October 13, 2013

Down on the Farm

It's been a while since I've posted anything here (nearly a month) and even longer since I've posted something that didn't have to do with grief. Yesterday I was tromping back in from the cow lot (which actually houses a cow again) and thought, 'I wonder when I last did a critter count?' And, 'When did I last post farm pictures?' So here it is. A new post. Not about grief. Complete with pictures (and incomplete sentences.....I'm a cook, not an English teacher).

This is Daisy. She's our new holstein bottle calf. She's about 3 weeks old and sweet as sugar. She likes to follow Husband around the pen and does not like to be cooped up in her stall when she knows we're outside. Eventually she will be bread and once she's calved Husband plans on milking her for household use. I'm left with the quandary of how to change the 4 FarmHands over from the 6 gallons of pasteurized 2% milk they now drink to 6 gallons of whole raw milk they will be drinking in 2 more years.

Two weeks ago or so Husband and I made a quick grocery store run after I got off work. We had plenty of time to make it back to the house before the FarmHands were to get off the bus....until we picked up a cotter pin in our tire. Yup. That was so far into our rear, driver side tire that all you could see was a bit of curved metal going into the tire in 2 places. We assumed it was a fencing staple. Husband was shocked when the tire guy brought this out to show him. Amazingly enough they patched the tire and it's doing fine (thank God because we'd just bought new tires a few months back). Welcome to country roads. They're not nearly as romantic as John Denver makes them out to be.

Miss Sadie has a crazy strong stick drive (that's what I'm calling it, anyway). If she sees a stick she will have it. She will knock you down trying to get it. She will suffer no fools to stand between her and the stick. I make her sit before I'll throw any sticks for her to chase down (I don't say fetch because they rarely come back to me willingly). She doesn't like sitting but will do it if she knows she'll get the stick in a moment.
This day her stick was, in fact, a small tree. The FarmHands had knocked it down after it died and Sadie packed it around all day expecting me to throw it across the field.

I love my job. I get to make giant amounts of food all day, every day. Sometimes the food comes already giant. Like our carrots. Yup, they were the size of my forearm. You could club someone to death with one of those things. I live for orders that have baby carrots instead.

This summer we lost our last old farm cat. Husband said no more cats because the dogs always play too rough with the kittens and we have to deal with the aftermath. Well, the dogs have to be penned up for the time being because of Daisy and our goats so he changed his mind. One of the teachers at school had farm cats that needed to live elsewhere. Our house is often elsewhere.

The principal also had cats that needed to live elsewhere. This is Camo II. Camo I came home under the hood of my car a few years ago but once he became a Big Boy Cat, he went in search of a wife and never returned. We're hoping Camo II doesn't follow in his footsteps, but we're not holding our breath. Camo II was actually supposed to be a girl but the principals son grabbed the wrong cat. Oh well. He's still pretty and can still help out with rodent control.

How can you look at those eyelashes and not melt?

When we first moved to the country, Husband and I spent summers collecting large rocks to make a fire ring for the yard. After 10 years down by the pond, they got moved up to the back yard (a much more convenient location). I guess some serious settling had occured in the last 10 years because when I saw this yesterday I couldn't figure out where all the rocks came from. Husband assured me there were all there to begin with.

This was my birthday present from QM and Daddy last spring. It took a while for Husband and I to decide where to hang it. I think the shed was the perfect place.

And now for the official current critter count:
  • 5 dogs (2 huskies, 1 mastiff, 1 morkie, and 1 wire haired fox terrier)
  • 3 parakeets
  • 6 cats
  • 5 rabbits (I think- the number is rather fluid what with the freezer filling up and breeding and all)
  • 6 chickens
  • 2 boer goats
  • 2 rams
  • 1 bottle calf
We're creeping back up there. Husband would like to add a horse and a hog to the mix. We'll see.


2 comments:

Inkling said...

Mmm....raw milk. I would pay you to move your farm here.

But I'm really curious about how you plan to have your cow become bread, and if you plan to make it something with raisins and cinnamon, or simply with whole wheat. Just kidding. But I will admit it took me awhile to understand that you planned to have her bred. Thank you (and thank you, Grandpa M&M's genetics) for giving me the best giggle of the day.

Anonymous said...

Still waiting on the alpacas.