Goat Milk Soaps.

One of the things we do around here to make some extra hay money for the goats is to make and sell Goat Milk Soaps. This is a batch of curing Cucumber Soaps. We do several scents here at CBF. Thanks to our girls who work extra hard to provide
fresh creamy milk for our table and our soaps we are able to make soaps nearly year round.
Typically we sell out during christmas season though I am making batches continually so will have soaps shortly again. Our scents include: Lavender, Lavender Oatmeal, Lavender Eucalyptus, Spice (Cinnamon/Clove/Nutmeg), Cucumber, Jasmine Green Tea, Clary Sage Flax, Tea Tree Oil, Pure and Basic (no scent/no colorant), Strawberries N Creme. We are planning on coming out with some new soaps in 2010. One thing we will be doing is a Gluten free/Corn Free soap. A person request from Dear Hubby who is gluten intolerant and has a corn allergy. Did you know that your skin absorbs what you put on it? So folks with sensitivities can have reactions to the things they put on their skin!!!! YUCK! We also use all natural ingredients in our most all of our soaps including Mica for colorants and mostly essential oils. WE do use a few "scent" oils in our soaps so if you choose one of those scents - they aren't all natural! Please bear with us as we transition to even better ingredients. Because we care about what YOU put on your skin!!!!

Update on new buck!

As some of you know, we have a new buck on order from Ironwood Ranch.
He is due in Jan (out of Pecan and Snickerdoodle) or Feb (out of Minnie and Jed)
We have been getting updates periodically from the Carpenters about the goings on there
and I get more and more excited by what I'm hearing. First, All of their does have earned their AR through I believe both ADGA and AGS. Minnie and Pecan both milked over 1300#'s of milk on the 305 day test this year.
Minnie and Pecan are both 1/2 sisters to Tirzah's Dam MCH Esperanza SJ Patience.
I also found out that Smarty Jones - Patience dam just became + *B thru ADGA and earned his AR herdsire designation as well which will make my buck's sire a *B/*S, and because Pecan has her * - my little buck will also have his * designation as well. Also, IF Jed's dam, Ice Sculpture, gets tested and earns her star (which the Carpenter's are sure she will) then Minnie and Jed's buck kids will also receive their * designation . No matter which way you cut it, this is great news for CBFNigerians. Oh, our 3rd choice doe is due this week. I highly doubt we will get one out of Gingersnap BUT it will give us a good preview of what we may get this year.
Congrats to the Carpenter's and the Ironwood Ranch goats who have worked hard this year!

Alyssa Update/Hana Update

Well, we've been getting some good news on the medical side of life. Alyssa just completed her 3rd set of "CLEAN" scans and is officially at 6 month in remission. They will be scheduling her port removal soon and then we have another set of scans in March. Dr. Winter is very happy with her progress and so are we! PRAISE GOD!

For those of you who have been praying for Hana Allen, she is home finally after 2 months in Cincinatti OH. Unfortunately it does look like she may have to go back for more surgery but we are praying hard her bladder recovers and doesn't need the augmentation afterall (for more reasons than one ;0) ! As of right now she has had some post surgery deterioration and her Dr. is thinking more surgery is needed but they will have some testing done locally to determine where her bladder is at then go from there - in the meantime, Hana is home with her family and getting some recovery time with her loving family and in her familiar surroundings.

Another update on a few of our organizations of the week - Children's Cancer Fund of NM recieved a $200 donation from Bosque Farms 4H club - Thank you ALL for your generosity!!!!
The money will be used to buy toys for their toy box at the hospital. This box provides new toys to be giving to kids when they go to clinic for treatments and appts. They also give toys to siblings. It really makes getting those treatments a little easier!

Light the Night/Lymphoma & Leukemia Society - We did the walk this past fall and through all of our generous family and friends raised nearly $1800.00 I know that LLS does research on new medicines that have helped the survival rate for blood cancers go way up (Hodgkin's Lymphoma has a survival rate of 98% right now!) and they also provide stipends for families of cancer patients battling blood cancers to help defray the costs of medical treatments etc. YOU all deserve a big pat on the back and we can't thank you enough for your generosity!

Bittersweet year for CBF Nigerians Ahead

As an animal owner there is nothing more pressing than finding good homes for those you can't or don't keep. After a lot of thought and sleepless nights I have decided to sell both Joie and Kokoro. It wasn't a decision I came upon lightly and really did not want to make but I really feel, with the crossroads I'm at in the herd and in my life I did finally decide to sell both girls. I did not think it would happen quickly at all but it happened much faster than I thought. Thankfully, both girls are going to what sounds like and incredible home in March. As much as I adore Koko, her pretty markings, her beautiful face....

It is Joie that I will miss the most. Joie has been and really is a very special doe for us. She has provided us with a lot of learning, wonderful babies, A TON of milk and she just is my Joie. But alas, I am going in a little bit different direction than I originally thought. Yes, we are still going to be concentrating on milk of course !!!! But when I began shopping for a new buck in spring we thought we were going one direction - a direction where Joie would have stayed here, but because that buck fell through and another buck is in the making (literally - he is due either the beginning of Jan or Feb) I felt the better choice was Joie's half sister Tirzah. I would like to keep a lot of babies this year with our herd name as well and in order to do so, minimizing my stress levels and given our very limited amount of space I needed to cut my numbers somewhere. I only kept Kokoro because I thought my older daughter was getting back into showing and now she's not wanting to show so Koko was an obvious choice.

I know there will be a lot of tears this spring as Joie moves on to help a new herd get underway and I will miss lovely little Koko running around the goat pen. I do thank the folks who are buying Koko and Joie for giving them a wonderful loving home to go to. I hope Joie will be a joy to you as she is to me and I hope Koko fits into your herd and provides you with lots of ribbons, and milk for your herd. On a more positive note - we sold Joie's first daughter to a friend in Colorado - this doe was a favorite of my daughter Suzy - and due to health issues they are havng to cut down on numbers therefor Skye will come back to join us here at CBF. I don't know if this is wise but Skye has always been Suzy's doe even after we sold her so I know that maybe this doe is meant to be back in Suzy's hands so Suzy can start her own herd of Nigies. Our Colorado friends are keeping Skye's doe kid and buckling from this year so I guess that's the way the ball rolls.....Welcome back Skye.