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seana and marissa's blog

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All is not well...not without permits

 

It's November. My goal is that the creamery will be ready to rock on January 15th.  We have yet to obtain ANY permits. Needless to say, I’m feeling anxious and frustrated with the slow pace at which things seem to be moving. On Monday I had a massive migraine for the first time in many months, hmm… I wonder what could be the cause.

My cheese Jedi Halloween costume, also my normal cheeseamaking attire on other days besides Halloween
Beware! Scary things can happen in a creamery! This is my fave warning icon EVER.
this is a draft version of the floor plan for the creamery buidling - definitely not final and certainly subject to change!
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Making Progress and Cheese

Lots needs to be done to get the creamery project moving, but daily life seems to be getting in my way. Fortunately Seana and Dave are dedicating a lot of their time, and are making most of our progress!

We’re currently trying to obtain permits for plumbing, electrical, and water use. I actually thought this part of the process would go much quicker than it has, since the structure is sound and not too much needs to be done, relatively speaking. But permits take a lot of planning and negotiating. And you have to be willing to revise your plan and negotiate more. So while it’s a full-time job to get these things figured out and crossed off the to-do list, we go to our real jobs during the day, and work on permits in the hours between.

This is the cow-milk feta we made in class. It's perfectly creamy and salty and crumbly!
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100 days and $100,000 to turn this building into a creamery?

This blog will chronicle the planning, permitting, financing (including exact dollar amounts) and building of a micro creamery on a ranch in Tomales, California. It will feature alternating posts from 2 different people, Seana Doughty and Marissa Thornton, who have joined forces to help each other achieve their cheesemaking dreams and goals. Allow us to introduce ourselves.....

Interior - before Marissa's dad cleared it out of the stuff that had accumulated since the dairy shut down in 2001
Interior - after Marissa's dad cleared out the stuff. Dave is hosing the floor to observe the drainage pattern
The milking parlor where 200 cows used to be milked everyday. This will soon be converted to milk sheep and some cows too.
Seana and Marissa- if you think these look familiar, it's because they're our Facebook profile pics!
Where in the world is Tomales? It's 55 miles north of San Francisco, and 3 miles from Tomales Bay.