Happy New Year!!!

Posted on December 31, 2011 by The Goat Cheese Lady

It’s time for DREAM LISTS AGAIN!!!  Yahoo!!! 

It’s always motivating to feel like you’ve got a clean slate…that you can start anew.  Thanks to my mom’s passion for setting goals and dreams and figuring out how to attain them, my kids and I have made Dream Lists for the past several years. 

Even my 4-year-old has had one since he was 2…he had some help with it that year…and last year…

That’s my 2011 Dream List up there.

I can cross out because there is no doubt they are completed:  Plant 6 fruit trees.  Make Hard Cheese.  Grow and slaughter 30 chickens.  Brighten the basement (nothing like whitish paint on dark brown wood paneling to liven up a scary basement).  Get 3 gallons of milk per day.

And here’s the update on the rest:

I can hold a handstand for 6 seconds. 

We started permaculturing our land, and it will be an ongoing process. 

To grow and harvest and preserve 9 months worth of produce, I realized I need to plant and harvest about 10 times more than I ever have.  I did put up more this year than I did the year before though…baby steps? 

We grew some of the garden in raised beds…AND LOVED IT!!!  Too bad I waited so many years to give in to The Animal Whisperer’s many suggestions that we grow in raised beds.  We’ll DO IT ALL in raised beds next year!!!

  My tomato harvest was dismal, only put up 4 quarts. 

Didn’t go to girls weekend….bummer. 

Painted the kitchen, the boy’s room, the bathroom, the living room and the basement.  2 bedrooms and the hallway and the laundry room left. 

I’m working, continuously on organizing every room in the house….sort of like the old Ziggy cartoon “Work on being better looking.”  If you remember Ziggy, that just might not happen.  Not all at once at least. 

I can hold bind on both sides on a good yoga day. 

We didn’t do the pig thing. 

Didn’t do the land thing either…yet? 

I’m sure Good Morning America will call in the next few days or so, they’ve just been too busy. 

We started farming (a little tiny bit) like Joel Salatin. 

We had an AWESOME One Year Anniversary of The Goat Cheese Lady potluck last summer!

I’ve already started planning for my 2012 Dream List, I think we’ll do them on Monday.  I’ll let you in on the details when it’s finished.  But for now, THANK YOU!!!!!!!  You ALL have been wonderful to keep coming back to words I spew up on to these pages.  And, all of you who have taken classes, THANK YOU!!!  It has been an amazing year of meeting new people, learning new things, raising our children, our goats (like the time I pulled the baby goats out of the struggling mama?), and being married for 12 years.

I love my life and I am thankful for it.

Happy New Year, may you have only the best of what you dream for in 2012.

–  The Goat Cheese Lady

About The Goat Cheese Lady

I am Lindsey. At first I was a city girl. Growing up, the closest thing I had to farm animals were a cat and a cockatiel. In 2009, Herbert (my husband) and I bought our first milk goat and I instantly became an urban farmgirl, attempting to balance city and farm life..before I knew “urban homesteading” was a thing. That’s when we began The Goat Cheese Lady Farm, hence The Goat Cheese Lady blog you’re visiting now. After moving to the country in 2014, I embarked on life as a rural farmgirl. We continued teaching farm and cheesemaking classes, raising more goats and began construction on our cheese creamery. But life had other plans and in 2017, we decided that, due to financial and health issues, we had to close the farm for business. No more classes, no more creamery, a lot less milking. We went back to off farm jobs, I as an Occupational Therapist, Herbert in construction with his business, D&A Home Remodeling. At that point, I made a silent promise to myself that I would corral my entrepreneurial mind and focus on a job for a year. Well, it has been a year and I am back. Not to classes, cheese, soap or lotion, but back to writing. I love it. I’m not sure where it will lead me, but that’s where I’m starting. I’ll continue to write as The Goat Cheese Lady for now, and whatever the future holds, I’ll let you know. Our two boys are 14 and 11 and continue to be louder than my sister and I ever were. We have two dogs, Montaña and Flash, a cat, Jumpy, a flock of chickens and three goats. Yes, we still have Lucy, the goat who helped us start it all and was milked by over 1,000 people. She’s retired but still the boss. Chocolate provides enough milk for our family with some to spare for the dogs. Soccer friends, school friends, coyotes and mice are frequent visitors. There are way too many flies and every so often we see an owl. I’m glad you’re here. Sometimes you’ll laugh out loud, other times you’ll be inspired to appreciate the small things. My hope is that, over your morning cup of coffee or your afternoon work break, you’ll enjoy the antics and inspiration that are my daily life. Lindsey
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2 Responses to Happy New Year!!!

  1. greenwomanzine says:
    January 1, 2012 at 11:53 am

    What a great list and great accomplishments! I am giving you a standing ovation. Best of luck in continuing to do amazing things in 2012. BTW, I’m reading Joel Salatin’s newest book now, Folks, This Ain’t Normal, and I am LOVING it. –Sandra (Greenwoman Magazine)

    Reply
  2. Melina says:
    December 31, 2011 at 10:16 pm

    All the best to you for the coming year. I wish I had HALF the energy you have!

    Reply

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