One day I am going to start the motor and drive off with these big birds flying up behind me. Though it would not surprise me if Geraldine came along for the ride!
The piglets are having a growth spurt and are demanding more and more food. Interestingly when I offer different kinds of food they eat the greens (weeds from the garden) first, then my special un-ground all animals food mix (wheat, oats, barley, corn), then last of all, and begrudgingly, they will turn to the special sow and pig from purina (the proteins are plant based no added animal products).
Of course the cultured milk or bowls of whey are the Top of the Top of the list and I am mobbed when they see those buckets coming. Zack made an amazing marszapone to go with the spaghetti I made last night from a home made scorched tomato sauce. We have yoghurt hanging for a labneh today and a butternut base in the fridge for an icecream, and ricotta pressing for a ricotta salata. I cannot believe how lucky I am to have these two rattling about my kitchen.
There will be recipes! But as you can see each of these dishes takes more than a day to make.
Sheila eats no grain at all with all the kitchen scraps she has to eat. She has a lovely big field but all yesterday she napped in the naughty pig pen. Very soon this will be resown in oats.
Txiki was separated from her mother yesterday. It is a little early but Alex is being brought down by this big healthy calf. Lately her mother has been standing in the water trough with her head by her knees or by the gates with her drooping head down. Txiki was a little surprised when the door of the barn shut behind her and she found herself alone in there with only pigs and me as company. But I know I have the timing right when the mother heaves a big sigh, softly turns and drifts back out into the field without a word. Txiki on the other hand has been sending half-hearted moos out into the night – all night. It will take her a few days to settle.
I cannot send Txiki across the way to the West side with the other singles because she is so small. So my plan is to keep her here, bring Aunty Anna and Difficult back here (I do not want them impregnated), then send Alex and the Carlos the tiny bull back to the other side. I may even try to do this today.
But first I want to get out and rake the hay early while it is still a little dewy. It dried faster than I thought it would on that wet ground and we will bale it tomorrow morning.
Aunty Del did come into heat yesterday morning but both the people who do AI for me were out of town. So she will have to wait until later in the month. A bit boring but there you are. Nothing I could do about that.
Have a lovely day.
celi
The Teespring Tshirt campaign is still running, 8 more Tshirts to go and we will reach our goal of 75. Sales close in seven days. Also see below for the Sheila T shirt. (Remember this is an opportunity only – no worries if this is not something you are interested in).
A few of you have asked for the old Sheila T shirts instead. If three of us register they will reopen the sales of this T shirt for all again. So if you want one here it is. I will will be one of the three.
Love c
The Kitchen's Garden 
31 responses to “Moos all night Long”
Oh we just went through the same thing. We got our cow Elsie in mid August, and she was looking for her calf for a few days. She is much better now and we can’t wait to get another.