were doing and call the Board of Elections on their cell phone. One made the call, but the other 3 just sat there. The voting booths were empty. It held up the whole line. Again, Finn and Tali were great. We had a very nice dinner and made faces at the baby next to us. Now its time to hit the hay.
Farm news: Amelia is ready to breed and Bunny is trying his best. He wouldn't dare tackle Raisin, but Amelia is more his size! You should hear the noises he makes at her. Very funny.

Happy Halloween

Today we did quite a bit of running around. Home Depot to purchase a deep freezer and a mini bar fridge to replace the one that went bust. Tractor Supply for the weekly animal feed run. Great Clips where everyone got a haircut, even me. Sean busted his hand, or leg, or arm, or something, so cancelled on me today. I had to resort to Great Clips. I'm growing it out, so it didn't really matter.
For Halloween Finn is going to be a doctor and Tali a princess. I'm kinda mad at their school because they did face painting on Friday and it got all over both of their costumes. We are going to go into Oberlin. The houses are so pretty in the fall. I hope the weather holds. Mom and maybe Dad are coming.
Animal update: I think that Ruby is still feeling punky. I think she still has a strongyle infestation. I need to get some panacur on Monday. I left her in her stall today because the back creek has been flooding and the pasture is a mess. The poor sheep have half of their pen flooded. Luckily the straw has built up and they have a little dry space. Tomorrow the plans for me are to move the goat wall back so that the space is smaller. Then I'm going to fill it with sawdust and get their bedding built up before it gets really cold. I also want to finish painting the sheep shed and the doors to the pens.
I think that Charlie has been doing his job, at least with Raisin. We had to put Mr. Tumnus along with Bear and Bunny into the barn one night this week so that Charlie could have his way with her. Mr. Tumnus was just getting in the way too much. He is very protective of all of the girls.
Oh, we also need to get some lighting out to the chickens and cover the pool. We are getting two eggs a day but I think that will be dwindling soon if we don't get some light out there. This week we have let them back out to free range and they are very happy campers. But the poo situation is very annoying.

Warm buns

This morning Finn told me that while he was lying in bed he put his hands on his butt and he liked it. WHAT! I asked him to elaborate. He said that his hands were like snow so he wanted to find someplace cozy for them. He he!

Dreamin

While I was making breakfast Finn told me, "Last night I dreamed about budder." Butter, that is. Oh, my child is so strange. But in a good way! :)

More to cheese

As a follow up on the cheese. There was a boatload of whey left in the pot and I didn't know what to do with it. It seemed like a lot to just throw away. I found a recipe in my Storey's Guide to Dairy Goats from a 19th century cookbook for making lemonade from whey. So I made that. It doesn't taste bad, pretty good actually, but weird.

I just got in from working with Ruby. I think that lunging a young horse has got to be the most physically exhausting activity. Who needs a workout! I am literally wringing with sweat. I know, yum. But it is so exhilirating!!! Really fun!!!! I'll have to try again tomorrow to see if it sticks, but I'm pretty sure she understands the words for walk, trot and now canter along with the sounds that go with them. Walk is a cluck. Trot a click and canter a kiss. She was hauling butt today and since I was working her in the big corral I had to use all of my strength and body weight to hold on to her. Loved it!!!

Cheese!

Not 30 minutes ago I posted that I was going to try to make cheese tonight. Well, my first batch of queso blanco is already hanging! I am just too proud of myself. It was really easy. I heated 1 gallon of goat's milk to 185 and then stirred in 1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar. Waited for the curds and whey to separate (by the way, I had no idea what curds and whey were going to look like, but I do now!) and then used a slotted spoon to move the curds to a colander lined with cheesecloth. I then hung it to drain. Voila, cheese! The kitchen smells heavenly. Hopefully the cheese will taste as good.

EGGS!!!!

We've got eggs! Finally! 21 weeks to the day. I found the first one on Wednesday. It was so cute. Very small, but perfectly formed. We've gotten two more this week. I ate one on Friday and almost lost my cookies. Not that it tasted bad. It tasted the same as the ones from the neighbor's chickens down the road. It was just too fresh, if you know what I mean. I have to get used to the idea of eating my chicken's eggs just like I did with the goat milk. Now I wouldn't drink anything else.