I made my first batch of  goat's milk soap!  This was after searching thru recipes to find just the right one and I decided to try Oats-n-Honey Castille soap.  It was supposed to be a very mild soap and had rave reviews.
I was able to get it to the trace stage, and then to separate and then to rise and turn on itself, but what the heck does a vaseline/mashed potato mixture look like?  At some point, I decided enough was enough and went to the next step which was to add honey.  Sure enough, it did just what is was supposed to ... which was turn brown.  BROWN.  Well, that looks real attractive. Jay had his own ideas about what it looked like. Hopefully it will redeem itself after it's done curing.  Tomorrow am hoping to try another recipe.  It sounds like I will be the only one here and everyone else is working.  (or trying to escape my honey-do list!)
Happy Memorial Day!

It's official, son Jakeob is graduated!  After a somewhat hectic week of in-laws, rain and work, I finally let go and enjoyed myself.  And that was hard to ignore the weeds in the landscaping around the rocks!  Hard to believe, but I'm still ignoring it!  I'm so very tired.  Who knew that this was so much work!  But am ready to get back to the "plan" and am planning on making my first batch of goat milk soap this weekend and maybe some chevre cheese. It's probably time to wean the goats so we also need to go back to the fencing project and I need to tape them (measure around their girth) to determine how far they are from slaughter (sniff) weight and getting a buyer lined up.  No sign of slowing down yet!
The goats discovered an open barn door last night so they had a very exciting night exploring all the nooks and crannies including getting in the old silo.  I didn't hear any goat echos but that would have been kind of fun.

And here's the very dapper Jakeob with his beautiful cousin at prom.

Yea...it's my turn to RIDE in the carpool.  I can read 90 minutes a day!  It's not uncommon for me to read 2-3 books during carpool week.  And then I picked up Say You're One of Them by Uwem Akpan.  It took me almost two weeks to read but I finished in the Shopko parking lot.  In my defense, I only had a handful pages left.  It took me most of the rest of the night to collect myself.  The book's premise is about the amazing resilience of children to survive in difficult situations.  It's a series of short stories set in different African countries.  But there is no promise of happy endings in this book and you read holding your breath that this child can outlast the horrible situations they are faced with.  And when they don't, you run out of air and it takes a while to catch it again.  Literally.  Next book won't tackle such a serious subject, but this one was worth reading.  Have a good read ... tonight!

Great weekend.  It blew and was cold but in spite of that, we did a lot that after it was all said and done, we were able to have a sense of self-satisfaction.
We cleaned the barn, got rid of two 'junk' vehicles and one 'junk' lawn mower, and made a milking station.  Of course, I crossed off the major life milestone of "milking a goat".  
DH was very good about helping me all weekend with the milking including holding the goat while I milked.  In spite of that, the goat got antsy and tried to go her separate way.  So DH did what was necessary to calm her down including singing an original tune to the goat.  Very funny.  The goat just stopped and stared into his eyes and they've been champs ever since.  The milk looks absolutely yummy, creamy and pure white.  I haven't tried it yet but will this week.  The goat milk soap is going to have to wait until after graduation but am looking forward to that too.  The other noticeable thing is how empty the corrals are.  We're going to need lots more goats. :) We did completely change the plan and won't be putting the goats in the south corrals so I think our fencing project just got a whole lot smaller.  We are instead getting the old barn ready for them.

So now back to the to do list --
THIS WEEK'S AG VENTURE TO DO LIST:
1.  Complete the "Dreams" section on business plan with Jay.
2.  Plant onions, potatoes, and work on the landscaping.
(Not very business minded but we have to get ready for graduation for the next three weeks.  Bear with me)

All I know is that I HAVE TO pick up my new goats Friday night so that I have 4 milkings before I try and do this before work during the week!

So...we scrounged around and made the "Goatmobile".  It worked mighty fine!

Upon arriving at peafarm, the dogs were curious, the horses were curious, and the goats were slightly perturbed by all the loud barking. 
They came from a Hobby farm (that's with a capital H!).  Julie was so good to show us around so now we now what a hobby farm is.  (We don't qualify ... yet)  Their farm had a ton of sheep, goats, cattle, mini-cattle, miniature donkeys, guinea hens, bantams, turkeys, ducks, geese, chickens ... did I forget anything?  Oh yes, NO dogs.  Now it makes sense why the new arrivals were so unimpressed with the barking racket.
2 does and their kids are tucked into the miniature horse pen for the evening and settling in -- unaware that a rookie will be attempting to milk them bright and early in the morning!

What a weekend!
I did get the kitchen painted and went to my nephew's (and godson!) confirmation 8 hrs away round trip and still managed to ... BUY 2 GOATS!  :)  Nothing like a little incentive to get that fence done!

THIS WEEK'S AG VENTURE TO DO LIST:
1.  Remove old wooden divider from cattle pen.
2.  Put up goat fencing
3.  Pick-up Goats
4.  Learn how to milk goats!
5.  Complete the "Dreams" section on business plan with Jay.

Wow!  We are busy!  It's tough to do this stuff when trying to also get the house and garden ready for graduation.  Makes for good sleeping at night.

Saturday we tilled.  Sunday we planted.  The garden is 7 ft wide, so we're planting 6 squares across.  Of course, we needed a little help keeping our squares straight.  Jay took apart an old decrepit trellis and put it together as a grid.  So we have the tools, and the seeds, now all we need is the labor.  Let's see how that turned out.

The onions are looking good.  (Carrots are on the other side)

Of course, with help like this, how could it not turn out swell!

 

Back when it was still cold and all I could do was dream about gardening, I created what I think is kind of a neat garden planning tool.   It tells me what to do when and slaps my hand maybe too when I want to get a head of myself.
Today, our mechanic/neighbor/friend rototilled our garden so I excitedly go get my plan to see what I can and can't do.

This is what I should be doing --
Transplant Broccoli, Cabbage, Cauliflower, Lettuce, Onions
Direct sow Carrots, Swiss Chard, Lettuce, Peas, Radishes and Spinach

We're a little late on the potatoes but got them in the ground today.  And tomorrow looks like a big day planning the rest.  I did plant my cabbage in the cold frame last week along with a little lettuce and Baby Pak Choy (I'm really excited about that!).  But the rest is all waiting for me.

If you would like to try my tool, download the file below and update the last frost date.  The dates should all update for you automatically and adjust for your frost date.

To the east of our house is a row of mature evergreen trees.  They must be 50 years old now, at least.  And tall.  Follows is a tall but true tale.

Everytime I look at these trees I am reminded and in awe of Rusty, a predecessor to our current Brittany Spaniel and the ultimate hunter.
We keep our dogs in kennels, but if we're outside they are outside with us.  So on a January day we had the dogs out running around with us but finally it was time to go inside.
"Rusty, come on let's go pen up!"  (No answer)
"RUSTY, come on let's go pen up!"  (No answer)
"RUSTY, COME ON LET'S PEN UP!"  (No answer and concern because he never goes to far from us and it's January in South Dakota)
We look.  And we look.  And we look.
Nothing.
The next day my DH has to go to a class, but I am at home with orders to go looking for Rusty.  First I go on the roof to shovel off the snow.  I hear barking and it is so-o close.  So I climb down and look.  Nothing.  I can still hear barking.  I can walk towards the sound and then all of a sudden the sound is behind me.  What?  That makes no sense, I can see that he's not here.  For some reason I look up.  WAY UP!  And at the top of the evergreen is Rusty barely bigger than a dot, but fortunately Orange and White stand out against an evergreen.
Yep, that's right.  Our dog spent a cold January night atop a 40 foot evergreen tree.  I call a friend who climbs up the tree and rescues him. 
Next evening we are out and about with the dogs around us.  We go to put them back in our kennels.  No Rusty.  You guessed it.  He's back in the tree.  This time my husband climbs the tree and rescues the dog.
So why are we surprised, when this happens yet again? 
The other side of the story.
Squirrels are a delicacy and a challenge.  A tree is just part of the course that the squirrel took that Rusty followed by jumping from branch to branch until he reached the prize -- the squirrel's nest at the top.
After three human trips to the top the squirrel's nest was unceremoniously removed.  No nest, no tree climbing dog.  Whew, it was becoming a threat to human health.  Which you can understand from the picture that climbing to the top of those trees was a ways up.

DH made me a new "toy" for the garden.

And DH dragged the horse corral which along with itchy shedding fur on the horses, it became too much to resist.