It's getting cold in Tomales!

Which means it's almost Winter, which means it's almost January 31st, which means it's almost time to build the creamery if we want to stay on track!

Amazingly, Seana and Dave finished composing all the drafts for the Building Dept. to review before being officially submitted. To me, this feels like a huge step forward. Also, the cheese vat is due to arrive soon! It feels like waiting for a baby to be born...is it here yet?? Have we reached the due date?? I'm sure it's even more exciting for Seana and Dave, since it's really their vat and their creamery being developed. But ultimately I, too, will use the space (hopefully sooner rather than later), so I feel pretty elated at the progress. It doesn't actually feel real yet, as most dreams-come-true probably don't at first. But I bet once the jackhammer hits the concrete, reality will hit me, too.

We're still dealing with well and sewer matters. But considering how detrimental these two issues could be, I think we're getting through the formalities relatively quickly and easily. The county has some maps and documents regarding our well and sewer system, but we still have to pay for a couple tests to ensure they can handle additional use. It's wierd but also really cool for me to see everything the county has on file for the barn since the documents were originally submitted by my grandpa. When he built the dairy parlor he had no idea I would be digging up those files for a cheese plant and sheep dairy! I wish he could see it all now.

Speaking of sheep dairy, the ram went out with my flock of East Fresian ewes last week. Hopefully I'll have a healthy new crop of lambs by April! The ewes all look healthy and pretty stout, even though I've not been feeding them any hay.

Next on my to-do list for the sheep is to make a bedding area within one the old horse barn (built in 1860 for housing draft horses) for them to sleep on in the winter. It's a beautiful old barn...pictures will follow!