Many of you believe The Bibbed Wonder is just the eye candy of the operation. Truth be told, he will tell you he IS the eye candy of the operation and then follow with a tiger like snarl and say, “drink it in ladies.” At this point please insert exasperated eye roll...yes, this is how I live. Although indeed eye candy, he is also very innovative.
With necessity being the mother of invention, my bibbed wearing buddy has done a wonderful job of creating things to make soap making easier and more efficient. I use three-inch PVC pipes for my round bars of soap. This is an idea I found on Pinterest…insert golden, glowing light from the heavens above and triumphant music. This idea is marvelous but, there were some issues. First, finding a way to encapsulate the bottom so the soap did not run out in rivers of hot, lye filled lava. Pinterest suggested waxed paper held in place with rubber bands. When the pipe was a mere six inches long, it was not an issue. However, our pipes are almost three feet long and the force of soap dropping from that height could easily blow out the bottom and create one big, chemical burning, hot mess…and it did on more than one occasion.
Enter my bibbed wearing Einstein. He not only created a bottom for the soap tubes, he created a stand which would hold the tubes safely and securely upright. Not only did he create a stand and bottom, he created what we call a soap pounder, which makes removing the soaps from the tubes much easier. It is true, he is not just a pretty face. He is inventive with all aspects of the soap and farm. His innovations make the difficult or impossible, doable and possible.
As our herd grows, so does our need for viable pasture field. We now have four pastures to rotate everyone through which makes for a healthy, happy herd. The challenge with the pasture across from the barn is that it doesn’t have a building which we can milk the girls. The girls have shelter, Eric built what I call portable goat yurts, and they work marvelously for keeping the girls dry and protecting them from the elements. However, they are not tall enough to make a milk stand work. Remember the perfectly lovely stock trailer I told you about? My innovative mastermind has positioned it at the gate, fitted it with a portable milk stand, and housed all our milking needs in one small area. Now, all we have to do is open the back of the trailer, allow one of the girls to enter, allow one to exit, and we have an easy, portable milking station for the girls.
The girls have been in the side pasture for almost two weeks and they are not loving their new setting. Although the pasture is large, with tall grass, a pond, a creek, and a variety of brush and shrubs to devour; they choose to hang out by the trailer and fuss every time they see one of us. I have tried to explain to them that it is very similar to summer camp. They have simple, clean yurts to sleep in, they can fill their days with nature walks, exploring the creek bed, or chasing frogs in the pond. My encouragement and explanation are met with an annoyed gaze, a loud burp, and a noisy chewing of one’s cud. They are not impressed, no not impressed at all. Like summer camp, it only seems like it lasts forever. Come fall, the girls will once again move back to their well-loved barn and surrounding pasture field. They will return to their comfortable routine with their familiar milk stand and all will be right in their world. Until then, we all try to sneak out of the house without being seen because of the never ending, deafening complaints from Camp Smay-Ka-Wacko.
So, you see dear reader, I am truly a fortunate woman. I get the best of all worlds, not only is he a sexy, bald, bib wearing Adonis. He is a compilation of Einstein, Jobs, and Tesla and let us not forget a heavy influence of Robin Williams, Eddie Murphy, and Steve White. I tell Jordan, when you are choosing a partner, you want to choose the Eric’s in this world…although I’m pretty sure they broke the mold after him…insert relieved sigh.
As always, stay safe, stay smart, use innovative practices, and keep washing your hands.