Good bye 2009!

This certainly has been an interesting year for us. Of course, my health was the biggest issue, but we now know the problem and can deal with that. Obviously, our business took a beating from the economy, but we are still here. My breeding of the goats didn't go as planned, but 2 goats got breed giving us enough milk to carry on. My husband's health is good and he still has his job. Nathan got into Grant Technical School, enrolled in their Carpentry program and his grades are excellent! So all in all, it was a good year.

We did have a rough Christmas. My son, who is an avid quad/ATV rider, decided to go to an indoor quad/dirt bike trail in Maysville, KY Christmas Eve day. One of the dirt bike riders challenged him to see if he could clear 3 jumps. Fortunately, Bobby answered the phone when Nathan (our son) called. He had "good" news and some "bad" news. The good news is that he cleared the 3 jumps, the bad news is that the quad nosedived into the landing, snapping his left wrist. To me, the good news was that he wasn't more seriously injured. Christmas Eve evening was spent at 2 separate Emergency Rooms - Jewish Hospital and Children's Hospital. Then we had to search for a 24 hour pharmacy opened on Christmas Eve. Nathan is still sore and now sports a lime green cast that goes from his hand up to his shoulder. I am sure once the cast comes off, he will back on his quad.

We are not planning any major changes in 2010. We will continue to do the Anderson and Hyde Park farmer's market and am looking for a third market. I had planned on getting back into the Milford market, but the fees are too high. Tentatively, we might go back to the Mt. Washington market on Thursdays.

Our plans for a commercial kitchen with a cannery and baking license are on hold for the time being. But, we do plan on buying a small flock of meat chickens and turkeys.

Thank you all for your friendship and support. I wish you a safe and peaceful 2010. See ya'll!

Season's End

I am finishing the last of my Christmas orders. Can't believe that Christmas is this week - where did this year go? And 2010 will be here before you know it! WOW 2010!

I hope that 2010 will be a better year for our country. It certainly has been a rough year particularly with the economy. So many of our friends and family members have lost jobs and, a few, their homes. I think it is time we all got down on our knees and asked for God's help. He is the only one that can get us out of this mess.

Fortunately, my husband still has his job, but if the rumors about Health Alliance (where he works) are true. He will be joining those unemployed in 2010. Our "Plan B" is to build a commercial kitchen and get both a cannery and bakery license. We will probably expand our meat goat herd and also raise meat chickens, turkeys and maybe ducks.

As of right now, our plans are to continue what we are doing now. We will be back at both of our Markets - Anderson on Saturdays and Hyde Park on Sundays. We are talking about maybe coming back to the Ohio Valley Fruit & Vegetable Growers and doing the Milford Market on Wednesdays.

I have left our buck (male goat) in with my dairy goats for the last 2 months. If all goes as planned, we should have 5 milking goats next year. Last year, we had a new, inexperienced buck and only 2 of our dairy goats got bred. You would think that a male would figure out what to do with a female!!!

I just want to thank all my loyal customers who had enough faith in me to buy my products (and come back for more!!).

From all of us here at B & D Goats, we thank you from the bottom of our heart and wish you and your family a wonderful Christmas and a peaceful New Year! See ya'll in 2010!

December, 2009

One more craft show (Newtown Winterfest), then we are done for the season. If you have never been to the Newtown Winterfest, you are missing a real treat! This is Small Town USA at its best. And, if you are looking for last minute Christmas items, we will be in the huge tent (not sure where, but we will be there).

It has been an eventful year for us. I started the year with severe headaches and vertigo episodes. After 8 months of tests, MRI's and several doctors, a Neurologist diagnosed it as severe migraines. A migraine is caused by the blood vessels constricting in your brain. Mine were constricting so badly it was causing the vein to spasm (thus the vertigo). The headaches will never go away, but with medication we can limit the severity of them. The good news is that the vertigo episodes have completely stopped. Thank you Lord!!! So I will be starting out the New Year healthy! Can't ask for anything more than that!!!

Our plans for 2010 are basically the same as 2009. We will continue to do the Anderson and Hyde Park Farmer's Market and maybe pick up a third market. We are thinking about buying a small flock of meat chickens and turkeys which we hope to offer for sale at the markets.

Thank you for making my business such a success.

Farmer's Markets

I am done milking the goats for the year. This is awful early to stop milking but it has been such a rough year goat-wise. Usually I try to milk to the middle or end of November. Only two of my dairy goats got bred this year. My best milker didn't get bred for some reason. Next year should be alot better because I will have 5 dairy goats that could produce milk (that is if the buck did his job correctly!!!).

I do freeze a lot of milk so I can make soaps, lotions and fudge during my "off" season. So if you need any soap, lotion or fudge, just give us a holler and we will get it out to you.

Also this weekend marks the end of the farmer markets for this year. I miss the markets during the winter months. I do enjoy getting to know all my customers. Fortunately, some do keep in touch. Despite the rough economy, we did well at the markets. Next year we are hoping we can get into the Fountain Square market. And you will be able to find us at both the Anderson and Hyde Park markets.

Thank you all for your support this summer.

Love is in the air!

With the cool temps, our goats are thinking of next year's babies. Breeding season has started!!! Hopefully, this year will be better than last - only a few of the girls got bred. From what I saw yesterday, we should do a lot better next year. Be sure to check our Blog next year for updates on the new babies. Goats carry their babies for 5 months, so next February should be a very busy month!

Also, with this cooler weather, we are starting to slow down our milk production. I am only milking one goat and she is providing me enough milk to freeze for soap and lotion during the winter months. I normally stop milking in November to give the goats (and me!) a much needed rest.

Our farmer market season is also winding down. The Anderson Market will close this Saturday, October 10 and Hyde Park will close on Sunday, October 25. During the off-season, you can still purchase the soaps, lotions and jams directly from me or visit the 3 retailers that carry our products - Bethel Feed & Grain (carries our soaps), Keegan's Seafood (carries our jams, chcken and duck eggs) and Sunrock Farm (carries our soaps, lotions and jams). We are currently looking for other retail outlets.

Baby Count

So far we have had 4 goats kid (give birth) - still 4 more to go! We now have 4 bucks (boys) and 3 does (girls). And FINALLY we have goat milk. We should be able to start making cheese, fudge and ice cream in the next week or two.

Babies!

Our baby season has started. This morning we had three babies born. Chloe and Sasha are the proud Moms. Chloe had a little girl (a doe) and a little boy (a buck). Sasha had a little boy. We will be posting pictures in the next few days. So keep checking back for baby pictures.

Winter Storm of 2009

The winter of 2009 came in 3 stages - snow, ice and more snow. I love the snow (I know I'm nuts but I'm from Pittsburgh - Go Steelers! Super Bowl Champs! - so what can I say!). I love how my backyard looks with all the trees snow covered. This is a picture of our chicken house just as the third stage of the storm was hitting.

We lucked out this year - the ice didn't cause too much damage. Hurricane Ike took care of that in the Fall. Our pine trees suffered the most.

The chickens and ducks didn't seem to mind the weather. They spent most of the day pecking through the snow. The only difficulty we had was keeping the water buckets thawed out (the goats have heated water buckets so they have plenty of water).

The dairy goats were not happy with the snow and hardly ventured out of the barn. My boer goats loved it as we would often see them wandering around the pen.

Goats can usually tolerate the cold, wintry weather. The only time we really get concerned is when babies are being born. Fortunately, I have only lost two babies to the cold weather. Some babies will get frost bite ears - you just cut off the frost bitten part.

Our dairy goats didn't get bred as early this year as we had planned. It looks like we should be having baby goats sometime in April and May. Anyone wishing to see the babies, should give us a call to make arrangements to see them.