Lottie’s had a rough week. Her 4-month-old calf is a rather vigorous nurser. Add a bit of chapping from winter weather, and her tender parts got quite sore. She quit letting the calf nurse, which led to other issues. She wasn’t too amenable to hand-milking either. We tried one thing, then another, and she got
[continue reading...]

I slept through the actual moment of Winter Solstice, when because of the Earth’s tilt, the Northern Hemisphere leans farther away from the sun than
[continue reading...]

Lottie, the 7-year-old Jersey cow, finally had her calf Sunday. He’s half Limousin, sired by the strapping young black bull who lives just down the road. Lottie choose a quiet spot in the trees that could be reached only by traipsing through high weeds and a thorn thicket. I tried to persuade her to bring
[continue reading...]

The answer to the surprise quiz picture: milking stanchion. (It was a surprise to me that I couldn’t upload the text.) My genius husband combined ideas from several designs and built this one, which suits me perfectly. Lottie Le Cow is less impressed but adjusting to the new stanchion, new stall, and new routine. We’d
[continue reading...]

She’s 12 hours old now and content to doze in the dappled sunlight near the barn door. Her mama, a grade Jersey, has a most impressive udder. Woo hoo! Milk for everyone!

Right now, she’s just ‘Cow.’ And she’s taller than she looks in this photo. Cow is a four-year-old grade Jersey who’s due to calve around the end of February. She’s gentle, a bit shy, loves corn, and seems to believe that if she keeps looking she’ll find another cow somewhere in the south pasture. I
[continue reading...]

I suspect I’d be sad too if I saw this in the mirror every morning.