At milking time, Daisy sees TonTon appear in the field and then walks to the gate and up into the yards.
For a little munch.
She hears the pump go on and off as I rinse the lines and the bucket and comes to her door to watch. She is very calm, and just chews her cud as she watches me get all the feeds ready for the other animals. I line up all the buckets. Clean bits and pieces and get the house in order. Waiting for her to be ready.
As she watches she will pee and poo. Always. She will never make a mess in the milking parlour. She likes to have this all done before milking. And once I have heard the noises of her toilet then I know she is ready.
I put her feed (last night it was peeled apples) into her tray and fill her bower with the good hay as a treat. 
Then I ring her bell. Often she will ring it herself while she is waiting, but by accident I am sure. Once I have rung the bell she takes two steps back and to the side so that I can open the door and then in she goes. At this point it is important not to be in her way. She is eager to get in there. She is still milking 30 pounds in the morning and 25 in the afternoon. This is about 7 gallons in a day. I have fat pigs and a well fed happy calf. And cheese and yoghurt, butter and icecream on the go almost every day. Not to mention the huge glasses of cold raw milk with dinner. And an old dog with renewed vigor as his arthritis is subdued. 
After the milking I walk her to a new field. She just walks along behind me. She is on a go slow lately. I do hope she is pregnant. We will know in a few weeks. 
Everything is done the same way twice a day and everything we do has the company of two dogs and two cats. Daisy ignores them all. She and I walk gently to and fro. Both Daisy and I like the rhythms of the routine.
Sometimes if I am having a quiet day I take the horse brush out into the field and brush her coat. She loves to have the brush on her neck and behind her ear. So if I am brushing her considerable belly she will often slowly, slowly with the tiniest of steps, move her entire body backwards under the brush so that soon I am brushing behind her ears. Then she will stop. She will lower her head so the brush is perfectly positioned and lean her face on my thigh. There, she will say, that’s the spot. Right there.
But I have to brush you all over I tell her, as after a while I move back to her haunches. She just waits until I am settled then starts again, and ever so slowly will move herself backwards shuffling her cow feet softly so I don’t notice, until she has me positioned correctly again.
Good morning. There is the dawn and out I go. Ton is already out in the field waiting with her. I should train him to turn on the lights and flush the lines as well!
Have a lovely day.
celi
What I was making on this day a year ago.. Shepherds Pie!
The Kitchen's Garden 
83 responses to “Time for milking”
I am truly loving this new perspective of the farmy with the wide shots. Daisy, TonTon and the cats…just gorgeous photos, celi! I’m sitting on my deck with coffee, enjoying the first truly cool fall-ish morning we’ve had, listening to birds and spending a moment vicariously on your beautiful and peaceful farmy. Life is good. Thanks as ever for sharing yours with us. Have a super day! ~Betsy
Morning Betsy, we are having our first coolish day as well, you cannot be that far away! I even put on my clown pants for the dawn work.. c
Just a wee ways south and east. This is my favorite weather…puts a skip in your step and make the animals frisky! 🙂
Animals truly love routine. It makes them feel right at home. Love hearing Daisy getting brushed 🙂
She loves it too! morning! c
The photos are fantastic, Celi.
Thank you bill it is nice to have my old lens back in working order! I missed this one! c
Every single shot is just so lovely,Cecilia. Cecilia–patron saint of music. Your photos and words are sheer music. I love Daisy’s personality. So quirky and Ton ton so charming and spectacularly beautiful. I’m remembering him in mid air catching a ball too. And the cat on the fence post . Best of all I love reading about the exact steps (routine) with Daisy. When you are a city girl, you cannot imagine how exotic and special it is to learn the inner workings of so different a life. Just one example–knowing how fastidious Daisy is that she wouldn’t think of soiling her parlor!
Isn’t it funny how we get to know our animals’ pee and poo schedules. Mingus won’t poo on a walk. Coltrane must have a walk to poo. So now you know too. Fantastic pictures!
Well we are exchanging some interesting information and yes, now i know! morning greg.. c
I enjoyed reading this post! Felt as though I were tagging right along with you and Daisy.
This morning Celi I read your entire post out loud to the good husband. He is busy making Sunday scones. This bucolic scene you so vividly describe is one of exquisite calmness. It is good for the soul to be taken to this other place of peace and quiet. How lovely to be part of it if only in this vicarious manner. A happy Sunday and many hugs Virginia
Sunday scones, that is what I am pining for, i knew there was something I wanted to eat.. my favourite are cheese and onion or plain with strawberry jam and whipped cream.. yum.. Thank you so much for your lovely words virginia,.. things are very calm at the moment.. c
Beautiful descriptions of cow life. I love cows. They can be so sweet at times. It always amazes me to hear some people say they are afraid of cows. So odd! We had a cow who loved to have the base of her tail/back haunches scratched. She used to back her butt up toward you and just stand until you got the message. Hmmmm…. makes me miss home.
That must have been disconcerting for visitors, seeing a cow slowly reverse towards them!! awesome story!. c
I love how you and the farmy have a routine. Everyone knows what to expect. That Daisy is quite the lap cow! lol I love your tenderness with the animals. Communing with them must be so rewarding–for both of you. It just dawned on me today, 30 pounds of milk. I wouldn’t want to lug that around inside me!
yes that is a good weight, you do NOT want to see her gallop across the paddock with that much weight swinging from side to side!! c
I know that Max and Lucy have me on a schedule. I can only imagine the schedule your farmy pals have you on. I hope Daisy leaves that bell alone for your sake. As a puppy, I taught Max to ring a bell when he needed to go out. Now, 4 years later, he rings that darm thing for a treat, to eat, to go out, to play, when I’m on the phone and he’s being ignored — you get the picture. I took it down last year but he kept going to that door and nudging it with his nose, just as if the bell was still there. He looked so pathetic that I felt sorry for him and hung it back up.
You really are celebrating the return of your lens with some great shots, Celi. Have a great Sunday!
That is so funny! Poor max when you took away his bell! Glad you gave it back, maybe you could get him a tiny one. Daisy’s is a big cow bell and not soft! c
Aren’t animals just the best. They have their own personalities and ‘tell us’ many things, but we have to listen and pay attention and care.
Love your day. The first year alfalfa is really looking good. I know your lovely cows and sheep will enjoy nibbling on the completely frozen stalks come this winter. Of course, you will be wise, as all farmers are, and not let them graze until the field is completely dormant and all life in the plants gone—bloat is never a good thing. But I know you know that…I was just making an observation.
Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
http://deltacountyhistoricalsociety.wordpress.com
And I am glad that you feel you can keep reminding me of these things Linda. You know so much more. Ihey will not graze this field, it is unfenced and strictly for hay. However the other fields i have with alfalfa in are very carefully managed. I fatten the grass fed steers on alfalfa, and only once it has flowered and I never lock an animal into those kinds of fields, their water and mineral is always in the back field so they loaf about out of there, then they just pop in and out. So far so good, but never at night or in the dew .. c
i always enjoy your blog, and today is no different. love hearing what you do each day!
I’m enjoying you enoying the return of your wide lens, and ‘adjacent’ photoshop skills. I believe we all take comfort in routines, even people who don’t have big routines have small ones, rituals – like how they pack a bag, or make I cup of tea, I guess. We all, four legged and 2 have much in common when you look at the minutiae of us, and Daisy does appear to have a certain cat-iness to her personality 🙂
The first photo is my new favorite.
Another baby? Oh, I do hope so!