Posts
That is me. I am having a temper tantrum.
I WANT MY WASHING MACHINE!!!
I have a very nice, very large washer. I got it 2 years ago. It was a leap of faith because it was so new that Consumer Reports (my faithful friend) said they didn't have any real idea as to longevity or common problems. But I bought it anyway and I loveloveLOVE it. It is a LG Steamwasher. Not the snazzy cherry red one (though I love red), just plain jane white. But oh, can that thing work. It is a real work horse. It has been chugging along for over two years now, doing between 5 and 7 loads daily, day in and day out.
It finally decided to take a vacation. The door latch went out.
The doctor (Sears) has come and looked, and prescribed a new part.
That will arrive in a few weeks.
WEEKS? Did I mention that we go through 5-7 loads daily? 7 days a week? Cloth diapers, towels for the dairy, dish towels (the dishwasher died a year ago. Sears wasn't so helpful, then).
No problem, believe it or not, we keep a back up for such a time as this. We found this one on freecycle. We pulled it out and it valiantly did it's best but we killed it on day three.
So now we have no washing machine.
The kids are happy, no laundry to put away. I suspect they may feel differently on Sunday, when it is time to get dressed for church.
So...I miss my washer. I long for my washer. I an anxiously awaiting the day when the Sears man returns my washer to functionality. I may even consider kissing him.
Or maybe I'll just kiss the washer.
But until then...appreciate your washer. You never know when it too may decide to go on vacation, leaving you bereft and alone. And panicking. If I don't make it to market tomorrow send in the dogs...focus the search on the huge pile of dirty laundry.
May 29, 2009
May 26, 2009
Lists made
Alrighty, the assignments have been made for June. We are actually starting early because I realized that I gad not done a good job allocating responsibilities last month and several of my olders were growing very weary. It seemed appropriate to move on to the new responsibilities now. So much of May was spent getting ready for the show, that now that the show is over it seems as if the month is over as well, so why not switch now?
Here it is...
Katarina--we are wanting to allow Kate more free time. We figure that she will not always be here so it is time to allow the other olders to learn what she does so that she is free to focus on her own soap business and other interests. So...Katie is printing labels this month and helping me get back on track with laundry. I need some help going through clothes and culling excess as well as organizing what stays.
Christin--milking, dogs (including the puppies) and trimming three goat's feet daily.
Grace--learning to pasteurize and bottle, cleaning the processing room and tending to her horses. Grace also has to trim feet on three goats daily as well as tending to the baby goats.
Sara--milking, trim feet on three goats daily and tending to the chickens.
Linnea--Cleaning and maintaining the main areas of the house. This means living room, front room, hallways, the two bathrooms and helping me in the kitchen.
Emma--Tends the yearlings, two horned goats that are housed separately and the bucks.
Timothy--Gets the milkers in the holding pen for milking each milking, takes out the trash and helps mom work on the outside, picking up and preparing for our big party coming up for the 4th of July.
Liberty--This month Libby is very excited that she has a big person job to tend to by herself. Libby gets to feed the pigs and make sure that they always have water. I know that she will do a good job, she is very diligent and loves to help. It is almost sad how excited she is about helping. She will also be helping me with the outside.
Noah and Judah--The dynamic duo will be helping me outside.
Seth--last month his job was to learn to walk. He mastered that. This month we will just let him become more confident in that. Plus being so incredibly cute and sweet ought to take up all of his time!
Mom--meals. Working on the outside. Supervising evening milking.
Dad--Farm maintenance and the perpetual 'to-do' list. Supervising morning milking. Feeding and cleaning the pens of milking does.
So now for all those who ask "How do you do it?!" You can see that the answer is that I don't, my wonderful army of help does!
I also have my menu for June written out. Now to work on my shopping list to go along with that menu!
Here it is...
Katarina--we are wanting to allow Kate more free time. We figure that she will not always be here so it is time to allow the other olders to learn what she does so that she is free to focus on her own soap business and other interests. So...Katie is printing labels this month and helping me get back on track with laundry. I need some help going through clothes and culling excess as well as organizing what stays.
Christin--milking, dogs (including the puppies) and trimming three goat's feet daily.
Grace--learning to pasteurize and bottle, cleaning the processing room and tending to her horses. Grace also has to trim feet on three goats daily as well as tending to the baby goats.
Sara--milking, trim feet on three goats daily and tending to the chickens.
Linnea--Cleaning and maintaining the main areas of the house. This means living room, front room, hallways, the two bathrooms and helping me in the kitchen.
Emma--Tends the yearlings, two horned goats that are housed separately and the bucks.
Timothy--Gets the milkers in the holding pen for milking each milking, takes out the trash and helps mom work on the outside, picking up and preparing for our big party coming up for the 4th of July.
Liberty--This month Libby is very excited that she has a big person job to tend to by herself. Libby gets to feed the pigs and make sure that they always have water. I know that she will do a good job, she is very diligent and loves to help. It is almost sad how excited she is about helping. She will also be helping me with the outside.
Noah and Judah--The dynamic duo will be helping me outside.
Seth--last month his job was to learn to walk. He mastered that. This month we will just let him become more confident in that. Plus being so incredibly cute and sweet ought to take up all of his time!
Mom--meals. Working on the outside. Supervising evening milking.
Dad--Farm maintenance and the perpetual 'to-do' list. Supervising morning milking. Feeding and cleaning the pens of milking does.
So now for all those who ask "How do you do it?!" You can see that the answer is that I don't, my wonderful army of help does!
I also have my menu for June written out. Now to work on my shopping list to go along with that menu!
May 25, 2009
Report on Saturday
Well, the weekend is over and we all survived!
The markets are over. As usual I had fun at Bayou City, chatting with our regulars and introducing new people to the experience of goat milk products. Tim said that Sunset Valley in Austin went well also. Our second week at the market and we already had repeat business as well as promise of expanded business there. It is a long drive, but we have actually been spoiled as we know many farmers routinely drive much further to get to their markets. Plus we kinds like Austin. Some of our favorite thrift stores are there, plus that awesome deck at Central Market, not to mention one of our favorite...ah...haunts, the State Cemetery. (Call us odd, but we enjoy exploring cemeteries as a family, discussing the history and stories reflected in the people that rest there.)
The Hempstead goat show is over. Phew. The girls did relatively well at the concession stand, raising approximately $300 towards the vet bill for Cowboy's surgery. It really did my heart good to see them decide to put all of their hard work and monetary investment to this cause to bless their sister Grace, Cowboy's owner. It reminds me that regardless of how much they may sometimes argue, they love each other and are committed to each other.
As far as the goat show...first some explanation. A dairy goat show is where goats are judged against other goats against a scorecard of the perfect goat. The things that they are judged on may not make much sense at first, but they are all features which contribute towards a goat having a long, productive life. One example is having a wide body and rump. If they had a narrow body then when they come into milk and have a full udder there wont be room for that large udder. The udder will begin to break down and sag, which predisposes it to infections, also known as mastitis. If a goat does not have strong legs and feet, how well will she be able to carry a pregnancy every year? So, although it may seem purely like a goat beauty show, it has a purpose in helping us decide what goats are to be the backbone of the dairy and what goats would be better off retired to a home that wouldn't place as many demands on her. Tim does wonder what would happen if the Miss America competition was likewise designed around determining which contestant would prove to be good breeding stock and have high mothering potential. "And the mammary system on this contestant has good attachments but the capaciousness leaves a little to be desired..."
The goats...well, let's see. For our LaManchas, Sabine was commended for being 'well blended' but that she needed a more capacious udder, which should come with maturity. Her half sister Rosa Blanco was commended as having the most dairy character of all of the goats in her class but that she needed to be better blended which should also come with maturity. Neither placed very high but it was a tough class full of beautiful animals and we are encouraged that we are heading in the right department in our breeding. Sonnet was said to be very dairy and had nice build and a well built capacious udder but she had an unfortunate limp due to last minute hoof trimming and couldn't be placed higher than third. My Rose had to be scratched at the last minute due to having sustained a limp-causing injury, probably in tussling with another goat. That was disappointing.
In the Alpines...one of our does, Sydney was such a scaredy cat that she wouldn't even let the judges touch her so there was no real way that she could be judged. Her half sister Sophie needs to mature (she was the baby of the class) but that she was the most dairy of the whole class and had the best udder of the class. Way to go Sophie!
Our lone Nubian at the show, Star did very well. The judge did such a pronounced double take when she walked into the ring that Sara, who was showing her thought that Star had a gash or something on her side. The judge said that she knew from when she stepped in the ring that there was no doubt that she was the best goat in that class and placed her first. She said that, given a few more years , that she should improve to the point where she should definitely end up a finished champion. Katie is over the top thrilled, Star is the daughter of Katie's very first ever Nubian, Rhonda, her pride and joy.
The children who showed in showmanship did well. Whereas in the regular show the goats are being judged against that scorecard, in showmanship, the exhibitors are being judged on how well they know goats in general and their goat in specific. They are also judged on how well their animal was prepared for the show (trimmed, cleaned, etc) and how well they showed the goat to it's best advantage as well as how well they present themselves as 'professionals', dressed crisply in all white. (Well they try, after showing in the regular show they usually aren't that white anymore, especially after the mid-morning downpour!) They start at "Pee Wee" which just wants to see the tykes become familiar with the goats and know the basics ("what is your goat's name?"). Junior wants to see good animal preparation and knowledge of basic handling techniques as well as familiarity with the parts of the goat "Where is the loin? Where is the chine? What is a pastern?"). Senior showmanship starts getting really cut-throat. They are expected to know to the nth degree every conceivable part of the goat, as well as show some ability to correctly judge their animal "What is your doe's best feature? What needs improvement?") as well as expecting them to handle other people's goats with ease and composure and to have trained their goat to be able to be handled by anyone. In PeeWee, Liberty handled her goat very well, impressive considering that the goat that she showed weighs about four times what Liberty does! In the Juniors, Timothy did alright. Showmanship continues to be something that is an afterthought for him, I think. He wants to because everyone else does, so he doesn't put the work into it that the others do. This will be changing. He has been told that he cannot show in showmanship again if we do not see evidence that he is committed to working on it extensively prior to the show, that it wastes the judge's time and is a form of disrespect to the other kids who work their tooshies off to do well. Also in Junior, Emma placed second and Linnea placed third! We are really proud of both of them and very surprised as Linnea is very very good and very very competitive. I am not sure that she has spoken to Emma yet. (Evidently we have more character issues to work on with her about things like sportsmanship.) Sara did respectably well. She had some difficulties in the area of naming what she felt her doe needed to improve. What she said was right, she apparently didn't say enough.
The little boys wore Nathan out, I think. There is nothing to show you how well you are doing in your child training like seeing how your children act in the care of others. Time to buckle down and get to work on those little bundles of energy and will. Sorry, Nathan. (I am so embarrassed.)
So...the weekend is over. I think we did amazingly well. Now on to "real life". We have to go buy feed today, as well as bottles for milk. And I think we will switch jobs early this month and give everyone their new job list tonight rather than wait until June. I don't think I did a very good job dividing the work in an equitable fashion and some of my older girls are looking very worn out, so it is time to make some changes. Pray for me...I hate this aspect, someone is always unhappy, sometimes many are unhappy if they lose their favorite jobs and end up with one that the like less. But it takes everyone working together to get it all done. When it works well it is a joy and so rewarding to work as a family. When it does not work well it is very very hard. Also, this month for the first time I think Liberty (who will be seven in June) will be in charge of actually feeding an animal and watering it. I have never given that level of responsibility to anyone that young before but Liberty wants to and I believe that she can handle it. Where did my sweet baby girl go?
The markets are over. As usual I had fun at Bayou City, chatting with our regulars and introducing new people to the experience of goat milk products. Tim said that Sunset Valley in Austin went well also. Our second week at the market and we already had repeat business as well as promise of expanded business there. It is a long drive, but we have actually been spoiled as we know many farmers routinely drive much further to get to their markets. Plus we kinds like Austin. Some of our favorite thrift stores are there, plus that awesome deck at Central Market, not to mention one of our favorite...ah...haunts, the State Cemetery. (Call us odd, but we enjoy exploring cemeteries as a family, discussing the history and stories reflected in the people that rest there.)
The Hempstead goat show is over. Phew. The girls did relatively well at the concession stand, raising approximately $300 towards the vet bill for Cowboy's surgery. It really did my heart good to see them decide to put all of their hard work and monetary investment to this cause to bless their sister Grace, Cowboy's owner. It reminds me that regardless of how much they may sometimes argue, they love each other and are committed to each other.
As far as the goat show...first some explanation. A dairy goat show is where goats are judged against other goats against a scorecard of the perfect goat. The things that they are judged on may not make much sense at first, but they are all features which contribute towards a goat having a long, productive life. One example is having a wide body and rump. If they had a narrow body then when they come into milk and have a full udder there wont be room for that large udder. The udder will begin to break down and sag, which predisposes it to infections, also known as mastitis. If a goat does not have strong legs and feet, how well will she be able to carry a pregnancy every year? So, although it may seem purely like a goat beauty show, it has a purpose in helping us decide what goats are to be the backbone of the dairy and what goats would be better off retired to a home that wouldn't place as many demands on her. Tim does wonder what would happen if the Miss America competition was likewise designed around determining which contestant would prove to be good breeding stock and have high mothering potential. "And the mammary system on this contestant has good attachments but the capaciousness leaves a little to be desired..."
The goats...well, let's see. For our LaManchas, Sabine was commended for being 'well blended' but that she needed a more capacious udder, which should come with maturity. Her half sister Rosa Blanco was commended as having the most dairy character of all of the goats in her class but that she needed to be better blended which should also come with maturity. Neither placed very high but it was a tough class full of beautiful animals and we are encouraged that we are heading in the right department in our breeding. Sonnet was said to be very dairy and had nice build and a well built capacious udder but she had an unfortunate limp due to last minute hoof trimming and couldn't be placed higher than third. My Rose had to be scratched at the last minute due to having sustained a limp-causing injury, probably in tussling with another goat. That was disappointing.
In the Alpines...one of our does, Sydney was such a scaredy cat that she wouldn't even let the judges touch her so there was no real way that she could be judged. Her half sister Sophie needs to mature (she was the baby of the class) but that she was the most dairy of the whole class and had the best udder of the class. Way to go Sophie!
Our lone Nubian at the show, Star did very well. The judge did such a pronounced double take when she walked into the ring that Sara, who was showing her thought that Star had a gash or something on her side. The judge said that she knew from when she stepped in the ring that there was no doubt that she was the best goat in that class and placed her first. She said that, given a few more years , that she should improve to the point where she should definitely end up a finished champion. Katie is over the top thrilled, Star is the daughter of Katie's very first ever Nubian, Rhonda, her pride and joy.
The children who showed in showmanship did well. Whereas in the regular show the goats are being judged against that scorecard, in showmanship, the exhibitors are being judged on how well they know goats in general and their goat in specific. They are also judged on how well their animal was prepared for the show (trimmed, cleaned, etc) and how well they showed the goat to it's best advantage as well as how well they present themselves as 'professionals', dressed crisply in all white. (Well they try, after showing in the regular show they usually aren't that white anymore, especially after the mid-morning downpour!) They start at "Pee Wee" which just wants to see the tykes become familiar with the goats and know the basics ("what is your goat's name?"). Junior wants to see good animal preparation and knowledge of basic handling techniques as well as familiarity with the parts of the goat "Where is the loin? Where is the chine? What is a pastern?"). Senior showmanship starts getting really cut-throat. They are expected to know to the nth degree every conceivable part of the goat, as well as show some ability to correctly judge their animal "What is your doe's best feature? What needs improvement?") as well as expecting them to handle other people's goats with ease and composure and to have trained their goat to be able to be handled by anyone. In PeeWee, Liberty handled her goat very well, impressive considering that the goat that she showed weighs about four times what Liberty does! In the Juniors, Timothy did alright. Showmanship continues to be something that is an afterthought for him, I think. He wants to because everyone else does, so he doesn't put the work into it that the others do. This will be changing. He has been told that he cannot show in showmanship again if we do not see evidence that he is committed to working on it extensively prior to the show, that it wastes the judge's time and is a form of disrespect to the other kids who work their tooshies off to do well. Also in Junior, Emma placed second and Linnea placed third! We are really proud of both of them and very surprised as Linnea is very very good and very very competitive. I am not sure that she has spoken to Emma yet. (Evidently we have more character issues to work on with her about things like sportsmanship.) Sara did respectably well. She had some difficulties in the area of naming what she felt her doe needed to improve. What she said was right, she apparently didn't say enough.
The little boys wore Nathan out, I think. There is nothing to show you how well you are doing in your child training like seeing how your children act in the care of others. Time to buckle down and get to work on those little bundles of energy and will. Sorry, Nathan. (I am so embarrassed.)
So...the weekend is over. I think we did amazingly well. Now on to "real life". We have to go buy feed today, as well as bottles for milk. And I think we will switch jobs early this month and give everyone their new job list tonight rather than wait until June. I don't think I did a very good job dividing the work in an equitable fashion and some of my older girls are looking very worn out, so it is time to make some changes. Pray for me...I hate this aspect, someone is always unhappy, sometimes many are unhappy if they lose their favorite jobs and end up with one that the like less. But it takes everyone working together to get it all done. When it works well it is a joy and so rewarding to work as a family. When it does not work well it is very very hard. Also, this month for the first time I think Liberty (who will be seven in June) will be in charge of actually feeding an animal and watering it. I have never given that level of responsibility to anyone that young before but Liberty wants to and I believe that she can handle it. Where did my sweet baby girl go?
May 22, 2009
And I thought that the kids gave me gray hair?!
So we are getting ready for tomorrow. Tomorrow holds two farmer's markets for Tim and I (Bayou City in Houston and Sunset Valley in Austin). It also holds the South Central Texas Goat Club Memorial Day Classic Goat Show. So, as we have every year since we got goats, we are showing goats at this show. Seven to be exact. Katarina also signed up to help in an administrative capacity, as a ring secretary. (making sure that the goats are where they are supposed to be, when and that the goats are who they say they are, as proven by the tattoos in their ears, or in the cases of the earless LaManchas, their tails. Don't ask.) Then the girls got themselves volunteered to run concessions. (Buying and preparing and selling the food.) So we found someone from church to come to what is probably their first ever goat show and watch Carlson toddlers. (Yay Nathan!)
Anyhow today is hellish. We are running all over buying food that couldn't be bought earlier due to concerns of freshness. Finishing grooming goats. Baking cookies for the show. Plus regular farm chores on top of Grace's horse needing emergency surgery to sew his eyelid back on and me recovering from what I think was food poisoning.
So I am in the bathroom and an urgent pounding commences on the door. "Grace wants you to come and look at Lightnin', QUICK!" I bolt out and to the barn. I run into the milkroom and there is Lightnin', chowing down her food as normal. This blood line is quite...ah...oral. They are forever eating or carrying things around in their mouths or eating or taking off their collars and twirling them in circles around their heads or eating...she looks up at me and I gasp in horror. On the side of her face, along her jawline is a large lump. I feel it, it is very solid. It seems pretty firm, not easily moved. My mind races...it could be a tooth abscess. It could be an abscess from a thorn or the like. Or it could be the dreaded CL, a goat disease that manifests itself in the form of abscesses, is incurable and highly contagious. It lingers nearly forever in the soil and it is practically impossible to disinfect your property once you have had it. We have never had it, my intent is to never experience it. We test our goats yearly for it and have never had any signs of it. Nevertheless, what is in my dairy right now is truly my nightmare come true.
But wait...she also may have some softer swelling alongside that. A bee sting? A snake bite?
So, while I sit at the computer to research and come up with a plan of action I send Christin with Tim to the dairy with benadryl to administer. While they are gone I read and pray and try to slow down my racing mind and heart.
Tim bursts back through the door saying something about owing him a vet visit. I stare at him, "what? WHAT???"
He holds out in his hand a bright orange bouncy ball with a bite taken out of it.
Seems when he and Christin were giving her her benadryl he decided to take a good look. (I was going to do that too, just once we found a thin piece of PVC pipe to slide between her teeth to keep from being bitten as those back teeth are razor sharp.) Apparently as they were wrestling with Lightnin' she threw herself down and he looked down at her and...the lump was gone! Just as he was about to point it out in wonder to Christin he saw something bright orange in her mouth, did a quick finger swipe and the abscess lay in his hand, a well chewed piece of made-in-China wonder.
Well. Whatever will I do with all my extra time now that I don't have to spend tomorrow doctoring Lightnin'?
Anyhow today is hellish. We are running all over buying food that couldn't be bought earlier due to concerns of freshness. Finishing grooming goats. Baking cookies for the show. Plus regular farm chores on top of Grace's horse needing emergency surgery to sew his eyelid back on and me recovering from what I think was food poisoning.
So I am in the bathroom and an urgent pounding commences on the door. "Grace wants you to come and look at Lightnin', QUICK!" I bolt out and to the barn. I run into the milkroom and there is Lightnin', chowing down her food as normal. This blood line is quite...ah...oral. They are forever eating or carrying things around in their mouths or eating or taking off their collars and twirling them in circles around their heads or eating...she looks up at me and I gasp in horror. On the side of her face, along her jawline is a large lump. I feel it, it is very solid. It seems pretty firm, not easily moved. My mind races...it could be a tooth abscess. It could be an abscess from a thorn or the like. Or it could be the dreaded CL, a goat disease that manifests itself in the form of abscesses, is incurable and highly contagious. It lingers nearly forever in the soil and it is practically impossible to disinfect your property once you have had it. We have never had it, my intent is to never experience it. We test our goats yearly for it and have never had any signs of it. Nevertheless, what is in my dairy right now is truly my nightmare come true.
But wait...she also may have some softer swelling alongside that. A bee sting? A snake bite?
So, while I sit at the computer to research and come up with a plan of action I send Christin with Tim to the dairy with benadryl to administer. While they are gone I read and pray and try to slow down my racing mind and heart.
Tim bursts back through the door saying something about owing him a vet visit. I stare at him, "what? WHAT???"
He holds out in his hand a bright orange bouncy ball with a bite taken out of it.
Seems when he and Christin were giving her her benadryl he decided to take a good look. (I was going to do that too, just once we found a thin piece of PVC pipe to slide between her teeth to keep from being bitten as those back teeth are razor sharp.) Apparently as they were wrestling with Lightnin' she threw herself down and he looked down at her and...the lump was gone! Just as he was about to point it out in wonder to Christin he saw something bright orange in her mouth, did a quick finger swipe and the abscess lay in his hand, a well chewed piece of made-in-China wonder.
Well. Whatever will I do with all my extra time now that I don't have to spend tomorrow doctoring Lightnin'?
May 15, 2009
First words
Well, it's happened. Seth is saying his first words.
Mama?
Papa?
Nope. "Goat" and "Maa".
I guess it was just a matter of time.
Mama?
Papa?
Nope. "Goat" and "Maa".
I guess it was just a matter of time.
May 13, 2009
Red Ryder
Saturday was Timothy's birthday. He turned nine. I cannot believe that my first son is now nine!
At anyrate, life has been so hectic-crazy around here that we could not arrange a big shindig so his birthday was rather low key. As usual he got to pick the birthday meal and cake (pot roast, corn on the cob, napa cabbage salad and a chocolate cherry ice cream cake very ably made by Linnea). Knowing that we had two markets and a goat club meeting and a little league game all on his actual birthday he opted for his celebratory meal to be served the next day, Sunday. We invited two families but neither could come, that day being Mother's Day. But he enjoyed the meal, regardless.
The day of his birthday his dad and I and sundry children went to two different markets. We met afterwards at the goat club meeting whereupon we left said sundry children with their older sister Katie and the big van. (And unsupervised they waaaaay overcommitted themselves in tasks for the upcoming goat show!) Tim and I then drove to the Little League Fields to catch the rest of Timothy's game (his coach having kindly picked him up and brought him to the game for us). After the game Tim, Timothy and I ran errands, one of which was picking up Timothy's big birthday gift, a Daisy Red Ryder BB gun. (one of the many things I have famously said "N*E*V*E*R to, only to be worn down on).
Once we arrived home with said gun, Timothy (idolized anyway by his younger siblings) was catapulted into real stardom. They didn't care if they didn't get to touch it, just being in the vicinity of the gun was honor enough and he had a faithful entourage that has yet to melt away.
The excitement of the gun has not abated. On Monday he woke up bright and early to get a good start on a day of hunting and fighting with his new Red Ryder. All went well until midday when we had a surprise visitor and Timothy learned first hand the meaning of the word "ricochet" when he accidentally shot the dairy inspector in the leg with his new BB gun.
Way to go, Timothy. Way to go, Tim. I told you he was too young!
At anyrate, life has been so hectic-crazy around here that we could not arrange a big shindig so his birthday was rather low key. As usual he got to pick the birthday meal and cake (pot roast, corn on the cob, napa cabbage salad and a chocolate cherry ice cream cake very ably made by Linnea). Knowing that we had two markets and a goat club meeting and a little league game all on his actual birthday he opted for his celebratory meal to be served the next day, Sunday. We invited two families but neither could come, that day being Mother's Day. But he enjoyed the meal, regardless.
The day of his birthday his dad and I and sundry children went to two different markets. We met afterwards at the goat club meeting whereupon we left said sundry children with their older sister Katie and the big van. (And unsupervised they waaaaay overcommitted themselves in tasks for the upcoming goat show!) Tim and I then drove to the Little League Fields to catch the rest of Timothy's game (his coach having kindly picked him up and brought him to the game for us). After the game Tim, Timothy and I ran errands, one of which was picking up Timothy's big birthday gift, a Daisy Red Ryder BB gun. (one of the many things I have famously said "N*E*V*E*R to, only to be worn down on).
Once we arrived home with said gun, Timothy (idolized anyway by his younger siblings) was catapulted into real stardom. They didn't care if they didn't get to touch it, just being in the vicinity of the gun was honor enough and he had a faithful entourage that has yet to melt away.
The excitement of the gun has not abated. On Monday he woke up bright and early to get a good start on a day of hunting and fighting with his new Red Ryder. All went well until midday when we had a surprise visitor and Timothy learned first hand the meaning of the word "ricochet" when he accidentally shot the dairy inspector in the leg with his new BB gun.
Way to go, Timothy. Way to go, Tim. I told you he was too young!
May 7, 2009
Supplemental Dairy Questionnaire
We are currently trying to acquire new product liability coverage.
It has been quite an education.
One of the agents working on this for us forwarded a questionnaire that one potential underwriter wants filled out. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry as I read it. I finally concluded that there was no way that I could answer the questions without further explanation, which I typed in a letter. Tim suggested that people reading the blog might likewise be interested, so here it is...
To whom it may concern,
In attempting to answer the “Supplemental Dairy Questionnaire” I realized that simple answers might not tell the whole story of our dairy, so I decided to provide anyone interested with this supplemental explanation.
Swede Farm Dairy is a small, family run goat dairy. We milk our small herd (under 40 goats) ourselves, there are no employees. Every single task performed on the farm is performed by my husband or myself or one of our adult children, from delivering baby goats, filling feeders or milking. As such, there is no such term as “full time”, “part time” or “seasonal”, it is, instead, work like crazy 24/7 purely for the love of the animals and the people that you work with. The questionnaire asked if there had been any employee injured while employed on the dairy. Well, recently our four year old was “helping” move "his" goats to the holding pen prior to milking and he tripped and the goat got away from him. Once he was dusted off, he was fine. The cookie might have helped.
We care for the goats ourselves. Under our license(s) we milk the goats, pasteurize and bottle the milk. Our products that we sell (at local Farmer’s Markets) are whole milk, chocolate milk, yogurt, vanilla bean yogurt, and a new coffee-flavored milk akin to Starbucks bottled Frapacinnos. We do sell to customers on the farm as well as the markets. We pick up feed at the local Co-op, driving our own personal vehicle, tossing the bags in the back of the van, driving them home. I do not know if this counts as an unlicensed feed truck, I assume so. If this is the case, we have two unlicensed feed “vans”. (We have eleven children so all of our vehicles are vans.) They are licensed for street use but I assume that you mean something different, I am just not sure what. Our quality control consists of running our hands through the feed and smelling the feed—we have had these animals for their entire lives, we want to make sure that they stay healthy…some of them even belong to our seven year old and heaven forbid anything happened to them! Since most of our acreage is wooded we must buy our hay the same way, picking up whatever square bales we can fit in the back of the van after the bags of lactation pellets are loaded and tossing them in the van. Our quality control there is the fact that our 17 year old daughter feeds the hay and usually buries her face in it and sees what it looks and smells like. She is an asthmatic so we usually know pretty fast if there is an issue! We do not probe newly stacked hay, at this point all hay isn’t stacked long, it pretty much goes straight from the van to the pens! The value of hay on premises is depleted quickly, usually within a day or two as the goats chow down. In the part of the questionnaire that asks for the distance between haystacks and between haystacks and buildings—there isn’t any because we do not have haystacks!
Tanks, milking machines, pasteurizer are all cleaned the same way—they are emptied, rinsed then scrubbed with a brush and dairy cleaner. Tubes/hoses are scrubbed out. They are then soaked in a acid-wash to prevent milkstone. They are sanitized prior to use. Our plate cell counts have been significantly under the state allowed level when tests are done.
All chemicals, agricultural or otherwise, are kept under lock and key. After all, not only do we have goats (a creature that spends every waking hour trying to get themselves into trouble) we also have three toddlers—all boys.
We have not had any antibiotic violations or adulterated milk violations, that question I understood!
Our cleanliness and quality control are driven by one overriding issue over and beyond the requirements of the state when they inspect us for our license. This issue is the fact that every single one of our children drink our milk. We do our best to make sure that our children have the best, safest milk that they can possibly have and would never provide less for other people’s children. We understand that our farm is so far out of the scope of what the industry sees as a dairy farm as to almost not even be the same thing. If I had any doubt of this then answering the questionnaire (or trying to) confirmed this fact. I hope that this letter helps explain why some of the answers on the questionnaire are unlike other questionnaires that you may have received. If you have any further questions, please feel free to let us know. You can also find further information on our website at www.swedefarm.com.
Sincerely,
Tim and LeeAnne Carlson and Katarina, Christin, Grace, Sara, Linnea, Emma, Timothy, Liberty, Noah, Judah and Seth.
It has been quite an education.
One of the agents working on this for us forwarded a questionnaire that one potential underwriter wants filled out. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry as I read it. I finally concluded that there was no way that I could answer the questions without further explanation, which I typed in a letter. Tim suggested that people reading the blog might likewise be interested, so here it is...
To whom it may concern,
In attempting to answer the “Supplemental Dairy Questionnaire” I realized that simple answers might not tell the whole story of our dairy, so I decided to provide anyone interested with this supplemental explanation.
Swede Farm Dairy is a small, family run goat dairy. We milk our small herd (under 40 goats) ourselves, there are no employees. Every single task performed on the farm is performed by my husband or myself or one of our adult children, from delivering baby goats, filling feeders or milking. As such, there is no such term as “full time”, “part time” or “seasonal”, it is, instead, work like crazy 24/7 purely for the love of the animals and the people that you work with. The questionnaire asked if there had been any employee injured while employed on the dairy. Well, recently our four year old was “helping” move "his" goats to the holding pen prior to milking and he tripped and the goat got away from him. Once he was dusted off, he was fine. The cookie might have helped.
We care for the goats ourselves. Under our license(s) we milk the goats, pasteurize and bottle the milk. Our products that we sell (at local Farmer’s Markets) are whole milk, chocolate milk, yogurt, vanilla bean yogurt, and a new coffee-flavored milk akin to Starbucks bottled Frapacinnos. We do sell to customers on the farm as well as the markets. We pick up feed at the local Co-op, driving our own personal vehicle, tossing the bags in the back of the van, driving them home. I do not know if this counts as an unlicensed feed truck, I assume so. If this is the case, we have two unlicensed feed “vans”. (We have eleven children so all of our vehicles are vans.) They are licensed for street use but I assume that you mean something different, I am just not sure what. Our quality control consists of running our hands through the feed and smelling the feed—we have had these animals for their entire lives, we want to make sure that they stay healthy…some of them even belong to our seven year old and heaven forbid anything happened to them! Since most of our acreage is wooded we must buy our hay the same way, picking up whatever square bales we can fit in the back of the van after the bags of lactation pellets are loaded and tossing them in the van. Our quality control there is the fact that our 17 year old daughter feeds the hay and usually buries her face in it and sees what it looks and smells like. She is an asthmatic so we usually know pretty fast if there is an issue! We do not probe newly stacked hay, at this point all hay isn’t stacked long, it pretty much goes straight from the van to the pens! The value of hay on premises is depleted quickly, usually within a day or two as the goats chow down. In the part of the questionnaire that asks for the distance between haystacks and between haystacks and buildings—there isn’t any because we do not have haystacks!
Tanks, milking machines, pasteurizer are all cleaned the same way—they are emptied, rinsed then scrubbed with a brush and dairy cleaner. Tubes/hoses are scrubbed out. They are then soaked in a acid-wash to prevent milkstone. They are sanitized prior to use. Our plate cell counts have been significantly under the state allowed level when tests are done.
All chemicals, agricultural or otherwise, are kept under lock and key. After all, not only do we have goats (a creature that spends every waking hour trying to get themselves into trouble) we also have three toddlers—all boys.
We have not had any antibiotic violations or adulterated milk violations, that question I understood!
Our cleanliness and quality control are driven by one overriding issue over and beyond the requirements of the state when they inspect us for our license. This issue is the fact that every single one of our children drink our milk. We do our best to make sure that our children have the best, safest milk that they can possibly have and would never provide less for other people’s children. We understand that our farm is so far out of the scope of what the industry sees as a dairy farm as to almost not even be the same thing. If I had any doubt of this then answering the questionnaire (or trying to) confirmed this fact. I hope that this letter helps explain why some of the answers on the questionnaire are unlike other questionnaires that you may have received. If you have any further questions, please feel free to let us know. You can also find further information on our website at www.swedefarm.com.
Sincerely,
Tim and LeeAnne Carlson and Katarina, Christin, Grace, Sara, Linnea, Emma, Timothy, Liberty, Noah, Judah and Seth.
May 6, 2009
Going to market
Today is a banner day...we sent two of our children to market without either Tim or I with them. Katie finally got her drivers license (about time, she is only a month shy of 21!) and she and Christin (19) went to the Brazos Valley Farmers Market in College Station.
I hope they remembered everything...it is amazing the things that we pack for market and that isn't including product!
*tent
*banner
*two tables
*table cloths
*banner
*chair
*weights for each leg (each one weighing 50lbs each!) plus straps to attach them to the tent
*bags for customers to carry product in, if needed
*cash box (change)
*receipt book
*business cards and stands
*copies of pertinent papers--licenses, insurance, etc
*"Why Goat Milk?" brochures and stands
*photo album of goats
*hand sanitizer
*sample cups
*gloves for giving out samples
*paper towels
*display milk containers
*laminated reviews of our product
*duct tape (just because)
*extra milk caps (we have had caps from sample bottles go flying)
*wooden sign with product listed
*white board with product prices
*trash can
*trash bags
*strollers/diapers/child paraphenalia when children come too
*baby goats, bottles for baby goats
*clipboard with email sign up sheet
*clipboard to track product sales
*bottles of product for samples
And now we get to duplicate it! This coming Saturday, God willing, we will be in three different markets at the same time. Katarina will be at the Grogan's Mill Market in The Woodlands. I will be at Bayou City in Houston and Tim will be at the market in Austin for the first time. There was a time when weekends were for relaxing...
I hope they remembered everything...it is amazing the things that we pack for market and that isn't including product!
*tent
*banner
*two tables
*table cloths
*banner
*chair
*weights for each leg (each one weighing 50lbs each!) plus straps to attach them to the tent
*bags for customers to carry product in, if needed
*cash box (change)
*receipt book
*business cards and stands
*copies of pertinent papers--licenses, insurance, etc
*"Why Goat Milk?" brochures and stands
*photo album of goats
*hand sanitizer
*sample cups
*gloves for giving out samples
*paper towels
*display milk containers
*laminated reviews of our product
*duct tape (just because)
*extra milk caps (we have had caps from sample bottles go flying)
*wooden sign with product listed
*white board with product prices
*trash can
*trash bags
*strollers/diapers/child paraphenalia when children come too
*baby goats, bottles for baby goats
*clipboard with email sign up sheet
*clipboard to track product sales
*bottles of product for samples
And now we get to duplicate it! This coming Saturday, God willing, we will be in three different markets at the same time. Katarina will be at the Grogan's Mill Market in The Woodlands. I will be at Bayou City in Houston and Tim will be at the market in Austin for the first time. There was a time when weekends were for relaxing...
May 4, 2009
What does this say?
I am not sure what this says about the job that we are doing...
Yesterday Timothy (a week shy of nine) told his dad "When I grow up I want to drink beer just like you!"
This morning Linnea asked her dad "Is it racist to call Southerners rednecks?"
Yesterday Timothy (a week shy of nine) told his dad "When I grow up I want to drink beer just like you!"
This morning Linnea asked her dad "Is it racist to call Southerners rednecks?"
Some humor in the midst of gravity..
We lost a baby goat on Sunday. We sort of suspected that we might, she never seemed quite "right" but we really worked with her to make sure that she had every chance to prove herself. Thankfully she died peacefully on her own, no need for us to intervene.
So Christin was burying the little girl.
Noah walks up. "What are you doing?"
"Digging a hole."
"What for?"
"To bury a baby goat.'
"What kind of goat?" (I didn't even know that he knew that there WERE different kinds of goats!)
"A nubian."
"Is it dead or alive?" (Huh?!)
"Dead."
"Oh. Sezza.." (his name for Sara) "...she's burying a goat and I think it is dead, not alive!"
You just gotta love chatting with toddlers...
So Christin was burying the little girl.
Noah walks up. "What are you doing?"
"Digging a hole."
"What for?"
"To bury a baby goat.'
"What kind of goat?" (I didn't even know that he knew that there WERE different kinds of goats!)
"A nubian."
"Is it dead or alive?" (Huh?!)
"Dead."
"Oh. Sezza.." (his name for Sara) "...she's burying a goat and I think it is dead, not alive!"
You just gotta love chatting with toddlers...
May 3, 2009
Oh, and for the record...
We have three more does to kid.
One is Hallie, a large beautiful alpine that we bought last summer.
One is Star, the first kid born to daughter Katarina's first goat.
The last is Priscilla, sister to Ruby. Readers of this blog may recall the sad story of Ruby who we worked over and nursed for weeks, only to finally concede defeat and have to put her down. Ruby and Priscilla came to us as 5 1/2 yr olds, never bred. They were painfully thin and malnourished, which is what led to Ruby's death. I never thought that Priscilla might get bred when the buck was in the pen with the other Nubians. I feel really stupid to say it, but she was just so OLD and had never been bred before! In people years it would be like a 48 year old woman getting pregnant for the first time, totally by accident. So we didn't feel a need to separate her out. And now I get to sweat bullets waiting for her to kid, worried about all kinds of unspoken challenges for the six year old first-timer.
Then we are done with kidding...until November, anyway!
One is Hallie, a large beautiful alpine that we bought last summer.
One is Star, the first kid born to daughter Katarina's first goat.
The last is Priscilla, sister to Ruby. Readers of this blog may recall the sad story of Ruby who we worked over and nursed for weeks, only to finally concede defeat and have to put her down. Ruby and Priscilla came to us as 5 1/2 yr olds, never bred. They were painfully thin and malnourished, which is what led to Ruby's death. I never thought that Priscilla might get bred when the buck was in the pen with the other Nubians. I feel really stupid to say it, but she was just so OLD and had never been bred before! In people years it would be like a 48 year old woman getting pregnant for the first time, totally by accident. So we didn't feel a need to separate her out. And now I get to sweat bullets waiting for her to kid, worried about all kinds of unspoken challenges for the six year old first-timer.
Then we are done with kidding...until November, anyway!
Exhausting
I wonder, sometimes, why we don't remember how exhausting this time of year is!
We have babies due to be born, so we are up at night checking on pregnant does.
We have babies already born so we are up at night feeding bottles to very little ones.
We have does newly fresh in milk, so more milking.
Pasteurizing more milk for market.
It seems like everyday there is work to be done with the babies. If it isn't giving a routine vaccination (today's was for tetanus), it might be worming, or tending to the logistics that go into making sure that each baby gets a good start on hay or alfalfa, not too much, just the right amount, and that they respond well.
It is traditionally a wet season, so we have mud to slog through...more laundry, plus it seems that at Swede Farm soggy ground=a propensity for baby goats to have the runs, so more cleaning plus taking temperatures and treating accordingly, making sure that is is not something more ominous.
These days we are adding more and more markets, so there is the work of getting ready for each market, plus the logistics of preparation, etc.
And...as if all this isn't enough...LITTLE LEAGUE!
Calgon, take me a...oh wait. There are baby goats in the bathtub. Guess I'll have to settle for a quick shower.
We have babies due to be born, so we are up at night checking on pregnant does.
We have babies already born so we are up at night feeding bottles to very little ones.
We have does newly fresh in milk, so more milking.
Pasteurizing more milk for market.
It seems like everyday there is work to be done with the babies. If it isn't giving a routine vaccination (today's was for tetanus), it might be worming, or tending to the logistics that go into making sure that each baby gets a good start on hay or alfalfa, not too much, just the right amount, and that they respond well.
It is traditionally a wet season, so we have mud to slog through...more laundry, plus it seems that at Swede Farm soggy ground=a propensity for baby goats to have the runs, so more cleaning plus taking temperatures and treating accordingly, making sure that is is not something more ominous.
These days we are adding more and more markets, so there is the work of getting ready for each market, plus the logistics of preparation, etc.
And...as if all this isn't enough...LITTLE LEAGUE!
Calgon, take me a...oh wait. There are baby goats in the bathtub. Guess I'll have to settle for a quick shower.
May 1, 2009
Sales?
I hate selling things.
This might sound like a silly thing for someone who stands in a farmers market three times a week and sells a product, but I really loathe selling. To me, when we sell our milk at market it is less about selling and more about teaching people about goat milk and about sharing what we do. Farmer's markets are actually fun to me!
What I hate is where you actually have to try to sell a product or a service, where you are trying to make people see that they actually need what you are selling. Besides the required stints as minimum paid clerk at stores when I was a teenager, I have experienced this as a midwife when seeking clients and in our early years selling goat milk from the farm. I think the thread that underlies this is a sense of desperation, when you simply have to make that sale and the feeling afterwards that your own sense of self-worth is tied to how what you are selling is received. When it seems that so much rides upon a particular sale and that you, yourself are rejected when the sale does not go well it is no wonder that it takes a very particular kind of person to be successful in sales.
This is why I don't sell anymore. I am more than willing to discuss with someone why I think goat milk is great, how I practice as a midwife and the merits of a particular goat's bloodline, mainly because I love talking about these things. They are near and dear to my heart. What I am not willing to do is to get anxious over whether someone is interested in my milk, my midwifery services or my goat. I think they are all great, and I hope that you think that they are great but if not...it's been a pleasure talking with you, God be with you, good luck in your search!
This might sound like a silly thing for someone who stands in a farmers market three times a week and sells a product, but I really loathe selling. To me, when we sell our milk at market it is less about selling and more about teaching people about goat milk and about sharing what we do. Farmer's markets are actually fun to me!
What I hate is where you actually have to try to sell a product or a service, where you are trying to make people see that they actually need what you are selling. Besides the required stints as minimum paid clerk at stores when I was a teenager, I have experienced this as a midwife when seeking clients and in our early years selling goat milk from the farm. I think the thread that underlies this is a sense of desperation, when you simply have to make that sale and the feeling afterwards that your own sense of self-worth is tied to how what you are selling is received. When it seems that so much rides upon a particular sale and that you, yourself are rejected when the sale does not go well it is no wonder that it takes a very particular kind of person to be successful in sales.
This is why I don't sell anymore. I am more than willing to discuss with someone why I think goat milk is great, how I practice as a midwife and the merits of a particular goat's bloodline, mainly because I love talking about these things. They are near and dear to my heart. What I am not willing to do is to get anxious over whether someone is interested in my milk, my midwifery services or my goat. I think they are all great, and I hope that you think that they are great but if not...it's been a pleasure talking with you, God be with you, good luck in your search!
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