Belle and a long weekend!

A Nice Friday at work and ready for a long weekend after being on call last week.  But while milking Belle Friday morning; she was so engorged and tender I couldn't get anything out of one of her utters.  She fought me, kicked me in the cheek and just was not cooperating.  I called the neighbor and the vet and "guessed" she had a touch of  mastitis.  Poor girl!!!   After many counseling sessions and several website options - Ben and I head down to the barn Friday night with a hot compress and homemade utter balm (olive oil, coconut oil, lemon balm and peppermint oil) to see if we can give her some relief.  Fortunately, it works and an hour later, she is milked dry - with little fuss!

Saturday, we start early off to Home Depot for project supplies; (of course not until after the morning chores - again Belle is doing better).  Ben was able to get my dishwasher installed last weekend and now we need to anchor it to keep it from tipping over and he would like to experiment with concrete countertops.  We actually went to dinner.  Had a Groupon $50 of food for $25.  Sounds like a good deal, until we checked out the menu.. But it was worth the splurge.

Sunday - Regular chores, goats, dog, garden -- NO RAIN... so dragging hoses around trying to keep everything alive.   Ben collected supplies to get started on the concrete counter tops.  Lots of measuring, calculating and measuring again.  Oh yes -- don't forget YouTube University!!!

I worked on the bee feeder -- It has been dripping a steady drip of syrup.  It seems to be defective.  So I found the frame feeder we got with the original box and added wire mesh to the feeder so the bees don't drown.  It appears this will hold 1 gallon of syrup - so should last at least a week.  While adding the new feeder, I was able to inspect the bee hive -- it looks GREAT!  We have some happy bees, with honey, pollen and brood.  Will check again next weekend to insure they find their new food source and be prepared to replenish the supply if needed. 

Monday -- Cheese making - two pots going at the same time with two temperature gauges.  Similar process, different cultures and curing process.

Cheddar Cheese (Ben's experiment)   

3 gallons raw goat's milk = 3# cheese

 

Parmesan Cheese (my experiment)

2 gallons raw goat's milk = 2# cheese

Curds and whey

Homemade Cheese Press (this is the Cheddar)

Cheddar on Left - Parm on Right

Cheddar removed from press and air curing.

 

Parm resting waiting for is salt bath.





Placed the Parm in salt brine.



Tuesday --
Now we wait!  4 days to wax the Cheddar a store to sharpen 6-9 months.
Removed the Parm after 24-36 hours from brine and coat with olive oil - Store in wine fridge 6-9 months to age.  --  Cheese making is teaching us patience! 

Ben assembles the concrete forms for the concrete counter tops.   Step 1 of another project started...