livin' the farm life- sheep trailing

I was informed that the yearly sheep trailing was happening at the end of September. I waited patiently for 2 hours and then spotted the dust. I was very excited to see this happen. Sheep trailing is when the herders collect the sheep that have been free grazing high up in the mountains all summer long. They gather them together and start sending them down the trail. A dog will lead the way while the herders stay behind and make sure the sheep stay together. They kind of got spooked when they saw me photographing them so I had to jump out of the way so they would keep going down the street. I couldn't let my kids miss such a neat first experience so I pulled them out of school early and had them wait for something coming down the road. Rocket said, "What is that? Are those... SHEEP!?" They loved it as they walked by within feet of us. It was so fun! What a great experince. Can't wait for the rest of the family to be here and experience all these fun new things with us.

how do you milk a sheep???

One of the first questions asked of us when the topic of sheep milk cheese comes up is, "how do you milk a sheep??" Well, I was sent this great youtube video from our friend, Dale Peel. Hopefully, this will shed some light on how to milk a sheep. Enjoy!

Milking sheep at Hawks Highland Farm

the stars must align

Now that I am here there are many things that need to happen in order for us to reach our goals. Let's list them so we can see what needs to happen:

-Ophiuchus: Officially register name & trademark logo
-Boötes: Business Plan & correct licenses
-Lyra: Loans for above items (eeks!)
-R136a1: Build/renovate cheese facility (be ready by spring)
-Mensa: Milk supply ready by spring
-Triangulum: Trucks or bags to deliver that milk
-Corona Australis: Cheese kitchen that meets dairy standards
-Corona Borealis: Cheese making equipment & holding tanks
-Vulpecula: Set up website & business office
-Sagittarius: Start making cheese to age and sell
-Delphinus: Delivery system in place
-Gemini: Get product out to public


WOW! That's a lot of stars! Holy Cow, we need to get the ball rolling.
Now that we got the logo drawn and the name picked I went and got it registered and trademarked in Salt Lake City. We are officially a business as of September 1, 2010.
OPHIUCHUS has aligned.











How exciting!
So... one down and millions more to go. Wish us luck!

our name & logo...

It only took well over a year to come up with a name for our company but we finally made the decision and here it is... drums....

Oolite Cheese Company

taking the big plunge

After a month of pondering we decided to make a huge leap of faith and have me and the three little kids move to our adorable house in Utah while having Joel and the two older kids stay in Huntington to work and have one more year of school. Our main goal for doing this is to make a push for the business and get repairs done on the house while there is still a great job, not to mention, stop putting money into the landlords pocket instead of our own. It isn't so bad plus I get to start scoping out cheese kitchen locations. Several have come up but there are pro's and con's to each. I guess we just need to weigh the options and the best one will step forward. We are also looking into bids for the house repairs- it is a very exciting time and things are moving along very fast.

back from mexico

Joel had the BEST time. He met lots of new friends (ages 13-25) and visited some of the most beautiful sights. Caves, mountain cities, there were funerals & birthdays, a little bit of street justice and lots of incredible food. He was literally in heaven.

I was surprised that they actually made it to a cheese-maker. He loved the set up,though it was very third world and simple, that is exactly what he loved about it.
He is figuring out what he wants for our cheese kitchen and realizes simple may be the way to go.

The press set up was very interesting too, it is so fun seeing how other people do it, especially with very little money. He said she was very sanitary and had all of her licenses up on the wall. What he was most impressed with was that she still did everything by hand. No machines, just a very artisan way of making cheese which is our main goal.


He really liked the boys, they helped their mother make cheese throughout the week. And the best part of the visit was when he told her he wanted to make cheese- she suggested to make cheese in Mexico... and find a single woman who is already making it. He didn't catch it due to the language barrier but his posse of boys told him what she said. Even they were saying... ya- you should marry her and move here, she's real pretty too. He had to let them know he was already married. Too awesome!

off to mexico...

Joel and his co-worker Hugo are off to Mexico for memorial day weekend. Hugo has been trying for years to get Joel to come to his home town of Tlaltizapan,Morelos, Mexico.
Joel finally agreed when Hugo mentioned the possibility of visiting cheese-makers that he knew. The two set off last night around 8pm and had to drive to Tijuana, get on a plane and fly to Mexico City then take a bus into town. It was an all night trip for the two of them... The last night we spent with Hugo was when we went out with him and his wife Rosie. It was interesting to say the least. It started out with dinner then it was suggested we go to a Mexican bar that was close by. Well... what can I say? At about midnight I found myself dancing on the dance floor in a dirty Mexican bar, being the only white girl within 100 yards. I asked myself "What is going on and how did I get here... on my 14th wedding anniversary?" I am dancing the salsa (which I don't know) listening to the live mariachi band. All I could do was go with it. The music was loud and ever so often the singer would shout out towns in Mexico and those who are from that town would yell and shout claiming their homeland "viva Morelos- viva Tepoztlan!". We just laughed and shouted along with them. A few songs later Hugo went and whispered in the ear of the singer and gave him a buck- they started up again with the towns and then it came..."VIVA ju-tah!!!" Well at that point we all started screaming... Me and Joel, his brother Josh and Hugo & Rosie. It was hilarious. And that is how I spent my anniversary with Hugo & Rosie. Josh was the lucky one, he got to have a dancing partner for only $1/ dance. She was also our waitress. She would sit on your lap or sit by you for a nominal fee for the night. The best part is that Hugo paid her at first to dance with Josh but after a while she was asking Josh to dance... for free. What a great culture clash moment. We shall see if their trip is successful. I am hoping he will gain some insight into how smaller cheese-making shops are run.