Life On The Goat Farm

What?  What's this?  A weekly blog update?  Maybe.  But don't become spoiled now.

Amber and I

It appears my Gourmet Soapy Detoxing Bacon Wrapped Goat Milk Bread Summer job ends tomorrow.  Okay, I have to be cliche here:  Or it could be the start of something new!!!
Needless to say, I have had such an amazing experience milking the goats and working with Camlon Farm and the soap/shampoo business.

This is what a day at Camlon Farm consisted of:
4:30am - Rise and shine
5:00am - Milk Goats
6:00am - Muck Pens
7/7:30am - Breakfast
10:00am - Cut/Label Soap
1:00pm - Lunch
3:00pm - Finish Cutting/Labeling Soap
5:00pm - Milk Goats
6:30pm - Dinner
9:00pm - Hit the hay.

Now, as the summer went on and I became accustomed to routine, this is what my mornings consisted of:
5:20am - Rise and shine, throw on clothes
5:30am - Milk Goats
6:30am - Muck Pens  
7:30/8am - Breakfast

As you can see, I utilized my sleep time.  Besides, some mornings were quite humorous; I'd find myself in a sleepy trance, sitting there on the milk stand while Amber gobbled away her grain.  
Amber, I'll have to introduce her!

 Amber (I dubbed her "Amberguita") is one of the newer additions to the herd.  She is very sweet and is willing to listen to you. 

(Not that I actually vented out to these goats...)

 Meet Corner Pocket!  Or "Corner" for short.  He's the only male, or buck, at Camlon Farm.  He is super sweet but a little shy.  Once he sees you're just as friendly as a mouse, he'll have no problem coming up to you.  I have no idea where that mouse reference came from.  Mice are a nuisance. 

 This is Xanadu (I dubbed her "Zaney-doo"), the matriarch and -ahem- bitch of the herd.  She's not aggressive and she's not out to murder you in your sleep.  What I mean is that she is very much assertive and it takes a lot of muscle and training to let her know that YOU lead her around, not HER leading ME around.  I have to remind this to her at every milking...every milking...

 Xiao (pronounced Jow with a soft J sound)!  I nicknamed her "Xiao-Xiao Binks"...  You know like in Star Wars?  Jar-Jar Binks?  Anyways, Xiao is really sweet too, but I think there's a screw missing or something because she bolts out of fright and flinches like no other animal I've ever worked with.  The littlest things upset her.  A fond memory I have with her is in my first week of getting to know all the goats, I loosely guided her to the milk stand when God knows what spooked her and she booked it to what it seemed like, Texas.  Again, no idea where the Texas reference came from...

And I'll never forget this guy, who always received a generous serving of fresh goat's milk, straight out of the teat(s)!

This is Saint, a Great Pyrenees.  Some mornings, I would run around with him and we'd "watch" for intruders around the property, sprinting and barking back and forth from fence to fence  (I didn't bark, mind you).  Until I realized I still had chores to do, then I stopped.

  Thus concludes my goat funny business.  But the Camlon Farm business isn't funny.  Soap making is extremely serious.  You aren't allowed to laugh while making the soap.  We tape our mouths shut so we make sure not to even show a smile.  That's how serious we are.  About our soap.  Seriously. 

I'm kidding.

Okay, you can laugh now.

"If wisdom is measured by the size of the beard then the goat is a philosopher king." -African Proverb

Till next time!  Have a goat one!
-Raquel