Phew! A week’s gone by in a flash. A flash of milking, cleaning, bottles, hay, poop and cheese. Not to mention the farming! Ba da bum 🙂

We had our first days off since we got here on Monday and Tuesday. Monday was gorgeous, so we drove out to Mount Rainier. The mountain was out (the expression people use for saying if you can see the mountain at a given time since it’s often cloudy – the mountain traps ocean winds and can hold clouds there for days) and we got to see it from a bunch of vantage points. We drove to Paradise, the furthest point you can drive right now – there’s a higher spot but it’s still under the snow. We did a little walk at Grove of the Patriarchs. We love giant trees!

On Tuesday, Alicia and Josie came to visit! Josie loved the goats and picked out a few she’d like for her birthday. We also went for a long walk around our development. There are very few houses – each plot is 70 acres anyway – and there’s a little trail along the main road instead of a sidewalk. We found salmon berries and another berry I can’t remember. Josie loves all kinds of berries – especially mommy’s and Aunt Cat’s. Then we went to dinner at Bruno’s in Eatonville. Josie had the mac and cheese. We hope they come visit again soon!

C and I have been alternating chore shifts all week – one morning, one evening – and then doing a few hours midday. It’s more of a structure than our first week, and the routine felt great. We’re both doing the milk house transfer solo, and will start learning the sanitizing process as well. It will be great to know all the different steps so that we can switch things up and be more independent.

Godiva, a Nigerian Dwarf goat, is due to give birth in the next 24 hours. You can tell when they’re getting close by feeling the tendons around the spine closest to the base of the tail. If it feels hollow, they’re super close. Lexi still had some tendons there, so she’s not quite so close – but probably in the next week. I can hear Godiva from here, whining in her birthing pen. We pulled her from the herd only now because goats hate to be alone. I wonder if she knows what’s about to happen. I keep trying to soothe her by telling her it’s ok and she’s going to be a mom, and she seems to respond to my voice tone at least. Maybe she just wants someone near her. I am nervous for her – but she’s in good hands.

C went to the farmers market yesterday and brought me strawberries and the NYTimes. I am happy everyday that he’s on this adventure with me.