Tuesday, May 24th - the past week in review

Tuesday- after several days of wet, damp weather, the corner is finally coming into view. The day was mostly cool but by the time supper was finished, it had started warming up slightly and the sun was out. Lloyd was in town for a Bee Keepers meeting so I was on my own.Great opportunity to do a little catching up. Some laundry was in the works and I put the goats to bed before coming in for the night. The bright green grass, after the recent rains reminds us all what will soon be coming - grass cutting season and bug!

Wednesday - what did I just say about the bugs?  The sun shone brightly all day and the temperatures are quite pleasant and unfortunately that has brought the black flies out in droves. So much so that the goats are even staying inside their little house to try to escape them. Poor things. Lloyd was very busy all day getting his poles moved from inside the garage to around the back where the holes are patiently waiting. Not an easy job to accomplish by himself, but accomplish it he did. When I got home from work, he put my bike on the trailer to take it into town for some service work.It's fairly old and parts are no longer available from Honda so we'll see what an experienced bike mechanic can do for me.

Today I made the decision to make better use of my lunch hour. I took my running shoes with me to work and at lunch I headed out onto the trail. I walked from the mall over to the farmers market. I know, not a huge distance but it was about 35 minutes worth of a tiny bit of exercise. 

However, having done that route once, I will have to find another place to walk.  Any one who knows me really well, is aware that  I really only have one fear - you guessed it - snakes. My stroll from the mall to the market was fine but on the way back I was greeted by a long garter snake stretched almost across the whole trail, sunning itself.  I know, it's totally irrational but it's been almost 64 years and its a pretty tough phobia to conquer.  I will try to keep up the fitness efforts but just with a different route. ( I know, I know, I can see all the eyes rolling now!)




Thursday - the most exciting thing at our house today was the arrival of several cases of wine. Lloyd had made some with one of the local make your own wine places, where all you have to do is go in and bottle it when it's done. The red needs a little bit more aging but has potential, and the white is pretty darn good just the way it is!
My bike is now in town at a local bike shop and with any luck they can get her up and running reliably again.  Brenda is planning to get a bit of a ride in this weekend but I'm just not there yet.

Friday - Lloyd  has been working on getting his poles into the ground for his little goat  barn. They were standing up rather precariously when I arrived home but should be straight when I get home tomorrow and ready for the next step.  Lloyd chose not to worry about making supper and instead went over to the rec centre with me for the "Capture the Queen of Hearts" (aka chase the ace in other locales).  The event features some mighty tasty wings for sale so that was our big Friday night date!  I did the trivia portion and found him some card players who welcomed him into their game. All in all he had a pretty great night.

Saturday - This morning dawned nice and mild with a few clouds but promise of much nicer temperatures as the day progressed. Brother in law Kim arrived just as I was leaving for work, to help level up the poles. Not a difficult job but one that definitely requires an extra pair of hands. Our friend Jens also came over to assist.(turns out it was much more physically demanding than anticipated)  By the time I got home, the poles were standing straight and tall, and ready for step number two.

On my way home from work, I stopped in at Brenda's half hoping to find her sitting under a tree somewhere either partaking of a cold glass of wine or sipping on a nice cup of tea. (trust me, I know MUCH better than that!!!) My aim was simply to stop by and say hello and that's what I did, and left her to it. She had her hands full, literally, and didn't need any more distractions. How many kids today can say their mom can do this?? (She was helping unload the fertilizer truck...)

Later in the evening we headed into town for supper at Heather and Kim's.  It was a delicious meal but a fairly short visit as both Lloyd and Kim were pretty much done it by that time.  It had been a long hot day. It was rather nice to drive into town with the top down on the car and some of our favorite tunes on the radio.  Doesn't really get much better than that.

 
Sunday - a little cooler and cloudier day but great for working. However, instead of getting back into the work, Lloyd decided he needed a little break and headed out for a bike ride with Bernie - first one of the season, I'm thinking.  When they got back, Brenda and Meghan arrived and we went down the road to see the tulips.

They aren't quite all blooming so another few days will make a world of difference but they are still pretty spectacular to see.  The rest of the day was spent just puttering around the yard and the house. A lazy supper and a quiet evening, made especially nice by the fact that Monday was a holiday.

 Holiday Monday - kind of a nothing sort of day. It was cloudy and cool for most of the day.  I did some cooking, and baking and Lloyd spent pretty much the bulk of the day trying to get the lawn tractor performing up to expectations, which it wasn't. The latter part of the day was spent cleaning up his construction site so he can proceed. I think he gets a lot more done when I'm not here. But now he's ready to get started again Tuesday afternoon. 

Pretty much all this week I have been milking the goat in the mornings before going to work. Lloyd had a few appointments and wasn't going to be home very early and I just couldn't in good conscience leave the poor beast waiting to be milked. Especially since she's separated from the kids all night long. By morning she really needs that relief.  It's kind of become part of my morning routine and I have to admit I am getting better at it (must be the expert instructions I received all those weeks ago!). In fact, Brenda and Bernie stopped in for a quick visit early Sunday morning, while I was out milking. They were mightily impressed with how far I've come in a short time. Lots of new challenges means there's never a dull moment. 

Posing for a family portrait!

Anyway, it's working for now. We've been experimenting with various things using goats milk. This weekend we made some yoghurt and I made a batch of something called Cajeta, a mexican caramel sauce. Mine turned out very thick, so I think I may have cooked it a bit too long. There will have to be several test batches, I'm sure, before I get it right!  No worries, multiple batches of caramel sauce can't be all bad. I have a good friend whom I know will help me eat critique the failures.