Hey... where'd Jason and John go???

We're here... we're alive!  We're busy but things are really settling in again.  In fact, the babies are about grown up already!  Kidding Season is over.  Our little babies are about all off of milk, if you can believe it.  This season flew and "flung me over the shoulder" and carried me away.  It was hectic and exciting and trying but good. 

The Memorial Weekend Garden Festival was such an amazing blast, too.  John and I really enjoyed ourselves and we hope all who attended did as well. 

But what now?  My "work" out in the barn is near done for this year.  My time in there is trickling down to scarce and I'm not 100% sure which direction to go next, as my schedule begins to clear up. 

So first thing's first, I'm working on redoing our website.  I've decided it needs to be freshened up and possibly needs a new direction.  We appreciate all of you who've been signing our Guest Book and are trying our best to get back to every one's questions, personally.  We love that people are engaged and interested in what's going on here.  

Next, I'm thinking of creating some more projects for sale for the website store, but streaming it down a bit.  Though the website has become seasonal - affected by our work in the barn - I would like to pump new blood into the new site now and update much more frequently.  I would add products, but as one-of-a-kinds.  I wouldn't replicate or copy items unless I have a mold.  So my items will all be unique so it would be nice to go back to where we were in the beginning and add a new item once a week.  It keeps it interesting and allows a good reason for you to come back regularly.  We'll do that with the launch of the new site - coming soon!

On that note, I TOTALLY APOLOGIZE for waiting soooooo looooong to update.  It's been an eternity and I don't want that to happen again. 

You may be wondering what I'll actually be making then for the new site.  You'll have to wait and see!  (Suspense is so... suspenseful!)  But it shouldn't be much more of a wait. 

I WILL keep you posted.  Promise. 

Thanks everyone for you patience! 

Jason

New site under construction...

Very shortly, in the month of May, John and I will be launching a brand new FarmerJohnandJason.com.  We're very excited and have been working hard at putting this new concept together. 

Sometime this month, we may have to shut down the current website for maintanence, when the time draws closer, to install the new and improved site.  We'll keep you posted and we can't wait to show you what we have in store!

Thanks for checking in and I'll post soon!

Jase

We're updating the old and adding a new website - very soon!

Yes, John and I are very excited to announce that in the next two months, we will be reinventing our Farmer John and Jason website.  We also will be creating a second, unique one!  I'll explain... 

First of all, farmerjohnandjason.com is about to become a more beautiful site.  It will be enhanced with a much more user friendly interface with professional Flash effects and animations making it very interesting and giving it a far more polished feel.  We will also be "weeding out" and streamlining the site to allow it to have a clearer functionality. 

We'll have new products available in our new, improved storefront and we'll have better reliability in keeping things in stock. 

We also, of course, will keep those blogs, animal videos and photos, as well as the online games coming, as people have requested.  So farmerjohnandjason.com will be the place for you to go if you are interested in our lives and the animals's lives here at the Beekman. 

However, if you are simply gaga over goats (as many people are) and looking for a good resource them, then we are pleased to note that we're going to launch a second and separate site called "Unique Goat Products". That site will be for anyone who owns goats, or is interested in getting some goats, or just loves goats in general and is looking for decorative goat art work or even functional and innovative barn equipment related to helping them raise their own.  This site will provide unique items for your goats and you, their owners.

So with these big changes in the upgrading of one and the creation of another, we're attempting to satisfy both populations of people who've been following our site.  This decision seems to make sense - rather than cramming it all into farmerjohnandjason.com like we have before.  It should be better and clearer for everyone that way.   :) 

So I hope you're as excited about these upcoming changes as we are.  I personally can't wait till this project is complete and up and running!  Very soon.

But speaking of completed projects, I need to mention that I hope you enjoy the premiere of Season 2 of the Fabulous Beekman Boys this coming Tuesday evening on Planet Green.  It'll should be a fun time for all!

Now... I'm heading out to make a new video of the baby goats.  Will post it on our homepage once it's edited.

Thanks for reading!

Eureka!

I figured out a solution to a big dilemna John and I have.

That issue is, that we produce more milk than can be purchased, currently.  With the number of milk producers in the barn, presently, and after the milk is fed to the babies, the excess "liquid gold" (milk) is often thrown out!  It's a shame and it's obviously not something we want to do, but have had to since the goat's births have not directly coincided with the production of the products that are currently made from the milk. 

So... while dumping a five gallon jug into the pig pen, an idea came to me.  I have had success this past year making whitewash paint from the milk.  (You may see this is Season 2. )  I'd also heard of milk glue before too.  These are non edible products from milk.  And people are obviously also able to create solid things from milk as well, like 2 pound wheels of edible cheese.    Therefore, I believed there must be a way to make non-edible objects from the milk too.

I started researching and I found the answer I was looking for.  It was possible to make durable, lasting objects cast from molds for the milk. 

But what should I make?  Hmmm...  Sculptures!

It looks like I'm actually going to be able to cast solid relief sculptures out of goat's milk!

Sounds a bit weird doesn't it?  I thought so too, but I was determined and have since been experimenting.  And I've found that it's true.  Objects can be cast from goat's milk. 

Now, I have more research and experimentation to do.  The recipe I'd found was not complete, so I'm filling in the holes myself, but it's VERY promising. 

So, soon, it looks like I'll be making some relief sculptures for our store from this!  (Which we've been wanting to add to our store inventory now anyway.) 

And anyway, we can't let that milk go to waste.  We owe it to the "Girls".  :)

So, keep your fingers crossed for me and I'll, as always, keep you posted. 

Thanks!

What are we doing now?

Just a quick list entry to let you know "what's up" here at farmerjohnandjason.com.  Like we've said already, things are busy! 

• We're very excited and waiting patiently for Season 2 of "The Fabulous Beekman Boys" to air on March 22.

 

• We're only about a third of the way through the birthing season yet but goat's births have slowed for a few days giving us a break.  (Gives us a little time to breathe.)

• Speaking of breathing better, Justin (my brother) made some installations with the barn's ventilation system.  Phew!  The air is clear.  Also, we debuted his song "Black Capped Chickadee" in our work  video.  People have really enjoyed it.  (The song can be purchased and downloaded here.)

• Mom's working around the clock to create the stuffed plush goats for our store.  They're coming soon!

• Shirley's also working hard on her items.  She'll have some new things on here very shortly.

• Dad too!

• John's got his list of 2010/ 2011 "goats for sale" published on our site for downloading if anyone's interested in buying some.

• We're glad that the milk season has officially begun.  Brent picked up a batch of milk today for the first time this year and Deb has already taken some for soap production. 

• I'm planning on releasing photos and video more often now on our site.  So you'll have even more reason to come back more often.

• We're also doing a bit of a redesign and SEO Optimization on farmerjohnandjason.com to make it a stronger, better and smoother site to navigate.  These subtle changes will take place this month. 

• Lastly, there is a change regarding the story I'm creating about the goats.  It's a good change!  See, I've just been introduced to a new technology where, instead of creating a simple paper back book - we're going to get with the times and go digital and interactive.  It's really cool!  I'm so thrilled about it and I think you'll really love it when it's finished.  It might be released in chapters.  I'll explain more in another entry. 

However, just so you know, it will also be released as a book as well, though realistically, may not be out till the end of the year.  (Publishing a book is complicated!)   :)

So thanks for checking up on us and we'll keep you posted!

We want to show you the creative work of our family members!

Below are some items to peruse through that we were referred to in the video. 

If you would like more information about an item or would like to buy,

simply click on the picture and you will be navigated to the

Farmer John and Jason Storefront

regarding that particular item's description and price.

There you will find more information you are looking for.

Remember, at the store, there are more items that haven't been listed here!

Shirley's "Farmer John" Quilt

Marcia's "Cardinal Red" Braided Rug

Richard's Kitchen/ Dining Table

Richard's Goat Cart Coffee Table

Richard's Silo Door Towel Holder

Rustic Coffee Table

Many interesting items at

Farmer John and Jason's Storefront.

Click here to go there.

And thanks again for your interest!

New Baby Schedule and a Preview of my Upcoming Picture Book!

Wow.  Life has suddenly changed for us in an exciting way!  As we’ve already stated on our site and on Facebook, the babies have begun to arrive.  John and I went from being in the barn daily a few hours throughout the winter, to now somewhere between 8-9 hours a day.  You may be thinking, “Well, your farmers and that’s a normal work schedule.”  That would be true, yet all of the new hours are from only eight days of births, which resulted in over 55 goat kids! 

This is just the tip of the iceberg, too.  See there are still over eighty more mothers to kid yet and each of them have an AVERAGE of two.  In other words, LOTS of fluffy, cute faced, long droopy eared (some perky) baby goats are on their way. 

And regarding our hours, John and I are currently out there, in the Beekman Barn, eight a day now with just 50 babies. With another 300% still on their way… let’s just say we’ll be putting in a little “over time”. 

Last year I was not as involved in the birthing and kidding process.  I grew up on a farm and have been living here at the Beekman for quite awhile now, but being this involved is a new experience for me.  VERY exciting and fun, I have to say. 

And what a "job"/ business to be involved in!  I mean, not to state the obvious, but these babies are sooooooo cuuuuuute!!!!  I think of them like my treasured "customers" since I’m the one who predominantly bottle feeds them.  They are such a pleasure to work with!  lol.  And boss man John makes for a great “partner” in the biz.  :)

Now, I’ve started looking at our time issue (or lack thereof) as a creative challenge.  It’s a problem that needs a resolution.  We have to constantly streamline the efficiency of our new system of working together, so I'm thinking of new “inventions” to help,  That way we can feed all the new babies in the same window of time that we’ve been working this past week.  It’s possible, I’m certain of it.

On a separate note, since I am not YET in the barn 24/7,  I do still have a little down time to eat, sleep and work on my story that I’ve been developing.  I wanted to let you know that the puppet show DVD may be postponed till later in the year, due to the severe lack of time right now.  However, the story is just about complete so I am taking it’s concept and turning it more immediately into a picture book.  It will be available as a set – a book and a stuffed plush stuffed animal based on the character.  I'm writing and illustrating it too so I have below some to show you.  It'll just give you an idea as to the look of the book, when it's complete. 

Enjoy!

Hope you like the style of it.  I estimated that there will be over a hundred illustrations when complete.  It's the first book I've ever created so it's dear to my heart and I'm having a blast working on it.  I'll give you more updates as it moves along.  

Also, we'll post more photos of the babies through the next few months as they arrive.

Thanks for reading today! 

A lot of new milk means a need for my new invention!

The snow is piling up outside, as it is for so many in this country.  I’m referring to the huge storm that’s trekking across the states and dumping on us all along the way!  I’ve heard the news stations refer to it as the storm of the century.  They said the US hasn’t seen one so massive since the Fifty’s.  It’s yet to be seen how accurate they will be, but it’s already snowing now.  John and mine’s morning commute tomorrow, from the house to the barn, is sure to be a treacherous one.  They’re predicting up to almost 2 feet to fall in total.  But trudge through it in our muck boots we will since, just as there is a lot of snow… there are a lot of babies coming too! 

Not today or tomorrow, mind you, but the first due is around the 8^th or 9^th (about a week) and John thinks someone will probably kid THIS weekend.  Therefore, everyone here is preparing. 

For example, we had a milk meeting down at the Beekman Mercantile yesterday, to discuss and coordinate milk pickups.  Considering the sheer volume of milk being produced by the larger number of goats producing it this year, John and I realized this is no easy task.  The milk will be used to create the soap and cheese, like last year, but also a new item which will be discussed on Beekman1802.com at some point, as well.  There are more buyers this year too.  It’s a lot to coordinate to make sure everyone gets what they need.

Now, someone integral to producing the soap mentioned in the meeting the challenge of lifting the 3 gallon metal containers from the barn into their vehicle.  (This is how they transport it to the soap facility.)  Its one thing to lift one or two pails, but they are heavy when full, and 6 or 8 times at a pickup is rough on anyone’s back.

My eyes lit up.  It was a call to a challenge that required one of my inventions to solve!  So this morning, I took time away from the story I’m producing (I mentioned it in the last entry) and designed quickly a scale working model of a new aparatus.  It easily lifts the full buckets and can be pushed to where the car is parked in the doorway of the barn, and unloaded into the vehicle.  It should save more than a few backs in the process. 

So this little video I threw together shows a 1/12 scale model of this zany contraption that will be built of wood and have wheels to maneuver.

Enjoy!

A little behind the scenes glimpse at my new project!

In the last post I talked about my puppet effects production in which I would write little stories about our fun and amazing animals here at the Beekman.  I was going to write a childrens book about it, but decided, with my past experience in video production, plays and effects, that I'd instead create a cool and fast paced puppet show series. 

I'm about 2/3 of the way finished with the first story and it's story board. 

A storyboard is used in TV and mostly film production to visually layout  the scenes that will be in the final video or film.   It includes a sketch or picture of the anticipated shot and then the dialogue or action written under it.  Walt Disney used storyboards all the time when he was writing. 
This is what the story board for this project, looks like (at least one section)...

You can see that it's broken up into different scenes. 

Here are a few random closeups that include our real life characters:

 Shay the goat, Jolene the cat,

and of course, a glimpse at Pokey.

(I didn't put them in order because I don't want to give away the story.

I just wanted to show a few examples.)

(Intro shot of barn.)

(Shay the goat watching Jolene run by.)

(Jolene dangerously jumps and is clinging for dear life to a feeder ledge.)

(Jolene gets in trouble with Pokey.)

(Jolene smiling.)

Now this will all be performed with puppets and effects, so I started designing and building those aspects as well. Here is a half completed Pokey puppet that will be used for closeup shots.

She's obviously not done yet.  I still have to fine tune her shape.  (The puppet looks a little more "mule" like to me right now.) We'll add fur later too.

(Ears up...)

(and the all important - ears down.)

(Eyes open...)

(and eyes shut or blinking.)

There are levers built inside of the puppet head for controling the facial features.

(This foam is what she was created from.)

So I'm having a blast!

My mother, Marcia, who can be seen in the Halloween post on this blog, is a seamstress and a puppeteer who is going to be working to help me with this as well.

The final product will be a preview video on our site, an actual DVD which will be able to be purchased on our site, a coloring book based on the story AND hand made puppets and stuffed animals based on Jolene, Pokey, and Shay. 

As future stories are made about different characters in our barn, then those puppets will be made too.  Our approach to this production is to make as enjoyable for kids as it is for grownups.  That's how Disney made his films and we'd like to emulate that philosophy.

Very exciting and a lot of fun to make and I hope you'll enjoy it when it's done. Our anticipated completion date and release on the website will be mid March. 

Busy, busy times now.  The babies are on the way in less than a month, the crew is still filming, and now we're working on this project as well. 

Hope you enjoyed this entry and stay tuned!

Jase

Great holidays! So what's next?

What a “winter whirlwind”!  The Christmas season of 2010 sure was a blast.  Between all the “get-togethers” and festivities and the holiday orders… let’s just say we’ve been, as you probably were too, very busy.  But, finally, the shipments have been shipped, the gifts have been opened and the rush of the holiday is over, as we venture into the white, quiet, calm and cozy doldrums of winter. 

But, wait a minute… what is that marked on the calendar?  Could it be more impending excitement embedded in this peaceful time of the year? 

Yes.   There is a circled date on the page of the next month.  It is February 9^th. 

You may have an idea as to why that day is important.  It is vitally important to us in that it marks a new flurry of activity here at the Beekman.  And it is… Baby Goat Season! 

That is the day it all begins when our first two expectant goat mothers give birth.  Of course, Mother Nature could decide not to abide by the calendar, but it does give us a target date to make sure to “ready the barn” and prepare our Beekman winter wonderland for countless little hooved ones. 

To give you an idea of the magnitude of this upcoming birthing and milk season, John last year was milking 60 goats.  This year, he’s going to try 110!  His father, Harold, and I will be greatly assisting him much more as a result, which brings me to another bit of important information relating to you.  Since we are inevitably going to be so preoccupied with the animals needs, we have reluctantly decided to slow down on production of our standard items in the farmerjohnandjason store for a bit.  We simply won’t have the time we did throughout the fall.  Not for a little while, anyway. 

This is, after all, the section of year when the days start for us at 2:00am and, much later that evening, end at 9:00 pm!  Oh, we’ll have some time for sleeping and eating in between, but the point is our schedules will be radically different.   Just not much time for sculpting, painting or crocheting.

So, what will farmerjohnandjason.com offer in the next few months through this nursery season?

Well, we’ve been talking with Shirley, John’s sister, who said she’d like to create some new products for the store.  Also, our blogging will continue.  We'll also have updates on the babies.  And, something else will be arriving soon too – involving entertainment for families!  See, each of us here at the Beekman are all excited about the interest in the show from parents and kids, all over the country.  The animals of course seem to appeal greatly to the youngest viewers.  Therefore, I decided to begin developing an entertainment project based on our famous Beekman animals specifically for families.  It will involve specially designed puppets, effects and stories about our animals and will amount to a DVD that will be able to be purchased on our farmerjohnandjason.com website.  It’s still in progress, so I don’t have many details to share yet, but I’ll keep you posted as it develops and reveal its release date in the near future.  

So some exciting change is in the cool, arctic wind.  We’ll keep you “in the know” to any new and additional ideas we may get.  In the meantime, I truly hope everyone had a magical Holiday and you can enjoy the winter as much as you can, for as brief of a time that it is here.  It’ll fly by and before you know it, the springtime flowers and buds will be blooming again!

Till then, bundle up and stay warm!