Tomorrow I will milk a goat for the very first time. I have read all that can be read and done all my home work and now the time has come to get down to business. I have gathered some supplies and I am about as ready as I can be. I still need to get some teat dip, Tractor Supply was out today so tomorrow I will go to Southern States to get some. Pickup up a collar for Daisy today and put it on her. I hope to use a lead rope to secure her while I milk her and she will have a bucket of feed in front of her too to keep her busy. I still have not built a milking stand, that's soon to come. I guess it will be a learning experience for both Daisy and me. That has been the plan for some time now, to have somewhat of a dairy goat farm. Now that we have bred and birthed a set of twins and have a doe to milk we are getting closer. My plan is to make goats milk soap, lotion and cheese and maybe sell some of it on Etsy or the Farmers Market and or the flea market. I guess it would be a pretty good barter item as well. Trade some milk for something that I don't have. Our Doe is a Boer and not really a dairy goat per say but all goats give milk, some more than others. I have read that a good dairy goat will give about 1 gal of milk per day. Maybe I can get 1/2 that or so, time will tell. I do want/need a good stainless steel milk bucket. I have found one online that I really like for around $50.00 with shipping but I will wait to see what I can find locally first. This one has a hood so nothing can fall into the bucket of fresh milk. I too am looking forward to drinking some of this milk, the only goats milk I have ever had before came from the store. I'm sure it's not even close to what fresh milk tastes like.
I am continuing to prep as I can each day. Took my pop cans off today and got $25.00. The price had dropped from 50 cents to 30, but it's some anyway. Put $20 in the tank in the jeep and picked up a 4lb bag of pinto beans at Kroger for $3.49. You can never have enough pinto beans and they go a long way too. 1/4 cup of beans cook up to be 3/4 cup of cooked beans, not too bad. Plus I love them.......cornbread and a big sweet onion.....mmmmmmmmmmm. Now that's some preps I can get into big time. Each dollar I can spend toward food storage or fuel will keep me better prepared in the future. Hard times can happen to anyone and anytime and I want to be ready if it comes my way. Putting some away is just smart to do for anyone. Why not spend your extra on something that will be useful for you and your family in the future, it doesn't have to be much at one time. A few dollars here and there really add up over time. I am always looking for things that I can keep and use for preparedness, even at the fast food places. Yep, I prep Wendy's style too. If I am at the drive thru I always ask for extra condiments, always. If I go inside ( where you can get even more ) I hit the condiment bar hard and heavy. Hey, they said to help myself and I have paid for it so why not get what I need. Now I don't clean them out or anything but I do get some of each condiment. Once home I put each in a separate jar with lid and there ya have it, preps for free. (well kinda free). I have plenty salt, pepper, sugar,ketchup and mayo, napkins, plastic spoons, forks and straws for future use.
My smoking habit is tough to break. Tomorrow I will try the patch, maybe 1 over each ear, 1 over each eye and 1 over my mouth will do the trick. Today has been better than yesterday though. 9 smokes and 7 cokes, sounds like a lot, don't it?
15 comments:
That milking sounds like a tricky thing to learn...be sure you warm your hands, just for the goats sake! I always wanted to try milking, but never got the opportunity.
Hey, sounds like the smoking and coke cutting is going down at a pretty good rate! Good for you, my friend!
Good luck!
We milked goats when I was a kid (Pun intended) 40+ years ago. I'm looking forward to reading how it goes for you. No, not 'cause I'm mean. I've thought of it myself over the years and now want to see how it goes for you.
Like reading your site.
As far as the "Smokes and Cokes", keep up the good work. I quit Coke after the 1st Kidney stone. That was all it took. Hope you don't need that experience for motivation.
You're wise to set back foods!
A "9/11" is headed our way that will make the original look like a car accident, and you'll thank God you have the foods. (Remember to get a water filter!)
Read Paul Williams' "The Day of Islam". He proves that Al Qaeda has nukes. They bought them from rogue Russians. At least 2 have already been smuggled into the US via Mexico.
More details at http://www.internet-grocer.net/nukes.htm
God bless!
Bruce
You get to milk a goat! How exciting is that! I drink goat's milk from the store (milk allergy), but I would LOVE to have my own goat to milk! I'm so excited to hear all about it! I store beans, too, but I also can them! It's really easy and nice to have the jars on hand for quick eats! Your last paragraph had me laughing out loud! Yes, I think all those patches should work well. Although, you might want to put one on your nose so you don't smell someone else's smoke! Hang in there!
kudos to you for not giving up trying to break your smoking and soda habits!
and maybe this will help:
instead of beating yourself up for having 7 smokes/8 sodas a day or whatever...assign a dollar value to each. lets say 40 cents for a cigarette and $1.50 for a soda (i have no idea what the value is for each but you get the idea). then keep a piece of paper or notebook and pen handy at all times. and when you feel for a smoke or soda...have one. and in 30 mins or an hour when you want the next one...make a decision to wait. and then write down on the paper the cost of the one smoke or soda that you just saved. that way at the end of the day instead of feeling bad for having 7 smokes/8 sodas....you will have written proof of how much you saved that day by only having 7/8 instead of 25/20. and that might motivate you to have less and less each day.
breaking these habits is not going to be easy but you seem so determined! keep your chin up and remember there are people you have never met who are pulling for you and sending you best wishes to succeed!
your friend
kymber
Wow--fresh goat milk! I am impressed! Do you deal with it like cow's milk--pasteurization, etc.? You are always trying new and interesting things...
Great advice on the preps--it's surprising how fast buying a little at a time can add up, and it will all be used eventually, so even if there is no emergency, it's all good.
I know you are being funny about the smoking and pop, but just by the numbers alone you have cut back A LOT. Just like the preps, sometimes it's slow, but that's ok as long as it's sure...we're all cheering you on!
The patch can really help. It is hard to quit, I know! Good luck with the milking, I hope it goes well. I'll be milking for the first time in a few months.
Warm your hands...don't give that girl a shock with cold fingers! She may not milk at all!
Jim,LOL I will warm my hands for her. It's gonna be different for sure but I look forwrd to it. I am cutting down on my smokes and cokes and hope to quit soon. Thanks for stopping by my friend.
Grumpyunk, It's ok to laugh at me, ya know you're going too. hehe!! I will probably be laughing too. My buddy had a kidney stone once and that's not picnic I know. Trying hard to quit and it's hard. Thanks for reading my BS, glad you in enjoy.
foodstr2, thanks for the info, glad to know that others are informed and getting prepared. Please come back often.
Gen, gonna milk later this evening after I get back from town, I'll let ya know how it goes. Gonna put a patch on my nose just to make sure. lol
Kymber, that's a great idea. Gonna try that one for sure. Thanks for being sure a good friend, I really appreciate your support and all your comments.
Marie, milking will be another skills I can add to my life and I am always looking for more useful things to learn. I will pasturize the milk or heat treat it as I think they call it in the book I read. Thanks for the support on my quitting my habits, it's hard.
Christy, I pry the patch will help me help myself. I am excited about milking and will post on how all that goes tonite. Thanks a bunch for your comments, love to hear from my readers.
Warren, why don't you warm your hands and come and help me man. It's only about a 3 hour drive. We could have a fresh glass of goats milk at the end of the day. I'll be waiting for ya. lol
Thank you all so much for your very kind words of encouragment. I love to hear from each and everyone of you, you make my day. Thank you
Chris
Brother Chris, or is that cuz...?
Anyhow, one of my co-workers came in to my cube all excited this morning... She's trying to quit smoking as well, and she was beaming from ear to ear. Seems she was at the Flea Market and they had these...'thingies'. I'd seen them at PILOT and such, and was curious as to how they worked, she had one with her, right here in the office, and she 'smoked' it. Then, she sent me to a link, which I think you might be able to use, but it's a financial trade off to start. I'll put the link at the bottom of this email, but I'll just say here that, I have quit smoking, haven't had a cigarette since last year (or to put it another way, 6 days), but I have that nasty habit that I picked up on the woods over in Mullins/Mullens that keeps my nicotine addiction at bay. With that said, nicotine aside, I think it's the hands/oral fixation that's as hard with cigarettes as the nicotine, so, my co-worker shows me this 'electronic cigarette' she bought at the Flea Market. When you drag on the cigarette, the end glows, and you get a nicotine vapor, not smoke, though it looks like smoke when you exhale (exactly like smoke), but no smoke/tar is being ingested, it's nicotine in a water vapor, and theres no CO2 or smell. The filters come in different milligrams of nicotine, so you can start at like a 6 mg filter, move down to a 4 mg, then a 2mg, and work your way down to where eventually, you're just inhaling wator vapor, but you have the look, feel, sensation of smoking. So, therefore, one has to decide, do I want better health, less expense, or whatever. The thing cost about $100.00, and you buy cartridge refills for like 5 for $20.00, but each cartrige is suppose to be equivalent to 2 packs of cigarettes in usage. It might be something you want to look into, like I said, if it's a health thing, this will let you 'feel' like your smoking, but do away with the tar and carcigens associated with the 'smoke'. The site has all of the information, I went and looked at it this morning, and thought I'd pass it on to you.
http://www.smoke51.com is the link.
I'm anxious to hear about your milking today... I tried to milk sheep once, and I have milked several goats, goats are by far easier than sheep to milk. If I can find our hand pump milkers I used on the sheep, I'll send them to you. They have a silicone teat cup, and a hand pump, you place the teat cup on, squeeze the handle, and a vacuum is formed in a holding jar at the base of the pump...
Take care,
Cuz,
Jeff
Hey Chris!!!! Just getting back in the saddle today...the babies are so stinkin' cute!! Bet you can't keep your hands off them. I so wish I could be there to see the milking process today! Hooboy! Keep up the good work!!!! Going back to look at your babies again!!! I'm in luv!
Cath
jne0493, Jefferson, thanks for much for your comment. Seems we have been playing phone tag for awhile now. I will look into the electric smoker. lol I will try anything at this point. Hey, if you run across that vacum milker please let me know, need help there too. lol Thanks and talk to ya soon, I hope.
Team Hall, I thought you guys were maybe snowed in up at the cabin. Good to have ya back, I kinda missed ya. hehe!! I wish you could be here to see the kids, they will steal your heart for sure. Thanks for your comment, love hearing for my friends up north.
Chris
jne0493, Jefferson, thanks for much for your comment. Seems we have been playing phone tag for awhile now. I will look into the electric smoker. lol I will try anything at this point. Hey, if you run across that vacum milker please let me know, need help there too. lol Thanks and talk to ya soon, I hope.
Team Hall, I thought you guys were maybe snowed in up at the cabin. Good to have ya back, I kinda missed ya. hehe!! I wish you could be here to see the kids, they will steal your heart for sure. Thanks for your comment, love hearing for my friends up north.
Chris
I think just 9 smokes, down from what you were smoking is very good. Especially considering you are quiting the Cokes at the same time! Ugh! Keep going! You can do it.
edifice rex, I am still smoking and drinking more than I'd like but it is a little better than before. I't rough for sure. Thank you for your encouragment.
Chris
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