Necie

Well, I always figure when having a list of things to do... to do the one you want to do the least and get it over with. Soooo... I made the Honey/Vanilla Biscotti soap. Now I remember why I use Black Vanilla FO from SGS instead of Vanilla Lace FO from NDA! I could barely stir in my shreds! Thin oatmeal? HAH! In less than 2 minutes, I had a bucket full of soap that was like oatmeal that got forgot on the back of the stove for DAYS!! I had to scoop and smoosh into my molds (3" pvc--18" tall). What a MESS. Soap splattered all over the soap room. GEESH! What kind of mess can I get into next?! LOL

I wish I could hold jrs over to kid as 2 yr old ff. I always end up with a dry yearling, which is fine having just one, but can't afford to wait 2 yrs to see udders. I love my 2 yr old ff being so big, but even yearling ff catch up by the time they're 2. I'd love to have Jan/Feb kids as they grow out so nice, but I HATE milking before March (would prefer May-LOL.) Have too hard of a time getting rid of whethers born after March and don't like the way summer babies grow out. Too many problems with worms/cocci. So I compromise and breed EVERYONE to kid in March. Jr does are all 7 months old and weigh 80-100+#, so they're very well grown and kid with no problems. I have a strict pre-breeding protocol using BoSe to encourage multiples. ALL my yearling ff, every year, have had twins that are 4-6#. And the weird part... they ALWAYS have a buckling and a doeling. I keep thinking, every year, that it's gonna get messed up. But not so far. Am kidding out 5 yearling ff this year (if they all take), so will see if the trend sticks. I am breeding one jr to a sr buck. She's being pretty much *hand bred*. Not because I think the buck is too big for her, but because he's in with sr does that were being mean to her, so we pulled her out and my friend is watching for her to go into heat and gonna pop the buck in her pen for a day or so. Very special little doe and a very special breeding.

Thank you. I'm very proud of how far we've come with our stock and our breeding program. It's my favorite part of the job. The part that I consider *Fun* and not *Work*. If you'd like to see pics of all my gals and guys, feel free to check out my website: www.lunamojo.com. Website building/updating is NOT a favorite part of my job. But I did just update my Buck, Doe (Sr and Jr) and Breeding pages about a month ago.

Today is Friday. My day to *git 'er done'. Saturdays I have Farmer's Market. Sundays are *who-knows-what-will-come-up*. Mon, Tue, Wed are flea market days. Monday is set-up, Tue/Wed is actual market. Thursday is my *run* day. So today is my day to get stuff done around here. Whether it be cleaning, work with the goats, making product, book work, whatever... I don't HAVE to leave the house... unless I have to. *~* LOL I need to make a bunch of lotion... but I'm waiting on ingredients that I ordered. Got a bunch of crocheting to do. That gets done *in-between* other projects when I get sit-down time. Kitchen needs a bit of attention and laundry done. Also working on this next year's calender and kid/breeding possibilities. Big job for the day is 3 batches of soap. :/ Two are pretty easy, Honeysuckle and Green Irish Tweed (a men's shaving soap). The worst thing about the Tweed is that I pour about 1/4 of it into *mugs*. The third is Honey/Vanilla Biscotti. Wonderful soap--but a PITA. It's pretty much my basic soap recipe, but I add two different shredded soaps before pouring. It's like a thin oatmeal and it plops and slops. ICK. But it's a wonderful soap. So, that's pretty much what's up around here today...until something else comes up that needs tended to. What's on your agenda? Hope everyone has a WONDERFUL day!! and

No, I am not talking about kids born... I'm talking breeding. It's CRAZY!! I have 12 does (7 seniors and 5 juniors), but I do NOT have 9 bucks... I have 3. Which is TOO many to begin with...but I digress. I have these goofy goat friends who also think they need TOO many bucks. My BESTEST goat friend also has 3 bucks--one sr and two jrs. So I am breeding three of my does (one sr and two jrs) to each of her bucks. Another friend has a very nice buck that I used last year and love the two doelings sired by him, so I am breeding another doe to him this year. That makes *4*. Another friend has 5 bucks!! She's certifiable!! One sr and 4 jrs. I am breeding two of my jrs to two of her jrs. The other bucks will have to wait til next year... they just don't fit in the *plan* yet. That makes *6*. I'm breeding two of my does to two of my bucks. Yes--I'm not even using one of my bucks . But he'll get used quite a bit next year. That makes *8*. Which leaves.... FOUR. And they are all being bred to a LEASED buck. Yup--like we don't have enough bucks... we gotta go out and lease one! LOL It was a chance we couldn't refuse. Bringing back in lines that we lost a couple years ago that we ADORE! So am breeding three srs and on jr to him. That makes *12*. WHEW! So I spent all last week-end hauling goats around. Picked up the leased buck and hauled him and 7 does to the *bestest* friends house. One doe to the other friend. Two jrs up to the third friend and brought back one of her does to breed to my *best* buck. (*Bestest* friend used my buck last month to breed two of her does.) Then yet another friend came and picked up my third buck, that I'm not using, to use on 4 of her does. Confused yet? Heck, I had a nightmare the other night that I was searching and searching and couldn't find my goats!!! I only have 5 goats here right now. Two of my does and two of my bucks and a friends doe. They're all in buck pens. Kagan and Ari (the Anatolians) are in HEAVEN! They have the barn and pasture all to themselves!! They're loving their little mini-vaca. They better get rested up, cuz the good thing about having goatie friends as crazy as I am, is having soooo many super bucks...which make SUPER kids...that ya don't want to let go... so the dogs will have ALOT of kid-sitting to do in about 5 months.

Any babies yet? Hope all is well. We're just breeding now, it's CRAZY. I'll start a new post so as not to hi-jack yours.

Milk fairies: Tinkerbell and her daughter Sugar Plum Fairy. ETA: I forgot the future milk fairy, Tinkerbell's daughter from this year--PIXIE!!

Figured it out (I think-LOL). LACTO-FERMENTATION! If whey can be used in canning, then it should be able to be canned. Oh, and whey isn't actually a dairy product, it is a by-product. Thanks Violet, you made me dig deeper.

I use a REALLY good knife. Old Hickory. 20# is ALOT of cabbage. You're gonna need more than a large jar...probably buckets.

So--I've been making ALOT of cheese and I love using the whey to make breads/pasta. But there's so much left over, even after giving some to dogs/chickens...and I hate dumping it. So I got to thinking the other day that *maybe* I could can it. ?? ALL the milk fats/solids have been removed and with the way I make cheese there is vinegar added which would make it acidic. So could this be WBC'd? Here is a link to where I asked about acidity: http://www.dairygoatinfo.com/index.php?topic=24574.0 The gentleman (Pav) who answered my question really knows his stuff!! Cheese GENIUS!! I haven't tried to search to see if ADGA has an opinion on this....cuz who in the WORLD would want to can whey?? (Me--LOL) So any expert advise on what the ph/acidity of liquid would have to be to safely WBC?

Only when it's windy. LOL LOVE being out in the woods, wouldn't scare me a bit to live there. Was at Mom's today and she asked: 'Wanna go for a walk through the woods?' I must of looked at her like she was nuts, cuz then she said: 'Oh-yeah...it is a bit windy, huh? Don't need a limb falling on our heads.' LOL BTW--we had to walk through a wooded area to get to the bus stop when we were kids. Never thought of it as scarey.

LOL!!! Jeepers, from the title I thought you went to the gathering....and from the pronounciation--I figured you met Stephanie!! Hoping everyone there is having a WONDERFUL time. Necie--> wishing I was sitting by the pond, pullin' in some of them big 'ol bass. And drooling for some of Steph's dump cake. YUM!!

I wonder if you rinsed them if you could use them in Borsch (sp?). Might even be good not rinsed. Or use them with smoked sausage, taters, carrots instead of kraut?

Rain this morning. Crappy day at the market. Working on a couple of new display ideas and some marketing ones as well. We have WAAAAAY too much JUNK!! Had a yard sale here at the house a couple weeks ago and packed about half of it back into the garage. This week? The darn cars and trailer are as full as ever! My mom just keeps bringing more CRAP!!! grrrrrr It is exhausting unloading and setting up and tearing down and loading every week. I just don't get her adding more and more and the darn stuff don't SELL. <sigh> Can't really stop her--we set up on Monday and she goes in early on Tue (brings more *stuff*), I get there about 10 or 11 after doing chores and milking. Same on Wed--more *stuff* in the morning. It got so bad a couple weeks ago, that we almost couldn't load it all back in (thus the sorting and packing in the garage). Ah well, she's my mom. Not much I can do... 'cept leave the stuff packed in my car on Wed in the garage and go *empty* the next Monday. Hope everyone is having a WONDERFUL week. and

Hmmm...never had an Isa get egg bound. Have had many of them for quite a few years. The size of some of the eggs will make ya wonder ... how in the woooorld???? LOL The Isa roos we've had have neither been aggresive or overly friendly. Just the way I like them. Now, the Americaunas (green eggers), I don't like those roos. VERY aggresive. Moreso with the hens, but also with other roos and occasionally people. Got my lotion made. Started a second batch of cajeta, that I will add to the first--double batch. YUM! Milk pasturized and yogurt started. Had extra pasturized, so decided to do some buttermilk too. DH will like that for his biscuits. Think I'm gonna head out and do some fishing while it's still cool and not raining. DH went to DBIL's to work on his muffler. Would surprise him if he came home to a nice batch of gills frying.

Cat!! That hen in the front (white/brown--mostly brown) is an ISA BROWN. She will lay HUGE brown eggs as she gets older. And many double yolkers. The roo right behind her to the right (white/brown--mostly white with brown wings) is also an Isa Brown. If you could just keep those together and have a hen go broody--hatch out the Isa Brown eggs, then next year you'll have LOTS of HUGE eggs. YUM! Today is a *see-what-I-can-get-done* day. (Also taking a break right now. ) Mom closed up at Shipse flea market early due to the rain and I usually go after chores, so I didn't even go in today. Need the money....but need the rain more. So far I've made a batch of soap and started a batch of cajeta. Folded some clothes and done dishes. Need to make a couple batches of lotion and order more supplies. Also need to start a batch of yogurt so I can make some sour cream and cream cheese. Been craving quiche and I make a cream cheese crust for it. Hope everyone has a WONDERFUL day!!!!! and

We had no rain here from Mother's Day til about a week ago. Not a drop. We've gotten maybe 3-4". Still considered drought with burn bans in all of NE Indiana as we're still in a deficit of 10-15" for the year. We had a VERY mild winter last year. Above average temps, but we did have rain-- I remember being soooooo SICK of the MUD!! We had very little snow--there wasn't one day that I couldn't push the wheelbarrow down to the back pens to feed. We had a nice spring. Broke heat records for March, but still had rain. April was chilly. May dried up. They're saying this El Nino/La Nina (??) system will switch and this fall we'll get hit. Lake Michigan's temp is way above normal, so this winter looking for a rough one.

Also...with the price of feed (hay/grain) and the few select animals kept--the price for animals produced next year should be outrageous. Look for it to get worse next year. With the drought in the south last year and the mid-west this year, if there's crop problems next year, no one will be able to afford feed to raise meat animals. Corn here in Indiana is being baled or turned to silage. If it wasn't irrigated, there are no ears. We're finally getting rain...but too late for the corn. Beans will be ok, if they are still flowering. Hoping for a 2nd cutting of hay. Hay prices at sale barn are $8-10 a small square, up from $4-6 last year and $3-5 the year before.

Meat prices should actually be down due to the sell-off. Watch for it. The sales barns are flooded with animals that are too expensive to feed--more supply than demand. Buy when the prices are low. Once the sell-off is over, then there will be a shortage and prices will rise.

I did a search and found this: http://mrssurvival.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=40231&st=0&p=337766&hl=+friendship%20+bread&fromsearch=1entry337766 My recipe is similar to CoM's. For my starter, I mix 1/3 cup flour, 1/3 cup sugar and 1/3 cup milk with bread yeast. The batch I have now has been going for about 4 months. Where it says to add 1 cup of each again on day 5 and on day 10, I only add 1/2 cup of each. Then take out 1 cup starter to hold back for next batch before I start my recipe. Otherwise, if you add 1 cup of each, you gotta find 2 friends to pass the extra on to or make extra or whatever. For the variation of flavors: I don't add the cinnamon and I don't *sugar* the pans. Instead of vanilla pudding, you can substitute other flavored puddings--lemon, pistachio, butterscotch, chocolate, etc. ....or... use vanilla pudding and instead of vanilla extract, substitute other flavored extracts--orange, cherry, strawberry, almond, black walnut, etc. I usually use 1 1/2 tsp flavoring extract, instead of the 1 tsp vanilla the recipe calls for. You can also add fruits (drain well), nuts, raisins, etc. Sometimes I do *banana* nut with banana creme pudding and walnuts, or oatmeal raisin. Usually if I use *real* fruit (blueberries, cherries, cranberries), I make the bread in muffin pans. (YUM!) There are so many things you can do with this recipe and since you keep the starter back, you get to start over *fresh* and come up with something totally different anytime you want.

Stuffed Shells Stuffed with spinach out of the freezer from the garden, venison burger, goat cheese (compliments of the *girls*) and eggs from the *ladies*. Even used dried herbs from my *weed* garden for seasoning. Made the sauce with a couple pints of salsa and a quart of tomatoes. DH didn't get his strawberry Amish bread this time. I'm out of vanilla pudding. It takes two small boxes or one large box and all I had was a small box of chocolate and a small box of cheesecake, so chocolate cheesecake Amish bread it is! DH has been putting peanut butter on it and calling it Reese's Sandwiches. He's weird.

Venison Stroganoff Made Amish bread again today. Tried CHERRY!! We kind of had it for desert. DH says he doesn't care for it. Even though he ate a WHOLE small loaf! So he wants me to try STRAWBERRY next time.

Had a couple of left-over potatoes in the fridge, so DH made a small pan of potato soup for lunch. For dinner I made bacon wrapped, stuffed anahiems (stuffing: ground venison and pork; rice; goat milk ricotta) and *mashed* hubbard sprinkled with parmesan. YUM!

Mmmmm....I tapioca pudding. Still left-over Vege Soup here....but...I made venison burger gravy and home-made yeast biscuits for breakfast and DH browned up the rest of the venison and put it in the soup. Pretty darn good on biscuits.

OOOOOOHHHHH! A TUB!! God, what I'd give for a bubble bath!!