We had a storm roll through last night, no big damage, just a few branches here and there down and about 3/4 inch of rain. Daisy ate the leaves off any of the limbs that came down in her area already by the time I got out there to milk. I think Elm and Mulberry are her favorites!
I've been getting about 2 gallons a day since Fillet went to the locker last week. She has a touch of mastitis because I didn't think A) she had that much milk and B) I knew I should of milked twice a day and thought I could get away with once a day (OAD). Nope! So the dogs and cats have been loving me, dumping lots of milk. No clumps, strings or anything, just a slow-straining filter (slimy when done) and an off taste.
But you should see the creamline....she's not holding anything back! She is an awesome cow to milk, plants that back foot like it's in cement. Oh, she shuffles the other foot around and moves a bit, but her back foot doesn't move on my side when I'm milking. Some days I don't even hook the stanchion board, she just eats her feed and munches her "special" hay (it's not really special, but she thinks it is because she's only getting it at milking time!) HA Cows like her make a milkmaid's life so much easier!!
Now I just need to get a calf to put on her to be my "next" freezer beef. (Slow Food!) Oh, and bring her 'boyfriend' over, it was too muddy to get him last week.
The garden is growing well, we have a resident garter snake there. I don't mind it, as long as I remember to look for it before it moves and catches me off guard. (I don't like snakes, but can ignore the beneficial ones, IF they leave me alone!)
Yesterday I spent a couple of hours digging up thistles, Pat came out and helped for a bit. That job is done! I'm sure I missed some little ones, but I'll find them eventually! ;) The front yard also got mowed, I had to use the old trusty mower because the other one didn't want to start. Now Pat gets to fix the pull string as well, it didn't want to go back in like it should have. Whoopsy! I let Daisy chow down in the back yard for a bit...it needs mowed again as well.
We've been picking Strawberries, the Raspberries are almost ready, that will be fun as they are very overgrown, and thorny. I am patiently waiting (ha--not!) for my few green tomatoes to ripen. Hurry up I say!! It's been a loooong time since I had fresh tomatoes!
A Happy Fathers' Day shout-out to all the dads/grandpa's out there reading. Feel Blessed!!
ReplyDeleteJanene, life is good on the homestead, huh. We here are just back from a Las Vegas high school graduation. Sherry's daughter Anna graduated. We drove there and back again. The cost of flying there for three was just too expensive. Lydia, my youngest daughter, Bradley, her son, and I rented a car and drove the 1300 miles each way. It took 22 hours total travel time each way. That's a long time for a nine year old boy to be cooped up in the back seat of a car. Driving on long trips used to be fun when I was younger but now days it just makes me tired and stiff. The blessings of old age are not very kind some times.
Now comes the task of getting things back to normal. The garden weeds didn't quit growing and neither did the grass. Yesterday was the first day back and it was spent driving my mother in law around for two doctor appointments. One was for a general checkup and the other was for her after cataract eye surgery check up. Things are starting to be good for her as all the specialty doctors are beginning to turn her over to the general doctor for monitoring. It's been almost a year since that fateful rescue squad day. Life is starting to calm down for her.
Have a great summer day without extreme weather.