The Good,The Bad, And The Ugly

The good, the pretty...the roses continue to bloom. These looked so delicate to me. White and dainty.

I had a good day. I rode with my husband to Columbus. He passed his test this week, his hard work was rewarded. So, he went to get one of his certifications today. It was good to see him go, and it was good for me as well. I talked with people away from home, away from the grocery store, away from Wal-Mart, you name it. I love living here, and I love working alone, but sometimes I need the pinch of a reminder of the busy society that still exists out there!

I got some grass mowing in when I came home. It was a great day!

Now I have to share with you something that doesn't quite fit into the realm of a woman that is trying to sell crisp, clean products. Soap?

For the weak hearted, or, instead, those that have a weak stomach, you may or may not want to look at what I am going to show you next.

My girl, Tyra, my 6 year old boxer, my constant companion, never does (much) wrong. She has to know everything that is going on around her, therefore she makes her twice a day rounds throughout the house. Generally she never leaves any indication that she has checked the premises out.

I have a small entry way at the front door. I am the only one that uses it. I have a red bench that I sit on to put on shoes, and I also plop down various things that I am taking out the door (milk cans, mail, udder wipes). The bench is my "reminder" spot. Sometimes I leave notes for myself there as well.

Now comes the bad and the ugly (not really)...

Look real hard at the center of the photo, in the middle...yeah, you see it, it is not a scratch in the red paint. No, it isn't.

It is BOXER DROOL!

A little string of it.

Ha ha ha...

Obviously my girl was very interested in what I had sat out for the day.

She left me a surprise, along with a giggle, as I headed out to the mailbox on my way to the barn this morning.

Sorry...had to share.

Spring Cleaning the Goat Milk Room

It is amazing how much work I can now do while each doe is on the milk stand during the morning feeding.

The evening milkings go very fast. When milking a dairy animal it is imperative that you milk on a regular schedule, or else the good old hormones silently step forward and say, "Hey, time to dry that udder up!" As long as the animal is milked on a regular basis, it does not matter if the spacing is 8 hours, or 12 hours apart. I milk twice a day and generally it falls within a 1/2 hour of 9:30 AM and 4:30 PM. The girls milk out more in the AM, less in the PM. But is a regular, steady pattern.

Back to the topic...my milk/feed room is a mess. It demands a good spring cleaning. A few days ago I gathered the used syringes and began the antibacterial soaking of them, the hot water treatment, the (mild) bleach water treatment, and the final drying and putting the syringes back together. This ends up being a crazy job. 3CC's, 6CC's, different manufacturers. But in the end I have wonderful sterile baggies of like-new syringes, all sorted, and ready to use again.

Today, while the girls were on the milk stand I began reorganizing the shelves of one of my supply cabinets. The top shelf is mainly needles, syringes, banding and ear tagging supplies. No, I do not use this many needles. Years ago I thought I had to have a needle size for everything. I had 1/2", 3/4", 1"...and then diameter sizes 22, 20, 19. Oh boy. I pretty much stick with one size now, except for the tiny 1/2" needles for the kids. It feels good to have 2 shelves back in shape. The 2nd shelf is common meds (non-refrigerated, non-biological type), notes, calendars, wormers. Tommorrow perhaps I will get into shelves 3 and 4. And I barely use any of this stuff anymore. I am more into the natural care of the animals. When they need treatment, they get it, but I think both animals and people are very much over-medicated in this day and age.

The rest of the room. If you could just see it, and you won't, yikes!! I am starting at one end and spring cleaning until acceptable. Kidding season does this to me, I begin the season totally organized. Everything in order, you name it. After kidding season, when the kids are weaned from bottles, etc..., I began to feel the lessening of time constraints and I begin to work towards reorganizing. And believe me, it needs it!

Off topic...today was a zoo. We woke up to no water. The well pump went out during a late night thunderstorm. And boy did we have the storms last night! More than once I put my hands on my phone and looked at the weather warnings in the dark. We lost electricity for a couple of hours again. I am hoping for a calm night tonight. And tomorrow, no water troubles. I fed rather late tonight, and I am praying that the girl's milking schedules do not suffer from the lateness!!

Wish me luck...I am heading back to the soap shop tomorrow. I hope to post pictures in a few days of a LOT more progress! Today was a tiny set back. We were plumbers, not soapers!

Goat Milk Soap Making In The Shop Today

Power outages are definitely challenges to any of us, and it is truly a challenge to me on the farm.

Yesterday evening the power went out right before I brought the girls into the barn. I waited 20 minutes and then...I hand milked the 9 girls. Needless to say, my carpel tunnel syndrome is doing double duty today. But I am surviving. I really do enjoy milking, and wish I could do it by hand each and every day.

I was determined to make oodles of goat milk soap today, and I got the job done (a little later). Right before I started the 3rd batch the power went out again. So, the husband and I headed to town to get a much needed garden rake and a few flowers. I always get the red, purple and white petunias for the front porch.

I was able to resume soap making later in the afternoon.

I made a soap today that smells wonderful, grassy, with a touch of juniper berry. I love it. So far, so good!

I am running behind again...scooting down to the barn. Oh, by the way, we ran into the power truck down the road on our return home, my husband had to tease them, "Are we going to lose power tomorrow too?" Nope...the switch has been repaired.

Have a good evening!

Goats and Hay

Bonnie, my largest and oldest alpine says, "Mom, put that thing away, it is time to feeeed ussss!"

The alfalfa is receiving its first cutting in our area this week. Boy, does it look nice. I will receive my new bales some time around Thursday or Friday.

The Mennonite man that we purchase our hay from has been very apologetic because the 16 bales that he had remaining this week was not the usual alfalfa rich mix that I normally purchase from him. He did well, though. When I asked him last fall if he could supply me all winter, he answered, "I believe so." He did...wow...right on the nose.

My goats are spoiled. I supplement them with good hay and a once a day grain (the girls on the milk stand are grained twice a day). Throw the "bad" hay to them and they instantly come to the fence hollering for something else.

They have been a pushy and picky crew this week, not real settled. Not at all. Soon girls and boys, soon, remember, patience is a virtue! Actually, most of the bucks do not care. It is the does creating the scene!

I love this photo of Bonnie, taken a few moments ago as well. But darn, we didn't get the chin in the photo. She is a big, big gal!

On to feeding now...busy on the farm today!

Was It The Blue?

As I was doing dishes early this morning I heard a bird hit the window right in front of me. I am a softie for animals and nature, so I immediately wondered if the bird was okay.

I looked up from a window a moment later and much to my surprise, because I had not seen one for years, was a beautiful indigo bunting perched on the picnic table. He appeared to be admiring the 12 packages of roses that we had purchased (at a deep discount) yesterday!

I am even giggling at myself over this one, but do you think he was looking at the blue? Do you think he first thought he saw a flock of indigo buntings on the table?

I remember the first time I saw an indigo bunting. It was the bird that got me interested in novice bird watching, 10th grade biology. We had walked into the field behind our school, and then into a small wooded area. There he was, a beautiful indigo bunting perched high up in the tree. He was beautiful. The colors were striking.

Here is a little information on the indigo bunting, along with a photo that I borrowed (not a photo taken through a rain streaked window, ha):

• A brilliantly blue bird of old fields and roadsides, the Indigo Bunting prefers abandoned land to urban areas, intensely farmed areas, or deep forests. The Indigo Bunting migrates at night, using the stars for guidance. It learns its orientation to the night sky from its experience as a young bird observing the stars.


• The sequences of notes in Indigo Bunting songs are unique to local neighborhoods. Males a few hundred meters apart generally have different songs. Males on neighboring territories often have the same or nearly identical songs

Borrowed info from : http://www.allaboutbirds.com/

Lost Signal (Found Now)

We had some nifty storms last night as the sun set. Leaves and tiny branches are scattered about.

I counted the goslings this morning, all 6 are still with mom and pop, including the 7th that we did not count a few days ago. Last night I thought about the goose family, and what did I see when I looked? They seemed to be floating along on the pond. I suppose the wind really wasn't as bad on the water and downhill.

We dealt with losing Internet signal a few times (hence the photo of the mighty blue modem), along with some dust. You can look at it. I have some dust in the general area, tee hee. It was wonderful to see all 4 of the steady green lights back on!

I used my phone for certain services, company email for one. I really need to sit down with it and determine just what I can and cannot do. Plan A in case of a real power outage.

Other than the glitch with the equipment, no power outage (just flickering), I have been working on the newsletter and answering email. We ran some chores this morning...boy does that get expensive these days!

If you wish to receive the email, the newsletter sign up button is located near the bottom of my site's index page. The newsletter is published once a month, and possibly twice a month in the future. I try to keep it short.

Did you know that today's Internet readers are considered scanners? Many readers do not want to read long text. Make it short, concise, and most people are happier. It is a fast paced world!

Take care...have a good Thursday evening!

Hold Onto Your Hat Saturday

Ms. Akira has funky ears...and they are really funny in today's wind! It is a definitely a hold onto your hat folks type of day!

Akira is a doeling born to Bonnie, an alpine, and Emery, a nubian buck, last season. She is a large girl, and one that loves to chatter. I truly appreciate her. I am hoping for a nice sturdy girl on the milk stand someday from Ms. Akira.

I did not sleep very well last night, and some time during the night I heard little peeping noises. I would hear one little peeper, then silence, 20-30 minutes later I would hear another. I thought, "The goslings are hatching." Sure enough, there are 6 little fuzzy geese following mom and dad around today. I am always relieved when the eggs hatch, no smashing, no turtles bothering the eggs. The pair of geese come back and visit each spring. We love to see them return, and are sad when the family leaves.

I cannot get very close to the family today, so I tried a photo from across the pond. The babies look like specks, but they are scattered behind and below their proud and watchful parents on the ground.

The Husband's Rock

We have a lot of spring clean up to do around our place. Included in those clean up plans are the moving of some of the goats to new locations, such as this one. Goats are great for cleaning up woody and weedy areas. Set a handful free, and they can chomp it down in no time!

Each time my husband mowed the area where he is standing in the photo he would hit a rock. He tried to cover the rocks up with top soil. Nothing seemed to work.

He then told me that he was going to dig the rocks up. He did. There were some large ones! In fact, I think he said seven in total. This particular one is "his boulder."

What you cannot see is the creek that runs along the property line. All of the rocks were moved, placed along the creek bed, using the tractor and bucket. The bucks are going to love their new area, with a creek, and many large rocks to play on.

The dear husband reads the blog from time to time. He asked me last night, "Didn't you post about my big rock?" Here it is...and yes, he worked hard, and he deserves the credit!

Ever Have One Of Those Days?

Do you ever have one of those days where you feel like you are out of sync?

See the doe in the photo with her tongue sticking out? Yes, she was bellowing at me, "Maaaaa...you are feeding kind of late, and I am growing impa-a-a-a-tient!"

Yes, it was one of those kinds of days.

There are two very significant things about me. I work hard, I am honest, and I have a good sense of humor. Wait, those are three things that I just let out of the bag!

Because I work hard, I get into a lot of funny predicaments, and because I have a sense of humor, I can laugh at it all (eventually), and many times during.

When I start my day with breakfast (peanut butter on 2 pieces of whole wheat bread every morning, with black coffee, followed with a bottle of water) and I drop my butter knife 3 times on the table, bang, pick it up, bang (you get the picture), then proceed to wad up my napkin and place it in my cup of coffee...somehow I begin to wonder if my day is in trouble. Yes ma'am (or sir) IN TROUBLE!

When you try to delete pictures from your camera, but a few moments later realize that you have your phone in your hand, you are IN TROUBLE.

It was one of those days, thank heavens this out of sync feeling is not an every day thing, and now the day is almost over. Life is a grand thing...and I feel there is a reason for everything. Perhaps this sort of disorder is to make us laugh? Perhaps!

Now I need to fumble through the dozen Post-It-Notes that I have scattered across my desktop, all from today, good random thoughts, that somehow I just could not seem to organize into anything that gelled.

I had a father in the military, I hear the evening call, "Day is done...gone the sun...!"

Have a good evening...and stay in sync, believe me, it helps!

Time For Yourself

As I cut the loaves of soap that I made yesterday into bars this morning my thoughts were on writing, sharing my thoughts with friends.

I am in the middle of making bottles, heating milk, but feeling compelled to "chat" first.

This is a busy time in many of our lives, and the "experts" say we will get even busier unless we deliberately make time for ourselves.

Some of us are older, some younger. But I personally remember a house with one phone. A phone that hung on the kitchen wall. And it had a dial, not buttons to push! That phone did not fit in a pocket, nor did anyone expect that phone to be answered every hour of the day, each day of the week. Nor did that phone have voice mail.

I personally love the connections that we have during this period of time, but sometimes we need to be disconnected. I really am not into catchy phrases, I pretty much march to my own drumbeat. One phrase that I truly did not understand was "me time." What???? It sounded very self-centered to me. Well...now that I understand the phrase more I will attest full-hearted that we all need me time! Me time is time without the pulling of committments, down time without the phone, without the computer, time to just do the things that makes our heart smile.

Yesterday, for me, it was making soap and mowing the grass. I felt like a teenager! Those are wonderful days!

Do not get me wrong, I love my friends, I love the connections, and there are too many people to count that I have to hear from every day (in one shape of connection or another). I do not feel complete without the connection of those people, BUT, and that is a huge but, we all need time without a tug or a pull. That is me time, and we do all need it for our own mental health. And remember yourself as newer technology continues to slide your way. You can say no. You can shut it off from time to time. I believe effectiveness stems from a balance in life. Try to be all, do all, and you lose yourself as the human being with a lot of worth you are!

The soaps that I cut this morning (above) are: spa salt bar (citrus blend), summer melon (muskmelon green and white), and a stress relief type of scent (citrus, light patchouli and others) with a slight violet marble. More on the scents once cured!

I Thank You

I have had a few busy days. Not nearly enough time to write, but always enough time to say thank you.

Being a business person is not always about making money, in my opinion, it is about people. I want to make the best soap that I can possibly make, and I want you to enjoy the product. But, somewhere inside of me, I also want to make a difference in your day with a touch of encouragement, or a nice scent, or just by saying hello.

I thank you for being here. People in life is what it is all about!

I received a knock to the shop door a bit ago as I was taking photos, a local woman that was dropping off religious phamplets...the photo blurred as the door knock came. But, it was a nice visit after all, because I asked her in. And she walked away with a smile and a small bar of lavender goat milk soap! See what I mean...it is all about people. Thank you!!!

Plastic Bricks Museum

I received the monthly Country Living magazine today from my power company.

I like to browse the magazine from time to time, forgetting that most are Ohio-based stories.

I stumbled across an article about a Toy and Plastic Brick Museum, was in awe of the creativity and skill in the museum pieces. Talk about talent.

I remember walking across the dark living room shag carpet when my youngest son was not quite school age yet, stepping on a Lego, ouch(!), and reminding myself, "That boy loves his

Lego's!"

After looking up the Toy and Plastic Brick Museum on the internet I found their blog, and their location, Bellaire, Ohio. Cool! I wanted to leave comments on their blog, but it apparently is a closed type of thing. Shoot!

I am not into toys, but I do think a hobby and creativity helps everyone. It could be soap, it could be weaving or spinning, gardening, you name it, but the old saying, "Everyone needs a hobby," is oh so true!!!

Anyhow...the picture above is my favorite from their blog! Which one do you like?

Colors Of Spring

Today was a day to work in the office. I worked on placing supply orders, balanced books, and then I stepped outside to enjoy the day for a few minutes.

The colors of spring bring so much hope to the heart. I love the cool days, yet I love the hot sun. There is no better sleeping weather at night than when there is a cool breeze!

And, yes, there are dandelions everywhere. But truly, they are pretty! And they mean spring is back.

And yes, there are weeds that need mowed on the slope, but they also bring the beauty of spring with them.

How about those wonderful colors when the maples are first getting their new spring leaves?

And the different colors of green?

Ahhh...Spring's Promise

Tyra and I spent a few moments outdoors a bit ago. The day promises to be another bright and sunny one, filled with warmth, and the promise that we can enjoy the outdoors again for a while, which renews me inside and out!

We have a number of older lilac bushes here, 5 perhaps. They received some freeze damage this spring, but they still smell wonderful, especially in the early morning cool!

Heading outside with a cup of coffee to enjoy the birds and solitude.

Tyra agrees...she says, "Lets stay out here for a while!"

No Blues Here

What a glorius day!

A day to mow the grass, one of my favorite chores. It isn't a chore when you love to do it, right?

A day to enjoy the blue and purple spring flowers.

A day to reflect on the old red white and blue on the front porch.

A day to enjoy the husband in the blue coat loving one of the last bottle babies. What a beautiful nubian cross doeling she is.

And finally, a beautiful day to make soap, blue and purple, and other spring and summer colors (green, gold, pink). The scents, mmmm, I made the soap right before lunch and I can honestly say my stomach was growling by the time I took the photo. The soap smells wonderful! I will cut them tomorrow and tell you more.

Time For A Change

Just as the tide rolls in and out, so does the need for change.


Regarding everything that I do on a routine basis, a few of my friends have asked, "What is your secret, how do you do it all?," "How do you take a vacation, or do you?," and have said, "You are a worker!"


I do not try to do it all, I try to not do it all. As soon as the kidding season has just about ended on our farm, or even when something has changed that requires new steps in life, for example, I always begin to clear my mind and figure out what to do next.


I recently had a wonderful email conversation with a trusted friend regarding a change in my life that was not easy. The change involved something that I had held onto for a number of years, and it had become clear to me to let it go, however something held me back each time I tossed that thought around. It consumed time and energy that I could no longer afford. Once I made that change I felt complete relief, peace, even a sense of liberation. In the email response from my friend, she quoted my own words back to me, I have lost my go-juice for it all. I need something new in my life, and I need to let some things go. Sometimes we have to put the emotional side of things behind us. And sometimes what drags us down is right in front of our noses. When we wake up, we have to move on!


Bingo!


To keep a balance in my life, I determine what is most important, what must be accomplished from day to day, and I weed out the rest. I hope to never let emotions hold me back so badly in the future. Emotions are not always reality. Yes, they hold a certain degree of wisdom, but facts are facts. And I have said it once, and will say it again, we have to lead ourselves down our own paths in life. Do what is right for ourselves financially, physically, socially, spiritually, and mentally. You will find peace. I did.

Less Can Be More

No, I do not keep all of these items on my desk...just some of them like the steno pad (to-do list), the Post-It notes in every room, along with a pen, for ideas (so I do not have to depend upon memory), and of course, there is always paperwork to do. The files in the shop, the files in my desk, the files in the locked fire proof cabinet. The emails to follow on both the PDA and the PC. The land line phone so I can still send faxes. The camera is always charged up. Sound familiar? And look waht I did yesterday, announced my Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter contact names. And thank you, friends, sincerely, I will be showing up again! Your emails and contacts meant so very much to me.

I have been in deep thought this week. The kidding season is coming to an end and the brain is functioning much better. Going from the typical "I am having kids" zombie state to "I am beginning to see the light again, and my brain is growing sharp again," is a great time. It means enjoying the kids even more, and it usually mean re-thinking life itself for me. I have been working on personal goals this week...better to start them later in the year than not at all!!!



I have a very good talent, as most women seem to possess, and many men. A talent that is not so good sometimes. And it seems to be a growing state of being for the population in general at the present. The talent is multi-tasking. I can multi-task like I have earned a crown for it. While multi-tasking is necessary at times, it is not always good. This is where I am saying less is more.



Have you ever caught yourself sitting down at your computer, with four different windows open, attempting to complete many tasks all at once? Uh-huh, that is me. If you shadowed me at work you would notice the following on many occasions; I am paying a bill in one window, sending an email in another, blogging in one more window, and updating the website all at the same time. And guess what is happening while I am doing this? My blood pressure is slightly rising because the satellite cannot keep up with my requests, I am irritated at Blogger because it seems way too slow, and I am thinking about what I need to do and cannot do because the computer is moving so slowly. What is up with that? It is nonsense, and I will be making a huge effort to make a change. Remember the old saying patience is a virtue? It is. Do you see yourself in any of this?



We do a much better job when we handle few tasks at once. First of all, we can think. Second, we are much more happy. Third, the outcome really is that we focus on what is most important and begin to see success.



Today I practiced what I preached. I fed the bottle babies, fed the rest of the herd, washed the dishes and mopped the floor (amazing that I completed something that I had not had time to do recently). I sent the husband to town to run a few chores. When he came back, I was ready for lunch, and ready to head out to the shop to make lotion. And it felt good to have accomplished so very much. I did just what was absolutely necessary. At one point I caught myself trying to send an email while water was heating up in the kitchen, and I caught myself looking up the to-do list while putting goat milk in the freezer, and later I caught myself with phone in hand, ready to send a message to someone! One thing at a time, one thing at a time. And everything in its own time! And less stress...ahhhh.




Again, less is more because there is no irritation, and the job gets done with a lot of quality and progress is able to been seen.




Life was probably not made to be this crazy, was it? When we feel overwhelmed, or feel like we cannot get it all done, our minds and bodies are telling us something. What do we need to get rid of, what do we need to focus on? Because when we are fretting, we are not doing a good job of anything. We are making mistakes and we are not thinking clearly. And what else is happening? Life is zooming by us 100 MPH. That is not good.

Did I lose you in the long post?

Honestly, I had decided to not write any more of these types of blog posts because I am not an expert, just someone that feels compassionate enough to write her thoughts down from time to time. The decision to not write flew away quickly! My philosophy has been, I hope I touch just one life when I do get the urge to share these thoughts!

The Tractor Project, and Weekend This and That

Our weekend consisted of helping our friend move the new tractor project into his garage, using the prior tractor project (still a work in progress, nearly a year now) to do the work. I love these projects. The guys really get sparked, and I have learned a lot too.

Our friend, Bob, lives in-town, and is the talk of his small town whenever a new "old" tractor is brought in on his trailer.

The rest of our weekend was spent resting in between does kidding. We had a nice set of triplets born yesterday. I have a list of only 4 does left to freshen. Things are starting to wind down on the kidding calendar! It will remain busy for the next couple of months, as long as we have bottle kids, and until the barn and lot begin to clear out again (return to our set numbers).

Today I took a photo of the spring flowers that popped up in front of the house a few days ago. They likely will not survive for long in the wind/snow/sleet and dropping temps that we are experiencing. The photo is a bit blurry, but the colors came out gorgeous. I think the camera was cold too! :)

Fighting For First Place

Sometimes it is next to impossible to get one single photo of a goat. Today is a beautiful sunny day, a perfect photo day. But as soon as one of the crew sees me, one will sound the alarm. There she is, let's go!!! Goofy, aren't they?

These are some of my babies from last February. Growing up. I always dislike their spring coats. They start losing that winter fluffiness, and begin looking a little scraggly for a few weeks, until they are completely down to the smooth shorter spring/summer coat.

We had a rough night. The husband's gall bladder did a flare up. So, I trekked to the grocery for plenty of low and non-fat foods and then I worked in the office.

Today, Spike helped (Tyra's boy).

The Big T Time

It is that dreaded time again...the big tax preparation time! Uncle Sam is looking for his money.

One of my goals this year was to have all of the paperwork sorted, bundled, in report format by the end of February. Oops. The date is now...um...March 26th. Gulp.

Actually, I started on the taxes yesterday and have about 2 hours of input remaining. Not bad, not bad at all. My goal is to drop printed reports to the accountant for his final tax preparation on Monday.

I received an application today for a local Artisan Folk Fair. Photos of products, a photo of (me) the artisan making the product, and a completed application must be sent (to be presented to a jury panel) for approval. If I do participate in the fair, I will be wearing period costume clothing at my booth. That brings me to one thought, what type of clothing to wear? Would it be a pioneer type of outfit? The letter stated "country" attire would also be appropriate. What to wear, what to wear?

I also got word of a local farmer's market firing up each Wednesday evening from 3-7 PM. They are looking for crafters and produce producers. Could also be a fun time for a soaper.