Thank you Kayla!

Our heartfelt thanks to Kayla Brogdon for giving us our first "show" goats. Kayla has been showing goats and pigs for quite a while now. The does have been shown and have done very well in the show ring. They have wonderful bloodlines. However, she has decided to concentrate on her Boer goats and pigs. She wanted to see her dairy goats go to a home where she knew she could visit them. Fortunately for us, she kept them in the family! Two does and a buck will be joining the herd. Of course, they are in quarantine for 30 days. We will be testing them for CAE, CL, G6S and Q-fever. We've got to make sure that we keep a clean herd. I am sure they will pass with flying colors. We wish Kayla the very best of luck with her Boer show goats!

I wish you could have seen the rodeo we had getting them in the pen tonight. There were 3 women (me, Teri and Kayla), 3 goats and 3 dogs. Well, I should have thought ahead and put up the dogs! The goats were not too happy that the dogs were there even though they have always been around dogs. I guess they weren't introduced properly. So, to make a long story short, Teri and I ended up on the ground trying to keep them separated. We both will feel the bruises tomorrow :-) Thank goodness Erik heard the commotion and came over. Finally, the humans now outnumbered the goats and we got them settled in their new enclosure. Erik then headed over to the dairy to feed the goats over there and to help Wendell with more cleaning. They will be working very late tonight. I am going to take a hot bath and wash the rodeo off of me!

Water Works

Well, it takes quite a bit of work to get water from one end of the dairy to the other. A big thanks to Aaron who spent about 12 hours on the backhoe this weekend digging the trenches. Wendell and Erik were the PVC pipe specialists. When the water was turned on there were no leaks. Yippee! We have water all over the place now. We even have HOT water in the house. Thanks also to Matthew who put the blinds up in all of the windows. The last of the saltillo tile was installed in the bedrooms. It is really starting to look like something. No more tablecloths on the windows or concrete floors :-)

Wendell went for his follow-up at the cardiologist and he is realeased to normal activity. Thank you, thank you for all of the thoughts and prayers. I can't tell you how happy I am. His birthday is on the 28th and we will be celebrating BIG TIME with a combined birthday/SuperBowl party! The AZ Cardinals are finally in it! #13 is our lucky number and that is quarterback Kurt Warner's jersey number. Wendell and I were married on June 13, Wendell's dad, Ken, survived a WWII kamikaze attack on Friday the 13th, Wendell's heart stent was placed on 1/13/09 AND the dairy address is 11300 S. Dean. Soooo, we are sure hoping that Kurt Warner and the Cardinals bring a victory back from Tampa Bay.

Goats are doing well. The girls that are pregnant are starting to show and Mary Lou (the daughter, not the goat) is also starting to show! She is due July 1st. Can't wait to see our new little goat milker!

My Heart Dropped

When Wendell told me that his chest felt "funky" and he wanted to go to the doctor "in the morning," I got out of bed and started getting dressed. There was no way I was going to wait all night long for him to see the doctor. He had been very tired lately and had just figured he had been working too much. Anyway, to make a long story short, he is now the proud recipient of a stent in his right coronary artery! He didn't want anyone to know, or make a fuss over him, so he didn't want me to tell anyone. Well, I almost lost my composure after 24 hours of keeping this "secret" and people were wondering where we were. I called my dear friend Kathy Lee and told her what was happening and that I was going to lose it if I didn't have someone to talk to about it. Thanks to her, she calmed me down and I was able to be strong for Wendell. I just don't know what I would have done without her calm reassurance that all would be fine. About 20 minutes prior to the proceedure, Wendell gave me the green light to let the kids know what was going on. I called and let them know that their father was going to have a cardiac catherization. They were all very strong for me. We didn't have any tears or panic! I am so glad about that. Dr. Patel came out after the procedure and told me that Wendell had one of his main arteries that was 99.9% blocked. He continued to explain that he had been .1% away from a heart attack! During the procedure the doctor was able to place the stent into the artery and open it back to 100%. Praise God! Everything turned out fine. He is now home resting for the next week. So, if my posts aren't very often ... That is why.

Progress on the dairy is chugging along. We are still very excited about the does kidding this spring and that we will be making cheese!

Take care, AND if your chest ever feels FUNKY, get to the ER!

Happy New Year!

Well, we had a huge bonfire on New Year's Eve. I don't know if the kids or the adults had more fun :-) Tony and Mike searched the river for wood and came back with an entire tree! They had to be tired after that night. There are a few pictures, but Mary took them and I haven't downloaded yet. We ate our traditional black-eyed peas and ham for luck after midnight. Boy, did that work because Erik, Aaron and Wendell were able to get the well running that afternoon. I loaned my camera to my nephew but took a couple of pics with my cellphone camera. This is a picture of the muddy first water and the happy dance that followed. The dogs and goats are doing well at their new home and I will post pics later when I get my camera back!

Let there be light!

Becky called this morning and gave me some very good news. Her husband, Johnny, works for APS and he told her that they had dispatched the crew to turn service on at the dairy. We now have electricity! Just in time to get the first part of the herd on the premisis for our New Year's Eve deadline. Wendell has been on the tractor for hours on end making the pens level. Tomorrow we will be working all day moving animals and supplies. Then we are going to celebrate the New Year with an evening bonfire complete with marshmallows and hot dogs. Hope that you and yours have a very happy and prosperous 2009.

White Elephant Exchange

We all had a good time at Christmas. The White Elephant exchange was great. Erik got the Scorpion Jewelry Collection this year. Wendell put marshmallow guns in as his gift. Let's just say that a marshmallow war broke out. Charlotte and Aaron had quite the battle! Speaking of guns, Wendell bought me a semi-auto pistol for my present and I couldn't be happier. It is a perfect fit for my hand. We went shooting on the river Christmas Day and I think I impressed him and Aaron with my aim :-) I have never been afraid of being alone if I have a "metal friend" with me.

We almost had electricity at the dairy! Jeremy finished the work required by the first inspector on Tuesday. The next inspector came out on Christmas Eve and found a silly detail that the first inspector had failed to tell us about. Well, he could have overlooked it and turned it on for us ... But, NO! We have one more detail that he wants finished. So, now it looks like it will be Monday before we have electricity. Just enough time to get our Nubian girls on the property by the first of the year.

It has been raining quite a bit here lately. The dairy house has no leaks. This is very good news. The barn does have a few, but we had expected that. The place is draining well, no standing water anywhere. The sandy soil does help with that.

Well, time to get back to work. The goats are hungry!

Wood Stove -- No Electric

All I want for Christmas is electricity! Until then, Aaron and Wendell installed our wood stove in the family room today. We now have heat. Also, we got the bed set up in the "formerly-orange" room. Still hauling water so we can use the loo. It is still very primitive at the dairy. It makes me really appreciate my hot bath when I get back to the Jackrabbit house!

I was talking to my nephew, John, this morning. He has a marking issue with his Standard Poodle, Larry. Seems as though he is upset by the addition of Sophie (3 lb Yorkie mix) and Maizie (5 lb Chihuahua) and has decided to mark all over the house. He was wondering if we might need a new addition to the dairy pack of dogs. I told him if he gets along with Luna (100 lb Great Pyrenees) that we can use him to guard our farm. I really hope he works out. I think he would love guarding a few acres. We will put him to work! Here is a picture of John and his youngest son, Seth, on the cow train.

Sure hope we have Christmas lights at the farm this week. If not, we will definitely have a Christmas bonfire in the new fire ring.

Keeping Busy

This morning Wendell and Aaron moved all of the commercial kitchen equipment to the dairy. A big thank you to John Crow for the generous contribution. We will certainly put it to use. I stayed busy painting the "orange" room. It is now a nice brown color. The color looks a bit like chocolate milk, which is so appropriate for us. Wendell, David and Aaron moved all of the decorative rocks that lined the yard and made a fire ring. You can see it in the picture. Also, in the background of the picture on the horizon, you can see three "clouds." Actually, those are columns of steam from the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station which is owned by APS. It is the largest nuclear electric generating site in the United States. Things are moving in the right direction as far as electricity goes. An APS representative stopped by while we were there today. He said things look good and we should have power as soon as some minor work is finished. I am so excited to just have power. Aaron, Charlotte and I took time out and went to Pizzeria Bianco for dinner tonight. Wonderful food! We met Kathy, Cidney and Kyle there. Of course, Kyle and Cidney had their sweet baby boy with them. Wish Wendell could have made it but he has to work at Saddle Ranch tonight. With all of the work on the dairy, I think that job is short-lived. Well, I am watching grandkids tonight while Aaron and Diana go out. We are gonna have a good time watching Christmas movies. Good night!

More red tape ...

We can't have power yet :-( The last owners built an addition to the house without permitting. The County gave us the green tag but APS wants to do their own inspection. SO, now Wendell has to meet with a representative from APS tomorrow to find out what to do next. We will use a generator and haul water as long as it takes!

Becky and her bunch (Alexis, Michel and Trey) are coming to see the dairy tomorrow. I can't wait to show them around. We don't get too many visitors because we are so far out. Or, could it be because Wendell puts everyone that visits us to work?

Slowly but surely!

It has been a week since I have last blogged and it is definitely not because there isn't any progress on the farm to report. Wendell and I returned from our trip to New Mexico to move Kenny and Kathy back to Arizona. We need all the family help we can get. Kenny not only knows cows, he knows sales. Kenny and Kathy both have a great deal of business experience and we value their input. Unlike cows, goats need shelter in addition to shades. The weather conditions are never much of a bother to the bovine, but for the goats it can be a serious issue. Goats need to be protected from the rain, wind and cold or they can become ill. So, since we are in a pinch for time, we bought a 45' storage container for their new home. We plan on painting the shelter this week and plan to have them on the farm in time to beat the tax exemption deadline of 12/31/08. Today is a very important day for dairy because we will have electricity turned to the farm house today. I definitely take flipping that little switch for granted because it has been quite a process to achieve something so ordinary to most of us. We have purchased our first piece of furniture for the new house (a queen sized bed) and with the new electricity we will now be able to stay over night. The power will also make working at the farm much easier with the use of sockets, lights and running water. We would like to acknowledge both the men and women of this family who have been very hard at work to get our dairy closer to being an active business. We want to extend our thanks to those who have helped and to our followers and supporters of Crow's Dairy. This is definitely a journey that we will be milking for all it's worth.

Tamale Time

Whew! What a weekend. Wendell, Aaron, Erik, Dixon and Matthew all worked so hard at the dairy this weekend. They did the demo work on the barn and it is now ready to be restored. There were a couple of injuries. Erik lost a piece of his finger, Aaron got a deep puncture wound and Wendell cut his head cut when a piece of metal that fell on him. Aaron needed a stitch or two, but of course made his own butterfly bandage and finally got it to stop bleeding after several hours. After working all day Saturday, the boys took time out to go to see the AZ Cardinals wrap up the playoff spot in their division for the first time since 1975! They had a great time at the game. The rest of us ... my mom, my sisters, my daughters, my best friends, etc., spent the weekend making our traditional Christmas Tamales! No makeup allowed! Lots of Mimosas and Bloody Marys helped make it as much fun as the boy's Cardinals game :-) We made Red Chile and Green Corn varieties this year. When we were finished we had made 45 dozen! Special thanks to Liz, Diana's mom, for the tips on mixing the lard. Saved us at least an hour by melting it first. Wendell and I are off to Albuquerque tomorrow to help his brother (Kenny) and his wife (Kathy) move back to Phoenix. We will only be gone 2 days so I am sure the kids can hold down the fort for us!

The dirty work begins

Well, our first full day was all about cleaning! David and I pulled all of the carpet out of the bedrooms. I can't tell you how many animals must have "relieved" themselves on the bedroom carpet. Glad to have that done. While we worked inside, Wendell and Erik cleaned the barn because the dairy inspector is coming today to let us know what he thinks. My uncle and cousin, Harvey and Jeremy, are electricians and they came out to look at the electrical problems that have to be fixed. Seems that it shouldn't be a huge deal, but it will take some time before we can apply for the permit. So, we are on the road with this project. I hope things go smoothly as we have had plenty of road bumps already.

It's official

We are now dairy property owners again. Keys are in hand. Wish the electric was on so that we could work through the evening. Erik, Wendell and I went to mark and measure some things tonight. The sunset was amazing. We are located in an area known as Rainbow Valley. We can see the Buckeye Hills to the west and the White Tank Mountains are north of us. South are the Maricopa Mountains. And most important, we can still see our "home" mountains as the Sierra Estrellas are to the east.

Next hoop we need to jump through is to have the goats onsite before January 1, 2009 in order to apply for ag exemption! Whew, this is going to be close. If we have no electricity before then--we will fire up the generator. Our mentors, David and Kathryn of Black Mesa Ranch (http://www.blackmesaranch.com/), could teach us something about power!