A Little Better

I am somewhat better, I was much better yesterday but went back to somewhat better today. I got outside and did a few things yesterday. I milked all three goats. Cleaned out the buckling's doghouse, gave the bucklings their bottles and then we had to reburn one of Calico's buckling's horns that we didn't do a great job on the first time around.

We also had to reburn both of the horns on the spotted buckling that I am keeping and one of the horns on his twin brother. Those horns were not our fault, they were done by someone else.

I milked Paris for the first time last night. She wasn't fond of the idea but I got through it. Her milk is like Collette's it is naturally homogenized, it had hardly any cream on it at all after sitting untouched in the refrigerator over night. But her milk is also like Collette's in the fact that it isn't as sweet tasting as Calico's.

I have decided to sell Paris and keep Collette, mainly because Paris' teats are just a little too small to hang onto when hand milking. My little milking gadget works great on her but when it comes time to strip her out, it isn't quite as easy.

Too Much Milk

I was not expecting to have to be milking right now. But here I am having to milk two to three times a day. I am putting Collette's doelings in a separate pen at night then milking her in the morning before turning them back in with her during the day. Calico is producing way too much milk for her twin bucklings and I am having to relieve some of the pressure, they are also only nursing on one side.

Collette did really well with her first milking. I put the hobbles on her with no problem. When I put the syringe barrel on the first teat and she tried to kick, it lifted her whole back side up off of the milking stand and dropped her off of the table.

This was something that has always scared me because I was afraid that it might break a goat's neck if they were latched into the neck stantion or stanchion (however you spell it).

She fell off the milk stand on the opposite side of the table from where I was sitting. I jumped up and ran around the milking stand to find that she had already recovered herself and was eating her grain. She had her hobbled hind feet on the ground, her front feet up on the stand, her neck fastened in the stantion with her nose buried in the grain, typical goat.

I had to unhobble her, release her from the stantion, tug and pull until I got her nose out of the grain and then reload her onto the stand. From there the milking went very smoothly, she decided that kicking with a set of hobbles on was not a good idea. She learns very quickly.

Right now while I am typing this I am tasting Collette's milk for the first time. Her milk does not have nearly as much cream in it, as Calico's does. It is more homogenized and it tastes totally different. It is very good just tastes different. All goat's milk tastes different from goat to goat. You should always taste the milk of a freshened milk goat that you are thinking about buying.

I have been letting Calico run loose in the yard with her babies. She comes to the door and cries until I come out. She then runs and loads herself onto the milking stand and makes me milk her when her udder gets tight and heavy. She is producing enough milk for us, the dogs, the cat and her babies. I have been having to milk her twice a day but as the bucklings are getting bigger they are taking more and I am only having to milk her once per day, whether she likes it on not.

Losing Weight

The nurse who checked me in at the Doctor's office was very kind when she weighed me. She suggested that my denim skirt looked pretty heavy, then of course there were my shoes and a very heavy belt. I had a big barrette in my hair also. I didn't mention these things to my Doctor, I just went ahead and let him believe that I actually weighed that much.

I took the lecture without sobbing, but then he started in on all of the other stuff that I needed to do, things that I don't want to do, like mammograms, colonoscopies, gall bladder surgery, things that have nothing to do with my aching back. I have a good mind never to visit another Doctor, they just aren't very nice.

I was whining about my Doctor visit to a friend who is a Registered Nurse and she said that I wasn't fat. Since it is always best to get a second opinion, I strongly considered just going with hers. However, since I did pay the Doctor a large sum of money, I suppose his opinion is more valuable.

We left the Doctor's office and went straight to the Golden Corral in Bedford, their Chocolate Pie is to die for. I did manage to stop after the second piece, my DH wouldn't let me go get a third one.

As I am typing this I am indulging in a small glass of Kefir made with fresh goat's milk without the cream removed. It was slightly frozen and I added a sweetened Pina Colada syrup to it, delicious! So you see I have already started cutting back, only two pieces of pie and only a small glass of Kefir while blogging before bed.

Sunday Morning

It is Sunday morning, the only morning that I have to get up early and get my back in working order so that I can make it to Sunday School. I start my day off with a cup of Costa Rican coffee whose coffee beans were grown in volcanic earth, it is a gourmet coffee thats flavor is smooth, never bitter. I put just a touch of sweetener in it and real thick, foamy cream that has just freshly been skimmed from the top of yesterday's goat milking.

I also have two pieces of toast with homemade butter, also from my goat's milk cream skimmings. Then I slather the toast with honey, but not my own honey, I am not brave enough to keep bees yet.

I have to make butter often because it's shelf life isn't very long, it isn't pasteurized. I was making it in a blender but found that it was just too much work to clean the thing up. So now, I just put the cream in a clean glass jar and shake, rattle and roll. You have butter in no time. Then you strain out the buttermilk, squeeze out the extra liquid, rinse the butter in cold water and stir in a little salt. You can either drink the buttermilk or give it to the dogs, cat or chickens. I don't care for buttermilk, but my animals love it.

After breakfast and blogging, I have to go feed my chickens, feed my dogs and cat, then milk the goat, if she looks strutted. She has been slacking off on milk production lately, so I may not milk her until after Sunday School.

Goat's Milk

Onyx and Jasper are getting old enough now that they are eating some grain, grass and hay, so we have started separating them from their mother so that we can get enough milk for ourselves.

I enjoy a great big glass of cold goat's milk all by itself or with some brownies or cookies. I am having a glass right now while I am typing this.

I have been separating the kids at around 2:00 in the afternoon, then we milk Cinder in the evening right before dark, then turn the babies back in with her for the night. The amount of milk that we get varies but we have enough for the two of us.

Cinder is not a good milker, she has a large udder and produces plenty of milk but she hates being milked. You would think that after awhile she would get used to the idea but it just never gets better.

It is a struggle to get her on the milking stand. We have a bale of straw beside the milking stand and her feed is right on the other side of the stanchion waiting for her to stick her head through. She doesn't mind standing on the bale of straw and putting her two front feet on the stand or even sticking her head through the stanchion to eat her grain but she just won't put her back feet up on the stand. So my poor husband has to lift her up there each time.

Then we have to put hobbles on her hind legs above the hocks because it is the only way that she can be milked. She will kick, stomp and squirm without the hobbles, she will put her feet in the bucket, along with hair and bits of manure. So, hobbles are the only answer for her.

We clean her udder before milking begins and my husband does all of the milking, he is very good at it. Just as soon at the milking is over, the bowl of milk is hurried inside and strained quickly through a metal, permanent coffee filter that we purchased at Walmart. Speed is important because the sooner that you can get the milk into the refrigerator the better. Cooling the milk quickly is the secret to really good tasting goat's milk.

We do not use the milk right away, we wait until the milk has been in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours for the cream to rise to the top, then I take a large tablespoon and skim the cream, I either save it to make butter with or use as a creamer in my coffee or it goes to the dogs and cat. The remaining milk is placed in a pitcher or clean milk jug for drinking.