no more milk
Yes. 
The milking cows have been milked for the last time and …
– loaded up into the old trailer with its new tyre and driven over to the West Barn. We made a bit of a mess of the paths and pastures as the rain had come and the ground had thawed, and gone soggy very fast and with two thousand pounds of animal in the trailer it was touch and go a few times. Once more thank goodness for my big four wheel drive truck. 
It is important when you dry up cows that they get them as far away from the milking routine as possible so their milk does not come down. Also they are on a very lean diet for a few weeks to help them dry up too so they are staying seperate from the others. They both have so little milk now that it will slowly dissipate and be reabsorbed. But because they both freshened (gave birth in cow talk) with a little mastitis I have injected an antibiotic up the canal of each quarter on both of them. This is a long term antibiotic and will help keep their udders clear of infection while they are drying up. They accept this without fuss at all so i am thinking it does not hurt. Though if someone tried to do that to me when I was weaning babies I would have slapped them silly.
Now that we are no longer milking I will take their milking collars off too. I forgot to do it yesterday evening, the wind was so loud and so destructive, roaring monster – rously around us as we worked, flinging things about, scaring the piglets with loud bangs, that I completely forgot. I will do that today. 
Now there is no milk, no butter, no yoghurt, no icecream, no fresh cheeses, marscapone or cream sauces, no cream on cereal, or cream in my coffee or cakes. Now we enter the leaner times which are good for me. All bodies need a few months of the lean times. In fact eating seasonally and from the farm enables a more natural rhythm to the food.
Txiki was sad to see Lady Astor go. Lady loves babies and had licked her all over in the night, cleaning her up for adolescence.
The winds were so strong yesterday that they blew one of the big doors in. This was my fault as I had forgotten to attach the cross brace when I closed it for the evening. 
It was an easy fix though, just took some well placed wacks with a mallet and it popped over the rim of the floor and back out into place. The trouble being the howling gale trying to blow it back IN before I had it popped out. So I had to work between gale force gusts. Now it is all braced into place until the storm is over.
It is quiet this morning. The high winds have moved on I think, though today will still be breezy and rainy and reaching 50F/10C – this is pretty warm for this time of year. But being so warm I can clean out the dairy cows waiting room thoroughly – now that it is empty but for two small heifers.
I just looked at the weather forecast and for the next ten days we are seldom below freezing with lots of clouds and some rain – it is like farming in Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand but without the sun!
I hope you have a lovely day.
Love celi
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Much love,
c
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thekitchensgarden 
Txiki in the boot of the car and Auntie Del’s contemplative expression are both wonderful photos. Your lower fat, dairy free diet for the next few months may leave you feeling the cold more. I prescribe bacon!
Because there is not a lot of bacon in a pig we hoard it. Bacon is for special occassions. The next one being my daughter visiting. In a few months.
That’s definitely an event worth saving it for!
It looks like Txiki is staging a protest 🙂
She probably is – such a noisy wee heifer
Love the pic of Txiki in the car boot.
She is a wee star!
Cheeky Txiki in the boot is very cute 🙂 Sweet Alex giving Aunty Del a welcome kiss. I have lost track of Molly, is she back with Manu and Poppy? Laura
That is a sweet photo – Alex and Aunnty Del. Yes Molly is still with Poppy and Manu but I have to feed them all separately as Molly is the smallest. Once i see signs of pregnancy I will pull her out.
50 degrees? We are having very strange weather as well. 1 degrees this morning and -33 with the wind chill. But it’s supposed to be 35 by next Monday! My mother used to call this “sick weather” because “one’s body had a hard time with the fluctuations and often would react by getting sick”. She taught children for 34 years and saw every childhood illness. She was often right about what made a child sick.
It certainly is sick weather – tons of people around here with colds and pneumonia even.
The rain and mud this year is gumming everything up. Glad your truck made it. Many time I saw neighbors with mule teams pulling neighbors cars/trucks out of barn pastures or along dirt roads with low spots. This year, though would be one where even the mules were over up to the barn to keep them from getting stuck in the mud and having to be rescued. Farm life insists on creative thinking and thinking ahead.
Take care in this year of such weather – 20’s last week and palms with coats and probably 80F today.
I have been thinking of mules lately – as in helping me in the vege garden – there are horse drawn hoes and things up in the old barn and I am extending the gardens again this year because of the restaurant.. will have to talk to people who know about these things.
Such sweet photos, especially of Txiki in the trunk of the car. Laugh out loud funny. 🙂 We had another big snowstorm last night with winds blowing every which way. I hate the wind the most. It unsettles me. I hope this doesn’t come your way. Have a wonderfilled day, Miss C.
You are getting heaps of snow this winter – have you solved your heating problems? c
It’s holding it’s own so far but I know I will have to replace it by next winter. Watch, it will be a warm one then.
Dressing very warm and moving very fast helps keep me warm as I have my thermostat set 10 degrees lower than most people I know. Just as long as the pipes don’t freeze, I’m good. They say between 7-11 inches here. I don’t see that where I live but I’m at the bottom of a hill. If you have chains, you can get up it. I’m staying inside. 🙂 Snow is slowing to a stop so all will be well. Thank you for asking. The wind was the scary part. Big trees behind me.
Big trees and wind – yes – a bit hair raising/. c
Pingback: Barn Drama Two | albits
Found another poem here! Your words about the wind. Am sending to friends. Expect they will come over for a visit, and enjoy the pictures today as I did, especially Txiki in the trunk looking forlorn. In the trunk! Oh, I forgot, that’s a creative food source.
Yes – it is a creative food source – i call it Art for Cows! c
Enjoy the warmer temps to get things in order for your February travels!
Yes – my thoughts exactly – plus when it is warm the pigs get even fatter so they too can cope with the cold temps better.
What a character posing in the trunk! So there is no milking in the winter?
The cows usually only milk for about eight months – then if pregnant dry up so their energy can turn to the calf. Aunty’s production was so low that we chose to dry her up at the same time. c
Oh. Thanks for answering. Not that cow knowledgeable!
All questions are good questions – you will get to know lots about cows here.. laughter! c
I’m sure you mean mules when you say mules. I guess donkeys wouldn’t be able to help you in the veggie garden. I mention this because I know of the Peaceful Valley Donkey Rescue in Texas that has a satellite in Illinois.
yes i do mean a mule – I don’t think a donkey would pull a hoe. Though I am looking at Txiki and thinking. PS I would love a donkey of course – to be a friend for Sheila. She would need to be young though and able to get on with other animals. Or even as a watch donkey on the other side? Look below there is a very sweet picture of the Bobby and Sheila sleeping together. c
Just now saw your pic of Sheila sleeping with one of the Bobbies. I love it when the pig’s tail is out flat like that. It tells me that all is well with that pig. 🙂
The seasons have to change in order to come back around. But I know you’ll miss that milk and all the good things you can do with it! I might give mozzarella a try here at home.
They say it is easy to make but I can’t get the hang of it.. c
Do I have to go to a special store to get the rennet tablets?
I buy them from Amazon – keep them in the freezer and they will last for years
Beautiful!
your words and photos always leave me smiling……….
Then my work is done! c
Love it would of slapped them silly. Me too! Cow in a car that’s different! 😂
The calves love that car.. c
You never disappoint C. While I am sure you will welcome the break, won’t you miss the milk? We are headed that way come march, but I will buy milk from a fellow farmer or I won’t hear the end of it from the family Lol. Much love from Florida.
Yes I do miss the milk – but my body does not mind a break from the high fat diet. I LOVE cream! It calls to me from the fridge! c
We had guests over the weekend and took some bacon out in anticipation, they seemed happy with eggs, lucky me 🙂 Saving the pictures for the Malina in the morning.
Yes! more bacon – more better.
Malina mooooed through the pictures 🙂
You can use one of the bovines for a draft animal. People used to use oxen to plough and pull wagons and other farm equipment. A mule or donkey isn’t a bad idea though, even a horse which you could ride when needed or desired. Depending on the individual animal, if you considered a horse, you wouldn’t necessarily need to have it shod, it’s actually better if they can go barefoot, just need a trim about every 6-8 weeks.
Great photos today.
I am sure I will end up pulling the hoe by myself! c
Two words C. Mini Donkey! Be still my heart…
crazy girl! c
I would also give up milk for part of the year if I could have abundant raw milk & fresh cream for the remainder.
I wish you could find some – having my own milk is amazing! c
We have been having ghastly winds here too lately C, quite out of season, well it used to be.
Hmm. Not sure I could survive without milk then again I am sure I could if I gave it a good try.
Have a wonderful day.
🙂 Mandy xo