9/17/2012 0 Comments The Meadows welcomes ASH Donna!We are so excited to finally announce a secret we have been keeping for awhile here! Today it finally became official that we are purchasing ASH Donna and will be bringing her home on September 29th! Donna was 2011 East National Grand Champion Nigerian doe and we are so excited to be able to add her to our herd. A HUGE thank you to Diane for agreeing to sell Donna to and for the use of your photo! I can't wait to see how far this beautiful doe can go next year in shows and look forward to seeing what she will bring to our breeding program.
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Once again, I have allowed too much time to pass before updating my blog again. This summer has been one of the busiest I've had in a long time! We have had a constant stream of activities happening here all summer and it seems like there is no other choice but to hit the ground running to keep up. Just a few days ago however, we welcomed a new addition to our herd and breeding program. We have been anxiously waiting for our new girl CC to come home and finally on Thursday past, I had time to make the long trek to London and back to bring CC home! Thanks to Further Farms for the use of their photos in this entry. Once I have time I will take some newer ones of CC in her new home here. CC is also very green from tattoo ink which will need a bit of time to fade before she is back to her gorgeous self! We are very excited to add her great bloodlines and beautiful colours to our herd. She is a bit shyer than our other girls but I am completely confident that in a few short weeks she will be just as friendly and outgoing as the rest! 8/6/2012 0 Comments Fudge!Recently when my Mom was visiting, she and I began experimenting with making fudge with goat's milk. Not only did we discover that goat's milk fudge is extremely fickle to make, but we also discovered that when a batch is made successfully it is amazingly delicious! Many attempts at fudge have been tried but only very few turned out to be what you could call successful. So far, the greatest success is in making peanut butter goat fudge. It is incredibly delicious! I am not a fudge fan, nor am I fond of sweets, but even I have to say this stuff is amazing! Attempts to make other kinds of fudge have had varied success but the peanut butter is always a winner for some reason! Humidity seems to be a huge factor in fudge making, the same as it is in cheese making. Hopefully one day soon I can solve the mystery of why some kinds work and some don't. Vanilla Cranberry Chocolate Walnut
This post has been one of the most difficult for me to write. With my heart in my throat though, life must go on. Carmela finally gave birth Monday afternoon! It was a very long day of waiting for both her and I as she began contractions around 5:30 am and didn't give birth until 5:30 pm. She gave birth to two beautiful little boys. Heartbreak struck though when her first born, who we named Leo, showed obvious signs of being under developed. He was unable to stand and had no suck reflex. Sadly after 6 hours of struggling to keep him alive, he passed away. Carmela's second born son, who we have named Draco, is strong and healthy and doing fantastic! With the death of Leo, it has been very difficult to celebrate the safe arrival of Draco, but we are finally managing. Although sometimes it doesn't make much sense as to why a beautiful creature is born into this world, only to be unfairly taken away hours later, we do have to try to learn the lessons laid out for us. For me, I think Leo was sent to help teach me about letting go. I am not used to losing the battle for an animals life! I save animals. It is what I do! Being completely helpless is not something that I a used to and I am far to stubborn to ever give up. With Leo, there was no choice for me. He wasn't going to make it and that's all there was to it. Bittersweet indeed. I don't think my heart ever forgets. I still cry thinking about Toby and we lost him several years ago! Leo was a beautiful soul who wasn't given a fair shot at life. He will never be forgotten by me though. On a much needed and happier note. Carmela is doing wonderfully as a new mother! She is very protective and attentive to her surviving son. Draco is vibrant and active and just the most devilishly handsome little man! He looks so much like his Mom and was fortunate enough to have inherited her beautiful ice blue eyes and white and gold colouring! Draco seems to be endlessly hungry and even when he isn't eating he is walking around with his tongue out, sucking away as if he is forever in search if another teat to try out! He is too precious for words and will definately make someone a wonderful breeding herd sire. 7/24/2012 0 Comments Milking finally made easy!A few weeks back, Geordon stumbled upon a simple milking machine online. We had been discussing purchasing a milk machine for some time just to simplify milking - especially with a naughty and bad tempered Dixie to milk! The cost on a milk machine however can often run into the thousands and this is simply not in our budget. We were so excited when Geordon stumbled upon the "Henry Milker", a small and simply designed milking system that requires no power and works through a simple vaccuum. How perfect for us! Especially since it requires no power! The best part about this machine is that it costs less than $200. After doing a bit of research into whether or not it will also work on our Nigerians, we were sold! I have been a little worried about having to try to milk Carmela soon with the tiny teats that Nigerians have. Now with this milker I can simply let it do all my work for me! We placed our order and it FINALLY arrived yesterday! The Henry Milker company is out of a small town in Alaska. Our milker was delayed at customs for a few days en route but finally made it safe and sound. Geordon and I tested it briefly last night on Dixie but as I don't regularly milk her at night she didn't have much to offer. This morning however, I was able to milk her out and save my hands! For such a moody goat, she didn't seem to mind the teat cups at all and was content to eat her breakfast while I played around with it. She was even able to lie down while I milked her! This machine was definately worth it and I am sure it will make life much easier now. I may even have an opportunity to sleep in and let Geordon milk now! Here is a video from the www.henrymilker.com website showing how simple this is to use. What a wonderful idea they had! We are thrilled to have found it :o) 7/5/2012 0 Comments Busy summer days . . .Once again is has been awhile since my last post. Summers always seem to be so busy with so many things to get done while spending the glorious sunny days outside. We always seem to be super busy around here and this summer is proving to be just as crazy! My Mom is here for a well overdue visit. This is her first visit since we started raising goats and she seems to really delight in spending time with them as much as we do! She has also been able to try her hand at making various cheeses and learning about the whole process. She and I have been quite busy experimenting with different methods and flavours. I'll write more on this later. The big news for us is that Daniel has graduated high school! We were so delighted to watch him receive his diploma last week and proud of him for fighting to complete his education even throughout all his other challenges. The ceremony was doubly amazing as my baby brother was also graduating! It was great to see them both come through so much together and I was thrilled my Mom got to be here to see it. The animals are all doing great. José is finally registered with the AGS (American Goat Society) which means I can finally get his Canadian papers processed. He is finally growing again and beginning to show some "bucky" behavious! He underwent his first haircut the other day and had many more moonspots than we thought! What a wonderful surprise! Cassi also had her first haircut and she really has unique and striking markings. She looks like someone has splattered her with black paint. The spots we though she had are less like spots and more like "splats"! Carmela is two weeks away from her due date and she is absolutely enormous! She is still in good spirits though so I trust all is going well. We are anxious for her babies to arrive safely. We can expect them arrive sometime after July 13th. Her udder is forming and showing great promise of being wonderful! She already shows great attachments and her teets are beginning to get bigger which makes me happy as I am the one that will have to figure out how to milk her! Geordon has been busy building new and fun things for the goats to play and entertain themselves on. Both the girls and boys now have new two story platforms in their pens and we are all able to benefit from the amazing bridge he built that crosses our river to the other side! It took some time to get all the goats to willingly cross the bridge but now they all freely cross it to get at all the wonderful browse available on the other side! Even o As for cheese, I am becoming quite adept at making a few varieties that are quickly becoming very popular. The favourite from most of my guinea pigs seems to be the "Sun-dried Tomato with Roasted Garlic and Red Pepper". I will continue to work on perfecting my recipes and techniques over the summer and maybe by next year I will have an amazing product! So far I have made the following flavours;
Sun-Dried Tomato with Roasted Garlic and Red Pepper Garlic Dill Onion and Chive "Da Hot Mamma" - (developed by my Mom :o) Garlic, Red Pepper and Bacon Mild Cheddar Cinnamon Raisin Peach Honey Strawberry My Mom has helped me in making many of these varieties while she hass been here. All of these current varieties are available to try out if you give me some notice to make a batch! I am always looking for more volunteers! 6/11/2012 0 Comments Making a Simple CheeseSomething many have been asking me about is how they can make a simple cheese at home. Today while i was making a new batch I decided to take pictures of the process so I could share it here with you all! This recipe is super easy and is for basic cheese which you can season any way you like. For this recipe you will need one gallon ( 16 cups ) of milk. We use goat's milk of course but cows milk will work as well. If using store bought milk, be sure to get either whole milk ot something with a good percentage of fat still in it or you won't get much cheese from this process. You will also need a 1/2 cup of either vinegar or lemon juice. From experience I now know that apple cider vinegar works best but you can find what works best for you. You will also need some salt or seasoning that you like if you plan to make a flavoured cheese. You will need a pot big enough to hold the 16 cups of milk that will not overflow when it comes to a boil. A whisk or large spoon is also needed. Apple Cider vinegar can be purchased at any grocery store. You will need a large bowl, a colander and some muslin. Standard cheesecloth is easy to find but the holes are large meaning you will lose a lot of your cheese curds. Put the muslin lined cloth in the colander and then place both in the large bowl. The bowl is to catch and hold onto your whey. The whey can be used through further processing to make ricotta cheese or can be used in stews and soups. Bring the milk to a slow boil. Stir it CONSTANTLY so it does not burn! You must remain alert as milk begins to boil very suddenly! You will notice the milk beginning to thicken as it gets close to a boil. Once the milk has come to a boil, remove from the heat and slowly stir in the apple cider vinegar (or other acid). Continue to stir slowly to allow the curds to being forming. You will notice large curds forming within moments of adding the vinegar. Continue to stir slowly for 3-5 minutes to allow for all the milk protein to curd. If you are using a whisk like I did - switch to a spoon as the curds will become stuck :o) After a few minutes of stirring you should have a pot full of curds and whey! (Watch out for that spider :o) Pour the curds and whey into the cloth lined colander slowly. Allow a moment for most of the whey to drain away. I then place the colander back into the pot I boiled the milk in. The whey can now be saved to use later or disposed of - depending on your intentions. Here you see the plain cheese curds. Sprinkle a bit of sea salt (or regular salt) into the curd and gentlystir with a spoon. Be careful not to rip the cloth! To drain the cheese, you can either twist and hang the cheese for an hour or two OR, if you're impatient like I am, you can twist the cloth closed and squish the remaining fluid out with a plate or heavy object - like your hand! :o) Be careful - the cheese curds are very hot! Once the cheese is drained you can either chill and serve plain or try experimenting with various spices. Try using garlic, onion or dill! So far I really enjoy making a roasted garlic red pepper cheese. Always season to taste. Once you have seasoned your cheese, press it into a container to chill. You can eat your cheese immediately but it does taste better if it is allowed to age for a few days. Cut it up and enjoy on crackers or just eat it alone or in your favourite recipes! The important part is that you just made your very own cheese! Enjoy and have fun with it!
What a wonderful and successful day! We attended the Brooklin Spring Fair today to show off our girls. Brooklin holds the first big CGS sanctioned goat show of the season and had a great turn out of show goats. There were over 130 goats being shown today and Carmela, Maisie and Cassi were among them. Cassi did really well for her first day off the farm, her first day away from her Mom and for her first show. She placed 3rd in her class - likley as she was hard to observe from all the jumping and screaming she was doing! I was happy to have brought her out ans shown her off though and we are proud of herr just the same! Carmela and Maisie both did great placing first in their classes. Carmela also won Jr Grand Champion and Maisie took the Jr Reserve Champion prizes. It was a great day with a lot of exposure for the breed. We met with many new people and answered tons of questions. It is so nice to see so many people interested in goats! We look forward to the next show and seeing how our girls develop and grow! 5/31/2012 0 Comments Saying good-bye to Orion . . .Today was a day I had not been looking forward to. Orion left us and moved to his new home with Kathy and Spencer. I am quite proud of our little Orion and know he will have a great life at his new home making all kinds of wonderful new babies! I will miss his sweet cuddles though :( Good luck sweet Orion! (I'll come visit you!) So it is official, apparently I am capable of selling off my wonderful babies! 5/28/2012 0 Comments Schomberg Fair and Goat showYesterday, Geordon and I went to the Schomberg Spring Fair to take part in our very first goat show! We took Carmela and Maisie to compete and had a great day! We learned a great deal and met some wonderful people there who are also goat fanatics! Both of our girls did great as they didn't know what to expect anymore than I did! Carmela placed 2nd in her class and placed 3rd overall in her division. Maisie placed 3rd in her class. Both girls were beautiful and turned a lot of heads! Several people asked to have their pictures taken with the girls and they really seemed to enjoy all the attention. We now know better what to expect next weekend when we attend our first big show in Brooklin, ON. We plan to bring Cassi out for that one as well and as I can't show two goats at once, Geordon will have to show one as well! I am looking forward to seeing how the girls stack up against other Nigerians as there should be some there! At the end of the day, the girls were exhausted from all the attention and celebrity! They both enjoyed a very comfortable nap together. |
“Until one has loved an animal a part of one's soul remains unawakened.”
- Anatole France Archives
December 2016
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