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 Second week of September, 2019
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maryjane

7072 Posts


Posted - Sep 08 2019 :  09:44:42 AM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
My grand girls milked and cleaned by themselves this morning. I didn't go anywhere near the parlor. What a nice milestone for us all. I have two more sets of guests arriving so I needed the morning to get everything ready and pick bouquets, etc. So proud of them and the fact that they WANTED to milk and were excited to do it without me standing by. If they took photos, I'll post a few.

MaryJane Butters, author of Milk Cow Kitchen ~ striving for the stoicism of a cow standing in the rain ~

NellieBelle

11214 Posts


Posted - Sep 08 2019 :  2:39:40 PM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
How wonderful to have grand milkmaid help. Not having to worry and being able to go ahead and do the things you need to do for your guests fully confident in the girls. Rewards beyond measure. I could certainly use some helpful milkmaids here, but will have to make do. Beautiful day here even though it's been overcast, with sunshine only peeking through occasionally. Nice cool breeze and everywhere you look there is activity in nature. Love days like today.

To laugh is human but to moo is bovine. Author Unknown
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maryjane

7072 Posts


Posted - Sep 14 2019 :  4:11:42 PM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
Now, that's an impressive klatch of cows visiting around the ole oak tree.

Meg and I had a lazy session today sitting in the shade of the garden shed eating watermelon. My honeybees came to join us and sip from the trail of sweet we left here and there.




MaryJane Butters, author of Milk Cow Kitchen ~ striving for the stoicism of a cow standing in the rain ~
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maryjane

7072 Posts


Posted - Sep 15 2019 :  10:24:39 AM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
I ate my last nectarine this morning. What a feast we've had the last couple of weeks.

When I bought my farm this stool and some cow stanchions were all that was left of the family who'd milked cows here their entire lives. They settled here and built a house around 1905 (the new owners had an auction just before I bought it and people came from as far away as Montana to take little pieces of the Selland's well-lived life home with them).

I think this stool speaks the make do, can do attitude from that era. A section of tree with three branches, a bolt, a plank, and a piece of leather to hang it on the wall.


MaryJane Butters, author of Milk Cow Kitchen ~ striving for the stoicism of a cow standing in the rain ~
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maryjane

7072 Posts


Posted - Sep 15 2019 :  1:31:02 PM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
As I was laboring to carry today's watermelon up from the garden, I thought, "I better weigh this puppy." 30 lbs.


MaryJane Butters, author of Milk Cow Kitchen ~ striving for the stoicism of a cow standing in the rain ~
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NellieBelle

11214 Posts


Posted - Sep 16 2019 :  05:01:40 AM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
Good morning! What a watermelon! Tasty treat. It would be here as we will be in the mid to upper 80's with humidity. Had rain last week and things are plenty green and lush. All is going well here other than Darla has an injured leg, pretty good gash at the knee joint, treating it as best I can. Just the usual farm life goings on. Here is another example of the make do era. I call it innovative and out of necessity. Just as strong and usable as when it was made. Have a great week!

To laugh is human but to moo is bovine. Author Unknown
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maryjane

7072 Posts


Posted - Sep 18 2019 :  05:46:17 AM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
How is Darla's leg, Janet? I hope you're seeing a bit of healing by now.

That stool of yours was someone's pride and joy once. We have a couple of improvised farm tools that to this day, I still haven't figured out what they're for. Precious stuff and a good reminder of how easy it is now to simply buy things.

It's threatening rain here and has been dropping into the low 50s at night. Garden still grows though. Picked a huge bowl of raspberries bigger than my thumb to share with the grand girls last night.

Speaking of old things; I've been packing around this tea kettle for probably 30 years. I found it in a old miner's camp and have been growing flowers in it or using it as a vase ever since. Yesterday I was playing around with it for some decor in front of our store.




MaryJane Butters, author of Milk Cow Kitchen ~ striving for the stoicism of a cow standing in the rain ~
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maryjane

7072 Posts


Posted - Sep 18 2019 :  07:00:02 AM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
This tickled me to no end. Yesterday, while I was milking Miss Daisy, Buttercup walked all the way inside the parlor and grabbed a towel off a back table and then stepped back out with it in her mouth. Sound like someone else we know?



Also yesterday, she stuck around once the gate was open because I hadn't had time to give her her daily "training" brushing just before I was about to start milking. Miss Daisy rushed out after I milked her but Buttercup stuck around and waited for me to brush her. Training progress for sure and a show of trust.

This is my first hibiscus all summer. Late last spring my hibiscus and poinsettias experienced a near-fatal outbreak of white flies. I had to cut my hibiscus back to just sticks in a pot and get it outside earlier than it would have liked. I've slowly been nursing it back to health. I thought of you Janet and the white-fly outbreak you had in your greenhouse. They are such nasty critters.




MaryJane Butters, author of Milk Cow Kitchen ~ striving for the stoicism of a cow standing in the rain ~
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NellieBelle

11214 Posts


Posted - Sep 18 2019 :  07:35:18 AM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
Good morning! Nothing puts a smile on my face like the antics of the cows and calves. Miss Buttercup and the towel made my day! I'm afraid Darla's leg hasn't improved and the vet is to visit this evening on his way home. She is favoring it and it is swollen so I imagine it will be antibiotic treatment. Would have liked to avoid that but looks as if she may need it. Nellie is getting closer by the day. I want to wean my two calves, but have to find room as we can't get the steers into the butchers until November, they are booked up. Hardly any milk from either cow as the calves are getting it all. My hibiscus could use some TLC but they are blooming and full of buds. Weather is a bit rough on the foliage. The tropicals are more fussy than the perennials. White flies. If there is any benefit of that creature, I would like to know what it is. I have found for my gardens that spraying with water works better than anything else I've tried. So that's what I do daily. Busy time of year, but then when isn't it. I have 550 some bulbs arriving any day and have to get in the ground before weather changes. Seems it changes in a heartbeat some years. Love your little kettle with floral bouquet. Cheery.

To laugh is human but to moo is bovine. Author Unknown
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NellieBelle

11214 Posts


Posted - Sep 21 2019 :  08:22:10 AM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
Good morning! Never a dull moment, or even a moment it seems. Nellie calved during the night. I checked her in the evening before going to bed, saw no indication she was going to calve. Went out first thing this morning and there on the ground was (you guessed it) a little bull calf, all clean and resting on the ground. I hadn't moved Nellie back to the parlor yet. So we did a lot of moving this morning. Nellie is in the parlor. I don't know if the calf got any colostrum, but it sure won't take it from me, so will see how it goes. Nellie doesn't act like Nellie, but then she may just be tired out. I did get one tube of calcium down her. She has eaten, drank and I'm watching her closely. This is getting to be a bit too much for my nerves. Hope everyone and cows are doing great.

To laugh is human but to moo is bovine. Author Unknown
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maryjane

7072 Posts


Posted - Sep 21 2019 :  1:59:03 PM  Show Profile  Reply with Quote
Well, you're braver than me. I've continued to milk Miss Daisy because I can't bear another worrisome delivery like last time when she finally gave me a heifer for the first time. It looks like I'll still be milking her when her daughter, Buttercup, calves next spring. That's a good long while, but she's happy so I'm happy. It is hard on one's nerves.

MaryJane Butters, author of Milk Cow Kitchen ~ striving for the stoicism of a cow standing in the rain ~
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