Milking Goats, Fording Streams, and Takin' Names.

This morning I milked goats for the first time!

 ...wellllll, that's an over-statement: I tried to milk goats, is more accurate. It was surprisingly difficult for my fingers to coordinate themselves well enough in the chilly morning air. Katherine, who has been milking goats for years, made it look too easy! I, in contrast, was almost completely ineffective.  I've milked a couple cows in the past, but found goats much more challenging, mostly because they're much smaller in size.

Later, Deborah showed me around the farm as we fed and checked in on the animals. To get to the back pastures, we found ourselves fording a flooded stream. How very rustic of us! I discovered my rain boots have a hole in them; that was delightful. Once we got out to the pastures, we played with a herd of Nigerian goats. These goats are small -- adults are 50-70 lbs-- very friendly, and very pretty. We also visited the two horses, Midnight and Merlot! It was so wonderful to be with horses again and I am particularly excited to work with these two. :D

After we made our way across the stream, back to the main farm pastures, we finished feeding the rest of the animals. At what should have been the end of our chores, Deborah turned around to look over the farm again. "Why are there goats all over that side of the creek?" She cried suddenly. We realized the entire herd had escaped!

We grabbed grain and minerals and headed back over to lure the goats home into their enclosure. It was pretty hilarious, making our way slowly and carefully across the freezing stream, grain balanced overhead, and my boots filling with water. As soon as we clambered up onto the other side, the goats and horses surrounded us and almost knocked me down into the mud.

Deborah made her way to the pasture in front of me, and the herd of goats completely surrounded her, bleating and jumping, as she walked with the feed held above her head. I ended up with the two horses desperately harassing me for the grain. We were some ridiculous Pied Pipers!

We got all the goats back safe and sound, and will definitely remember to lock the gate next time! It was a great first day. We also made mozzarella from scratch, so stay tuned for the recipe! :)

Baaaaa,

Sarah