We sadly lost our first ram lamb born. We didn't recognize that his mom wasn't feeding him until it was too late. :( So, to keep mom from getting mastitis, we've been milking her and I made my first batch of sheep milk cold processed soap. Messy & time consuming, but it was rewarding! Here are my boys with some fresh sheep milk... which tastes AMAZING, btw. I wish I had the time for a larger scale sheep milk venture because it's creamier and better for you than cows milk, and just as mild in flavor.
The first thing to do was to add lye to cold water. It gets VERY hot, so you let it cool to around 90 degrees which took over an hour.
While that was going on, I combined coconut & olive oil, sheep tallow and lard, melting it to approx. 90 degrees as well.
After the lye-water cooled off to 90, I added the sheep milk.
It has a chemical reaction and gets hot yet again...so you wait for it to cool back down to 90 degrees
The lard and coconut oil take a little longer to melt and there was a layer of 'lard foam' on the top.
& once it's all melted to around 90, I let it sit by the woodstove to maintain it's temperature until the milk & lye cooled down.
When both mixtures are at 90, you combine the fat to the milk-water-lye pot and stir, stir, and keep stirring! I stirred for over an hour before it reached a nice heavy pudding consistency.
I have no molds yet, so I used some old loaf pans with a layer of Vaseline, a little plantain oil & black walnut for looks.
Ta-Da! And wow, that is ALOT of soap! I was so happy that it turned out. It smells so wonderful! At the stirring stage I added tea tree and cedar oil. Now I wait 4-6 weeks for the lye to mellow out and the finished result should be creamy, soft, sheep milk soap to sell.
She's so curious, I can't get her to stop long enough to look at the camera, but look at those adorable red curls!
Protective mom, Holly
Ginger the barn kitty hanging out in the hay.
Play till you drop!
Baby hen chicks brought home for my husbands birthday from our teenage son and best friend. They think they are sooo funny. ;-) I'm always happy to get new hens!
I honestly have no idea what breed they are... 6 chickies.
Thorin, the Icelandic ram, looking for a treat.
Icelandic ewes, hopefully with lambs coming soon!
It's so funny when all the animals hang out together in the barn.
The ducks & chickens are checking out the new ram, that my teenage son insisted we name
Sir Lambs-a-lot
Sir Lambs-a-lot
He's sleepy, but seems to be healthy & nursing.
Ducks hanging with mama sheep, haha.
One of my hens is a real slacker!!
It's March 3rd and we're having our second snow day out of school this week with record cold temps. Here's my lovely daughter to remind me that Spring will get here, someday!! <3
Celebrating my husbands birthday this week... he makes this farm - thing all possible.
I love him so much! <3
I love him so much! <3
We've been sharing stories of our lambs and our pioneer winter with our daughter who'se serving an LDS mission in Tempe, AZ. She shared this picture with us that is on one of her pamphlets that she hands out to potential investigators into our church... Jesus, the good shepherd. <3 Having sheep has given me some simple but priceless insight into the life of my Savior. I am grateful to care for and love my little lambs because it reminds me how gently he loves and cares for us.
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