I am finally brushing the dust off this blog and posting new information after quite a long break. Life has definitely not taken a break though, and many interesting events have occurred on the farm and off it. So I'll just bring you up to date on what's happened over the summer.

First off with Nell: My mom and I went on a road trip early/mid October up to Missouri to Jack Knox's kennel. We went to get her bred to one of Jack's prized dogs, Jim. We thought Nell was in full heat when we went up, but it turns out we were a couple days early, and had to stay up in Missouri for a couple of days. When Nell still wasn't bred after four days and I had to be home for class, we ended up leaving Nell with Jack for a little while.

Well, we have Nell back with us now and she got a couple successful ties with Jim, so she is well and truly bred. When I've had the chance to work her on the livestock she's worked as beautifully as ever. Though I haven't had too many chances to take her out on the livestock, she is going out to the barn every day to help out with our chores.

Now for Boone: Boone hasn't been working to his highest standards lately. He's been working in the barn with us when we do chores every day, but he's not really having to think hard about what he's doing. Thus he stops thinking and starts just wanting to have fun, and he starts running around the barn like a lunatic. As with Nell, I haven't had many opportunities to really work and train him for awhile, but I took him out today for a short outrun on the main herd of milking does and he behaved very calmly and attentively, showing a willingness to think if I work some more with him.

Clogging: This fall semester, I have had the opportunity to go to competitions with the Bailey Mountain Cloggers and dance with them in performances. This has been a wonderful experience that has taught me a huge amount. Loads of fun and great exercise.

Spider-Dance at Spinning Spider Creamery

Life on a goat dairy is a perpetual cycle of work and more work. As such, we dairy farmers are always looking for ways to make our operations more efficient and easier to manage. My name is Sylas Owen and for me this efficiency came in the form of my two herding dogs, Boone and Nell. I am 18 years old and my parents, Chris and Jeff Owen, are the owners and managers of Spinning Spider Creamery. During our milking season I am one of the primary milkers. Our milking herd, averaging at about 85 does mid summer, has to be milked twice a day, every day, from early March, when kidding begins, to mid December, when we dry the does off. Right now we are in early February and so are still in our dry season and don't have to milk the does. With the mud and cold outside and the warm fireplace to sit by inside this is the perfect time to start a blog.