We would like to welcome you to "Goat Roper" week on OPOD. We will spend the week looking at the ins and outs of raising goats and sheep through the venue of old photographs. Goats and Sheep are something I know quiet a bit about, and some people consider me an expert. OK, in reality, no one considers me an expert, but I did spend many a summer working sheep and goats. I will share what I learned with you. I have to warn you, that we will be dealing with some pretty "heavy" goat and sheep topics, so if you have a weak stomach, you might want to just look at the pictures and not read the descriptions.
Now, for today's picture we have a couple of dapper gentlemen milking a goat. Many of you might not be aware that people actually milk goats. I have this neighbor lady, and she has several milk goats. She goes out every morning, and milks her goats by hand. She does not have a fancy little milking stand like these guys do . . . she does it the old fashioned way, with a bucket and a milking stool. Interesting that when you shake hands with this lady, she has quiet the firm grip. She never buys store bought cows milk. She raised her entire family on goat milk.She also makes goat cheese, and more recently goat soap. She claims the soap is the best in the world. I am not sure if she makes the soap from rendering the fat of a dead goat, or if she somehow renders the cream from the goat milk. Anyway, she offered Mrs. PJM a bar of her goat soap. Mrs. PJM was reluctant, but did not want to offend, so she took the soap. She did try it, and reported to me it was the best bath soap she ever used. She reported that it was very "moisturizing", left you feeling clean and fresh, and smelled good. So, Mrs. PJM is now a believer. Don't know what it is going to cost to start buying this soap, but perhaps we could barter with her for some tomatoes.
Anyway, hope you enjoy Goat Roper week. I find it interesting that people do not romanticize about raising sheep and goats the same way they do about cattle ranching and cowboying. Perhaps we can improve the image of the lowly sheep and goats this week.
Domestic Update:
I know Roger is going to be upset, but I do not have any new Chickie Town pictures this morning. I had planned on taking some pictures of Handsome and his posse yesterday, but unfortunately we experienced a MPM which required the day to partially resolve (Major Plumbing Malfunction). I was taking a shower yesterday morning, and Mrs. PJM ran in yelling to turn the water off. She said I was flooding the downstairs. I had just gotten the shampoo in my hair, and thought that it would make sense to go ahead and rinse it out, but Mrs. PJM insisted I IMMEDIATELY turn the shower off. So, I complied, and went downstairs to find every sink drain, toilet, and shower drain downstairs had become a geyser, spewing raw sewage all over the house. Well, the immediate thought was to call a plumber but it was new years day, so it would be hard to find anyone to come and fix the problem. With the upstairs shower shut off, the sewage geysers stopped after a few minutes. Mrs. PJM went to cleaning up. I issued an order that no one was to turn on any water until I figured out what the problem was. After the executive order was signed by all family members, I started trying to figure out what had happened. It appeared to me that I must have a blockage somewhere, and the water from the upstairs shower had no place to go, so was forcing sewage in the line to come up through the drains downstairs. Our septic tank is about 300 yards from the house, and there is a long septic line from the house to the septic tank. I was hoping the problem was there, and not in lines in the slab in the house. Luckily, when they built the septic line, they put access ports every 40 feet. I went about half way down, and opened one of the access ports. I got another sewage geyser there, which sort of undid any progress I had made taking a shower that morning. It also made it questionable whether my clothing would still be appropriate for New Years dinner which we had planned. Anyway, I could see that the line problem must be further down the hill. So, I kept opening the access ports until I was able to identify what section of the line was blocked. With that figured out, I ran a hose into the line until I finally was able to partially unblock it. At least now we are getting some degree of proper flow in the septic line, but there is still some problem and I am sure it will stop up again if not dealt with. So, today I will get one of those Line Snakes, and try to run it down and get it cleared out. I have the line cleared enough that I have partially rescinded the "Don't Turn On Any Water" executive order. Today, we will be reviewing training on proper bathroom and sink procedures for homes with Septic Tanks.
