Good morning.
I am late popping in this morning. Last night in the hour when I usually load pictures and briefly sketch out the chat about the day, I had company. Which was lovely. Allison said that as she went off to bed, at a reasonable hour, she should have wagged her finger and said, It’s past miss c’s bedtime you know. Our John was long gone.
By the way the Honey Mead is heavenly.
My friend and I were listening to the darkening night and my mind wandered, as it does sometimes – okay often. He had been talking about solitude and how it helps you drop back into your own body and you can see who you were and how far you have come. I had been thinking about a post by TimeThief. She had been discussing what she had given up to blog. Her article ended with the question, what did you give up to be a blogger. This question has been slowly revolving through my mind since then and as my friend talked more and the fire flies winked on and of, shooting like drunken baby stars about the bean field, I thought to myself. This. This is what I do so little of now. Drinking wine with Friends. Sitting with still hands and a wandering mind.
Though I have to add that really the lack of company here is as much about being a shy busy immigrant in the mid west and living in a culture where people do not wander in and out having a cup of tea or a bite, at the drop of a hat. Or meeting for a coffee downtown. Dropping in for a Diet Pepsi (which I do not drink anyway) is just not the same. Making friends is hard when you do not have a job or go to school. Thank goodness I have you! And my wonderful Farm Stay Girls. In fact blogging has created friendships for me. Do you feel that too?
Daisy has had a setback. She stood on her teat again and ripped all the stitches out reopening the great gash in her teat. My vet said he could stitch it all back up again, but she will more than likely to do this again. Plus the edges are healing already. Plus she has mastitis in that quarter now too.
So here is the plan for Paisley Daisy now. I am to spray the area with a product called Vetericyn two or three times a day to keep it clean and healing. There will be a terrible scar now that it is not stitched, her teat presently looks like a wedge has been taken out of it and consequently is sticking out at an angle. But I can still milk her and it is flowing. I am to cut down on her groceries. She will eat a lower protein diet now to lessen her milk production. Very soon we will go down to Once a Day Milking (OAD). Her udder will not be as big and full. Then once she is mastitis-free in all quarters and settled into an OAD routine with less milk. I will dry her up. Soon. Really soon. The milk season will come to an abrupt halt. We have to shrink that udder to minimise the risk of further damage and quit milking her at all.
The next decision about her will depend on whether she is pregnant. Then I will consult with her vets. It may be that she can no longer be a milk cow or a nurse cow.
Once again I am trying to think what I am learning from this other than the obvious things like caring for an badly damaged udder and how I should have a comprehensive organised up to date first aid bag. Life goes on? Is that the lesson?
I feel better now that I have a plan.
In a year that is seriously financially challenged anyway with two of my sons marrying in NZ within months of each other bless them, and Mama must be there, I am going to have to find a new milk cow with a lovely tight udder for next spring and she will cost Thousands. However there you are. Life is all about challenges. Sorrows. Failures and Successes. Challenges.
This morning Daisy is maintaining the status quo. That is good.
I hope you all have a good day
Your friend on the farmy
celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
50 responses to “Sunday Morning”
My problems seem very minimal right now. How on earth does she keep treading on her own teat? I am having trouble picturing that. I gave up a lot to blog every day, and that is why I no longer do it. If there is steady work, I can’t blog. Not with the mothering and the wifing and all the rest. And if there is steady freelance work — the world being what it is — I can’t turn it down right now. That luxury doesn’t exist. And so I have let blogging sag and wilt. I miss it. But what I’ve realized getting older, is that sometimes what I have to do is protect time for the people closest to me. They all deserve it. And so the next blog post must wait…
Still you are still reading our posts and commenting. You are still being there for those of us who are isolated on tiny farms in far flung corners of the world. Which I am so grateful for!
Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
Poor lovely Daisy has had quite a time of it and you have certainly been such a wonderful nursemaid to her. I sincerely hope that all works out famously for her when this whole episode is put behind her.
I had to sigh when I read your part about being a shy and busy immigrant. You are right—we don’t “neighbor” like we ought to. We don’t seek each other out for those relaxing moments stretched out with time and conversation between us. Those are precious in our busy lives and we quite honestly do need to make time for that sort of thing. It is what keeps us grounded.
As for what I have given up for the sake of blogging—-nothing really. As I am not employed at this time the only things that I have to give up are my own time and it has connected me to some of the loveliest people in the world (like you) and I would not trade that for anything. Real friendships have come about and I am blessed.
Hope your Sunday is filled with sunshine and happiness—your posts always do that for me. 🙂
It never rains but it pours – but sometimes it rains and pours good things, we must remember that. I don’t feel as though I had to give anything up for blogging (apart from the odd piping hot dish which we’ve eaten a little colder in order to snap a photo of it)! What I’ve gained is lots of wonderful blogging friends, windows onto worlds I never thought I could even peep into and advice, support and knowledge which I treasure.
This is major. Yesterday a few of your fellows asked about a bra for Daisy. Would it even be possible to devise a sling of some sort? I Googled this and one suggestion was to file her hooves. That doesn’t seem to be near enough though. I guess some kind of soft covering on her back hooves isn’t practical either. Wow, wat a dilemma .
Miss C, you have got my little pea brain going. What do we trade to, perhaps, get something better? I’ve done a lot of “trading” these past few years and it’s always been a surprise where I end up. Solitude is most often not. For me it has become a conversation with all the parts of me (& I mean all) that are dancing, stomping, swirling around. Life does not get less strange.
Poor Daisy – I suspect it would be hard to have stopped her standing on her udder, other than if you trained her to sleep standing up 🙂
Poor Daisy! Sounds like two weddings in NZ will certainly help in getting your mind off the worries of the farmy, if even briefly. I promised myself that my blog would be for fun and enjoyment only. No stress or pressure involved in posting everyday, etc. I do feel a bit of a nudge every now and then when I’ve been busy and haven’t had the time or energy to post though. Even so, I think ithas added to my life rather than forced me to give up something in exchange. Hope you have a lovely and relaxing Sunday!
Could you get a kind of bra for Daisy – I suppose I mean a truss? I remember when I was the milk cow and suffering mastitis which led to an abscess, the only comfort was to wrap a terry nappy (diaper) tightly round my chest with an outsize bra on top!
You ask ” In fact blogging has created friendships for me. Do you feel that too?” Yes I do absolutely. I talk to Jock (who won’t touch the computer) about my friends in US or Oz or Italy and he asks if they are real or “virtual” . I tell him they are very real friends. I didn’t give up anything to be a blogger: I gained an awful lot of lovely friends, and a readership for my poems that no amount of published poetry books would get.
Blogging has been and continues to be a HUGE blessing in my life. On days like today, i sit and read, and comment and think about how we are all connected no matter how many miles are between us. We can say a prayer, send a hug, think a good thought and send healing energies Daisy’s way. How amazing this is!
When I had those five days of NO INTERNET!!! Horrors! I felt really lost. Terry is hugely busy on the farm in other aspects of his life. For me I enjoy connecting with those around the world with my blog and to whom other blogs I visit. I feel like I have gained lots of really nice friends through my time writing my daily blog post. It is a part of my life and I’m grateful for it and the people I’ve met.
Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
Beautiful
Could “we” buy a milk cow for the farm?
I think I will start looking for a new cow to arrive this spring, our next decision is what kind of cow. We have aunty del coming online in a couple of years. And i have no idea how much a milking cow will cost either..Cows are expensive at the moment.. c
Celi, Google Udder support for cows. Might be something that will help you and Daisey
Thank you G, the tear is half way around the teat, right into the center, it is very bad.Very deep. No sling will save it. The stitches may have. Honestly, Right now I am trying to save the cow. I need to dry her up before she kicks the whole thing off. I know a sling is a great idea but for a healthy cow, not this I am afraid.. thank you though. c
Wouldn’t a sling holding up her whole milk bag help her? Maybe I am just being dense here, but it seems to me that if the whole bag were being held up she would not be able to step on it again. Maybe we are not thinking about the same thing.
Yes, I have ordered one.. it would be useful for sure, if it arrives in time, however the vet has considered this and thinks drying her up would be a better solution.So I am working towards this. I am very, very stressed about this and really doing the best I can. Really i am. c
First of all, POOR DAISY!!! And how frustrating for you. Hopefully you’ll be able to dry her up soon so her udder can heal.
Being able to spend time with friends is such a treat.
To answer the question, “What did you give up to be a blogger?” My answer would be time. I’ve been fortunate to have gained so many friends along the way though. People I would have never met, had it not been for my blog. People like you. My blog is also the story of growing our family thru adoption and that journey thru life. My plan all along is that I will one day turn my blog posts into a book for my children. Something they can carry with them throughout their journey. One day, I hope my posts will include our journey thru farming. Our own Little House on the Prairie or House in the Hills or House on the Flatlands. 🙂
Daisy sure has had a rough time of it lately, hasn’t she? You haven’t had it easy, either. I’m glad you had a chance to sit back and catch your breath last night.
As for blogging, you know that I’ve been trying to get it into perspective. I’ve allowed it to take up far too much of my time. I think a schedule is the only way for me. I’ll figure it out.
Dear Ceci,
Though we no longer do farmy things I’m so glad you choose to blog because I have become your friend across the miles and love reading your updates. There’s no doubt about it, when one is isolated and craving human connection gaining friends from all over the world, who become a supportive community, means blogging becomes not a life-line but a love-line.
Though I live in a semi-remote location, I am not isolated and have never been lonely, Ceci. My list of what have given up for blogging is the result of a reality check. We each set our own priorities. I am extremely busy and I alone control how busy I am.
I have allowed blogging to become a thief that steals time I would have otherwise spent with family and friends and on creative activities. That theft will not longer be happening because I am setting a new schedule. I am moving blogging down my priority list and moving reconnecting with my immediate community to the top of my list instead.
Love to you always,
TiTi
P.S. Poor Daisy. I do hope she heals up completely and soon.
I just loved what you wrote in that piece, it made me think. I really have given up things to blog .. mostly time as you said.. and it was a very good reality check for me to. The wonderful thing is, as you say, even though you take time from a day to touch the blog world the rewards are just fantastic. But always we must be careful, as you are doing now, to manage your time and keep the power that runs your life in your hands. I love the idea of you singing again.. such an image.. and yes, thank you again for your writing.. it is refreshingly honest and true. c