Best Birthday Present Ever
I turned 33 last Friday (Earth Day) and it was the perfect day. Why? Because we turned on all our equipment in the dairy for the first time, AND...IT ALL WORKED!
Yes, I say that with some shock because, you may recall, it has been sitting in our garage for two years while the dairy gets finished.
But, all the stars aligned and EVERYTHING. Yes, EVERYTHING. Just worked.
A huge, huge, huge thank you to Frank Kipe, founder of MicroDairy Designs for spending two hours on the phone with us to turn everything on and help us pasteurize our first batch of water. Frank is passionate about making dairy equipment affordable for small farmers (like us) and knows his equipment inside and out. And, obviously, he stands by his equipment. You may recall we bought everything used so we have never actually been his clients. But the level of customer support and service he has provided to us throughout this entire process has been beyond helpful and professional. I really can't say enough good things about MicroDairy Designs.
So where are we? We're ready!
This past week my nesting instinct kicked in and all I wanted to do was scrub the dairy. Which is perfect since I got some great advice from the nurse who delivered Giz that being on my hands and knees was great for turning a sunny-side up baby.
Our parlor is clean. Our creamery is clean. Our equipment all works. Our girls are in milk. Now we're just waiting for two very vital things.
First, we need to officially pass our inspection. The paperwork says it takes 4 to 6 weeks and we are 2 weeks in. So hopefully in May, but maybe in June, we will be licensed as a Grade A Goat Dairy. We have been accepted as vendors at the West Olympia Farmer's market as soon as our product is legal :)
Second, we need to have our son. Once we have our son we will start our girls (we currently have 13 in milk) on two a day milking using the equipment. Until then we are using the babies to help keep their moms in milk for us. I just can't imagine asking someone to come and run our dairy for us while we are in labor.
And in the meantime we are taking a breather and enjoying the little moments of life in this last week before our family grows by one more. Oh yeah...and I guess we should set up someplace for our new baby to sleep (my nesting instinct only extended to needing to finish the dairy, not quite to our domestic home) :)
