Two Goats and A Dog

Last Sunday at 10:30 p.m., we got a call to let us know that our new goats were in town! So Mom and Dad drove about an hour, picked up the goats that some friends had graciously transported from Georgia, and made it home by 12:00. We got them home, milked them, settled them in for the night, and fell into bed ourselves! The next morning we introduced them to the herd. Right away they all started establishing their pecking order, but it all went pretty smooth!

On the left is Ivy, who is 4, and on the right is Sunshine, who is 1. As soon as we started milking Sunshine, she put up a fuss. A big fuss! She kicked and squirmed and made it completely impossible to milk. The next day we tried again. Still the same thing. That day, my Poppy came up with the name Sunshine and it fit perfectly. So that night when she wouldn't sit still to milk, we sang:

"You are my Sunshine, my only Sunshine,

You make me happy when skies are gray.

You'll never know, dear, how much I love you.

Please don't take my Sunshine away!"

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And you know what, it worked! She sat as still as anything, and when she did lift up her foot, it was in s..l...o...w... motion. As long as we sing, she does pretty good. Oh, and it doesn't work for men! Dad tried singing it, and she still put up a fuss! Funny little goat!

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We also got a new dog! Well, he's not really "new". I'll explain...but first, meet Malachi

Malachi was a puppy of ours that we raised. He was born on July 5th, 2009. Recently the owners emailed us and let us know that they would be selling him and wanted to know if we would want him first. I personally wanted a male Great Pyrenees. We had males in years past, but we had sold them all. They are just so big and impressive looking. So when we recieved this email, I was elated! He has turned out to be wonderful, and he smiles! Really smiles!

The Early Years...Part 1

Some of you have asked what our farm looked like in the beginning. So we thought we'd have some fun and dig up some "pictures of the past"!

This is a picture of our original herd of goats. They were briar/shrub goats. We bought these goats in 1997. We had recently eaten at a restaurant that had goats in a pen out back and just fell in love with them. Mom thought in would be a good homeschool project, so very soon after we bought these cutie pies! From left to right: Frisky (Kelsey's goat), Cocomo (Jordan's goat), Louis (our Boer buck), Sunshine (Savannah's goat), and Mary (the family goat). We did buy one more goat when we bought these, named Angel, but she died within the first few days we had her home. Five goats sure doesn't seem like a lot now, but back then I thought we had a BIG herd!

Jordan (8) with our first baby goat born, Barry.

Savannah (3) with Barry

This was their pen, about a 20x40 foot pen with a barn and a climbing stand.

And we thought chickens would also be a good project, so...

We built a chicken pen right next to our little goat pen! It was the same size as the goat pen. My grandparents found this little doll house and fixed it up for us three girls to play in. But after it became infested with wasps, and spiders, and all sorts of creepy crawlies, we didn't use it anymore, so it was transformed into a beautiful chicken coop that is still in use today!

Noah's 10th Birthday!

Tomorrow, August 25th, the youngest in our family (Noah) turns 10!

Noah Is:

Nice

Obliging, Obedient, Outgoing

Abounding with love, Accepting, Admirable, Affectionate, Aggreable
Happy

We love you Noah and hope that you have a wonderful birthday! You have been such a blessing to all of us! You are so kind and loving and you make our family whole. It is hard to believe that you are going to be ten! Oh, how the years fly! We love you so much!

With many birthday blessings,

Your family

A Better Whey...

A-Whey with your problems!

When we make cheese, the by-product is whey. Whey is filled with tons of vitamins! We recently had someone start getting some whey from us who had a toe fungus for years. She started drinking the whey and putting a few drops of it on her toes and within one week, her toe is starting to heal and she says it is the best her toes have ever looked!

Another lady had a severe problem with her eyes for two years and after seeing several doctors about it, no one could figure out what was up. At that time she started drinking our whey, and within one week her eye/vision problem was completely gone!

It amazes us at some of the simple remedies that work so good!

Ethan Was In the Newspaper!

This past Saturday the Aiken Farmer's Market held a party in honor of their 58th anniversary and in observance of the National Farmers Market Week. Mayor Fred Cavanaugh made a speech. A couple of days later, one of our friends showed us where Ethan was in the newspaper (the boy in the red shirt)! He was pretty excited!

Meet The Staff

We thought that you all would enjoy

meeting the staff of Trail Ridge Farm and Dairy

and seeing what what we do!

Kelly Hammond (Dad):

Co-Owner, Co-Manager, Sales Representative,

Computer Technician, & Head of the Labeling Department

Shelly Hammond (Mom):

Co-Owner, Co-Manager, Homestead

Cheesemaker, Secretary, Building and Grounds Maintenance,

& Sales Representative

Jordan Hammond:

Experimental and New Product Line Developer,

Sales Representative, & Homestead Cheesemaker

Kelsey Hammond:
Milking Operation Department, Animal

Maintenance, Building and Grounds Maintenance,

& Computer Technicians Assistant

Savannah Hammond:

Farm and Dairy Maintenance, Building and Grounds

Maintenance, & Sanitation Department

Ethan Hammond:

Sales Representative, Farm Maintenance

Assistant, & Waste Management

Noah Hammond:

Head of Water and Waste Management

Darrell Edens (Pop):
Building and Grounds Maintenance

Anna Edens (Gram):

Building and Grounds Maintenance,

& Milking Operation Assistant