I thought I would be clever and upended the somewhat empty frozen gallon flagon of molasses, jammed it into Daisy’s feeder so it dripped into her hay and let them fool around with it for the day. OOPS!
Then leaving Queenie to clean up the last of it Daisy went outside to bury her head in more hay. Well you can imagine the result. She did not want anyone to see the result actually. But we can imagine it. I am just hoping that she and Queenie will clean each others faces, though their faces are frozen, we are below 0F now. Most unfortunate for a cow with sticky mollases all over her face.
Son of The Son of Neanderthol Man seems very proud of his war wounds from the Winter of 2014 which is by no means over.
Tui has not lost a foot, she is just shifting on her feet, warming one then the other. We had blowing cold here yesterday. That gritty blowing snow, that whites out the horizon. No-one went outside voluntarily yesterday, not even the sheep.
Can you guess who is who. (Mama is off screen, she prefers to eat by herself around the corner in Senior Splendour). So you can choose between Minty, Tilly and Meadow. My only clue is that Meadow is definitely pregnant probably with twins by the look of her.
No sunset last night.
Just coldset. Set in Cold. But thats ok. After the cold chores I could retire to the warm house, a hot bath, a bowl of coleslaw, a glass of home made wine and thee.
They say it is going to be terribly cold again today. Very cold the forecast says. But the old people say every few years you get a winter like this. I am just SO grateful that I am not milking. (So is Daisy!)
Have a lovely day.
Love your friend on the farmy
celi
c
The Kitchen's Garden 
63 responses to “Sticky Face.”
Love the photo of the latch as it reminds me of the ones on the buildings from my childhood. When I was a kid, before dad bought a grinder to make our dairy ration, our feed supplier had a mobile/truck grinder that came to the farm and used your grains to make the ration. They also added molasses to the mix. The cows loved that truck as the molasses would leak down the side of the compartment. If the driver got behind schedule he would arrive at milking time and would have to back into the holding lot by the barn to blow the mix into a storage bin in the barn. We didn’t have a way to keep the cows away from the truck easily, although our collie gave it a good try. So as soon as they saw or heard that truck the cows were there to clean that molasses off for him. The driver would often go into the milking parlor to talk to Dad & Mom (especially in the winter) while the truck did its job, leaving the cows to dismantle the truck. They removed mirrors, hoses, wires, gloves, buckets, anything their tongues could wrap around or they knocked each other into in pursuit of that sticky sweet. Most times he would come during the day and we could shut the lot gate so the cows couldn’t get to the truck. They would still come in from the pasture and stare through the gate at the truck when they would hear the grinder rev up. So many of your pictures stir up happy memories from my childhood. I hadn’t thought of the grinder truck for years. Thank you.
That sounds hilarious. I can just imagine him driving back off down the road, minus a few bits but with a truck all licked clean! I am using dried molasses while the cold is so bad, i wonder if it is as good though.. c
I love your blog and I just don’t get a chance to come by for a visit often enough. Warms my heart and makes me smile. 🙂
Hi there karista, thank you, busy is good though, i always say! c
We had to deal with frozen 5 gal jugs of molasses when we were lambing. We always gave the ewes warm water with molasses after lambing to give them energy. We finally wound up keeping the molasses in the house. Lots of barn stuff winds up in the house in winter. Winter wind is the worst. Hopefully Daisy and Queenie will have clean faces before fly season.
Mama always loved her molasses water.. Emily do you know if the dried molasses is as good as the liquid stuff?.. c
Are you using horticulture dry molasses? Actually, from what I have read, the dry stuff is inferior unless you are using culinary kind. We use the liquid stuff because it is cheap enough and lasts a long time. You don’t need much. I read that the dry has maltodextrin in it, which is a sugar made from GMO corn. I would research it more.
Bloody hell… it is cold there. It is amazing, and admirable how you cope… all is well, if a little chilled – and you make it seem quite lovely… wood fire, bath, wine… but I know the reality has more aspects to it than that 🙂
The weather forecast says -7 tonight. I am tucking everyone up extra warmly tonight.. c
I am in Helsinki where it is minus 14. It is clear and bright so not too bad.
If there is sun and no wind, it is a whole different kind of cold.. I hope you are still enjoying yourself, i shall pop over and see what you have been up to! c
All this talk of molasses makes me want some. xx
What a mighty warrior: The Son of Neanderthol Man. He appears to be posing just like the famous Native American warriors of old.
Well, Daisy and Queenie are just enjoying a slow second course of said molassses and hay whilst keeping each other’s faces warm with their tongues ~ probably quite an pleasant pastime 🙂 ! And, oh boy, are you going to enjoy those first warmish days of spring . . .
yes, and it is only january.. we have a long way to go yet, so I must stay positive.. c
Meadow, Minty and then little Tilly!
excellent! c
Cinders, that sounds like arctic cold to me…I don’t think I’ve experienced cold that cold…It sounds positively awful! And for days on end..uuuggghhh! brrrrrr too! Will those frostbitten combs on the chooks eventually fall off or just stay that blackened color? Great photo of s o s o n man though! 🙂
Yes, love the new facial for the cows! Maybe you’re on to something…maybe we should try it! ha!
My reading tells me the combs will fall off, the blackened parts anyway.. c
You need a dog to clean Daisy’s face, but I bet she wouldn’t allow that 😉
Like all the animals, I will be SOOOO glad when this cold is over. As it is, I’m driving a 20-year-old truck across our frozen creek every day to get to work. Crazy!
Poor Daisy. I know she’d like to lick off that stickiness. I didn’t realize just how big she is until seeing her head in the trunk the other day.
Oh what a sight that molasses face is! I read about the cold coming your way, yet again. So good that you are not milking, that’s for sure.
That last photo is a treat