Guess who has begun to show an udder? Go on GUESS! After all this backwardsing and forwardsing and shilly shallying about – it looks like Lady Astor is developing her udder for real. I am fairly sure now. And just before I was about to call the vet out too. With eight days to go before her triple checked due date. She is looking pregnant.
Maybe, if all goes well, there is going to be milk this summer. 
Actually she still is not looking that pregnant, I think she must be growing a cat in there but her udder is definitely swelling up.
She has been very quiet lately and dropping a few short mucusy strands every now and then. Which I thought may have been heat. But there you are – it looks like she is starting to store milk in her poor old beleaguered udder.
So I called the Parts Dpt my favourite no nonsense go to milking equipment store. A real man answers, knows how to milk cows, knows the gear and – here is the best bit – he looks up what I ordered last year and runs through it with me, so I get everything exactly right. (I replace all the rubber or plastic that has had a seasons milk running through it). Then he might suggest a gasket or something and then he gets it all in the mail THAT SAME DAY! I had to buy a new bucket this year which is expensive but there you are. He even put me on hold while he ran out to the warehouse to check the new arrivals, making sure they had the new buckets. Anyway – that man makes my life easier. And I don’t get junk emails with Specials!! And everything is on its way now. And of course he is not paying me to write this. And if I am not right I can send it all straight back. And, well, there you are.
Now we need to go out and clean that milking shed up again.
Lady Astor is awfully calm. Ah well. Maybe no summer off after all. 75% sure now. I will be 100% sure when I see that calf standing on the ground. I still have no sense of him in there.
It is still cold and very windy. The wind was so strong yesterday and so constant that we were all discombobulated by it. We had to shout at each other to be heard. Smiles were grim and a little short. Though Poppy had a lovely day in the fields.
This morning is only slighty less windy and overcast and cold. But hopefully the wind will drop by this afternoon.
love celi
Weather forecast:
Tuesday 05/02 0% / 0 in
Cloudy skies. Windy this morning. High 54F. Winds W at 20 to 30 mph.
Tuesday Night 05/02 10% / 0 inPartly cloudy skies. Low 38F. NW winds at 10 to 20 mph, decreasing to less than 5 mph.
The Kitchen's Garden 
38 responses to “I Should have KNOWN!”
Finger crossed for Lady Astor. What a wonderful sky!
Hopefully you will feel life inside her before too long. (Rather than the other that you thought might be so in a post several days ago). The green of spring is beautiful, isn’t it?
One way or the other I hope she delivers ok.. c
I hope all goes well, and I hope it’s a little girl 🙂
AHA!! You peeked! Described my udders to a T !! Sorry, but I have no calf to offer – chuckle – just concertina-like old udders!
Any chance you would share your milk equipment source? Always good to have some options!
It is called the Parts Department – they are wonderful and very fast to deliver – any problems just call them and they fix it.
Oh this is a down to the wire situation. Like everyone else I’m hoping for the very best outcome.
I suspect you have a half Dexter heifer in there. Small calf so not much shows. In the photo a couple days ago where Lady A is facing you it sure looks like her right side is just a tiny bit larger than the left and a tiny bit lower. Regardless, you’ve got more babies coming, whether bovine or porcine, in the very near future.
*smile* I live on junk emails with specials – especially the latter: don’t think I have paid full price for anything for years. Have a ‘needs’ list and when something comes up, mostly around 10-11 pm at night, I do pounce!! Must have been all my previous business trips to Hong Kong, Singapore and the rest . . . bargaining is an art and huge fun actually: and there is quite a bit of it in this country these days . . . but have to admit I do like to speak to a ‘real’ person if available . . . [Oh had a huge ‘contents insurance’ bill a few weeks back: did a bit of talking about moving my account elsewhere and promptly got over a hundred dollars off for the same policy] . . .
Now focussed on a healthy delivery… Best xox
Oh good news! Love those photos of the skies.
J & D > An occasional discombobulation is good for re-setting our sense of self-worth. A sort of re-calibration. We’re always told that only the US knows how to do customer service: now we know it’s true!
Oh best of luck with Lady Astor. I just love the green in your photos Celi .. 😃
Described my udders to a T ! !