How did I do that?!

I've had quite some success with this soap texture - and not many people who've guessed correctly how I did it :)

I'll share below how I do it, but don't think it's my original idea - lots of people use this stuff in all kinds of genius creative ways...

As you can see, the texture is bubble wrap, but when used as a mold it looks a lot like the inside of a beehive - which is exactly why people like me love to use it for honey type soaps!

First off, cut the bubble wrap to size and fit into your mold. I use dollar store drawer dividers, tape the wrap on each long end, and then stack it into another divider so it does not bow out as much when the soap is added (these things are not very sturdy).

Pour in the soap, making sure the wrap is all the way to the bottom and into all the nooks and crannies. Otherwise soap will puddle around the wrap, the corners will become rounded, and the soap on the outside will be discarded.

One soap bread is demolded (back), one is waiting to go.

Turn the mold upside down, release the soap from the mold and gently drop on work surface. Then unpeel the wrap's edges to slowly but steadily pull of the wrap from the soap bread. I do not reuse the wrap but I do have enough from my photography business anyway.

And that's all, folks!

A couple things to think of, tho... regular soap needs to be insulated (even heated a bit) to reach the gel stage. Milk soap only needs some insulation, I find a piece of insulation foam on top of the mold to be enough, as milk soaps runs hot. Add honey to the mix, and the soap heats up really, really easy. So - DO NOT INSULATE, COVER or sit CLOSE TOGETHER. The soap WILL overheat!

And this is for regular milk with honey soap! Add insulating bubble wrap to the mix and you're in trouble... What I found works real well is to remove the bottom dividers when the soap set enough to retain shape (about an hour) and place the molds right onto a cold concrete floor - it sucks the heat right out of the soap just as it does out of my feet :)

come birdie, birdie...

Our bird watcher in training, four year old Simon is using his small binoculars to look for birds. Don't think he found any, though... He's looking towards the recently 'discovered' back woods.

A pretty picture, one of the few nice winter images of this season. It felt more like spring today; no coats, upper 50's, and it's not even February yet :)

From the Cornell Small Ruminants list serv:

"Although most of us who keep small ruminants know how to do these things already, here is something for those new to goat or sheep-keeping and a "refresher course" for the rest of us. :)

How to Trim Goat Hooves
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugMu_c2lGyI&feature=youtu.be

How to Disbud a Goat Kid
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnxI5_gi7BI&feature=related

Notice how the goat kid is suckling on fingers contentedly right after being disbudded! The iron cauterizes nerve endings at the bud so that they no longer send pain signals. The kid is mainly fussing because it does not like being held (and this is a scary moment for ALL concerned).

Disbudding is important for dairy goats in the parlor and at shows because a domestic goat with its mostly-straight horns can do incredible damage to its friends, family and caretakers -- think puncture wounds, torn udders, gouged out eyes, and slash-wounds to large muscles -- and sometimes just by accident! Disbudding the horns ensures that these injuries will never happen.

The goats in the videos are mini-Nubians -- which are smaller than standard Nubian goats, but larger than Nigerian Dwarf Dairy goats, and are a blend of both breeds.

Chris
Little Biddy Farm
Oswego County, NY"

I also found information about a dehorning paste, made for calves but should also work on goats. I'm still a bit in two minds about horned or dehorned goats - it sure is easier and safer, but it also takes away the goats' self defense. I'll probably try it on one or two of the female kids whom will probably end up in the freezer anyway...

The dehorning paste is available at Jeffers.com for $4.95 for 4 oz.
"Dr. Naylor Dehorning Paste - Quick, economical. One application on horn button before calf is 2 months old. No cutting or bleeding. Also for use on sheep & goats."

we reached the back woods

My son and I are slowly working our way thru our point eight of "useless" property, bush wacking paths and clearing waters. A big hurdle was a large willow that had fallen over my planned path and creek crossing. Last summer a friend of ours with a big chainsaw helped to cut it up and with some solid concrete blocks and heavy duty landscaping pallets we built a nice bridge over the creek. My little man loves going back here, to play in and with the water (there is always some flow) and gets some exercise to boot!

This was last week, when it actually looked like winter! The small creek was still flowing and Simon's big whoop was pushing snow into the water, both from the logs and the bridge.

This is the newest path - which looks a lot easier to hike this way with the thick snow fall, but is actually a mix of mud, water and grass humps. Between snows we've hauled most of our boardwalk pallets down here and have an initial path which come spring when things are not frozen to everything else I'll square off and screw in place. Our completed path goes thru a mix of woods, swamp, scrub (pic above), swamp, woods again and ends at a pond and this winter we finally made it to the back woods!

Just a nice pic to end the day :)
our land from left to right, standing at the back pasture looking towards the house and barns

what the heck?!

This is what happens when a goat's milk with honey soap recipe overheats... I knew something had gone wrong when after an hour or so after pouring I checked the heat with my hand and pulled back fast as the middle was angry, angry hot! And I was left with a big spongy spot middle + honey leaking + oil separating = big mess...

My method (trial and error) of gelling the soap (letting it get hot enough to gel / cure but not so hot that it separates) is heating pad and insulation for water only soaps, insulation for milk only soaps (i.e. piece of foam on top - nothing else) and no insulation whatsoever for soaps with milk AND honey. BUT what I learned last week is that if it's a large mold of soap with milk & honey ALSO put it on the cold, cold concrete floor - just in case :)

I rebatched this batch of Bee Good and the result was actually nicer than the straight up soap. The bar has a very nice opaque silky look to it, very fancy.

The way I rebatch soap is putting it thru the kitchen machine to noodle (like zucchini). Put all the noodles in a stainless steel pot (not aluminum) inside another pot with hot water and a heat resistant trivet (to keep space). Pour a little milk (goat, cow, soy, whatever) over the noodles, enough to make them look wet but not so much it puddles on the bottom. Add lid, boil water and keep it at a slow boil while stirring occasionally. It will take hours for the soap to liquify enough for pouring! When the soap starts to get liquid again and is pretty easy to stir, pour into mold. It's better to heat and wait, than to pour too soon - if the soap plops instead of pours into the mold it's likely too chunky and will not set with that silky opaque look but instead look like old crumbly cheese...

I have not had success using rebatched soap in small shape molds, the soap is too thick and sticky to get into all the little bits and pieces of small molds.

expecting...

Our goat girls now have a back door, yay! My hubbie made a nice dutch door with multiple choices: both open, both closed, bottom open top closed, bottom closed top open - whatever I want. It's already proven it's usefulness when mucking out the barn, fresh air but no goats inside and I could leave the stall door open for easy loading... it sure is the little things that make life easier :)

These are the girls eating lunch - they only get fed once a day now, half a bucket of apple pomace (left over from pressing cider) and a cup of bran each. But Thirteen still does not share well, so I feed them in two places and it kinda works like musical chairs with most times Thirteen ending up with two places! So sometimes I grab her collar and hook her on for 15 minutes or so - she can eat but not move places - and that settles her down for a couple days or so.

5 more weeks and Gazelle is due :)
Her first kid(s); she's about as tall as the adult does now and getting bigger every day - it's so neat, we've had her since she was a few weeks old!

Tack Room saddle racks

As per request some closeups of the saddle racks I built for the new tack room. I used scrap wood so the dimensions are not exactly the same for the three racks I made, one is larger than the other two. The most important measurement is the length of the rack itself, which traditionally is 24 inches but I used 22" for the one and 20" for the other two. The Icelandic saddle shown fits perfectly on the 20" one so I am glad I shrank them a little (also since there is not that much room between the wall and the door).

The other measurement is to use 1x6" boards for the angled top (one ripped one board width smaller) and cut of the corners at a 45 degree angle. I ripped a piece of 2x4" into a triangle shaped 45 degree angled brace piece with a 30 degree chop at the end. The brace bar is a 1x2" with two 45 degree angle cuts. The back board is a 1x8" (or 1x10" whatever you have around).

Assemble the two 1x6" boards first with wood glue in the joint and self tapping screws (helps prevent cracking). Then glue and screw the angled brace with a flush edge towards the back board. When dry position on back board as you prefer (about a quarter down from top looks nice) and pencil guidelines around top and edge. I think it's easiest to lay the saddle part flat on a table with the flush edge towards you, add glue and then quickly position backboard, holding board in place with one hand and screwdriver with the other (start the screw first). I use a 4" screw thru the backboard into the angled brace for extra strength. The rest is pretty straight forward, add some more screws to secure 1x6's and position, glue and screw brace. Then dry, sand & paint!

We have a router so I rounded off all edges and corners for a more finished look (don't round where the boards joint). I can't take credit for the design, I slightly altered an existing design used in the tackroom of the barn I take lessons here in Ithaca, NY. I also saw a similar design in a fifties german childrens / horse show where they used half a rounded beam instead of the two angled boards directly bolted into wall studs. Have fun!

Goat's Milk Soap

Since I don't have enough to do, haha, I decided last year to start a side business in milk soap making. Actually, it was not that quick of a decision, making milk soap is one of the reasons I got the dairy goats and my sister is a soap maker as well. When she came over last winter I had a quick three week boot camp, showing me all the do's and don't - of which there are quite a few as lye mixtures and raw soap are hazardous.


Last month I did my first and successful show with my new line of milk soaps and other specialty soaps (anything but water with the lye) at the Trumansburg Winter Fest. I lucked into a bunch of small apple crates from Ludgate Farms closing down to use as backdrops for my very useful and cute looking cut down crates, most of which were broken ones we got when we bought the house years ago. It's nice to have power tools!

For more information, on the business and on my soaps, please visit my site at www. FarMountainFarm.blogspot.com

We have a tack room

With the expected shortage of hay this year I decided to stock up well. Before I got all the hay in though I built with the help of my hubbie (he framed it) a separate tack and feed room in the shed right on the other side of the main goat barn. He even extended the board siding of the new barn to the side of the old shed which makes it look much nicer. The dividing wall (outside wall of shed) now also has a dutch door instead of a window, so if the front barn door gets frozen stuck again - like several times last year - I don't have to go thru the window!

The hay area is about twice as big as the open stall in the barn, it fits about 55-60 bales. The tack and feed room is about 5 feet by 8 feet and has a large built in feed bin in the back with shelving for buckets etc. I also built three saddle racks from a design I spotted at my horseback riding barn Kelviden. I slightly altered the design, it had a angle cut I did not know how to do, and am quite happy with the results. I used three old warped pine shelves (ripped 6" boards with the table saw) and some 6" pine board and rounded all corners with the router. The one saddle I have on loan (it fits the horse I like to buy) fits perfectly, now all I need is the horse to go with it :)

WNY EquiFest 2012

Western New York’s FREE
Equine Exposition & Equestrian Gathering

March 18, 2012

at the Showplex, Hamburg Fairgrounds

Clinicians ~ Demonstrations
Exhibitors ~ Vendors

FREE ADMISSION

more info at www.wnyequifest.com

the buzz is that Gudmar Petursson will be there
and Sand Meadow Farm will have a booth

some pics I found...

The school our toddler goes to hatches eggs each year and this year they had too many ducklings to handle - and yes, they do make a mess! I had just built the rabbit hutch and borrowed the white fencing to make a rabbit / toddler play area so I moved the ducks in there. I knew it was temporary anyway, either they would be part of the main flock or be in the freezer two months later.

Having the ducks right up at the house worked great predator wise - nothing bothered them - but not so great having them right next to the picnic table... especially with damp or rainy weather their yard had a distinct ducky smell! On the other hand, Simon loved feeding them and this way he did not get harassed either (by the geese).

On a side note, while we spent Christmas down in the City we walked from the subway back up to the apartment and I found two more panels to the foldable fencing! They are the exact same kind and fitted perfectly... no idea why they were stacked out with the trash. My hubbie was not real happy with my 'dumpster diving' - even tho I see it as the ultimate recycling, cutting out the middle man, haha - but he did rearrange packing the car to fit it.

He's always so embarrassed when I "shop" along the road, it's almost cute, and I feel weird. And then we visited my Dutch friend Karleen in CT and she also 'recycles' whenever she can. We had a lively conversation about the availability of public dump sites (which Ithaca does not seem to have) lounging on a nearly new 'rescued' couch, drinking tea from a 'rescued' kettle while enjoying the view of a beautiful 'rescued' horse painting. She's cool :)