WWOOF Day

Sharing my farm life is such a pleasure (probably why I write the blog) and providing a hands-on experience is a joy.  Tecla will go down in my books as a treasure, one of the best WWOOFers yet, eager to learn and ready to try anything.  Actually, that's true of every WWOOFer who's spent a day here, but I think Tecla had the most fun.  She's been working with my friend Tim on his meat-goat ranch, learning to trim hooves, give injections, clean stalls (there's always scut work), and painting.  He has a lot of Kiko goats, stocky, long-horned animals that roam his acreage, and Tecla helps herd them all into his barn at night, quite a chore in itself.  Meat goats have a much different temperament than milkers and are not so used to being touched.  Tim gives his helpers a day off by sending them to me for a day, and I get to share the experience.  There was a bonus yesterday because Linda got to meet Tecla too.  Tecla was originally from the Netherlands.  In her past travels, Linda had visited that country so there was immediate common ground.

A typical day with a WWOOFer starts with a cup of coffee while we get acquainted and I start a batch of cheese, heating milk to temperature before adding rennet.  The milk cools and sets a curd while we get started on the chores of the day.  Also typical is that Inga spooked and wouldn't come in to be milked.  Aarrgh.  Just so many laps around the pen and I gave up.  Sheila quivered like an aspen leaf, but at least cooperated.  Quickly following directions, Tecla had success on her first try.  I get a kick out of seeing the look of triumph on a newbie's face when that first stream of milk hits the bucket.  Esther and Cindy came in properly and Tecla brushed them down.  And then it was Tessie's turn.  It took a little coaxing to bring her in, but she quickly settled down.  Each goat is a different experience, teats and udders never the same, so I ask the guest to try each one.  I forgot to warn Tecla that Tessie is a leaner.  The photo shows the angle of Tessie's back legs as she rested nearly full weight on Tecla's shoulder.  Thank God for a sense of humor.

Stalls cleaned and leaving Inga to suffer the consequences of her choices, we headed back to the house for Step 2 of the cheese and a cold beer.  Cutting the set curd and slowly reheating to the correct stage, it was ready to hang and drain.  That gave Linda, Tecla, and I some down time to sit in the shade on the deck with a cool breeze blowing and really get acquainted.  We later ate lunch out there before Linda took off to do some business.  Tecla and I stayed out on the deck and talked (and talked).  One of my pleasures is learning of the different places and kinds of work a dedicated WWOOFer has been and done, and Tecla has been doing this for years in many countries.  Today she leaves the goat ranch to try her hand on a bee farm north of here.  I'm impressed.  Fully drained and the cheese cut in cubes and salted, Tecla packed up her feta, leaving with big, heartfelt hugs and a promise to stay in touch, perhaps coming back in March when she comes back to help Tim with kidding.

It was a great day.