Unexpected time for blogging ..

So, before you read this little blog, take time to scroll down and look at the time it was posted .....  Hmmm ... strange .... What is she doing blogging on a Sunday afternoon when she should be selling her delicious goatie produce to the good people of Marylebone?

Well, here's the reason ...

An unexpected appointment with a lovely AA man called Chris ... Just along the M2 near Rochester.

There I was, sailing along, admiring the view from the Medway bridge in the early morning sunshine.  Up and over the hill and down the looooonnnnnng straight towards Gravesend when suddenly the van lost power.  Flashing lights on dashboard and a BMW almost up the backside as I involuntarily slowed down.  Fortunately, it was all downhill to the handy service station at the bottom.  Looks like one of the injectors has gone again ... Didn't we do this last year?!

So, back to the farm on the back of an AA van, unload all the goatie goodies and then wave goodbye to the van as the nice man towed it off to the VW dealer.  Wouldn't like to be on the end of their phone in the morning when David gives them a call!

So, motoring disasters aside, it's been a rather sociable week actually.  Early Monday was a trip to the Museum of Kent Life to pick up the last of our little chaps to go to the butcher.  As in previous years, they have decided to keep a couple of them, so these are the lucky guys:

The piggies next door were still fast asleep!

I spent Wednesday at Macknade Fine Foods with several other suppliers as part of their 'Meet the Supplier' week.  A great chance to spend some time with other producers and chat to customers about our yummy cheese.

I whizzed in to Borough Market on Thursday to see Joe (and grab a delicious quick lunch!) before heading off to sunny Balham for a rather nice cheese and wine evening as a guest of Linear London.  LL design and fit the most stylish kitchens and bathrooms and the setting for the evening was just wonderful.

Elephant Bakehouse from Streatham brought their amazing award-winning bread and Julia from The Wine Tasting Shop in Balham introduced everyone to some delicious wine.

Our lovely friend Sal whipped up some scrummylicious hors d'oeuvres made with our goatie curd and they proved to be very popular.

And I took the opportunity to spread out a few of our new batch of kid skins and take some pics ready for loading on to the web pages..

Markets were great yesterday and everyone was out enjoying the sunshine!

Goaties have been very happy the past few days as they have been able to get outside again after the hideous weather early in the week.  This was the view from the milking parlour on Tuesday morning..

But, eventually, the sun came out and there was a bit of synchronised sunbathing going on outside the barn. For some reason Cassie, Twinkle and Tinky decided to stand in a line with their front feet up on a ledge ... Who knows why!

The kids we left with their mums are really getting big now.  And much naughtier.  This is what happens at the end of milking when most of the adults have gone through the parlour and the kids are left with the whole barn to themselves.

But, it has to be said, some of the adults are equally naughty .. This is Tiffany trying to get more food out of the bucket which is on the parlour floor.  She should be on her way out down the ramp!

And finally ... thought you might like to see a pic of our oldest goatie.  Tammy is now well over 12 years old and still looks great.  Touch wood, she is still as fit as a fiddle and still gives us a bit of milk occasionally although her kidding days are now over.  I think she looks pretty good for a 'geriatric' goat!