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Every time you feel in God's creatures something pleasing and attractive, do not let your attention be arrested by them alone, but, passing them by, transfer your thought to God and say: "O my God, if Thy creations are so full of beauty, delight and joy, how infinitely more full of beauty, delight and joy art Thou Thyself, Creator of all!
- Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain

You can’t get to joy by making everything perfect. You can only get there by seeing in every imperfection all that’s joy.
-Ann Voscamp

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Lily on the Milking Stand

I'm finally getting a photo of my milking stand up here. I purchased the head stall portion of the stand, and Dan figured out a way to attach it to an old coffee table for me. It saved a considerable amount of money over buying the whole thing, but not as much as building the whole thing would have. It was a nice compromise between cost in money and cost in time spent.
Lily and I continue to improve in our milking skills, and very slowly Lily seems to be giving more milk. It's still a miniscule bit that wouldn't seem worth it to most people, but it's enough for Hattie's needs, so it's worth it to me. If we get to an amount that's not completely embarrassing I'll give you an exact figure. Say, a pint a day. When we achieve that (if ever), I'll let you all know. ;) There's a clue as to how much work I'm doing, and for how little. I am learning a lot though, and that makes it worth it to me.
Molly's going to try her hand at the milking tomorrow. Hopefully she likes it and will make a good back up in case of emergency.


11 comments:

  1. Sounds like you two girls (you and Lily) are doing just fine. I'm betting she is going to be giving lots more milk soon. Seeing her on the milking stand brings back lots of memories for me. I loved the quiet, routine time of milking.

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  2. You are doing great. Just one of those things we must wait patiently for. Great savings on the stand. She seems to feel comfortable there, but then food always help.

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  3. Looks great! I'm excited to see what happens next!

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  4. Well, somethings got to be better than nothing. So I say keep up the hard work and those 'embarrasing' amounts will fill a pint soon enough!

    Great repurposing!!!

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  5. I love your milk stand. We are working on the same thing soon for a shearing/hoof trimming stand for the sheep. And milking is a learning experience, good for you for being brave enough to try it!

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  6. What breed is Lily? Being white, I assumed a doeling Saanen. She seems so tiny to be milking! But then again, I got myself a bunch of fatty-Saanens, so maybe I'm just not used to petite goats.

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  7. Is Lily a Nigerian? I am very interested in your progress, as I have a Nigerian doeling who will be a first-timer next year. She is very lovely!

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  8. You'll be getting enough in no time, I'm sure! Glad she's taking to the milk stand, will be fun to follow you through the process!

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  9. Lily is a tiny Nigerian doe. She was bred at only 10 months, so she's both giving milk and growing. Not what I'd have chosen, but I hope to feed her well enough to make up for it. She does look like a Saanen. Very pretty and sweet.

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  10. You ladies are awesomely encouraging, by the way! :) Thank you!

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