Perdita’s Leftovers

Astra is a good milking doe.  Last year she raised triplets on her own.

Astra, Joker, Avril, and Jester

This year she only has one kid.

Astra and Perdita

She has leftovers.  I am milking Astra once each day.

Perdita joins her mom while I milk

I’m getting quite a bit of leftovers.

quart jar with Astra’s extra milk

And we’re putting it to good use.

Reva’s kids: Micah and Mia

I’m also feeding Maisie’s little girl (on her right)

It’s nice to be milking again, even if it is just Perdita’s leftovers.

Stormy

This one was hard.  Stormy reminded me so much of her maa, Maddie, who was my favorite of the original Saanens. I had to dig through the old first ever digital photos (before I had a decent camera) to find this picture of her and her mom.

Stormy snuggling her mom just before I lost her (January, 2009).

She was always shy.  Nobody could get near her but me.

Litha and Stormy (probably late fall, 2009)

I was afraid I was going to lose her when she was only three years old.  She was horribly sick.

Stormy with Haley and Harley (April, 2011)

With lots of work, she recovered.  She and her girls were always close.

Haley, Harley, and Stormy (in 2015)

She would always surprise me when kidding.  She could look like she wasn’t even pregnant and have triplets two days later.  Or I’d think she was done having babies, so I’d check and find nothing. Then I’d come out later to find she’d had another.  I swear she carried them in her front leg.

Stormy eating nettles

It was fairly late in her kidding career that she became one of my milking does.  She was awesome!  Although, she does have a weird kink at the end of one teat.

Stormy in February, 2020

You always develop a special bond with your milking girls.  It’s been hard watching her get old and grow weaker this last month.

I will truly miss my girl.