Sunday, January 3, 2010

January Lessons


Here's a basic one.  Don't ever leave the snow shovel outside!  See it there, propped up against the tree stump?  I remember looking at the shovel a few days ago and deciding to leave it out there.  Doh!  What was I thinking??

Here's Desmond crashing through the hip-high snow drift.  Delicate Maggie didn't know what to do when confronted by snow above her head, but Desmond has probably seen this a few times in his 11 years, and he pushed right through.  I followed, to retrieve the shovel and dig a path through the drift.  You can see the front tire on the truck, indicating that the snow is much less deep out there (no snow where the wind has scoured it, a foot in most places, and over 3 feet by the front door).  I've never in my life shoveled snow this deep!

Getting suited up to fight the snow reminded me that I forgot to make gaiters.  Oops!  No way to keep snow out of my boots, except to put on an overlayer of clothes that would come right off when back inside.  Sweatpants with elastic at the bottom work for that.

The other day I was all happy because I was making such progress on my 2010 goals.  Silly me.  I got the hard-cider making kit and ordered a cheesemaking kit, but am having a hard time finding non-pasteurized apple juice.  It looks like this is the worst time of year to find raw juice.  Also having a hard time finding raw goat milk.  Two ladies at the spinning guild said they knew of dairy goats, but that they were dry now.  Makes sense.  This is the time of year when goats are likely pregnant and not being milked.  So much for those goals - at least for now.  Ah well, there's always catching up on reading.

6 comments:

  1. That great Tractor Supply/Farm Store might be a place you could find someone with dairy goats. Sometimes they have bulletin boards if they are in smaller locations. Stick a note up that you want some...and put something safe like your work number...or an email...

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  2. Hey - it's a start! Now if someone suddenly presents you with fresh goat's milk you won't have to wait for your supplies - you can get started right away! A sure-fire solution to procrastination - having all the supplies on hand immediately :)

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  3. Good point Alison! Someone posted on craigslist that they were looking for goats milk - so I sent them an email asking if/where they got it. I'm surprised at how difficult it is to find - or maybe I'm not looking in the right places yet.

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  4. I know the local health food/Whole Foods sells it around here, but I'm sure it's pasteurized, and I don't know if that's a bad thing for cheese?

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  5. I'll have to research some more. I know that ULTRApasteurized is unusable for cheese, but I need to check about pasteurized. I see some health food store trips coming up!

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