Ready, Set, Build!

Well, here we go!  The foundation for the aging room (aka: cheese cave) is being poured today.  We had no idea we would be expanding our operations in less than a year. Now Eric has to put his tool belt back on and plug in the nail gun.  Next week the walls should be up for our two separate temperature zoned aging rooms and additional drying room. Right now Eric is sitting on the couch drinking a beer asking himself why? 

Ouch! I hope they didn't want that porch.

The porch had to go and the dairy is getting a facelift.  The new addition is starting today and will contain....well lots of new cheeses.  After all we are a cheese company.  FYI: We are building aging rooms to be able to bring you new and wonderful aged cheeses.  Don't worry we are recycling the porch to build our goat mountain (aka - goat playground) higher.

Be Prepared for Changes

This is our dairy since we began in April of this year.  Business has grown faster than expected and we too have grown faster as cheesemakers than expected.  Changes are afoot and our dairy will feel those growing pains shortly.  Stay tuned for blog updates at Caprino Royale.

Clean up time around the farm

Well, it finally became clean up time. A neighbor with a dozer (some money of course) and a little time made way for more fencing and cleaning up of the ever growing brush piles. This is a pyromaniacs dream. A little dry matter, some diesel and a match and magic. Thankfully the neighbors weren't home. Did I mention it made way for a barn, yes the barn to keep that ever growing stack of hay and basic farm junk. Stay tuned for future barn pics.

The Blog is Back

Due to technical difficulties and our lack of technical prowess our blog has been down, but it is back. I have moved all the posts from the old blog to the new one for your enjoyment and to catch up if you are new. So many things have happened since the last blog so be prepared for many to come.

September 13th

Love is in the air

Posted in Uncategorized on September 13th, 2010 by caprino – Be the first to comment

“Oh James!”

Love is in the air here at the farm. Unfortunetely the song is better than the smell blowing around. We are in the midst of breeding and Mr. Bond is holding true to his namesake. The girls line up at a chance to service the only male on the premise that is functioning (except of course me, but I am married). Goat kids lead to more milk and more milk leads to more cheese and more cheese leads to happy customers. What a nice train of events. I wish I could say that the girls are in store for a romantic encouter with Mr. Bond but unfortunetley it is a simple matter of he dresses himeself for the ocassion (pees on himself) makes several strange noises, gives them the buck leg spins them around, mounts them does the deed and then pants. Lasts only a few seconds. Oh the wonders of young love. Of course the girls are only interested in him for about a day.

Vodka Martini Shaken Not Stirred

August 9th

Vodka Martini Shaken Not Stirred

Posted in Uncategorized on August 9th, 2010 by caprino – Be the first to comment

The boys have discovered the comforts of the outdoor lounge.  The heat is miserable these days on the farm and even the goats are seeking shade and comfort.  Mr. Bond (intact) and Felix (not so intact) are taking a break from browsing and are strategizing their tactics on the fall rut season.  Two of our young girls wanted a date with Mr. Bond today.  Better luck next time girls.  After all he is Mr. Bond.

July 17th

Not an Intern but the next best thing (free labor)

Posted in Uncategorized on July 17th, 2010 by caprino – Be the first to comment

We got a rent-a-teen for a week. With so many requests for farm visits, we had to get the farm into shape. Enter Little Martin. He did point out that I occasionally need to throw the feed bags away. 3 months is a little long to wait. Thus the farm is ready for visitors. It is still a work in progress but is acceptable. Thanks to Martin for the huge help. I thought after a week of blistering heat and labor he would not want to come back but low and behold the magic of cheese has lured him back for another week of “farm camp”.

Newest Member

Welcome to the newest member of our herd, Solitaire. She was born solo so we have been giving her alot of personal attention. Her new buddy is our daschund but I am not sure if the goat thinks she is a dog or the dog thinks she is a goat. Seems like mothers day and fathers day were busy with babies this year. At least Pocket the daschund has a friend her size to play with for about two weeks.

June 11th

Spring Growth

Posted in Uncategorized on June 11th, 2010 by caprino – Be the first to comment

Spring is the time for new growth.  This is one of our spring babies (Money Penny).  She was the tiniest doeling born this year from our doe Tootsie.  The magic of goat milk helped her grow big and strong.  Caprino Royale is growing this Spring too with new customers arriving each week at the Dallas Farmers Market.  Now our products can also be found at Fearing’s at the Ritz Carlton in Dallas and the Texas Cheese House in Lorena.  We are meeting with 135 Prime and Baylor in Waco today.  Thank you to all our new customers.  We enjoy meeting each and every one of you and sharing with you the freshest products from our farm.  Next year Money Penny will meet Mr. Bond and begin making cheese.

May 23rd

Not Enough Time

Posted in Uncategorized on May 23rd, 2010 by caprino – 1 Comment

The whole fulltime job thing just gets in the way of the other fulltime job (making cheese). A week and a half and I do this fulltime. Karen hopes to follow soon. Those degrees do look good on the wall, all four of them. Also not enough time to blog. We are up on facebook and hope to keep up on this as well. As they say no rest for the wicked. I don’t feel wicked but I am not getting much rest.

May 9th

Happy Mother’s Day!

Posted in Uncategorized on May 9th, 2010 by caprino – Be the first to comment

Happy Mother’s Day!  Our Butterscotch gave birth to twin boys today to celebrate the event.  They were three days early and of course came just when I was starting a new batch of Feta cheese (timing is everything).  Eric had left the farm to run an errand, so between stirring the curd I got all the baby stuff ready and made a 911 call to Eric.  He made it home just in time for the first one to arrive.  The birth was uneventful and out came these two cute boys.  We think we have already found a home for them.  They will only live with us for weeks, but we will always remember this mother’s day.

April 27th

Caprino Royale is officially in business!

Posted in Uncategorized on April 27th, 2010 by caprino – Be the first to comment

  Wow, so much has been happening at the farm.  We are now officially making cheese and cajeta.  We had our first market day last Saturday at the Dallas Farmer’s Market.   We met some amazing people and were surprised to sell out of our products by 3pm.  We are looking forward to being there every Saturday.  Look for us in Shed 2 (the indoor specialty food shed).  Most of the ladies have kidded except for Butterscotch and Butterbean.  We have 3 new ladies from the TLC farm, two are vacationing here (Pepper-Tootsie’s mom, and Sonny) and one will stay (Tulsa).  So far we have 3 beautiful doe kids (pictures to follow in next blog)  and we hope to add at least a couple more when the Butter girls kid.  We are counting down the days now until Eric ”retires” from teaching to become a full time farmer.  Has anyone ever seen the show Radical Sabbatical?  We are living the dream and loving it!  

April 2nd

Caprino Royale’s first Bond Girl

Posted in Uncategorized on April 2nd, 2010 by caprino – Be the first to comment

Our first Bond Girl!

Meet Honey Ryder (left) and her brother Taco (okay that is grim).  She is the very first Bond girl (Sire: Latte Da Mr. Bond/Dam: TLC-Farms Oh Panama) born at Caprino Royale.  We think she is a true beauty (check out those long legs and ears) and she might already be smarter than your honor student.  She is the first one of our kids who has figured out how to escape out of the kindergarten pen.  Luckily our dogs M and Q are always on the job and protected her until I got back from town this morning.  Good dogs!  Check back soon, our herd queen is due to kid next week and she appears to be having triplets (gads!).

March 27th

We have kids!

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Our first babies ever!

The first babies have arrived at Caprino Royale!  OhLivia delivered two beautiful babies on Monday.  She is doing fine.  Unfortunately they are both bucklings. We think they are mighty cute except for the yellow poop (seen in background).  That stuff sticks to everything.  It is a good thing this picture isn’t from behind or you would see their crusty little butts.  They are having fun trying out their new legs and can bounce quite high.  We think they bounce to fling off the poo.  We hope to find a new home for the boys (any takers?).

March 19th

Two new lovely ladies

Posted in Uncategorized on March 19th, 2010 by caprino – Be the first to comment

After a long dry spell without milk (really less then a month, but it seems like an eternity), we are happy to announce the arrival of two new lovely ladies to our herd.  Meet Carmella (on the left) from TLC Farms and Liberty from the Blue Heron Farm.  We are so happy to have them join our family!  The girls are settling in and couldn’t have come at better time when all the spring vegetation is popping up.  They are discovering new plant species in our area that they didn’t even know about.  (Yes, I had to show the goats what to eat on our nature walk.)  The milk is now flowing and begging to become cheese.  I will show it how tonight.

March 9th

We aren’t kidding (yet)

Posted in Uncategorized on March 9th, 2010 by caprino – Be the first to comment

Farms are always changing and evolving, even when they are new farms.  We are remodeling the girls shelter and feeding station into a nursery for the new kids.  We are expecting our first kids on March 23rd!  Watch for updates and the anxious mothers (Oh-Livia and me) await the blessed event.

February 28th

Gone but not forgotten

Posted in Uncategorized on February 28th, 2010 by caprino – Be the first to comment

This is our Harley mechanic Henry.  Sadly, we had to sell the Harley’s so we could keep building on the dairy and have it finished by our projected opening date of April 2010.  Our Harley’s are gone, but Henry has not forgotten us.  He has transformed into a mighty good friend and as it turns out he has mad skills with other tools not related to motorcycles.  He has been helping us at the farm and as long as we feed him and give him a good glass of wine now and then, he keeps coming.  Thanks Henry!  You have been a great help at Caprino Royale.

February 24th

What to do on a snowy day

Posted in Uncategorized on February 24th, 2010 by caprino – Be the first to comment

What to do on a snowy day

What do you do on a snowy day?  The goats eat and we drink wine and eat goat cheese.  Eric came home on an early release day because of the snow and found Felix (Mr. Bond’s sidekick) collapsed in the snow weak and lifeless.  He sprang into action, scooped him up and brought him into the shelter.  He put a heat lamp on him, gave him warm water, nutrients and vitamins, and nursed him back to health.  It is amazing how fast a goat can go down and then back up again.  Eric is my hero.  We love you Felix; we are glad you lived.  Oh, did I mention this always happens during bad weather?  Eric now plans to build a goat infirmary in our back yard, so we can watch the sick ones from the comfort of our living room.  Are we crazy?  No, just crazy about goats.

Happy Valentine’s Day from the Farm

February 15th

Happy Valentine’s Day from the Farm

Posted in Uncategorized on February 15th, 2010 by caprino – 1 Comment

Happy Birthday Love Bug

Today is my birthday.  I spent my day eating hay and pasture while watching Karen and Eric build the dairy.  Eric is so romantic, he let Karen hold the siding while he put the screws in.  All they ever do is work on the dairy.  I wish they would hurry up because that milking room will be heated and air conditioned.  A show goat like me deserves such luxuries.  Happy Valentine’s Day to all.

Caprino Royale is Online!

Our Blog Broke

Hey everyone, our old blogger quit working and in frustration we are starting a new blog.  Hang in there with us while we get it up and running.  We will try to archive the old blog postings if possible.