The Stowaway.

While in the barn milking Lola, a constant chirp became rather difficult to ignore.  Near the rear window, this little baby was found calling to it's mother who sounded as if she were outside in a nearby tree.  We scooped up the stowaway and placed him outside the barn.  After a few brief selfies, we left him sitting on the bushel basket.  Fifteen minutes later he was off...

Solar Power.

Our house is now officially solar-powered!  We had 23 solar panels installed by SunCommon this week and are now generating solar energy.  Total power generated at this time = 89.9 kWh.  WOOHOO!

Our first cheese.

Here it is, the first goat cheese from Silver Hill Farm!

(just don't ask how we made it)

After milking Lola tonight, I filled two bottles with milk, one of which Lucky drank immediately, the other went onto the kitchen counter for later, as usual.  An hour later, I reheated the milk in the microwave for 39 seconds, shook it a few times on the way out to the barn to equally warm it and began feeding Lucky.  As he reached the end of the bottle, I realized that the remaining "milk" was a bit solid.  With the handy use of a chopstick, I managed to remove the mass from the bottle into a bowl.  

Voila...goat cheese!

Honey!

It has been a while since the last bee update and almost as long since I have been in the hives to check on their progress.  I have been too busy with other projects to do much with the bees but they seem to be quite happy every time that I pass by.  The other day, I had one sting me on my forehead quite randomly so I took that as a sign that I should take a peak.  Both hives are looking very strong.  The bees have lots of honey, pollen, and brood.

Hive "A" had so much comb that they had some stuck to the underside of the inner cover...right where I really didn't want it.  Not wanting to waste the comb and honey contained within, I retrieved a bowl and set about with scraping.  The bees were not at all impressed by my behavior and, despite my attempts to calm them with some smoke, I was stung again.  Impressively, this time I had been stung right through my canvas work pants.  Luckily, I was able to quickly finish my work and leave the bees to themselves.  I was able to collect approximately 2 1/2 pounds of honey by crushing and straining the comb just that I had scraped off.  Not too shabby.

Oh, and about those stings...I have some new defenses.  Enter the UltraBreeze bee suit.  It is pretty much the top of the line bee suit which is about as "sting proof" as possible for the next time that I visit the hives located over my left shoulder.