Annies Goat Hill Handcrafted Soaps

Antique Chest and Goat Milk Soap

March 16, 2009 by Mary Humphrey

Occasionally I share something fun that I furnish or decorate with. I found this one at a Goodwill store a year ago. When the attendant told me I could have the chest for $25.00, I quickly loaded it onto the back of my pick up truck! Someone prior to me inadvertently painted the chest. What you are looking at, in the darker areas, is painted leather, hand nailed so neatly to the chest when it was crafted. Such a shame. I cannot see removing paint from leather. But I do not care. I saw value, not so much monetary. There are other places on the chest that someone prior painted yellow and silver (on some of the wood slats across the top), again, I do not care, it is a treasure to me! I love the thing! Inside is wonderful silky-cottony fabric lining, in excellent condition. Makes me smile! It appears to be either an old passenger train chest (tiny wheels up inside the base), or an old steamer chest, and I even saw one on a Western movie, being unloaded from a stagecoach (I doubt that mine is that old). I love these types of items. Some have a history that we know of, and some, as this one, was used without knowing the history, not known by who or when, but I can use my imagination vividly and see it!

I posted yesterday that I thought Annie was in labor, false alarm. She ate much better today. I need to go check on her again. She appears uncomfortable, probably just big with kids. Today is day 145. I am less concerned, but still very watchful.

I worked in the shop today! I whipped out a batch of lavender/plum colored soap with a scent that smells fresh. It felt good to be working with soap again, very good!

Posted in All In A Day's Time | Tagged Collectables, Goat Milk Soap, Goats | 3 Comments »

Does In Waiting This Sunday

March 15, 2009 by Mary Humphrey

The best plans sometimes get set aside when there are does in waiting.

This is a photo of Annie. It was taken 4 months ago. If she looks large in the pic, she is very large now!

Today is day 144 of Annie’s gestation. She normally kids around day 149-151. The earliest a doe should kid is day 145.

This morning Annie did not eat in her normal full-fledged herd queen fashion (she resides with the dairy herd). She ate a little grain, ate a little hay, and then went off by herself. She looked sunken in, as if her unborn kids had moved. I checked her ligaments, yes, they are gone. Her body is preparing for birth.

So, instead of visiting with friends, we smiled and stayed home. It was actually a very nice day. Beautiful, sunny, relaxing, just as a Sunday should be. So, it was a blessing in disguise. There are lots of those blessings when we watch for them! As far as our friends are concerned, we will make it another afternoon this week, perhaps have some lunch together then.

As far as Annie is concerned, we are still waiting. A doe in waiting…!

Posted in Goat Care (and General Farm) | Tagged Goats | 3 Comments »

Goat Milk Belly

March 14, 2009 by Mary Humphrey

Does it look like something other than a goat to you? It is a young buckling, nearing a couple of weeks old, that develops quite the “beer belly,” well, more like a goat milk belly, each time he takes his bottle. The pic doesn’t even do the boy justice! He is a pig, a hog-cow as I call him.

Young goats, and all goats, will eat themselves to a serious state of illness if you let them. I always have my bottle kids on a schedule, which is part of the reason why I shun the sippy buckets, even though bottles are a tremendous amount of work for us.

Our schedule at this point includes 3 bottles a day (for 13 kids), aproximately 16 ounces each, no more than that (buddy)! This kid eats, and eats, and eats, until he is ready to pop. “Stick a fork in me, I am done,” is a perfect statement! But he does not think he is done.

The story behind this little fellow is he started his life in the barn on a very cold morning. His momma rejected him, but accepted the twin sister. We bottle fed him from that day forward. One day he took his bottle in his normal gusto fashion but could not walk immediately afterwards. He drug himself around unlike any youngster I have ever seen. I scooped him up for special house treatment. I determined it was pneumonia. The boy rattled, coughed, spit up mucous, but the fight for life was strong (which means a great deal in a goat). Today he is back to being a normal goat buckling, eating like a pig, and soon to move back to the barn (as soon as we have a less than 20 degree temperature variance, my rules).

Yes, I am the resident vet. Do I enjoy it? Yes. Do I feel frustrated by the chore? No. I feel frustrated when my house is dirty, and when the barn needs a serious mucking out, and when my routine is shattered. But all of that does not matter. I sacrifice for something greater than myself.

I do not want to bring up business today on one hand, this is the weekend, but I wanted to remind everyone in this circle of friends and customers that I do have a monthly newsletter. I try to include newsworthy items (related to farm sustainability, small business, etc…), and Annie’s Goat Hill news. This month I was a little short winded because my brain is still in the kidding fog, so bear with me. If you want to sign up for the newsletter, or if you wish to send a friend to sign up, the envelope (button) to sign up is located towards the bottom of my site index page: http://www.anniesgoathill.com/ . I appreciate the contact!

Before I sign off, it was late yesterday, and it definitely felt like a Friday. I looked out of the window above the sink as I washed kid goat milk supplies and felt warm and fuzzy, comfortable, and then I realized where part of the coziness was coming from. It was nearly 8:00 in the evening, and I could still see daylight. I saw the pair of geese, heard the beginnings of frogs, and saw the starting of green buds on the lilac bushes. It was wonderful, and this is what I saw:

Posted in Goat Care (and General Farm) | Tagged Goats, Newsletter | 2 Comments »

Bottle Goat Kids…Cold Brings Back Necessary Barn Attire

March 13, 2009 by Mary Humphrey

Today I wanted to do an update on Chandra’s kids, amongst a few other things fresh on my mind. The boys are doing well. This particular buckling, my husband nic-named “Hoppity,” has had a rough time but he is moving forwards by leaps and bounds. He has shown a lot of strength and perseverance, similar to the thoughts I wrote about the day the c-section was done that brought Chandra’s twins into the world last week.

Every year we encounter a special kid goat project or two. Some are our own projects, some have been projects given to us by friends. Annie was such a project. She came from a difficult birth. My friend lost both her dam and her brother, and I was given the task of bringing Annie home and nursing her to strength that very cold and wet morning. It worked out very well. She is one hefty boer gal now. There is Amelie, also given to us by a friend. When we first saw Amelie she was coiled up in a Rubbermaid tote. It was not a pretty site. After a month of “goat therapy,” as we call it, we got her to stand, strengthened her spine, and now she is a beautiful, healthy, nubian doeling at a year old. The list goes on.

Chandra’s boy had double trouble given to him last week. In the process of figuring out the bad birthing presentation, he was pushed back, pulled forward. He was the one huge kid laying twisted under the other. And, he also had the thin rope around his neck as the vet proceeded to try to fish the boys out. Eventually, after the c-section was done, he sat with his head up, but was purple in the lips, requiring oxygen several times. His brother by that time was walking around on the examination table.

This week Hoppity went from not being able to walk, to walking on a bent leg (day 4), to my husband stinting his leg, to swelling badly in the hoof, to now limping, and sometimes walking on all 3-s, to hopping around as a baby goat should, to beginning to eat like a horse and put weight on. You can see the sparkle in his eyes.

I still have 4 of these critters in my house, why? They are the weakest. One developed pneumonia, one had pink eye (of all things), and then there are Chandra’s two that I am not ready to put in a barn pen yet. They need to continue to regain strength, but we are going to do it!

As far as I am concerned. I really am ready for spring weather. I am ready to hang up the old warm barn coat. The Muck Boots have proven well for me this year, and they will do a great service year round. Funny how years ago I went from black pumps and a briefcase, to the barn boots that I love, to the heavy coat that is growing frazzled, but ever so warm, and the constant attire of jeans and a sweatshirt. I would trade it all to a farm again tomorrow, yes I would! When I made the switch from the office to the barn, I learned very quickly that not only did I need the proper equipment to run the farm, I also needed the proper attire. But again, I am ready for warm sunshine, and 80 or 90 degrees, and yes, I will still wear the boots with shorts while cleaning the milk room, or the barn. I am a farm chick!

Enjoy your day, whatever you do!

Posted in Goat Care (and General Farm) | Tagged Goats | 10 Comments »

It Isn’t Just A Dog’s World…The Opportunity Is Now

March 12, 2009 by Mary Humphrey

Me and the boy spent some time together today…the boy is a 90 pound boxer named Spike. More on that later in this article…

No, it isn’t just a dog’s world, the opportunity is now. What am I referring to? I am thinking on terms of today’s economy, both business and personal opportunity.

I have done a lot of talking recently regarding the positive side to the downturn in our pocketbooks, with many references to what I think the opportunities are.

I do a lot of business reading. One of my favorite spots is Entrepreneur.com. I also focus in on stories that relate to businesses that are succeeding in today’s world because they remember who they are, where they started, and the basics in life (caring for the backbone, the people that do the work), along with good products at low prices, such as Chick-fil-A and Dunkin’ Donuts.

Today is a grand opportunity to start a small business, even in the current downturn. It is also the time to sharpen up your own personal people skills, and believe me, it goes very much hand in hand.

If you were dealing with a person, or a business, wouldn’t you want to have contact with them again if they were honest, hard working, not afraid to show up early or work late, with old fashioned values? I would. I talked with a customer service rep the other day regarding my internet service. He actually took the time to speak with me on a personal level. I felt he was interested in fixing the problem. He gave me a very positive feeling about the company that he works for. Customer service gets a gold star when you talk to a person that emits respect for you. They fix the problem for you, or offer a good solution, and do not doubt your value. That is true customer service, and is true on the personal level, caring for the neighbor (as you want to be cared for yourself).

On a strictly business level, what about making sure every dollar counts? What about sound business practices (not cheating on the accounting)?

I see a lot of back to the basics in business and personal lives. I pat you on the back first (because I care about you). Yes, it can happen, and I believe it is happening! We can all succeed with a bit of effort. I love it. And I do think we are learning a lot from our world today. It isn’t all about money (I want to see happy customers, and people that feel valued first), it is about who we are, and those that we care for. True success in life follows.

Now…back to the boy. Spike is from my first litter of boxers. The boxer boy did not get the training that his (late) father, Samson, got from me. He rode in the truck with me this morning when I ran a few chores. He has a lot to learn, almost wore me out! But he is worth it. I should have started on him when he was a 25 pound puppy, not a 90 pound, 4 year old boy. Does he look worn out in the pic? He was. But it was worth the trip, and the effort.

Enjoy your life!

Posted in Inspirations | Tagged Boxer Dogs, Economy, Inspirations, Reflections | 6 Comments »

Rest for Success

March 11, 2009 by Mary Humphrey

Yesterday I talked about how skin care goes to the wayside when I am in the middle of kidding season, and last night, by the way, I whipped up some beneficial body butter! The other malady during kidding season is a lack of sleep.

Without sleep we find ourselves with less control of our thoughts and our emotions. It becomes difficult to focus, and it can even be dangerous to be a “walking zombie,” as I sometimes call it.

My dear beloved sister recently expressed the humour that she finds in my very short and beneficial naps. To prove my napping point I did some research!

There are 5 stages of sleep. The first stage, drifting in and out, lasts approximately 10 minutes. The next stage, when the brain activity slow, lasts about 10 minutes as well. The 10-20 minute power nap is so very beneficial because it carries a person into the stage where the brain is no longer hard at work. It has been noted that when a nap exceeds 30 minutes, it can actually cause the napper to not be able to shake off the grogginess, stemming from the napper entering into too deep of a sleep (past stage 2).

The most beneficial power nap time is between 1PM and 3PM for most folks, when the afternoon dreariness sets in.

While researching naps, I remembered some very successful folks that also take a daily power nap. The nap that revives the person so they can concentrate, and be successful throughout the afternoon. One such person is George Armani, I recently read about his mid-day power naps on his blog. Albert Einstein was another that swore by power naps, as well as many past presidents, and Thomas Edison.

To wrap this up, if you need a nap, you are not being lazy, you could possibly use the 15-20 minutes to slow the brain down a bit and revive! I wish you great success with it!

Posted in All In A Day's Time, Health | 5 Comments »

Whipped Shea Butter

March 10, 2009 by Mary Humphrey

As you all know, I have had a mess of kids born these past couple of weeks.

During kidding season each year I develop a myriad of thoughts such as happiness, wonder (awe to mother nature), weariness, and if I do not watch myself, the grand feeling of being overwhelmed.

I like my patterns in life. I am not a person that likes to sit around, nor do I like to be bored, but I like my work to be in some sort of order.

When kids are born the pattern changes somewhat, especially when the cold weather brings forth a number of bottle kids. Soon, though, the patterns begin to fall into place again. This evening, with a warm breeze blowing through the barn, I sat in the near darkness and bottle fed the hungry kids. Despite the noise of the complaining grown goats (waiting for water buckets to be filled), I enjoyed the quiet with the kids.

During these few weeks each year another thing happens. I tend to not take such good care of myself. I do pay attention to the bare basics, such as bathing, sleeping and eating, but other things tend to go to the wayside, such as skin care.

Today I regained some of my old self. Right before dinner I worked in my shop, made a fresh batch of whipped shea butter. This batch has shea butter, olive oil, and a few other minor ingredients, including sweet orange essential oil for a touch of fragrance. Skin care is back on the agenda!

I plan to whip some jars up for customers, for the website. What types of scents would you like to see? I went all natural with this one, but I can add a fragrance as well.

Posted in In The Soap Shop | Tagged Whipped Shea Butter | 7 Comments »

Warm and Sunny Goat Kid Day

March 10, 2009 by Mary Humphrey

I am working on a project in a few hours in the shop…but first wanted to post a few pics from today’s kid goat antics!

They love the stumps that Bob dumped into the pen a few weeks ago. I had to move the stumps further away from the fence. The kids were ready to jump on out!

Posted in Goat Care (and General Farm) | Tagged Goats | 5 Comments »

New Goat Milk Soap Project

March 9, 2009 by Mary Humphrey

I missed blogging this weekend. I have some catching up to do!

We visit friends each Sunday afternoon. When I called yesterday morning they invited us out to a later dinner, instead of the Sunday afternoon visit. They said, “You guys need a break, you have been hitting the (kidding) hard on the farm now for over a week.” I hesitated at first. Wondered how I would fit a trip away in. But, common sense told me it would be good for us. It was.

Today has been wrapped around deskwork, chore running, feeding bottle kids, and a new goat milk soap project.

Some of you know that my love of soap began when I was right at 8 years old, when I bought primitive soap balls on a school field trip at a pioneer farm. I never thought I would try to make soap myself (not back then), I just fell in love with soap without realizing it. I collected soap through my childhood, never gave that a thought either.

After lunch today I headed out to my shop and got some activity and energy flowing. It does not not look like much right now, except perhaps balls of cookie dough! Here are the starts to my primitive soap balls. Once they are cured, I am taking some to a shop placement. I’ll post pics of that final project later this week…my ideas are rounding up!

Tyra says…”Mom, can you do something with these goat kids?” My boxers love it when I bring a bottle baby in. Even Spike, the 90 pound male, gets to be a spring board from time to time. He just looks at me with an empty stare.

Posted in In The Soap Shop | Tagged Goat Milk Soap | 8 Comments »

Reclaimed Lumber A Treasure This Saturday

March 7, 2009 by Mary Humphrey

Call the couple that lives at Annie’s Goat Hill a little on the different side. But are we?

Bob likes to work with wood, especially reclaimed lumber.

I love old things. I have several things around the house that others have asked, “Why did you want that?”

These past few months, each time we drove to pick up a load of hay, we noticed an old red barn being dismantled (but never caught anyone at the job site). Once it became obvious that the barn was being taken down very carefully, Bob decided to find out who owned the property. We live amongst of community of Amish and Mennonites. Someone normally knows something, if you start asking. The person working on the barn project, cool as can be, does indeed rebuild old barns! He gave us permission to remove any lumber or materials left on the ground (not a structural part).

We claimed red bead board siding, other types of red painted lumber, and my treasures are…(drum roll)…an old barn door with rusty hardware! I am thinking about having it hinged in 3 places and using it as a screen in my living room. Yep, you read that right! And, under the huge piles of rickety lumber I found an old primitive dresser. The dresser was beyond repair but the drawers looked like keepsakes to me. As you can see in the picture above, they are heavy duty drawers. I actually could see them hanging on the wall in the front room of my house. Some of the drawers have 4 compartments. But they are too heavy, despite my plaster walls, I still think I would create troubles. So, we are going to build a rustic desk of sorts, and attach the drawers to the back, as if they were shelves, compartments. I am way too excited!

Annie’s Goat Hill sells gift sets in wooden crates, and when I say they are made from reclaimed lumber, you can trust that they are. You may be getting a part of a 100 year old barn, you may be getting a part of an old piece of non-repairable furniture, you never know. And in these times, I try to go as green as possible (re-use paper, packing materials, and wood). It is no longer tacky, it is smart to the environment and economical!

Some of the barn siding…