2011

What an interesting year 2011 turned out to be!! It started with a frozen shoulder and surgery and ended up with me being an empty-nester!! Who would have thought! What a bumpy year this was! But, once again the Good Lord got us through it.

I think we are ending on a good note, though. My son, Nathan, is finally at Boot Camp - where HE wants to be. This is the hard part being a Navy Mom - the silence - no calls, no letters for the first couple of weeks. Trust me, it is a deadly silence. But God told me that he would take care of my son and I believe Him. Of course, I run out to the mailbox everyday hoping for a letter and jump every time the phone rings. I was told by another Navy Mom, I have to learn to live a new "normal" life.

B & D Goats is going strong - YEAH!! At the beginning of the year, I wasn't so certain. Had a terrible Christmas season. I actually started looking for a job. But, apparently, God wants me exactly right where I am because no job was found. And somehow, the Hyde Park Farmer's Market was moved to the Hyde Park Square and my business SOARED!!

Apparently, he also wants me to be a beekeeper. As you all know (if you have been following this blog), the bee hives sort of fell into my lap. From what we can tell, our yard is a fantastic location for bees because our first year's production was overwhelming!! In 2012, we are going to increase the size of the hives, so hopefully, we will have more honey.

We also expand our goat herd this year. We now have 4 new milking goats - making a total of 8. That will keep me busy this summer!!

My husband's health is still an issue, though the seizures have stopped. But, I know God will take care of him like he is taking care of my son and He will get us through this.

Wishing you all a peaceful, happy and healthy 2012!!!

Merry Christmas

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from everyone here at B & D Goats! Looking forward to a great 2012! Thank you all for your support and believing in our products in 2011!

God Bless our Military!

Diane (aka the Goat Lady), the Egg Man, the goats and chickens

Opie Has Left Mayberry

On Wednesday, December 14, my son became a Recruit for the United States Navy and I couldn't be a more prouder Mom! And life does go on. Yes, there were tears, there has been a few tears since and there will probably be a few more. But as long as I keep busy and know that Nathan is doing what he really wants to do, life is good. I have started doing projects around the house that I have been meaning to do. So by the time Nathan graduates from Boot Camp, I should have the cleanest house in New Richmond :-)

If you get a chance, would you say a prayer for my son and the rest of our military? I would appreciate it.

Thank you - The Goat Lady

BC Day

The day that I have been dreading for the last year is here. Boot Camp Day - the day that Opie leaves Mayberry. We will leave for the Recruiter's around noon and then head up for Columbus where he will become the property of the United States Navy. God help me get through these two days.

The final 3 days

This is it. Down to the final 3 days. Christmas for us will be this Sunday because he leaves Tuesday morning for Columbus where he will become the property of the US Navy. Am I proud of him - as Sarah Palin would say "you betcha" I am. Do I cry at the drop of a hat? Play it again Sarah!! They never said being a Mom was going to be easy!

So as he heads off to his future, I opened up a whole new chapter to my life. What that new chapters holds, I have no idea. But, if it is anything like the last several chapters, it should be interesting!

Christmas Season

No, I didn't get up at some unGodly hour to go Christmas shopping nor was I camped outside of Target or Kohls or some store for a week and half to get some special item! I was sound asleep in my nice warm bed.

I love this time of year. No, not for all the presents I will receive - yes, that is very nice but that is not why this is my most favorite time of the year. I love all the pretty decorations, the excitement in the air, the beautiful colors - the tinsel, the flickering lights, the trees, the Christmas music - I love it all! Everyone forgets all their problems, everyone forgets to be nasty, everyone is nice for a couple of weeks! Don't you sometimes wish Christmas would last all year long! Not the gift-giving, but the Spirit of Christmas.

PLEASE don't forget WHY we are celebrating Christmas! And please don't forget our military and their families this Christmas either. Who would have thought I would be one of them! God Bless our troops! And let me be the first to wish you a Merry Christmas!

19 days

19 days until he leaves. Only 19 days - two weeks and 5 days, that is it. There were days when he would get on my nerves and I wanted to send him to my nearest relative permanently! Then, of course, there were those days when I couldn't hold him close enough! Now, all I have is 19 days.

We talked to the Recruiter yesterday about what happens when we go to Columbus, OH. That is where he gets sworn in, gets his physical, and in the morning he boards a plane to go to Boot Camp. I keep thinking I can't do this. I can't say Good-bye. Because then it all changes. It will never be like this again and I don't want this to end. But it must. As my husband says, it is time to kick the baby bird out of the nest.

So I must make the most of these 19 days. Because it is time for baby bird to spread his wings.

Letter to Opie

When I was in my late teens or early twenties, I was like most young girls my age, I was concerned about my weight. I also grew up in the era of Twiggy and pencil-thin models - pretty much like today, I guess. There were many fad diets then - some good and many bad. Anyway, I started dieting to lose weight. The diet got out of control and I became anoxeric. Fortunately, I was able to realize what was going on and sought help, though I was told by several doctors that because of what I had "done to my body" I would never have children. So I resigned myself to the fact that I would never marry, never have children and would work at Procter & Gamble until I retired.

WELL, God had other plans for me. He introduced me to a wonderful man - your father.

As for the doctors, they were wrong!! Because here you are!

Your very first halloween you were a bumblebee. The second Halloween you were a cow (I guess I couldn't find a goat costume!). Hmmmm - a sign from God. Who would think that 14 years later we would be raising bees and goats!!

Soon, you were old enough to go to school. You were ready to go!! Your backpack was almost bigger than you. You got out of the car and you won't let me walk you to the school because you were a "grown up" now. I cried then as I will when you walk to the bus to go to Boot Camp but this time you will be a man - but no backpack.

In school, you tried all the various sports, football, baseball, and swimming, but none of them really interested you. Your real love (next to your Mom!) was your quad.

And this is why I am prematurely gray!

But, somehow, you survived all of this. Must have had a Guardian Angel hanging desperately to your shirt! You graduated from High School and I cried again (Moms do that alot!)

You came into my life when all the "experts" said you weren't "possible". You changed my life for the better and I thank you for all the joy and love you have given me. I am so proud of the man that you have become. And now in a few short weeks, you will leave to join the Navy to see the world and pursue your dreams. I talked to God and He told me that He will watch over you and I believed Him.

Love always,

Mom
.

Oh Say Can You See . . .

Apparently not!! I think it is time for "someone" to go to the "Doggie Beauty Shop"! Of course, it doesn't help that it is raining and the rain is messing with your "do"! Time to get out the ribbons and put the topnot into a pony tail!!

The Countdown Begins

We are getting into the "countdown" mode now. 33 days and counting. And now I cry at the drop of a hat. According to the Navy for Moms website this is quite normal for a soon-to-be Navy Mom. Of course, my husband thinks I am nuts. What do men know!

So I got out my sewing machine and am cleaning up my sewing room. I am back to making soap, too. Keep busy they tell me, keep busy. Don't worry, I have more than enough for that!!

So if I seem out of sorts, please bear with me. I am in totally uncharted territory and I am trying to find my way.

Post Elections

Anyone glad the elections are FINALLY over??? Do I hear an Ahem?

I got more calls from Governor Kasick, Sarah Palin and even President Obama called me!! Boy, I must be important! No, they were just recorded messages. And the TV ads were getting annoying, too!! Regarding the TV ads, PLEASE don't tell me how bad the other guy is . . . tell me WHAT YOU ARE GOING TO DO!!! I know all about the faults, affairs, etc. of every candidate, but I have no clue what issues they are running on. How sad is that!! I've heard every false claim about the issues . . . i.e., if we vote "yes" on issue 2, our houses will be robbed or burned down, our children won't be taught, blah, blah, blah . . . Thank you Lord for November 9 so we won't have to listen to all this silliness again until the next election.

I am thankful that we do have the freedom of choice and are allowed to vote, but I could do without all the mud-slinging and false advertising. Maybe we should pass a law that the candidates aren't allowed to advertise - what a great law that would be!! No TV ads, no yard signs, no mailings. What do you think???

Preservatives

For some reason, this always seems to be a hot issue when discussing my lotion, so I thought I would address this here once and for all.

A question I am almost always asked about my lotion is do I use a preservative and if I do what type of preservative do I use? I know exactly what they are asking . . . do I use a preservative containing parabens. Before I answer that question, let me explain . . .

A product (i.e. lotion) that contains water must contain a preservative. (This excludes soap because soap is cured.)
The only way for a person to get around the requirement of a preservative is to make a small batch of lotion for your own use, store it in the refrigerator, and use it within 2 weeks. Can you imagine every time you wanted to use your lotion having to go to the refrigerator - how inconvenient that would be!!

Parabens developed a bad name in 2004 when they were suggested to be linked to the retaining of estrogen in the tissues of the human body. Parabens have since, time and time again, been proven safe. The amount of parabens required to cause any trouble is so enormous and the media, once again, has been having a field day.

So, to answer the million dollar question. Yes, my preservative does contain parabens. A batch of lotion which will make 5 bottles of lotion takes 1 teaspoon (yes, one teaspoon) of preservative. So each bottle of lotion contains only 1/5 of a teaspoon of preservative. I don't think you have much to worry about. Below, I am posting a few articles about the parabens.

http://www.cosmeticscop.com/parabens-are-they-really-a-problem.aspx

http://www.cosmeticsinfo.org/HBI/9/

After Market Syndrome

The first couple of days after the markets end are always kind of "odd" days for me. I kind of feel out of sorts (I guess that is the best way to describe it.). I am so used to working at break-neck speeds. And all of a sudden, that comes to a screeching HALT! And life seems "wierd." Nice, but wierd.

For the last six months, besides making soaps for my markets, I was also hired by the Ohio PawPaw Assn. to make 200 bars of PawPaw soap for them, plus I provided product for Sunrock Farm to sell in their farm store.

My average week would go something like this . . Mornings start at 5:00 a.m where I begin getting human "critters" ready to go to work/school, afterward I would feed chickens, milk goats and make 2 to 3 batches soap and a batch or 2 of lotion. The afternoons were devoted to jam and jelly production. In the evenings, I would again milk goats, take care of chickens and ducks, make dinner (usually around 9:00) and eventually get into bed by 11 to 11:30. If there were baby goats, there was bottle-feeding thrown into that mix. And, of course, can't forget housework - sometimes it got done and sometimes didn't. Now where is that maid??

Wednesday afternoons were always set aside for doing homemade pasta for the Anderson market. Either I would drag all my equipment and ingredients over to the Anderson Town Center or just make the pasta in my own kitchen. Thursday evenings were when I would make the goat's milk fudge. Fridays were always my "wrap and label" days.

So for the next day or two, I will wander aimlessly around the house annoying my husband and son. Then I will once again get focused, get back into a routine and life in the Emmich household will once again return to normal and peace shall return to the valley!

It is over

Market season is now over. Makes me feel sad. What a great season this was! I am going to miss all my good friends at the market, both the farmers and the customers. And I am going to miss all the great produce! Unfortunately, Mother Nature took care of that with the heavy frost this weekend. Oh well, it was time.

Speaking of Mother Nature, we did dodge the bullet by missing that snowstorm that is now blanketing the East with snow - WHEW! Not ready for snow this early in the year!! I am sure when the time is right, we, too, will get our share of snow.

And in 45 days, my son will begin a new life in the Navy and I will enter a whole new phase of my life I am not entirely prepared to enter. I have been told by other "survivors of the emptynest syndrome" that there will be a lot of tears at first, but then you will learn to adjust and come to enjoy your new found freedom. I hope so because from this side of the pre-emptynest it sure doesn't look too good! Who knows . . . I might take up wood scupturing or something!

Things My Mother Taught Me

My Mom taught me so many things. I won't be the person I am today without my Mother's influence. When I was 5 years old, she sat me down in front of her sewing machine and taught me to sew. She took me into the kitchen and I would watch her cook, bake and can tomatoes. I got my love for animals from her, too. Out of her 3 daughters, I am probably the one who is most like her.

My husband says it is my mother's fault. You see my mother was terrified of snakes and she passed this on to me. This is not good considering that I live in the black snake capital of the world! Good ole Mom passed her snake fearing gene on to me!

For the last couple of days it has been raining in New Richmond. This morning, I opened the front door to walk my husband to his car and there it was . . . a black snake on our front porch! I should have gone back to bed right then and there!! Granted it was a small black snake (ok, it was a baby snake), but a snake is a snake no matter what size they are!! So my husband scooted it off the porch and went his merry way, while I stood in the door praying to God to protect me!

I eventually got busy, completely forgetting the terrible incident of this morning when I remembered I had to mail some bills. I opened the front door to go out to the mail box. Won't you know it . . . there was another snake!! This time an orange snake. Again a baby one. I quickly retreated into the house vowing NEVER EVER to leave the house again. I called out to my son, Mr. Soon-to-Be-Navy-Seal, to scoot this snake off the front porch. He laughed and walked away. I told him if he wanted to see tomorrow, he better get that snake off the porch NOW!! So with shovel in hand, he took care of the evil creature and promptly removed it to the woods where it belonged. Peace returned to the Emmich household, though I will NEVER EVER leave the house by the front door again!

Apparently, because of all the rain, the snakes are seeking higher ground. BUT, why are they choosing my porch??? This is obviously a terrorist plot. I know I have been watching too much TV. Hopefully, the rain will stop soon and all the good little snakes will go back to where they belong and I can once again leave my house!

Official Beekeeper!

It is official - I am a beekeeper! I have passed the bees' "beekeeper test" and survived! Whew! Boy, it was rough. But, I did it.

This is a picture of inside a bee hive. Those slates are really hive frames where either the queen bee lay her eggs (called a brood frame) or where the bees make honey (called a honey frame).

The last two days I have spent cleaning up the two hives and preparing them for upcoming winter (ugh! I know, I hate the thought of snow, too!). I had to go into the hives and check to see if frames in the honey supers (the small boxes on top of the hives) had any honey in them. The bees will need the honey to get through the winter. One of the hives did have some honey in, the other hive did not have any (oh no!!!).

This is a very serious situation because without the honey, my bees could starve. So I needed to feed my bees. Unfortunately, there is not an aisle in Kroger's labeled Bee Food. What you need to do is boil 2 1/2 quarts of tap water and dissolve a 5 pound bag of sugar in the warm water. Let the sugar water cool down. Pour it into a sprayer and spray the sugar water mixture into the frames that do not have any honey in them.

Here is a friend of mine spraying a frame with the sugar water.

After I spent all that time cleaing up the hive and making the sure the bees would have enough to get through the winter, how did they repay me? I got stung! Not just once, but 4 times! 3 times on my neck and once on my wrist. So I am guessing that I have passed the "beekeeper" test and it is official now - I am a (wounded) beekeeper!

All good things must come to an end

Seems strange to think this weekend will be our last day at the Hyde Park Farmer's market for the year. As the saying goes . . . "all good things must come to an end." Hyde Park Farmer's Market has been really good to us this year - thank y'all!! We are definitely planning on being back next year!

Next year is going to be even better. The market will once again be on the Square (YEAH!). BUT this time we will be there from June through the end of October! How fantastic is that!

Looks like we will be also "shutting" down the goats (so to speak!). This will probably be the last week of milking them for the year - giving them AND me a much needed rest. Hopefully, everyone that needs to be bred has been bred. The buck certainly has been busy!! Thank God that we were able to find a buck!!

So we are ending this year on a high note.

The Eighth Wonder of the World!

And he lives right here in New Richmond of all places! His name is BenZoo. He was named after the Cincinnati Bengals Football Team's mascot, a white bengal tiger cub (back when NFL teams were allowed to have "live" mascots). Anyway, our BenZoo's name somehow gotten shorten to just "Boo."

Boo is the son of Muff. If you will remember, Muff is the head of our "Welcoming Committee." Boo is her one and only "child". Fortunately, he did not inherited her grouchiness!!

So what is so special about Boo that qualifies him for the 8th Wonder of the World?? Well, Boo weighs over 25 pounds. He is a HUGE cat!! Everyone who comes to our house is amazed at how big he is. And he is friendly. He only has one quirk. You do not pick him up. You can pet him, but Heaven forbid if you pick him up (I guess he gets that from "Mom").

To me, Boo is special. You see Boo was born in 2005 the year my Father died. What makes him even more special is that he was born on my Dad's birthday. You can't get any more special than that!

Boo is our "watch" cat. He spends his day making sure everything is "right" with the farm and the animals. I will see him at various times checking on the chickens. He will sit and watch them. No, he is not looking for chicken dinner. Because he has followed me into the chicken pen and house and not bother them. Several times a chicken has gotten out of the pen and he never has killed one. He is like their "guardian cat angel." He used to go over and walk around the ducks. The ducks weren't too thrilled about that! And he spends most of his afternoons in the goat pens. The goats don't seem to mind. Sometimes he goes into the woods to get a chipmunk or mouse which he brings back to me (oh yeah!). Every once in a while, a stray cat will venture onto our property, Boo takes care of him/her pretty quickly.

Boo spends his nights up in our room getting ready for another day of protecting the farm - someone has to do it!

Time Sure Flies!

Where did this year go! Seems like only yesterday that Top Chef was showing up at the Hyde Park Market back in May and here we are . . . only two markets left! OH MY!! What a great year this has been for the markets! Thank you all for your support!!

There is talk of the Anderson running a short winter market from November through mid-December but I don't think a location has been found yet. Not sure if I will participate. It really depends on the cost and where the location will be.

Opie is Leaving Mayberry

I kind of dread the closing of the markets because that brings my son's "ship out" date that much closer. "Ship out" is the Navy's term for him leaving for Boot Camp. We learned last week that his "ship out" date got changed again. Originally, he was supposed to leave February 16, BUT they had several openings in December and decided to put him in one of those spots. So he will be "shipping out" on December 14 instead. I was so hoping he would be here for Christmas. So it looks like Santa will be arriving a couple weeks early at our house this year. Now the big dilemma! What do you give Opie who is going to Boot Camp with only the clothes on his back?? What is going to be even harder is that we will have absolutely NO contact with him for a month!! So no call on the "real" Christmas day. That is going to be tough! You know, sometimes it is not easy being a Mom! But, I am extremely lucky because he will be in the United States. There are a lot of military Moms that have their sons and daughters on foreign soil.

A little bit of this and a little bit of that!

We are back in the 21st century! YEAH! We now have running water and indoor plumbing. Ah the joys of modern conveniences! The leak that was causing so much havoc on our lives was located in middle of the foundation at the front of the house - OH JOY!! Fortunately, for us, it was spraying outwards and not inwards. I can highly recommend Midwestern Plumbing. They did an excellent job fixing the problem!! Very nice people, too. I've also learned a lot more about plumbing and fixing leaks than I EVER cared to know. But what the heck, if this goat thing doesn't work out . . .

This weekend Bobby and I are taking a much needed break and going away on a mini-vacation to Gatlinburg, TN for 4 days. Boy, do I need this!! I think the last time we took a vacation was when Nathan was in the 4th grade and that was 8 or 9 years ago! So we are long overdue! And I need a break badly! Been a really busy year. So I will not be at any of my farmer's markets this weekend, sorry folks!

Speaking of farmer's markets . . . can't believe it is almost time for them to end. Anderson will be closing in two weeks and I will be going to Hyde Park through the end of October. I decided not to do the November market there. The weather in November is so unpredictable and I don't feel like selling soap and eggs in the snow.

Speaking of November . . . craft shows. I am only doing one or two craft shows this year. When I first started doing the shows, the people who ran the shows were very selective about what crafts they allowed and the shows were top-notch shows. I know this will probably sound snobby and I don't mean it to be. But now, they let anyone in just so they fill the spaces and I've seen a lot of junky crafts at the shows. Plus you have a lot of vendors selling similar items. For example, last year at the Milford Show, there was 10 soap vendors - now how are any of us supposed to make any money if there are 9 other vendors to compete with? So I made an "executive" decision and we are going to sit out the craft shows this year (besides most of my customers know how to get in touch with me!).

Pioneer Living

I don't know how they did it. Or it is just we (meaning me!) have gotten so used to modern conveniences.

Yesterday started out as your typical normal day until there was a knock on the door. There was a man standing there from the Water Company. Mmmmm. I know I paid the water bill, so maybe this was just a "social" call - HA!! He had just read the meter and we have been going through 5000 gallons of water a day!!! Darn that teenager!! Wishful thinking . . . the bad news is that we have a leak somewhere. We walked the area where the water line is and saw no signs of water. Then I remember last night down by the chicken pen, we have a pipe that runs from the house and there was water running from it continously. I showed the man and he said that was probably our water. He gave me a phone number to call for a company that could find the leak. Then we needed to call a plumber. I saw $$$.

Bobby called the Leak Company and they showed up that afternoon. Their plan was to pump some type of gas (not gasoline) into our water line and then listen with microphones. And, somehow, they could determine where the leak was. They decided to use the faucet up front by the porch. I told them that we no longer used that and I couldn't remember why. But they wanted to use it anyway. So I went inside and left them alone. Five minutes later, I heard a frantic knock on the front door and basically "Houston, we have a problem!" They accidentally blew a valve or something on the faucet and pretty much flooded my garage. I went into my garage and there was water coming out of the light fixtures, etc. They shut off our water. Told me that we needed to get a plumber to installed a new faucet so they could resume their work, and they left.

So, here we are no water. We did go to Wally World and stock up on water. This has made life VERY interesting. I was thinking this morning that the pioneers somehow managed to live with out running water and indoor plumbing. So, if they can do it, so can I for a day or two. I am just glad that my son is up in Chicago for the weekend or else this could be a real nightmare. He doesn't do well with inconveniences!

Bye, Bye Duckie

The ducks are gone, well, most of the ducks are gone. I did keep 4 of them for me. I use their eggs for making my noodles.

Boy, does it sound quiet here! No loud quacking any more. I am sure the neighbors will appreciate this. Of course, the goats will make up for that!! I did find them a good home, so they didn't end up at the butcher's! YEAH! I really didn't want to do that.

Now the fun part, cleaning up the barn - UGH! I will tackle that after the markets are over in a couple of weeks. That will keep me busy!

I do kind of miss them. Silly, isn't that!

What Hill??

I was "surfing the net" this morning, when I landed on some web page with an ad on top of the webpage about being 50 years old and "over the hill." HUH?? Then it occurred to me that they were talking about me - OH MY!! Then I thought WHAT HILL?? I don't remember any hill. In fact, I am probably more physically active today at 58 than I was at 38. I almost wrote the business who posted that ad and gave them a piece of my mind, but they would probably think I was just being a silly old woman who was over the hill. Oh well!

Still don't remember ever going any hill!

Welcoming Committee

If you ever come over to my house, you will be immediately be greeted by Muff, one of our many cats. For some reason, Muff has taken upon herself to be the "official" greeter to our farm. She will walk you to our porch, stop and expect you to pet her to which she will reply with a growl. Don't be alarmed. Muff generally replies to everything with a growl. My husband refers to her as the "grouchy" cat.

Muff spends pretty much of her day growling at the world for no reason at all. Come to think of it . . . there are some days when I want to growl at the world, too! But, instead, you smile and purr. Muff says that is hogwash and growls. I guess I would growl, too, if my real name was Muffin! Sorry about that Muff! It was a moment of weakness and you were so cute as a kitten. But we did shorten it to Muff! Hope that helped!

Besides the obvious atrocity of the name, Muff had a rough beginning. First she was born in my closet (thank you very much!!). For some reason, Mom Cat pushed her away. I found Muff a few feet away from Mom Cat, very cold. So I picked her up, saw that she was still breathing and put her back with the rest of her sisters. As if that is not bad enough being rejected at birth by your Mom, 4 weeks later Mom Cat went outside and got hit by a car. So I guess Muff does have alot to growl at the world about.

So if you do come to my house and if you are greeted by Muff, don't be alarmed if she growls at you. She is harmless. She might even surprised you and purr. She has been known on rare occasions to purr!

Ducks for Sale

Yep, we are selling my ducks. I know . . . I love my ducks. Love watching them waddle around, quacking to each other. BUT, it is time to move my business in another direction and that direction doesn't, unfortunately, include the ducks. I would prefer to sell them to a farm where they will have access to a nice pond instead of going to a butcher. So, if you know of anyone who might be interested in a nice flock of ducks, have them send me an email to Diane@b-dgoats.com.

New direction, you ask??? Well, not really a NEW direction just kind of expanding the direction we are already in - make sense? Let me try to explain. A couple of weeks ago we went to buy another goat. The farm that we bought the goat from is one of the 3 "licensed" goat cheese farms in Ohio. The owner graciously showed us around and explained her set-up. As she did this, light bulbs were going off in my head - WE CAN DO THIS!!

Coming back and looking at our set-up, the only way we could do this is by selling the ducks - bye, bye duckies! It will take some work and $$$ to get this done, but I think we can do it. So, hopefully, in the next year or two, you will be able to buy B & D Goat Cheese. Keep your fingers crossed. And, again, if you know anyone who would love to buy some really nice ducks, please have them send me an email at Diane@b-dgoats.com.

Back in Business!

What a couple of weeks this has been! One single event came close to bringing my business to its knees. BUT with the Good Lord's Help, we are able to continue on - YEAH!

Over a week ago, I went out to feed the goats like I normally do in the evening. My buck (my ONLY buck) was in the back of the field crunching on something. He would look at me, bend down and pick up something from the ground and crunch some more. Now that's odd, what on earth is he eating. Coming closer, I realized he is eating acorns. Hmmm, is this a good thing or is this a bad thing? For safety precaution, I pulled him away from the acorns and gave him some hay and grain.

The next morning, he is not looking too good. So I call Dr. Brian, my Vet. Bad news - acorns are poisonous to cattle, horses, sheep AND goats - particularly the Fall green acorns. Not alot you can do - just hope that he didn't ingest a lot of the acorns. The buck died Friday morning. This is extremely bad news as my girls should start going into heat any minute and I will need a buck "to take care of them" (to put it politely!).

No pregnant goats means no babies - no babies means no milk - no milk means no soap! Which means I am up the creek without a paddle. Yes, I have friends that I can buy the milk from, but that defeats the whole purpose of having goats plus that cuts into my profits. I could also "borrow" someone's buck but that means I would have to watch my girls like a hawk and at the first sign of them going into heat, quickly put them into the truck and race up to a farm with a ready and willing stud. Only problem is that goats can go into heat at anytime during the day or night. So I could easily miss a heat cycle. See all the fun you are missing not raising goats!

So I prayed a lot! Told everyone I knew that I was looking for a buck. This is the worst time of year to be looking a for a buck because no one is getting rid of them - they hang on to them because they need them (like I need one!). Out of sheer desparation, I happened to look on Craigslist. OH MY - a miracle! There is an ad - someone in Cedar Grove, IN has a young Alpine buck that they need to get rid of because he is pestering all their does (girl goats) and they need to find him a new home ASAP!! OH thank you Lord! So Sunday morning, my husband and son drove up to Indiana and I now have a new buck!

And, the good news is that he is already "hard at work" taking care of the girls. So we are back in business. And, yes, we are getting rid of the acorns!

Farmer's Market Etiquette

Come on folks, do I really need to tell you how to act at a farmer's market! Apparently I do! Fortunately, this does not apply to 99.9% of my clients! BUT, Sunday I was shocked by the gall of one of my customers who is now no longer a customer.

I left my booth to go to the restroom. As I was coming back, I noticed the customer standing at my booth. Seeing that I wasn't there, she stepped behind my table and started going through my coolers! That is when I ran to my booth asking her "what the HELL are you doing???" Fortunately (for her) the police that usually patrol the market weren't there. She said she needed eggs and was looking for eggs. You tell me she couldn't wait until I returned??? To add insult to injury, she was MAD at ME and stormed off! As I said before, she is no longer a customer. Though, I am curious . . . if she did find a carton of eggs, would she have left money for them or would she just have walked off with them?

Fall

I love this time of year. Even though it looks like the Fall season has arrived a bit early (or maybe this is just a sneak preview), I think this is one of my favorite times of the year. The leaves of the trees are changing into all sorts of beautiful colors - burnt orange, vivid gold - oh so pretty. I know that also means spending the weekend raking up leaves, but that also means jumping into big piles of leaves (come on, you HAD to do that at least once as a child!). Here is a picture of my son jumping off a swing into a huge pile of leaves (he flies through the air with the greatest of ease, that daring young man on the flying trapese!) . . .
!

I love seeing pumpkins and the mums being displayed at the farmer's markets, even though they signal that the markets will soon be ending. Can't believe that I only have 7 more markets at Anderson and maybe only 8 more at Hyde Park (I haven't decided if I will sell in November at Hyde Park).

Fall means cooler temperatures. After coming close to setting record temperatures this summer, the cooler weather is a welcomed relief! Though, we really could use the rain (and God could you please send some to Texas?).

And with the coming of Fall makes me feel a little sad because I know that it brings me closer to the day that my "daring young man" will leave to pursue to his dreams. But, I know the Good Lord will watch over him. So, for now, I will enjoy the beautiful colors that God has sent for me to enjoy, thankfully put on a sweater for the cooler temperatures and carve a pumpkin or two!

September?

It can't be September already? Where has this year gone? Seems like I just started the farmer's markets. That means the Hyde Park Farmer's Market will be on the Square for only one more month before we move back to the US Bank parking lot. Really loved being on the Square. The Anderson Market has decided to extend its market by two weeks to October 22 since the rainy Spring delayed the farmers from planting.

It certainly looks like Fall outside. All the trees are already changing colors, BUT I think that is due more to the drought than anything else. What a strange year weatherwise we have had - record rains, record hot temps, hopefully not record snow!!

In October, the female goats should start going into heat and the cycle begins again - the circle of life (do I hear Lion King and Elton John singing in the background!) If all goes as planned, hopefully babies by late February/early March.

Only a couple more months of milking, too. I usually milk the goats through the middle of November. Giving them (and me) a break through the winter months. Once I did try milking through the winter. Trust me, it wasn't much fun milking a goat out in a cold barn when the temperature was 6 degrees!!

Still can't believe it is September!

Honey

I am not referring to my wonderful husband BUT to the product that we were able to extract from my bee hives last Thursday! I am so thrilled that my bees were able to produce enough honey to share with us! According to Kent, my friendly beekeeper, it is highly unusual for a first year bee hive to produce any honey worth extracting. We were able to extract about 65 to 70 pounds of honey - way to go Emmich bees!! And it is Locust honey, which according to Kent, is the finest honey available. Do I have great bees or what!

So we will have a very limited supply of honey available at the Anderson and Hyde Park Farmer's markets for the next couple of weeks. BUT we are planning on expanding our bee hive operations significantly by adding more honey supers (where the bees make the honey) to the existing hives and adding another bee hive. Looks like I am going into the honey business.

God Bless Our Soldiers!

This picture makes me cry. Man's best friend to the very end. This is the dog of fallen Navy SEAL Officer Jon Tumilson who refused to leave his casket at his funeral this week. So it is not only the human "family members" that are affected by this war! May God Bless the men and women who are putting their lives in harm's way to protect us. This is especially important to me because my son will soon be one of them. Please take a moment and say a prayer for our soldiers and their familes. Thank you, the proud Mom of son in the military.

I love my job!

Last night I made dinner - nothing special about that - do that every night. BUT I had green beans that I got from Willow Run Farm. The salad had tomatoes from Bergerfurd Farm and the peppers and onions came from Can-Du Farm. And the organic lettuce was from Locust Run Farm. Talk about a farmer's market dinner! Couldn't ask for a better meal! That is why I love my job so much! Won't get this good of produce at Krogers or Whole Foods! Now I am not knocking these establishments. I am sure they both sell very good produce, but at the farmer's markets, I know the farmers and I know they aren't going to sell me junk.

We have Honey!!!

OH MY do we have HONEY!! My bees have been very busy this summer! My friend, Kent the beekeeper, came over yesterday to look at the frames in the bee hive. He said they were loaded with honey. I probably have about 75 to 80 pounds of honey (roughly about 30 jars!). He said normally you don't get any honey your first year. We will probably be adding a third hive next year and adding more honey supers (this is where the bees make the honey). Looks like I am going into the honey business - B & D HONEY!!

On Tuesday, we are going to extract the honey from the frames. So look for raw honey at the markets in the next week or two!

What a fun way to spend a Saturday!!

I was invited to participate as a vendor at the National Weiner Dog Races this past Saturday at the River Downs Race Track. Oh my what a fun day this turned out to be!! I didn't make a lot of money, but it was the cutest race I have ever been to! If you get a chance to see this next year, definitely go to this! You will love it!

The dachshunds (or weiners) actually run on the race track. Though they only run 20 yards. The "starting" gate consists of cement blocks and the "track" is marked off with rope. One owner holds the "contestant" while the other owner goes to the other end of the track to call them. Half of the dogs actually do cross the finish line! And there were a few who thought they were in the Kentucky Derby and kept running around the track followed by a frantic owner. Here is a YouTube video of one of the races back in either 2007 or 2009. Just copy this address:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqJzAAP-Oug

I had never known there were so many different varieties of dachshunds! My parents always loved dachshunds. But the ones we had looked like the dog showed above - the redish brown dog. We saw long haired dogs, spotted dogs, black ones, buff colored ones, fat ones, baby ones, etc. I told Bobby that I want a weiner dog now! You can probably imagine his response!!

I guess I will have to get my "dachshund" fix once a year at the Weiner Dog Races! See you at the Races.

I am a vegetable farmer!!

I am so excited!! I found one (yes, one!) zucchini and one spaghetti squash in my garden yesterday. I am sure you are thinking - big deal! OK, one zucchini and one spaghetti squash doesn't qualify you to be a vegetable farmer - my excitement overwhelmed me! BUT, you see I have tried for yesrs to grow vegetables without much luck. Our yard is mostly tree-covered - very little sunlight. Vegetable gardening is very challenging to say the least! So yesterday when I saw my beautiful zucchini and spaghetti squash, I was thrilled! I will take a picture of them today and post them on the blog later (for those interested few). I also have a few semi-ripe roma tomatoes and cherry tomatoes - probably enough for a salad.

My grandfather up in Heaven is probably looking down and having a good chuckle! Maybe he is proud that I actually grew something! I am!

Ducks

We raise a relatively small flock of about 40 ducks. We don't have a pond over in the duck pen, so we have had to improvise and bought several of those kiddie wadding pools. You know the ones with the cute little fishies painted on them - the ducks don't seem to mind. Since it has been so blazing hot these last couple of weeks, I try to go over there a couple times a day to change the water, so they have fresh, cold water to drink and cool off in.

Yesterday, as I was cleaning out their pools and filling them with water, I was watching the ducks waddling around their pen. It was very interesting - a little community in action. There were several "cliques" of ducks. I guess ducks can have friends! Some of them were having very heated discussions - wondered what that was about (probably talking politics!). Come to think about it - what would ducks talk about anyway?? Look at their lives - they waddle around, they eat, they poop, they swim, they clean their feathers, they sunbath in the sun, they lay eggs and they sleep. Do they gossip? "Oh my did you see that egg she laid!!" "Boy did she make a pig of herself last night at the feed trough!" (I know I need to get a life!)

I noticed several individual ducks sitting by themselves - outcasts? Most of them just sat in the sun watching what I was doing. I wondered what they thought of me and who I was - a big duck, maybe?? (I know I have been out in the sun too long!). By that time the pools were all filled and ready for the ducks. So I left them alone so they could enjoy their clean, cool pools.

How sad!

I make really good goat's cheese but I am not allowed to sell it because I am not a "licensed" dairy. Like a piece of paper is going to make any difference in the quality of cheese that I make. Apparently, it doesn't work for the large corporations that have all the recalls! Ok, I am probably being nasty but it is true! But, what do I know . . . I am just a small goat farmer.

Well, from my point of view, I think I can tell you what the problem is! The big corporate boys don't care. All they are concerned with is the bottom line - are they making a profit. They don't care if the product they sell is any good - they just want to make $$$ and lots of it!

Now take the small farmer. He or she has so much more at stake if they lose a customer or two or three. Yes, the small farmer is also interested in making money, but for a completely different reason than the corporate big shot - the farmer has a family to support, a farm to run and maybe livestock to feed. But I can guarantee that any product you buy from that farmer is 100% better than what you buy from that corporation.

A vendor I know makes pickles and sells them at the farmer's markets. In order to "legally" sell pickles, you need to have a cannery license. To be able to have a cannery license, you have to take a week long class up in Columbus, Ohio that costs over $700 plus hotel expenses plus meal expense, etc. In addition to the cannery license, you also need to have a commercial kitchen - I won't go into the cost of renting or building that!! Anyway, the vendor has been selling her "illegal" pickles at the market and has been "written" up twice by the county Department of Health. If she is written up a third time, she will be fined and shut down. Now WHY is that not done to those corporations that continually put out bad product?? I am guessing because the big guys have big lawyers and us little guys don't.

I still make great goat's cheese and a piece of paper is not going to make it any safer or taste any better!

Opie hasn't left Mayberry yet!

Remember I told you that my son, Nathan, had joined the Navy. Well, he is still here. No, he hasn't quit the Navy but we have had a series of new developments.

Out of curiosity, he decided to see if he could qualify for a branch of Navy. So, for the last several months, he has been training (i.e., lifting weights, running, going to a YMCA over in Kentucky and swimming) trying to get in shape so he could pass the extreme physical test required to be considered.

Two weeks prior to leaving for Boot Camp, he took the physical test. He came home exhausted and told me that only 2 guys made it out of the 50 that tried out. I gave him a hug. I told him that I was proud that he gave it the "ole college try" and he could always try again sometime later. He said "But Mom, I was one of the two!" OH MY!! It wasn't a done deal yet because they had to find a replacement for him at Boot Camp and also get approval from the "higher ups." About a week later, he got the call from the Navy - it was approved BUT they were moving his "ship out" date until next year.

So for the time being Opie still lives in Mayberry. Though we don't see very much of him. I told Bobby that sometimes I feel like a hotel - he comes in to change clothes and he is gone again. Every once in a while, he will stop long enough to get something to eat. But, at least, we will have one more Thanksgiving and one more Christmas together. I was really dreading the holidays without him. So I am thankful to God that He is giving us more time together!

Hairdresser gone wild!

This has absolutely nothing to do with goats. So if you are looking for a post about goats, I guess you best stop reading.

I have to blame my husband for this. Don't we ALWAYS blame our husbands!! Anyway, this month I turned fifty mumble mumble mumble eight - ok I turned 58! There it is out in the open. Oh gawd, I'm OLD! So my husband mentioned that "maybe" it was time that I got an "age appropriate haircut." Now what the HECK does that mean?? Looking in the mirror, I usually wear my hair pinned up because it is so long (down to the middle of my back). I guess he is right. So I made the appointment with the woman who normally does my hair.

Now I don't know if she was just having an "off" day or didn't hear me when I said "I want it trimmed to maybe shoulder length." I saw the first cut right below my ear and I knew I was in trouble. It went downhill from there particularly when I heard her say "I layered the back!" OH NO!!! My hair does NOT layer well. To my hair that is a signal to go crazy and do its own thing. I was very polite and paid the woman. Of course, cried hysterically when I got home.

Men do not understand this. And I live in an all male household. My son trying to make me feel good, told me "it looks fluffy - just like a puppy!" (woman's interpretation - I look like a dog!!) My husband kept telling me you look "cute". Excuse me - women don't want to look CUTE!! They want to be BEAUTIFUL! By this time, I figured I will never ever leave the house. Every time I looked in the mirror, it was a shock. The unsympathic males kept telling me it will grow back. Yes, I know that but that will take YEARS (of course, I am exaggerating!).

I have since then calm down. Obviously this was not the haircut that I wanted, but life goes on! Besides we are entitled to a meltdown every once in awhile - it is good for the soul!

HOT!!

Just how HOT is it?? This is a picture of one of our bee hives. Those dark "dots" on front of the bee hive are actually bees - probably thousands of bees! This is called "sitting on the front porch." It is too hot in the bee hive, so the bees are coming out of the hive to cool down and "sit on the front porch." They will literally cover the entire hive. So you know it has to be hot!!

Happy Independence Day

You know we are the only country that can celebrate Independence Day! All the other countries, this is just July 4th but to us this is the day we remember our independence from England. So Happy Independence Day!!

If you haven't been to the Hyde Park Farmer's Market in the new location, BOY are you missing out on a great experience!! Come check us out - it is open every Sunday from 9:30 to 1:30 in the Hyde Park Square. The farmer's market has taken over the complete Square and it has been blocked off to traffic. See why Cincinnati Magazine named it the best Farmer's Market.

And don't forget about the Anderson Farmer's Market! We have a bunch of new vendors and it is getting bigger and better! We are located at the Park and Ride right behind the Anderson Center Shopping District on 5 Mile Road. The market is open every Saturday from 9:00 to 1:00.

See you all at the markets! Happy Independence Day!

Update on Baby Goats

Here are the babies enjoying their first day of summer. On the left is Freddie. He is the baby that I had to deliver over a month ago. In the middle is Hope, the preemie and to the right is her sister, Faith.


This is Hope. When she was born, I really didn't think she would make it. Her Mom had buried her in the hay (not a good sign). I wasn't even sure she was alive, until I noticed her barely breathing. So I cleaned her off and put her in what we call the "baby pen." I always freeze extra colostrum from the previous years for "emergency" cases like this. So I thawed that out and was able to get Hope to drink some of it. I figured we had a fighting chance. The next morning, I wasn't sure what I would find. There she was, trying to sit up and I knew I had a fighter! And here she is a month and a half old - very healthy!

The bad thing about preemies is that you don't know how far along in the development process they are. If they are born too early, not everything is completely working yet. I was very lucky with Hope. I've had two other preemies - one I lost after two weeks and one that like Hope.

When the babies are about a week old, they pay a visit to Dr. Brian (our "friendly" vet) to get dehorned. It sounds like a very cruel thing to do to the animals, but it isn't. Dr. Brian (real name is Dr. Cowdrey, but everyone knows him as Dr. Brian) puts them to sleep, so they don't feel anything. Dehorning the goat makes them so much easier for the breeder (me!!) to handle them. Secondly, the goats don't get caught in fences or trees. I was talking to a local farmer once that originally didn't dehorned his goats. He let his best stud goat out into the pasture and the goat disappear for over a week. They eventually found the goat dead hanging from a tree. The goat had tried to get some leaves from a branch in the tree and his horns had gotten tangled in the branches of the tree. He couldn't get out and eventually starved to death. So now, I dehorn all of my goats. And all goats get horns - both boys and girls. Supposedly the only goats that you can't dehorned are the angora goats (fiber goats) because they have blood running through their horns and they could bleed to death if you dehorned them.

Back to the babies, they are all doing well. I am still bottle feeding them twice a day. I will continue that until the end of the month when I will start weaning them.

Watermelon

Today I planted watermelon. Nothing really earth-shattering about that. But, I bet there is an old-farmer up in Heaven looking down with a smile on his face by the name of Andrew C. Askew, my grandfather. You see my grandfather was a watermelon and peanut farmer from Oklahoma.

When I was very young, probably around 6 or 7, we would go out to visit him and my grandmother. I used to hate the trips out there because I had to sit in the back seat between my two sisters who would always get car sick. Not a very fun trip for me! But, once we got out there, it was always a lot of fun. Apparently, my grandfather saw something in me. He would take me out with him to his fields. I remember him pulling up a bush and showing me the roots loaded with peanuts. And when we would leave, each of us would have our own watermelon or two to take back home with us. He had a watermelon that he called a banana melon. It had a yellow skin and the inside was the sweetest tasting watermelon you ever had. Never had one like that since then.

Planting the watermelon today is a tribute to my grandfather. Not that I will ever become a watermelon farmer - far from it! It is interesting, of all the grandchildren (and there are many!), I am the only one who has come close to following in my grandfather's foosteps. I hope he would be proud!

New Baby

Had to actually deliver a baby goat this morning. First time this ever happened. I could tell Mom was having problems. I gave her two hours to deliver but I saw nothing happening so I knew she was in trouble. I've never done this before (nor ever wanted to!). Fortunately I have surgical gloves (I use those when I make soap). So I reluctantly put those on and went over to the goat barn praying all the way that I would find a newborn goat. No such luck! Mom was still have problems.

Upon examination (now doesn't that sound Doctor-like), I could tell the baby was coming butt first - uh oh this is not good. So I decided to call the Vet. Of course, he wasn't available (why would he - it is after all Friday the 13th!!) - but they did tell me what to do. So I tried another big animal Vet only to be told he wasn't available either and suggested maybe I should take the goat to Ohio State (up in Columbus) - sure!!

So reluctantly I went back to the goat pen with a new pair of surgical gloves, praying that God would help me because I sure didn't know what the heck I was going to do. The idea was to push the baby back far enough to pull the legs from under it and into the birth canel - easy enough - HA!! There ain't alot of room to move around in there!! PLUS by that time you have a Mom who is totally freaking out that a human has their hands in places that humans shouldn't have their hands! I did get the baby pushed back and got one leg out. Now trying to find the other leg - not so easy. I was trying to push the baby back, but I didn't want to lose the leg I already had (won't that be great!!). Eventually I did find the other leg. According to the Vet's office, once both legs were exposed, the Mom would push the baby out. The Mom just looked at me. I looked at her and said PUSH! Nothing happened. Oh come on - I did the hard part!! So, I grabbed a towel, pulled on the legs and the baby came out. Of course, it was a boy - only a boy would be this difficult. His name is now Trouble!

Limited Egg Deliveries

Yesterday morning, while driving the company truck, my husband had a seizure and crashed into a wall at Children's Hospital. Fortunately, he was not seriously injured and did not damage the truck nor Children's Hospital. The doctors are putting him on anti-seizure medication which means he is not allowed to drive for the next 3 months.

So I will be taking over the egg delivering duties. Since most of the farmer's markets are starting up in May, I will be limiting the egg deliveries since most of my customers can pick up the eggs at the market.

If you could say a prayer for my husband, I would really appreciate it.

To Kill a Queen

Now doesn't that sound like a great title for a murder mystery! No, I am quitting my "day job" to take up writing - nothing so exciting as that. But, it is how I spent my Easter!

It is that time of year when you need to get rid of the "old" bee queens and replace them with "new" queens. My "new" queens finally came in the mail on Saturday. It was so funny. I had to go pick them up at the Post Office. They were in a big envelope in a HUGE bin marked LIVE BEES off in a corner. Trust me, there was no way these queens were getting out of that envelope.

Anyway, you have to kill the old queens in order to put in the new queens. Kind of reminded me of life. Here the "old" queen spends a year laying literally thousands and thousands of eggs, taking care of the hive and all the worker bees, making honey, etc. Then what happens - she gets squashed and replaced by a "sweet young thing."

Finding the old queen is no easy matter. You have to go through each frame of the hive and search through thousands of buzzing bees. She is usually easy to spot because she is larger and longer than a normal bee. The interesting thing is that once she has been killed, "word" spreads fairly quickly through the hive that the queen is gone because the "tone" in the hive definitely takes on a different pitch (and it is not a happy one!).

The new queen is in a small cage that has a hole filled with sugar blocking the hole. That cage is place on top of one of frames. The bees in the hive will eat through the sugar to release the new queen. By the time the queen is released, everyone is used to the new queen and all is well in hive. If the new queen were released immediately after the death of the old queen, the bees would have killed her.

I also found out something interesting . . . bees (at least, my bees) don't like plastic frames. Every single plastic frame in my hive the bees are building their combs incorrectly. Kent, my friend the beekeeper, is at a loss why they are doing this. So I have had to buy almost all new wooden frames and wax foundations, plus new hive boxes because they are running out of room. No one told me beekeeping was so expensive! So it looks like our honey production this year won't be as good as we thought, but next year it should be really good!

Jobs

Looks like I might be doing a new market! Since no one wants to hire a 57 year old goat farmer, I might as well pick up another market. I filled out the paperwork yesterday and sent it in. As soon as I get my acceptance, I will let you all know about this new market.

This has been an "interesting" adventure looking for a part-time job. Filling out the application and putting down for present occupation "goat farmer." People looked at you very strangely. They then ask you when was your last "real job." What do they mean REAL JOB? Isn't farming a REAL JOB? So then I say I was a Mom before I became a farmer. I can now see that I am annoying them. Again they ask when was your last "real job"? OK, before I was a Mom, I worked at the Procter and Gamble Company writing mainframe computer programs, I was involved in the roll-out of laptops to the P & G sales force and I provided PC training and support for the entire Health and Beauty Care Sales Division. End of interview - I am overqualified.

So once again I am a goat farmer . . .

I received an email about a new market starting up. They don't care if I am a goat farmer. In fact, they are thrilled that I am a goat farmer! So looks like I will be doing 3 farmer's markets this year. Glad you guys like goat farmers!

WOW! What a week this has been!

Has this been a crazy week or what?? Snow and cold weather. I guess Mother Nature is keeping us on our toes!! I must confess . . . this is my fault. I planted some broccoli and onions in my vegetable garden last Sunday. You know how it goes, it doesn't rain until you AFTER you wash your car (or the phone doesn't ring until you get into the bathtub!).

Anyway, back to this crazy week. I had my second interview down at University Hospital for the job in Admitting and Registration. When I talked to the people in Personnel, they told me the job would be working 2 days one week and 3 days the next and the hours would be 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. So on Tuesday, I went to meet with the Supervisor of Admitting and Registration. Everything was going really well until she asked me which shift I wanted 2nd or 3rd and mentioned that job was working every other weekend and holidays. HUH?? She commented on my puzzled look. I told her what Personnel told me. We quickly figured out Personnel had sent me on the WRONG interview! So after a call to Personnel, another interview with set up. All well and good, BUT that supervisor decided to cancel that interview because she felt I didn't have enough "medical" experience.

Soooo, I am back at square one. I figure this is where God wants me. So, until something else turns up, we are back at the original plan.

WHAT ABOUT THEM REDS!! Talk about an Opening Day game!!! Maybe we FINALLY will have a winning professional team!! (Bengals - what are the Bengals??) GO REDS!!

THOUGH I did get some really exciting news!! As you all may know, the Hyde Park Farmer's market has a pre-season market that opens in May in the US Bank Parking Lot. Well, the cable TV show TOP CHEF will be filming 4 shows at the Hyde Park Farmer's Market on May 15 using the produce from the farmers! How neat is that!! I have never seen a TV show filmed before, so this should be pretty neat. PLUS there will be a lot of local TV coverage. Talk about exposure!! So ya'll should come down to the market on May 15!

Here's hoping for a quieter week next week!

New Directions

Time for re-evaluating. Soap and lotion sales have been down, so maybe we need to go into a different direction. So this is how it looks so far. A new name (this one didn't take a rocket scientist!) B & D Farm. What are we going to do?? Now THAT is the million dollar question!

EGGS - We will continue to sell high quality chicken and duck eggs (don't you just love the "high" quality - good PR!!). I am planning on increasing both the chicken and duck flocks later on this summer. Will probably add meat chickens and ducks sometime later on this Spring.

HONEY - if what my friend, Kent the beekeeper, says is true. We will be offering B & D Honey this summer, also. I plan to sell the honey at the market and from my home.

HERBS - I have a lot of herbal baked good recipes. Plus I am growing some interesting herbs. For example - Thai Basil, Holy Basil.

PASTA - PASTA!! What I am doing making pasta??? I make pretty good pasta - well, mainly egg noodles and spaghetti - but all different flavors - regular (egg), spinach, whole wheat, beet, tomato, hot pepper, herbal (all sorts of herbs - even a lavendar!). You name it, we can make it!

HOMEMADE BREAD - OK, I am not Blue Oven Bakery, BUT my bread is just as good or BETTER than theirs - give it a try!! It is not baked in a brick oven, but does that really matter?

JAMS AND JELLIES - Can't forget my homemade jams and jellies! Nor my wine jellies that are becoming famous. I am going to try to use some of the local wines this year.

I will still have a few soaps and lotions for the faithful few!

It does look like I will probably get the part-time job at University Hospital. I am not sure I can run 2 markets and a part time job at the same time.

Blessings

Watching the news this weekend really makes you realize how blessed you are. At least, it made me realized how much God has blessed me. My minor complaints are nothing compared to what the Japanese people are going through right now! If you will take a moment and remember them in your prayers, I would appreciate it and also thank God for all the blessings in your life.

Herbs!!

If I ever decide to sell the goats, I think I will become a herb farmer. Yesterday we had to go to Home Depot and right by the front door they had a display with herbs! And they had several rosemary plants - OH MY I was in heaven (of course, my husband looked at me in disbelief as I swooned over the lovely rosemary). I limited myself to just 3 plants and lovingly rubbed their leaves on the way home. The whole car smelled of rosemary, I thought it was wonderful, he didn't - what do men know!!

I think of all the wonderful herbs . . . Lavender, of course Rosemary, Oregano, Basil, Thyme, can't forget Lemon Balm, Tarragon and countless others. Yes, I am an herbal addict. Is there a 12 step program?? My husband would probably sign me up right now.

When I got home, I got out my cookbook and started pouring through my recipes - so many rosemary recipes (so little time!) - Italian Rosemary Bread, Rosemary Raisin Bread, a friend gave me a recipe for Rosemary cookies, and, of course my famous Rosemary/Lavender soap!! You know I really DON'T have to sell the goats to start a herbal farm! Hmmm, do I see a new business . . . B & D Herbs??? Just a thought!

SNOW??

On come on Mother Nature!!! Enough is enough!! Though, I do have to admit my yard does look like a Christmas card. Snap out of it Diane - get real girl!! It IS March and haven't we had enough of this silly white stuff! Sorry about that - a momentary minute of madness.

Boy, what a strange year of weather we have had! Makes you kind of wonder what the summer is going to be like? AND here comes the Ohio River again but I think this time it means business. Fortunately for us we live high enough that we won't be affected personally by the flood (except for a few minor driving detours). If we get flooded, you better start looking for an ark!.

The babies are doing really good. Both of them are drinking two full bottles of Mom's good milk twice a day. I have started them on grain and hay this week.

No sign of other babies yet. Cirrius is probably the next one to deliver and she doesn't look like she is in any hurry. I would imagine sometime this month. Can't really tell about Kelsey. If she is pregnant, she probably would just have one kid. Ida miscarried last Fall, so I seriously doubt that she is pregnant.

Still can't believe that we had snow - UGH!!!

Update on Babies and Milking

SUCCESS!! Elissa let me milk her! Life is good! I was afraid she won't let me. This may sound stupid, but we "practiced" milking last year. Many dairy goat farmers will do that with young goats - practice milking so that the goat will get used to the farmer putting their hands near the "private" parts and also get the goat used to being up on the milk stand. It worked because Elissa didn't even budge when I put my hands on her udder. She was too busy eating the grain.

The babies are doing really good. I tried bottle feeding them last night without too much success. I wasn't too concerned. You need to get the colostrum in them in the first 24 hours, which I did. I milked "Mom" at 8:00 this morning, came back to the house, filtered the milk, put it in bottles and feed it to the babies at 8:30. They both drank it up. So we are good to go.

I bottle feed my babies. It is a lot of extra work, but it is worth the effort. First of all, you are making sure the babies are getting enough milk. They need to have at least 32 ounces of milk a day. Sometimes you can have smaller kids that aren't as aggressive as the larger ones and they lose out. Secondly, the babies bond to you making them easier to handle as they get older. Thirdly, it is easier on the Mother's udder - baby goats are rough on Mother's udders!

If you are ever in the market for a goat, always buy one that was a "bottle baby." That means it was bottle feed and it will be people friendly. If you are just buying a meat goat that you will be taking to the butcher's, buy one that has been "dam-raised" - that means feed by the Mom - this one won't be very friendly, but it doesn't matter since it isn't going to be a pet anyway!

I was a little apprehensive about milking Elissa this morning. My mind went back to last August when I was milking a goat who didn't want to get off the milking stand . . . But, this time I will be more careful.

Anyway, today was very successful - I was able to milk a first-time milker and the babies are doing really good!

Introducing the 2011 Babies!

They're here! Our first babies of the year - born Wednesday, March 2. Sorry for the poor picture, I am the world's worst photographer! The babies are probably only an hour old in the picture - you should see the big ears on these two!! And, here we go again - both boys!! I hope this doesn't mean I am going to have all boys again!!

Elissa, our new Saanen, is their Mom. First time for her. She did really good delivering for a first time Mom. Now for the "fun" part - first time milking her! Some goats will let you milk them right from the start. Then there are others that will be like "hey, WHAT ARE YOU DOING DOWN THERE!!! and give you a swift kick. I am hoping she will be "easy".

Here we go again!

Just filled out the paperwork to register for my 6th year at the Hyde Park Farmer's Market! Can't believe I have been at that market for 6 years now and, boy, has that market grown!! Not only in the amount of customers it has but in the number of vendors. And it promises to be better this year with its new location on the Square - how exciting is that!!

Haven't heard anything from the Anderson Market yet. I am still planning on attending that one. Just sticking with the two markets at present. With Bob's health issues, I don't want to commit too much right now.

BUT, it does make me think of summer filling out the paperwork. Come to think of it - the Hyde Park market will be opening in May, that is only two months away!!! Better get back to making some soap!

Is it REALLY Spring?

Is Mother Nature just "fooling" with us or has Spring really arrived a couple months early? Spring in February?? Mind you, I am not complaining. After this past Winter, I am loving this!!! But, it does make you kind of wonder what July and August are going to be like if it is this warm now?

I won't worry about that now. I am enjoying not having to carry fresh water to various animal pens. And I am sure the chickens and the ducks are loving FINALLY being allowed to roam free in their pens. (I think the threat of fox/coyote/weazel attacks are temporary over). Boy, what a rough Winter this was!!

Now I can start thinking about my gardens. Boy, do they look terrible. BUT, I did notice my garlic bulbs are starting to grow - YEAH!!! For those looking for a real easy plant to grow - try garlic. You plant it in the Fall - break up the cloves and plant the cloves about 5 inches apart. The garlic should be ready next June-July.

I have already got most of the seeds I ordered. Planning to grow a lot of herbs. Since we have cut back on the goat herd a bit, we are turning one of the goat pens into a garden, so I am hoping to grow some vegetables and herbs over there.

Not sure how much goat's milk I will have this year with the loss of Kallie. I am pretty sure I have two pregnant goats, maybe three. This could be our last year with goats. With my son joining the Navy, there goes my "free" help. As most of you probably know, Bobby's health hasn't been good. So that leaves me to take care of the goats. We will have to see how this summer goes before we make any decisions on the goats.

Enjoy the warm weather. Hopefully, Mother Nature is not playing a trick on us!

A Gift . . .

With the weathermen predicting freezing temperatures and snow all next week, here is my gift to you! Just a reminder . . . Spring is on its way! Enjoy!

Life's Little Miracles

It will a month this coming Monday since I had the surgery on my shoulder - amazing! Doesn't seem like that long ago. And what a difference a month makes! A month ago, while lying on my back and bending both elbows to rest them on the floor - I could put my right elbow on the floor, but my left elbow would remain about 5 inches above the floor - it won't move any further. I could not roll over on my left shoulder without alot of pain. I could not drive with my left arm on the steering wheel, it was too painful. And forget trying to reach that box of cereal on the top shelf.

BUT thanks to Dr. Colosimo and the physical therapists at Novacare, I can now raise my left arm almost completely over my head almost pain-free. I can rest my left elbow on the floor when I lie down AND I can reach that box of cereal! Life's Little Miracles! The prognosis is that I should get 80% to 90% of my motion back. Yes, there is some movement I won't be able to do again, but I can live with 80 to 90%!

Ducks

I love my ducks, but I am fighting a losing battle and Mother Nature is winning. We have lost almost all the baby ducks I bought last November and I don't even want to think how much money I have spent in fighting to keep them alive. Never-ending frozen water buckets, freezing barns, snowstorm after snowstorm - it takes its toll and there is only so much a person can do.

We have put up insulation and put heaters in the barn. The problem with ducks is that they use their feet to regulate their own temperature - that is why they can go into freezing water. Their heart sends warm blood down into their feet, it cools the blood and sends it back into their heart. So, if you put a duck in warm water, it can die of heat stroke (trust me, we found out the hard way!). Therefore, we can't use heated water buckets. So we constantly have to drag fresh water over to the ducks. Then we have had the ducks tried to get into the water buckets, either knocking it over, leaving them without water for the day (without us knowing) or babies getting into the buckets, not being able to get out and drowning, etc., etc., etc. Never-ending problems and what seems like a never-ending winter.

So you begin to think is this just bad luck or a sign that maybe you really shouldn't be raising ducks?? If ducks were so easy to raise, why aren't there more duck farms? Have I just answered my own question??

I AM A PROUD NAVY MOM!!

My son, Nathan, is joining the Navy today and I couldn't be prouder. He is up in Columbus, OH getting his physical, taking various tests to see what jobs he qualifies for, etc. We will also find out when he will go to Boot Camp. We know where - Chicago (he was kind of hoping for Florida), but don't know when. He will find that all out today.

I am so proud of him. May God Bless my Son!

Shoulders, etc.

As you may remember, last August I had a goat that didn't want to get off the milking stand. I gave her a tug which she didn't like. To show me her displeasure, she jerked my left arm which sent a horrible pain from my shoulder down my arm. If you have been following this blog, you know the "rest of the story." Well, this past Monday at 9:00 at Holmes Hospital that got "fixed." Apparently, the goat did a "good job." According to the Doctor, I did partially tear my rotor cuff. They had to remove a bone spur and part of the bone the covers the rotor cuff along with scar tissue. I walked out of the hospital a couple hours later with all sorts of wires and tubes attached and immediately went into physical therapy. The prognosis is that I should get about 90% of my motion back - so that is good news. Today is the first day that I have felt like I have returned back to the "living." Thank God for legal drugs!!



I do have sad news to report. We lost Kallie, my best milker, this week. Ever since she miscarried, she hasn't been doing well. She was losing weight. I had planned on taking her to the Vet once I got back on my feet, but I guess she couldn't wait that long. I am going to miss you, girl!!

Any New Year's Resolutions?

Did you make any new year's resolutions? I sometimes do - nothing major - like lose 10 million pounds or bring about world peace. I did have to laugh, though. We (meaning me and our two shih tzu dogs - Bobby was sound asleep) were watching the Dick Clark New Year's Eve show. Ryan Seacrest was talking to some girl singer - I have no clue who she was but she had blue glasses on and blue lipstick - so that gives you some perspective on what her answer was going to be. He asked her if she had any resolutions for 2011? She answered that she wasn't going to be a douche bag next year! You should have seen the look on his face!! So I guess I too won't be a douche bag next year either - sounds like a good resolution for the entire human race - so let's ALL try not to be a douche bag this year! Poor Ryan Seacrest!

Anyway, I guess my resolutions (besides not being a douche bag) is to eat healthier - I have a tendency to eat junk food particularly when I am at the markets (got to stay away from Jean Paul and Donna's Gourmet Cookies!). Secondly, we really do need to get our finances back in order. Our checking and savings accounts took major beatings in 2010. We need to get those back in order. Really need to start saving. Last year we cut up all our credit cards (good bye Discover card snip snip snip, good bye Kohls snip snip snip, good bye Visa snip snip snip, good bye Dilliards snip snip snip) That was the best (and hardest) thing we ever did! Those are the two "big" ones. I also have a tendency to worry a lot. Bobby jokes that I worry because I don't have anything to worry about (hmmm, everything is going too well - that can't be right, there must be something wrong!) I will try to keep the house cleaner - yeah right! (now, where is that DARN maid!!!).

Anyway, I want to wish you all a happy, safe, healthy and peaceful 2011! Good luck with whatever resolutions you may or may not make in 2011.