Lady Astor is still being put to bed early – much to her disgust. 
She would prefer that only the dairy women and men peek at the next shot, as it is only a documentation shot but interesting if you are a watcher of cows. And you all are. Mercy, what an education you are getting (along with me I might add).
Yesterday Lady was obviously uncomfortable and often when a cow has some pain she will lick at herself. Unfortunately she was licking her back when I was standing with a camera in my hand. This udder though huge is not quite ready, the teats are not tight and shiny yet and no dripping milk. But close. This can all change in an hour. Very close.
The only other inhabitants of the big barn (other than the chickens I cannot catch) are the four little pigs. Last night it got cold again and they finally found their straw bed.
I hope you have a lovely day.
Oh I forgot the cats. The barn is full of sleeping cats in the day time. Here is our old Egoli. And of course the peacocks up on their palace but they were too busy staring at the cadet. 
I would be surprised if there is not some excitement on the farmy today.
I don’t know about your table but mine was such an eclectic mix yesterday I had to take a shot for you. I shifted nothing – this is exactly how it is. (None of the fertile eggs I bought at the bantam swap hatched by the way. Hope we have better luck with the peacock eggs that are going in today.)
Love celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
72 responses to “Peek in the Barn”
I know you prefer your Hereford gingers, but the plonkers are awfully cute. Poor Lady A, these last days of pregnancy are so miserable.
Is your Buddleia bush blooming? Mine is no where near that far along!
Lilacs from the The Cadets Grandma’s garden – the bad winter killed all my buddelia – I love their scent too.. c
I love them, too. Mine were meagre last year, so I’m hoping for better this summer.
Piggies! You know they have a soft place in my oinker heart ❤ XOXO – Bacon
Lovely pic of your table. And those little pigs are adorable!
I am so fond of your little piggy pics! Cannot wait to see Lady Astor’s calf!!!
Very, very close indeed. I would say within today or tomorrow, Friday at the latest!
Linda
I think she may go to Friday – there is still some crinkle in her teats.. c
Soon then, very soon!
Love the piggies…wonder if there’s a “pecking order” to who gets the nice warm inside places when they lie close together like that. Also love your little “piggies” in the table shot with the red toenail polish! Well done, girl, for finding time to keep the tootsies nice and fetching. Lady Astor reminds me of how I felt at the end of my last pregnancy…oh my.
Quite delightfully my daughter in law painted those toenails when we were at the snake house up from Melbourne. I am letting it grow off! Lazy! But I might invest in some nail polish and do it again – I quite like them red.. c
Celi’s table, Celi’s pretty toes, Celi’s lilacs, a sleepy squirm of little black piggies, and a poor cow with not quite enough space any more for the calf she’s carrying. Happy day! Up to see the Husband off to work, back to bed for hopefully a couple more hours of sleep, and then it’s time to trot along for results. I shall carry with me the image and remembered smell of the lilacs…
Pack all our love for your trot!! c
Yes, please do! Much love, Your Gayle
Back atcha, dear girl. xxx
I was getting worried here. You usually post early early, much earlier than 11.
I have a weird life. 4 days a week I have to get up at 1.30am to get the Husband off to start day shift at 3am. The next 4 days, I get to sleep in a little later because he’s on night shift. The 4 days after that he’s off, and we tend to try and catch up on lost sleep. It’s day shift right now, and I commented in the middle of the night. Now, several hours later, I’ve caught a bit more sleep and am just waiting, waiting, waiting for my appointment. After the Husband, the Fellowship will be the first to know…
Midday here and where you are: fingers and toes all crossed . . . hoping for answers which will give you peace!
News (good) in a separate comment at the bottom. You can safely unknot your digits! xx
Man, Lady Astor. No lady likes to have a shot of their behind, and what a behind it is! Best of luck!
Aww, such a shame about the eggs. I would love to exchange eggs with you! But I am not a big fan f bantams. No sir-ie.
I don’t have bantams either just layers and meat chickens. I do have a couple of pesky guinea fowl though!! c
I would swap eggs with you if you wanted some easter eggers. Are you NPIP? That makes swapping eggs so much easier. I get really worried about egg swaps because nobody ever is and I never participate.
Actually I have no idea what NPIP is? c
Oh, NPIP is the National Poultry Improvement Plan. This is (legally) the only way you are supposed to sell hatching eggs, especially across state lines. Basically you pay some $30 and a nice man (or woman) with a disposable plastic suit comes out and test a random selection of your bird flock for pullorum typhoid and avian flu. They take a few skin samples and do some small blood samples that determine if your birds carry these super-contagious diseases that could threaten the entirety of the USA chicken population.
You receive a little certificate that you can copy and distribute to people who buy live chickens or hatching eggs to prove that your chickens are healthy… In addition to making you in compliance with the legal requirements for shipping eggs across state lines.
The down(ish) side is that if your chickens test positive you may be required to destroy your flock. But honestly, these are some of the most devastating poultry diseases we could have in the USA and could kill not only your whole flock anyhow but also people. So the USDA tries to use NPIP registration to keep track of these diseases to keep them from spreading. Especially since most major contagious poultry disease outbreaks originate in back yard flocks.
I was entranced by your table shot and pored over it in great detail. However, it took me several backlooks to finally locate the “piggies” on the chair. It all had a “Where’s Waldo” effect on me. Much love, Your Gayle
Cecilia, I thought that piece on your table at 9:00 was a gun. Still don’t know what it could possibly be. Don’t know what the small grate thingy is either. I DO recognize the book though.
That is a set of alan keys for opening the pulsator from the milking machine which is also on the table. I think the grate you mean is the base of the incubator . The book is a recipe book of Basque recipes!.. c
I like the lilac on your table! Would like to have one, too. 😉
What a beautiful table.
Back for a visit… I have spent the last hour catching up on at least nine posts. After a morning in Eye casualty a couple of weeks ago, I imposed a temporary ban on blog reading. I am assured that all is well, but a rest did me no harm. Fingers crossed for lady A in the next few days. I will be back to follow her progress.
Hope you have your eyes closed now then!! c
I had them closed all night and am now ready to rest them again. This gentle ladylike style of living was never part of my world! A new phase of change, but I WILL adjust!