Ok, back to business! I rearranged animals the other day. Mia, Meadow and The Murphy are in The Daisy Paddock with the big gate closed so they have very little shade in the morning. I made them a beer tent. They seem more than happy with it. Their shade gets bigger as the sun moves through its arc. 
It is on the list to build big sculptures made from telegraph poles and old timber into the fields as shade structures. Lots to do. 
Mama is still in the Rat House Paddock. She is doing OK and her udder is looking healthier and very slowly shrinking. So far so good in that department.
TonTon and the Big Bobby are up to something.
Here is why I am fastidious about cleanliness in the milking parlour. To cool down, the cows like to stand in mud. Cooling their heels. In fact to save me the trouble of making mud for them, they will often make the mud themselves which is .. um.. kind. Queenie, I know you are hot and not feeling sociable…
..but I think you can do better than that. Don’t let me catch you sneering at Camera again. It is not Camera’s fault that you are hot.
Sorry miss c. But it is just that I am dirty and so hot. Miss c? Yes Queenie, honey. Daisy is splashing mud on me, tell her to stop it. I don’t like it. Her mud is smelly.
Queenie you should be grateful you do not live with the Shush sisters. They love mud. 
In fact sometimes they have trouble sharing. 
Sheila you can’t just lie in that mud to keep it all for yourself. Oh no, that’s OK miss c. I can!
And now for the obligatory rooster shot.
Did you just call me Obligatory. I am the Son of the Son of Neanderthol man. Did you know that there is a chicken sitting on eggs in this car? Who left the window down?
Good morning. We have another day with high temperatures ahead of us. The 100’s are getting monotonous. Wearing my animals down. They are drinking huge amounts of water. How did the pioneers do this without hoses and taps? Their animals would have had a much higher value than ours due to isolation. If they lost their milk cow the whole pack of cards would collapse. They must have been hauling buckets of water from the creek down the back until their backs broke.
Daisy is still giving a good amount of milk. Altogether she milked 63 pounds yesterday in that heat. (8 pounds is a gallon, it is too early for maths for me) Her treats bucket is loaded with zuchinni and corn cobs and cabbage. She munches as I milk.
I am cooling the house the old fashioned way. In the night I open all the doors and windows then in the morning, when I go out to milk, I shut the doors and windows, locking all that cool air in. It is a bit like catching the dark in a jar but it works for a while.
Good morning. Have a lovely day.
celi
There was no blog on July 5, 2011. So no retrospective today. There is a lot of courage is starting a blog and I think mine was coming in short sprints at that point. Though as some of you have very kindly pointed out that first post can be the skeleton for the opening paragraphs so I shall start work on that today. c
The Kitchen's Garden 
59 responses to “Walkabout on the hot, hot sleepy farmy”
Poor creatures…I agree, Celi, how did the old timers deal with that heat? No wonder they lived short lives! I moan about our unseasonably cool summer, but I’d rather cool than hot.
Drought is so trying, and heat of those extremes must make you want to wilt like a cabbage leaf. But I read of things getting sorted, and I’m excited to hear of the plan for sculptures to provide shade one day. Now that’s what I like, art with a secret purpose.
Isn’t Daisy doing well, producing all that wonderful milk.
I’ve recently discovered quark, which is delicious. I buy a herbed one, and a lemon & honey biodynamic one: this, with yoghurt provides a way of enjoying milk for me (I’ve been off milk and cream for many years). I was wondering if quark was in your repertoire?
No it isn’t so far and I had forgotton all about it.. thank you so much for the reminder, I used to use it often when i was in NZ but have not come across it since. i shall be looking that up today!! Thank you.. c
Morning Miss C,
Hope the weather forecasts deliver on those cooler temps & rain for you and the farmy family. The picture of the rooster made the expressions “cock of the walk” and “strut like a rooster” jump into my head. It is easy to see how those expressions were coined. For my 2 cents on suggestions for your book: there were a couple of your wonderful phrases that “stuck” and several others have commented before me, so I’d measure that they are keepers? “Catching the dark in a jar” and “beer tent” for the lambs, with future shade sculptures. As the trees mature and the sculptures rise I can visualize that little house on the prairie being transformed into an artistic farmy oasis …like the Cadillac farm in Texas 😉
What’s not to like about a beer tent 😉
Those pigs seem bigger again!
Loved the tour around the farm where you introduced the animals to us. Shush sisters is a nice name for the girls. Love the photo of the rooster.
Greetings Cecilia. I apologize for not stopping by in a little while. The heat is getting to me I think. You are right about the pioneers. How did they make it? Not only the isolation and lack of the convenience of hoses and such, but just think of how they dressed! I would be in agony… as a matter fact, I think I would be a little on the mad side. How are you doing?
definitely a little on the mad side! c
I knew I was in good company! 🙂
We used to cool our house that way too. Great pics of the cast of characters as usual. 🙂