Milkin' a Cow

When we brought Sheeva to our little farm around a year ago, Aaron purchased this book for me to read so I could get all familiar with having our very own cow to milk, make cheese, and provide him fresh cream for his coffee in the morning :) Of course I never picked up the book until just recently when we knew the calf was coming. Aaron, on the other hand has been preparing himself for this event for quite some time. He's never afraid to take on a new challenge. I grew up around beef cattle and have never milked a cow in my life, so with him being gone I figured I better start reading this book. With that said, it's been a great resource tool and I have used the forums on line for several matters over this past week. So yes, I would definitely suggest this book to anyone who fancies having a family cow someday.

We have been taking a little time each afternoon to love on our momma cow in the hopes to begin milking her, and allow her sweet baby (whose name is either Blue Bell, Butterfly, or Ice Cream) to get to know us better. The girls get very excited and in their heads this is an easy peasy thing to do. But in all their innocent giddiness the little calf gets a little nervous and tends to run under the electric wire...thus causing momma cow to get quite angry. But this is why practice is a good thing right? We are managing to work out our hiccups and get a good routine established. Today Ella got the chance to give it a go. I was a nervous momma myself because all I could think about was making sure she didn't get a hoof in the face! Fortunately, little calf was happy lying in the corner of the stall while Sheeva enjoyed her favorite meal of the day. We had a good time out there on this beautiful February
afternoon.

I love this life :)

Welcome Baby Dexter!

We had a baby! Our sweet Dexter, Sheeva, has been expecting her first calf. We were hoping she would deliver the little one before Aaron left for Washington DC, but sadly he wasn't here to see it. We have been watching her closely for the last few weeks. We had quite the storm early this morning that lasted for several hours, and here we received 2.5" of rain. I had a feeling when I woke up that maybe the storm would have caused Sheeva to go into labor. If I had been more awake at 6 am and willing to go out in the pouring rain I probably would have seen the miracle of her birth!

Eventually the rains cleared leaving massive puddles everywhere. As always, we were running late for church. As the girls were getting themselves in the van, I headed out to the barn to check on the cattle...and there was baby!! I started running, tears of joy running down my face and screaming for the girls to come quickly. They were laughing so hard, excited to see the little calf! It is still yet to be determined if this baby is a boy or girl, as I've wanted to maintain a safe distance from momma even though she is pretty docile.

 

 We had a busy afternoon, but once we got home I spent some time out at the barn gazing at the little cutie and the new momma. They had made themselves quite cozy in one of the barn stalls, although it was not the one that Aaron had shoveled out and cleaned before he left! I'm sad Aaron is not here, and I'm even more sad that my dad is not around for me to share this wonderful news with. But I do always feel his spirit...like he knows where I'm at and what I'm doing with my life. I never thought I would have become a farm girl...developing a love for the cows like he had. I treasure what he has passed down to me. And I'm blessed to have a family who wants to share in these adventures as well!