Kupa has developed a fixation for the milking machine. Every time I pop my head out of the milking parlour to turn off the pump he is perched on a barn gate staring at the it.
He swishes up and down the corridor when I am trying to pour the milk into the bottles and containers and pots, stirring up dust with his tail. I have a feeling he is tasting the milk when I am not looking but will not accept a bowl. It will not be long before you see a picture of a peacock and a cat drinking milk out of the same saucer.
Daisy is still giving over three gallons of milk in the morning and just under in the afternoon. She is in a field with all this good feed. So her milk is very creamy.
From 4 gallons of milk I get three pints of cream. And from three pints of cream (about 1 and a 1/2 litres) I get nine and a half oz of butter. I cannot think what that is in grams, about 200? It is very early in the morning to be doing this equation though.
I am not sure if that is good on the dairy scale of things but it is good enough for me! A dear friend sent me a Dazey butter churn. It is much bigger than mine and makes butter very fast. I took a shot of it and cannot find it this morning but I do want to show you the butter. Tomorrow we will make more and then I will show you this magnificent heavy old churn. It is wonderful to have a bigger churn, so I do not need to make butter every day. If you collect the cream for a few days it makes tastier butter, the old people say.
Sheila and Charlotte are getting very good at coming out to play then going back into their pen on command.
Much to the surprise of the new Bobby. 
Good morning. Yesterday after I had finished fencing for the day, I checked the bees and they are right on schedule and have multiplied again . All the boxes are full to the brim with bees and honey and brood. So I have added another honey super to both of them. Although the clear dry warm days are hard on the fields, it is great for the clover so the bees are having a good strong year so far.
After I have milked Daisy and cleaned up the milking parlour. Then fed all the animals and birds. I wash up and filter the fresh milk, then set it to cool. I skim last night’s milk and bottle it. Then wash all the milking dishes and buckets. I will start the bread and hang the yoghurt or work with the jars of milk that are busy at making other milk products. I will bake a cake today with my own butter and eggs and cream. Then I will hang up my Spanish Pinny and turn to the dirty work. Mucking out the pigsty. Shifting the Plonkers to a new part of the field they are turning over. Watering and weeding the garden of the day. Feed the weeds to the chickens. Picking the vegetables for dinner while they are still crisp. We ate our first tomato last night.
As I finish my morning chores I notice that all the animals have settled down for a sleep in the late morning. Even Daisy will go right out the back of her paddock and lower her vast body into the long grass for a nap. I have become a cog in the wheel of the farmy. We have begun to close the gaps in our cycle. Creating a unit. So I am sorely tempted to do the same thing. I feel my own body adjusting to their pace.
We have hot gale force winds in the forecast again, and I think that this eternal wind blowing in our faces is what is wearing us all out.
I hear Kupa calling. He is such a good bird. Occasionally now I find a long tail feather of his in the fields. It lays caught in the grasses, like a startled glittering exclamation mark.
Have a lovely day
celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
67 responses to “Closing the gaps”
Ooh decent butter – hard to buy in Andalucia but I am in the UK and enjoying it while I can! Bet yours taste amazing…
english butter is really good! c
You know, that’s a good point…about us becoming cog in the wheel of our farms…when things are going right. Maybe we SHOULD lay down in the sun/shade and take a nap with it for a bit.
I am sure you and blossom could find a nice tree to sleep under! c
If only we in southern Minnesota could send you some rain. We’ve had rain to the point of flooding in some communities. We’re talking six inches of rain in one swoop. Fortunately my community of Faribault has been spared, but not the town where my husband works some 15 miles away.
6 inches! that is a bit much, we are back to clear blue skies now, after 2 inches the other day which was very welcome.. c
i can’t wait to see the cake you bake! i can’t get unpasturized cream here so churning butter was very difficult. i’ve been told that it moves along much quicker with unpasturized cream. i loved seeing the butter you made with the faithful churner!
It really is a fantastic churn, it made the butter in record time. Such a shame you are so far away and i cannot send you some milk though it would be moot as i have the butter churn!! (laughter) and I love it!! c
Your life is a marvel and an inspiration! I can’t believe the amount of physical labor you put in a single day. My hat — and every hat I own or ever wore — is off to you, Celi!!!
morning carlotta, still love that variation of your name, i could use a good hat that will stay on in the wind! Ton spends half his time chasing and returning my hats!! c
A cog in the wheel taking on the pace of the animals…that is just a wonderful picture! I am sitting here with my favorite 4-year old, and she is devouring the pictures of the farmy! I have had such a good time telling her stories of all the special animals. I will beet that tomato was delicious! 🙂 Debra
A beautiful post to read this morning, Celi. I bet your butter is about the best thing ever. So sweet! Your baked goods will definitely benefit.
I’ve been wondering, once they are mature, will Kupa and his mini-harem be allowed to nest? If so, and when the youngins mature, will Kupa mind having another peacock around, even if the bird is his “son”? As you can tell, I don’t know nuttin about peacocks & peahens other than the racket they can make
Mind the winds & stay cool, Celi. Have a great day!
Good question John. Maybe Julie will drop in she has more experience with peacocks than I but i know that they will compete for the females. Next year the females should be old enough to roost. If they hatch too many, and i honestly do not know if they will hatch any, but if they hatch too many I shall sell some of them. I hope. if I can catch them! c
I think you deserve a little nap at animal siesta time 😉
i think you are right! c
The butter looks divine…..YUM
Bobby is growing by leaps and bounds !
It’s official..you are my hero !! A true inspiration.
Off to vermont for our first ever family reunion…7of us hop
on the plane tomorrow…..I am sure when I see all the dairy
cows I will think of Daisy and the farmy !!
Wow a first ever reunion, that should be a blast! have fun.. c
When you get tired of making butter….make some rich wonderful ICE CREAM!!!
Yummm
Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
http://deltacountyhistoricalsociety.wordpress.com
I am looking forward to ice cream, though i do not have an ice cream maker.. YET! c
That’s a wonderful pussy/piggy picture. Our cat, Wallace, used to stand on his hind tip-toes and rub up against our pigs. They just used to look at him like he wasn’t right in the head!
christine
That made me laugh! Not right in the head!! c
Afternoon Celi, I was thinking of you and your hives today as I planted out the courgettes and cucumbers. My backdrop sound was of bees around the blackberry bushes and one thought led to another, and there I was at the farmy!
closing the gap, making the circle it all sounds like things are working well for you. Happy days!
Look at that butter! The sound of your productive day should serve as an inspiration for me 🙂
i can’t tell you how happy i am that the churn is now in it’s rightful home! churn away!!!
You’re description of the calm, working cycle of the farmy today added peace and calm to my day, too. Though I think a nap for you is most deserved. 🙂