Holy schnikies!!  The last couple days have been interesting yet fun haha no wonder people get into agriculture.  Literally no day is ever the same.  Well in usual kate fashion my saturday morning just couldn't go uneventful.  It all started with milking.  The couple days while I was off doing deliveries and taking the day off things have been a little mixed up around here as far as our herds.  We've moved all the "black tape girls" or dry ladies into their own herd to hang with Teddy while Poi is back with the milking herd now down to 38 goats from 55.  So I'm milking the first stand and all I have to say is thank god I'm one of those paranoid double check anal people because had I not walked into the dairy to see that everything went into the pasteurizer fine I would've milked the entire herd onto our dairy room floor!  I walked into the dairy and much to my horror I see white all over the floor.  I think that's the first time I've actually gasped out loud.  Now I don't know if it was because I was tired from waking up at 6 or if it's my blonde hair but I managed to hook the hose to a different spot than normal so the milk was literally coming out of the tube from the machine and straight onto the floor.  Silver lining??  We're going into the dry period so we're not even close to producing as much milk as we are at our peak.  Guess that's the perk of starting your apprenticeship or internship program during the slow season.  All I could do was hose the milk off the floor, re-hook, and be thankful I caught it right away.  Milking went as usual and I had all 38 goats.  As I was grabbing the golden girls I met up with Eva who was herding the dry girls to Little Italy (one of our day pastures).  While herding she spotted Tinkerbell with a superfull udder!  Either she escaped or got missed in the shuffle....we had a few herd mix ups the couple days before.  Herding lesson #1: don't EVER herd groups of goats at the same time or in places where they can mingle together...unless you want to spend a good amount of time sorting goats.  So Eva has me grab Tinkerbell while she finishes herding the rest of the girls to Little Italy.  Take Tinkerbell and Golden Girls up to the milkstand...simple right??  O wait...Tinkerbell sees all her friends making the trek to their nice day pasture while she's being held by this new blonde chick she doesn't really know?? Yah right she says.  I made the rookie mistake of letting her go in hopes that she'll follow her herd instinct and follow me and the golden girls...well that instinct kicked in...for her own herd she saw in the distance.  Before I know it there goes Tinkerbell running off towards Eva.  Lucky me again Eva caught her just as she was closing the pasture gate.  Not so lucky me?  Having to walk back in shame with Tinkerbell and the Golden Girls who had followed feeling incapable and stupid haha.  Cherry on top I got to tell Eva how I lost the first milkstand milk on the floor that morning.  Good thing I have an understanding boss.  I don't know how she keeps herself from laughing at me when I make the dumbest mistakes haha.  So because Tinkerbell was missed that means I had a dry goat who lost her black tape on the stand.  AH!  How I wish I was completely confident in my decisions here.  Yes, there were some goaties that looked as though they were getting close...but I trusted my correct number and figured they just hadn't quite made the black tape cut.  Using ALL your senses here and being in tuned to everything is something you must do all the time...a skill that'll get stronger for me with time I'm sure.  We did find her (the dry goat).  Alicia checked the ladies the next morning while she was milking and Rocco was pretty dry...darn her for escaping.  If your wondering how my grand dairy tour went it matched the theme for my morning...eventful.  I had a nice group of 8 with a very interested crowd full of good questions.  It went really well and they seemed to be enjoying it but of course once we got to Golf the sprinklers started!!  It's irritating because the goats hate water so they won't just go in but it's nice in a way because then people really get the experience herding since they help pull them in...it'd take forever if I did it alone.  It's always cause for a good chuckle too.  But Eva said she'll change that which I'm pretty happy for.  I'll have to supplement sprinklers going off with some corny jokes or something for a laugh instead.  Anyone have any good goat jokes?? ; )  

Sunday I got to sleep in since I didn't work till 9:30...boy do I miss sleeping in!  I miss those mornings sleeping in after going out with friends the night before and having a lazy day with Chelsea watching movies in our awesome room.  But I certainly don't miss the stress of knowing all the homework and studying you have to do for that week.  I miss school a lot but like I told dad before I left and after I graduated....I'm ready for a new kind of busy.  Sunday was a dairy day and I made and packed a few cheeses.  It was really enjoyable too because I got to listen to music while doing it and chat with Monique and Rachel.  Rachel is one of the women that work in the shop and she's such a joy to work with.  One of those people that's always happy and optimistic.  They have a really great shop crew here.  Unfortunately one of the shop girls is leaving next month to move back to the mainland which I'm pretty bummed about.  It seems like being here long term you have to get used to people coming and going...especially with them constantly having interns and apprentices.  I milked in the pm...no milk on the floor this time... and gave Amelia her shot...we're getting close to her vet visit on thursday!  I'm so anxious to see whether her leg is healing or not.  I had the lovely experience of having Teddy drag me on the ground as well.  He was so upset I was putting him in his night pasture as he watched all his ladies run off to their pasture that he tried to escape from me while I had him on a leash and broke me right to the ground and dragged me a little!  I couldn't help but laugh at myself but now I have a pretty big scab on my leg and with this dirt and such here on the farm it'll probably get infected pretty easily.  O how I hate to scrub it with betadine!!  Ouch 

Today I did the morning milking, fed, and herded then changed to go inside the dairy.  I got to work with the love birds haha and there wasn't a whole lot today besides roll a bunch of ping pong balls but I did get to learn how to make swedish hearts.  I did get to try our cheese perigord which is a more expensive cheese made with truffles and it was so yummy.  Lucky me I was in the dairy and got to try it!  Eva also showed Teo, Alicia, and I how to vaccinate the dogs.  The best part of my day was getting to skype with Chels and after that I had a card on the table from her and Erin.  LOVE YOU GUYS!!! 

Off to bed, tomorrow's my fridayyyyyyy. TGIF.  ELECTION DAY!!!  Everyone make sure to vote : )