$$ spent on Black Friday

$$ spent on Black Friday was hay for the goats. Winters can be long, snowy, and cold up here. We now have enough hay stored to get us through next June - 100 bales. We picked up another 33 bales from our hay man this morning.

bales coming up the conveyer to the hayloft

Mike was reinforcing fences. Our livestock guardian dogs,
Jack and BarbaraJean,

basically sleep all day and work all night, 

Carmalee & Buttermilk

Mike's Aunt, Carmalee Ellis, died died this week. Today we visited the gravesite.

Next to Carm and her husband "Fats,"
are his Grandparents, Roy and Gladys.
at one time, I named two new hens
Gladys and Floy,
(Mike's paternal Grandmother was Floy). 

Don't know Doug Yarber but like his headstone.

I keep telling Mike, I want to be cremated
and scatter my ashes on our farm
especially near our dog, Henry
that's buried here.
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The cabin at Buttermilk Acres is coming along.

Carbonara, and Goats Pics

Carbonara

Recipe Excerpted from JAMIE AT HOME by Jamie Oliver.

The photo above is my version. The second time I made it, I used broccoli and I didn't have the bacon mixed in, but sprinkled on top so the bacon would be crunchy when eaten.
The photo below is Jamie's. Try it, just delicious. If you have your own fresh eggs and goats milk available, even better!
http://www.cookingchanneltv.com/recipes/jamie-oliver/beautiful-zucchini-carbonara-recipe/index.html  

Ingredients

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
6 medium green and yellow zucchini
1 pound penne
4 large free-range or organic egg yolks
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 good handfuls freshly grated Parmesan
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Olive oil
12 thick slices pancetta or lean bacon, cut into chunky pieces
A small bunch fresh thyme, leaves picked and chopped, flowers reserved (if you can get hold of flowering thyme)

Carbonara is a classic pasta sauce made with cream, bacon and Parmesan and is absolutely delicious. Try to buy the best ingredients you can, as that's what really helps to make this dish amazing. I'm using a flowering variegated variety of thyme but normal thyme is fine to use. When it comes to the type of pasta, you can serve carbonara with spaghetti or linguine, but I've been told by Italian mammas (who I don't argue with!) that penne is the original, so that's what I'm using in this recipe.
Before you start cooking, it's important to get yourself a very large pan, or use a high-sided roasting pan so you can give the pasta a good toss.
Put a large pan of salted water on to boil. Halve and then quarter any larger zucchini lengthwise. Cut out and discard any fluffy middle bits, and slice the zucchini at an angle into pieces roughly the same size and shape as the penne. Smaller zucchini can simply be sliced finely. Your water will now be boiling, so add the penne to the pan and cook according to the package instructions.
To make your creamy carbonara sauce, put the egg yolks into a bowl, add the cream and half the Parmesan, and mix together with a fork. Season lightly with salt and pepper and set aside.

Heat a very large frying pan (a 14-inch is a good start - every house should have one!), add a good splash of olive oil and fry the pancetta or bacon until dark brown and crisp. Add the zucchini slices and 2 big pinches of black pepper, not just to season but to give it a bit of a kick. Sprinkle in the thyme leaves, give everything a stir, so the zucchini is coated with all the lovely bacon-flavored oil, and fry until they start to turn lightly golden and have softened slightly.
It's very important to get this next bit right or your carbonara could end up ruined. You need to work quickly. When the pasta is cooked, drain it, reserving a little of the cooking water. Immediately, toss the pasta in the pan with the zucchini, bacon and lovely flavors, then remove from the heat and add a ladleful of the reserved cooking water and your creamy sauce. Stir together quickly. (No more cooking now, otherwise you'll scramble the eggs.) Get everyone around the table, ready to eat straightaway. While you're tossing the pasta and sauce, sprinkle in the rest of the Parmesan and a little more of the cooking water if needed, to give you a silky and shiny sauce. Taste quickly for seasoning. If you've managed to get any zucchini flowers, tear them over the top, then serve and eat immediately, as the sauce can become thick and stodgy if left too long.
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Nigerian Dwarf Dairy Goats

he's gorgeous, and sweet too.

Peach seems to be back to her ole self.

Sunday - checking in

for folks that have trouble commenting, it's BLOGGER, I've given up trying to comment on other blogs, too frustrating.
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Nigerian Dwarf Dairy Goats
After a long, hard week at the office, this weekend is just what the doctor ordered - beautiful fall weather, hanging with the goats, sleeping in, and eatin' good.
Home-Sweet-Home. You're looking down on the BooneDocksWilcox homestead, we don't have much in material possessions but we love this land.

Mike leading the way for the goat girls and pyreenes pair.

red Cali

Peach is still recovering. I notice she eats slowly on tender plants.
Don't know if her tongue is working normally.

You see the Blue Ridge in the background?

Is SweetPea knocked up? She certainly isn't supposed to be. 

Cherry, our new girl, hasn't stopped eating since she arrived here.

If she is pregnant, she is so grounded! I don't even know who the baby Daddy would be for registering the kids. I certainly don't want winter babies. To register the kids, I'd have to get DNA tests done $$$.
SweetPea  was my first love in goats, she's spoiled rotten, and always been trouble. Remember the $700 C-section 2 years ago?

Mike's little neice says, "Ba-Ba-Jean."

I was racking leaves, the wash tub was to put in the leaves, and pull the tub over to the compost pile JACK.