A trip to the store was a little over 8 miles by truck in the summer… in the winter it was also 8 miles, but 4 miles of that often had to be taken by foot. A gallon of milk weighs a little over 8 1/2 pounds in your backpack.
Mom tried powdered milk, but honestly have you tried it? It is a poor substitute while camping for the weekend, seriously though powered milk is not very good and not something for every day milk consumption for a family of five.
It wasn’t long before Dad traded for 2 baby goats and not very long after that their mom joined our family. Then another two goats… and a billy… so started our herd of milk goats.
Winter was harsh and our herd grew regardless of the season. When it was too cold in the goat shed for new borns they came into the house. Kid goats are like other farm animals and learn to walk around within hours, in a day they are jumping around and chasing one another through the house like kittens.
One day, two kids named “This” and “That” were running up the woodpile next to the stove, then jumping off the top. At some point they decided to jump from the top of the woodpile onto the stove itself. It was winter so obviously the stove was heating the house, but it was also being used to cook Dad’s famous chili. As the kids walked across the hot stove their little hooves became hot and they started to dance across the stove and through the chili.
It happened in just a few seconds of time because of course we had to get them down, but it was a very memorable few minutes indeed.