Goat2Milk2Cheese

We found some sense of rhythm today.  Attend the goats, collect the milk,  make the cheese. Check, check, check.  It is funny how something seems so complex one day can feel almost familiar the next.  We are starting to figure out the milking process (more so the machine for Spencer, more so the teats for me), learn goat personalities, and find clarity in the cheese room.  Sarah has endless ideas for the entire operation and easily inspires us to engage fully with all aspects.  However, I must admit that the living arrangement completely reminds me of field camp.  The household works, plays, and lives together.  While we do have separate, fully autonomous living quarters, we can hear each others' dinner conversations.  Last night I heard the son next door make a go for unauthorized ice cream after dinner.  It reminded me we had some leftover in the freezer...I guess its not all bad.

My highlights of this cold Wednesday, you ask?

1.  Double wool socks.

2.  Gweneth (goat) getting unruly as Spencer attempted the final iodine dip on her teats.  You can't make this stuff up...

3.  Putting sweaters on the goats to keep them warm on the milk stand.

4.  Sarah quickly telling us to take the sweaters off the goats before they leave the milk stand because "They will freak out if they see the other one wearing a sweater"

5. Having two goats get loose and run into us while we are in the process of milking. 

6. Gweneth (the goat, there is no human Gweneth in our small circle yet) trying to strip me of my jacket...seriously, this lady has some personality.

7. Sarah sharing with us that when she was a young girl staying with her grandmother in this same building, she daydreamed about a creating a cheesery in the barn.

8. Cutting curds from the whey.

9. The way Spencer talks to the goats.  A very sweet, higher than normal pitch that usually (see #2) gets the goats to do whatever she wants.  I think it even works on me.

10.  Two packages full of new mason jars.  Thanks, Bridget!

Love to all,
Kenz xo

Gweneth and I hug.

Gweneth unzips my jacket.

Beautiful goats.