Rainy Weather Fun

Keeping busy during three days in a row of rain really isn't too hard.  There's always the cleaning.  The cleaning gets neglected when we're busy outside.  The floors have been mopped, the dishes all washed, the boys' rooms cleaned.  But then there's the laundry... 

Indoor clothes drying to the rescue.  It takes a little longer, but it's free!  The heavy stuff I hang on hooks on the bathroom wall.

The lighter stuff goes on the drying rack.  I used this method all winter, rarely turning on the dryer at all.  I think when the dryer kicks the bucket, I'll replace it with a big wooden Mennonite drying rack.


#2 cleaned up the basement and piled the little bit of firewood we've brought in so far this year.  We ordered wood - a dump truck load of birch logs - and 5 weeks later we're still waiting.  If it doesn't come soon we will be freezing this winter!

We took a break and went to the Flea Market/Feed Store.  They've been doing a lot of cleaning this year, so now you can actually find stuff.  Before everything was so stuffed and over flowing, I was afraid to touch anything lest it fall all over the place. 




I bought a bunch of glasses, coffee cups, wine glasses, and measuring cups.







A pair of wall candle sconces.





 A nice big mirror - which I originally thought I would hang in the livingroom, but after bringing it home I think I will probably put it up in my room.  I would like to fill the house with mirrors to reflect more light, and I love the black metal frames.


Sadly, the Flea Market will be closing in September.  They've been struggling since the Mennonites moved into the area and opened their feed store.  They're more centrally located, while the Flea Market is out here on the edge, like me.  The owners bought a general store in one of the smaller towns to the south, and their parents and son have been running the Flea Market this summer.  I'm hoping they will return in the spring.  I suggested they turn it into a Flea & Farmer's market.

I went to a Farmer's market last weekend in one of the bigger towns to the north.  I was just killing time, waiting on the boys, and already halfway there, so I thought I'd go take a look.  It was truly unbelievable.  Most of the vendors were selling hand crafts.  There were two vegetable vendors, both with outrageous prices, and both very busy!  $2 for a cucumber, $3 for a small bag of lettuce, $4 for a tiny romaine.  $3 each for cauliflower and broccoli the size of my fist!  $3 for a tiny bunch of carrots, $4.50 for a pint of raspberries, and $4 for a tiny dish of blueberries. 

I admit I don't often buy any of that stuff, since I grow my own, but still, I was astounded by how busy they were.  I looked in the grocery store afterward, and sure enough, their prices were dramatically lower.  I regret not going to the farmer's market when I was down south.  It would have been interesting for comparison.

Don't get me wrong, I don't begrudge the farmers earning a living wage.  I just don't understand where their customers come from.  I remember going to the farmer's market with my parents, always looking for deals.  We shopped there because it was cheaper than the grocery store.  We would get a deal by buying in bulk, and then Mom would can and freeze for winter.  If I had to pay $6 for a little basket of pickling cukes, I'd just buy pickles in the grocery store.  It's cheaper and the work is already done.

On the other hand, if I sold my carrots 6 to a bunch for $2.50 (grocery store price), I could make close to $200.  That's pretty impressive for my little companion plants.  Then I start thinking about all of the extra stuff I could grow...  and then my garden is huge again and I can't keep up with the weeds...  Maybe someday.

At any rate, I think devoting some of the parking lot space to a farmer's market would help draw people in to the Flea Market, and help keep them afloat.



I made another batch of butter, and a small batch of Farmer's Cheese.  That will be used in a lasagna tonight, as it's not too hot to have the oven on today!





And while it's cool, I also thought I'd make a little room in the freezer.  These three birds are simmering on the stove and will be ready to can this evening.  When we raised turkeys I'd always save a little bit for future soups, pastas, and salads.  I rarely get to do that with chickens, since they're gone in two to three meals.  I catch myself looking at chicken parts in the grocery store, thinking I should buy something to make taco pasta.  It's just not the same with beef.

The garden has been left to fend for itself.  The weeds will be growing like mad again next week.  I still go out to the greenhouses daily, and I've picked my second batch of green beans.  I'm still getting a few peas, carrots every day, my first tomato!!, nasturtium flowers, peppers, and a couple of missed radishes. 

I pulled a few turnips from the garden yesterday, for Piggy and to thin them, but we ended up eating them ourselves.  #2 had asked what to make for supper since we were almost out of potatoes, and I told him I had carrots and turnips on the table.  I found him in the kitchen chopping them up.  He made a pot of mixed veggies - carrots, turnips, and potatoes.  They were delicious.  Piggy got the leftovers for breakfast.  I'll go out and pick some more roots for her once the rain eases off a bit.

I also cooked the turnip greens.  That was a first for us.  I just shredded and boiled them, served with salt and butter.  They were nice.  I've been looking at canning greens for winter.  Everything I've read says 90 minutes for processing, and they turn out like mush.  I really don't have a lot of extra freezer space right now, but it seems that that's the recommended way to go.  I'm thinking that 36-52 bags of assorted greens would be sufficient for winter. 

So, back to work now.  Enjoy the rain!

More Milking Adventures

We've kept up the routine for the past few days, letting Majesty out in the morning, keeping Queenie in the milk room pen.  They don't seem to suffer any kind of separation anxiety, until Majesty returns bellowing around 6pm.  Then she wants in and she wants in NOW.

We've been taking between 3.5- 4 Cups of milk from her, then letting her in with Queenie to finish the job.  After Queenie finishes nursing, I go out to check on Majesty.  Her left side udder is still tight and full. 

Last night #1 let her in to the pen to let Queenie nurse first.  After she finished, he milked Majesty's left side dry.  9.25 Cups of milk!  Half holstein does seem to be plenty of milk for us after all! 

This morning I checked Majesty's udders.  They're no worse for wear, and Queenie does not appear to have suffered from lack of milk through the night.

I think we'll continue this way, draining one side after Queenie nurses unless any problems develop.

On with the Milking

Day 10 - July 13
Again, a very agreeable cow.  Again, just a drizzle of milk.

I decided to let Majesty out in the yard for the day.  I slipped the cow halter on her like there was nothing to it.  She's so sweet.  Then I tried to lead her out of the milk room.  Ha!  Who was I kidding?  First she stood there looking at me like I was crazy, then she pulled me towards her.  Once I stabilized myself, I braced myself on the door frame and tried again.  This time she nearly ripped my hand off.  Ouch.  She was content to stand there eating with the halter on, but no way was I going to lead her anywhere.  I took the halter off of her with no problem.

Changing tactics, I decided to halter Queenie instead.  Majesty didn't budge as we played ring around the cow.  Once I got her cornered I managed to slip the rope on her without too much trouble.  Leading her over to the post took a bit of muscle.  I tied her up.  Majesty didn't seem at all concerned.

I left the gate open.  After a while Majesty finally went outside and noticed it.  She ate in the yard with Patrick for a while, then let herself into the pasture and went to visit her mom.

Queenie tangled herself up a couple of times, but no harm done.  By the end of the day she had stopped fighting with the rope.

Majesty came and went as she pleased until late afternoon.  Then she paced around the outside of the pen calling Queenie to come to her.  I was willing to let her figure it out on her own, but #1 decided he would push her in.  She gave him a run around for about an hour, but eventually he got her back into the pen and untied Queenie.

Day 11 - July 14
1/4 Cup of milk.  Better, but not much.

Queenie was out in the milk room pen this morning.  I chased her around for a bit, until she bashed head first into the fence, then bellowed.  Majesty ran out of the milk room to see what was going on.  Then we played ring around the cow for a while until I gave up.  Majesty will stay in for now.  I might try again later, or maybe tomorrow.

#1 separated the pair of them and left Queenie in the pen loose.  Majesty came back bellowing in the evening.

Day 12 - July 15

1/2 Cup of milk. Improving slowly.  Majesty was let out again while Queenie stayed in the pen.

The Next Few Days

I left with Husband for our trip south.  #1 got a job.  #4 came home from camp.

#1 let milked Majesty later and later each day, preparing for the switch to night time milking.  Not more than 1/2 Cup.  They were adapting well to being separated. 

And then, #4 went to let Majesty out.  She didn't want to leave right away, so being the impatient 12 year old that he is, he walked away and left the gate OPEN.

The first day after, #1 couldn't catch Queenie, so he haltered Majesty and dragged her back up to the barn.  Majesty went through the fence in the middle of the night.

The second day, he couldn't find Queenie, so he dragged Majesty up again and tied her in the milk room.  He left the gate open for Queenie.

Finally, the third day, Queenie was back in the pen with her mother.

I returned from my trip, and we're back to letting Majesty out in the morning and keeping Queenie penned.

Eager to reunite at the end of the day, Majesty munches some grain outside the gate while we milk.  Queenie waits impatiently inside.  I would like to build a short fence to block off the pen so we can bring Majesty in to the milk room without worrying that Queenie might escape.  This works for now.

We're taking between 2-3 Cups of milk per day now, once again without effort.  Majesty is not quite engorged when she returns to the milk pen at night. 

Milking Progress

Day 7 - July 10
Majesty met me at the gate, anxious for her buckets of fresh weeds.  The Milk Room pen is rather small and doesn't allow for much fresh eating.  She has a bale of hay, but much prefers the fresh green weeds I pull from the garden.  I gave her a pet as I walked by and took them in to her feeder.  She stayed outside while I got her grain and added it to the feed box.

She was still outside so I went out to look at the rest of the herd, who were all hiding in the back corner this morning.  A few minutes later I went in the Milk Room where she had started eating.  She backed out and looked me over.  I gave her a pet and told her I was going to wash her teats.  She went back to eating.

I started milking on her right side, which seemed fuller than yesterday, drained the front, and took 100 extra squirts from the rear.  Then I went around to her left side and she moved over for me before I even touched her.  She's a fast learner.  I drained the front and took 100 extra squirts off the rear.  I gave her a good pet and thanked her for the milk.  She was still eating when I left.

In the house, strained and measured - 3 Cups of milk today.

Day 8 - July 11
I was late getting started this morning.  PMSing and not eager to go to the barn.  This week will be a challenge for me, staying motivated while I feel so miserable.

Our little princess took advantage of my tardiness.  While Majesty was still content to comply with being milked, there just wasn't much milk there to get.  1/2 Cup today.  I drained all 4 teats.  (The extra teats at the back don't appear to be functional).  Queenie seemed rather smug about it, standing beside me watching.  She's got personality, lol.

Majesty is hungry.  She emptied her feed box overnight.  She still has hay, but isn't interested in it.  I am thinking about setting electric fence around the pig pen and moving them there while I'm away next week.  I'm not sure how she'll handle the step over the doorway though.

Day 9 - July 12
Majesty came after her buckets right quick again.  Queenie stayed outside.  No milk.  Well, just a drizzle.  Enough for two cups of tea.

I told her to eat up and stay put.  Then I closed the door up, leaving Queenie outside.  I'll go back out and try again in a couple of hours.  Her bag did not seem empty, so maybe she just doesn't want to let her milk down for me.  At any rate, it's time to start separating them for a couple of hours before milking, so now's as good a time to start as any.

Three hours later...

One happy cow, one well fed calf, one broken door.

I needed something to do this afternoon anyway though, right?

I did manage to get another half cup of milk though, and despite the separation, Majesty is still very agreeable.  If she wasn't so agreeable I might be tempted to give up.  Maybe half holstein isn't enough to make a family cow?  Time will tell.

Majestic Milk

Training the Family Milk Cow

Day One - July 4
Majesty delivers Queenie.  That's her 'official' name. She might grow into it.  Or she might be "Our Little Princess" forever.  We moved Queenie into the Milk House (aka 'the old chicken coop').  Majesty abandoned us halfway there and went to tell her mother.

Majesty came up to check on Queenie 3 times, walking over a broken section of fence to come and go as she pleased.  she stayed in the pen with her overnight.

Day Two - July 5
Queenie is extremely well fed, appearing to have doubled in size.  We go shopping for feed and supplies.  Majesty comes and goes as she pleases.

Day Three - July 6
#1 catches Majesty and Queenie in the milk room and locks the door.  We fix the fence and set up electric fence along it.  We let them out of the milk room, and Majesty stays in the pen all day.  She allows a few pets.

Day Four - July 7
#1 manages to squeeze a few squirts from each teat.  Majesty is very full, and so is Queenie.  She calls for Queenie, but Queenie does not want to eat anymore.

Day Five - July 8
Majesty is still very full.  She allows me to slide my hands across her without moving.  Her udder is quite warm.  I get the milk bucket.  She allows me to begin milking one side, until Queenie comes to the other side and begins nursing.  Once the pressure is off, she starts fidgeting and then walks away.

Day Six - July 9
I take my milk buckets and cloth out in the morning.  I feed her.  She doesn't stir when I wash her teats.  I begin milking her left side.  The front teat empties quickly.  I continue with the rear, and reach across to the other side.  It's awkward, so I decide to try moving to her right side.  She is too close to the wall.  I push her over gently, but she doesn't react.  I push her hard, and she moves an inch.  I push her hard again and she pulls her head out of the feed box to look at me.  She repositions herself and I start milking her right side.
 
Everything is going well, until #1 walks in.  When he opens the door it spooks her.  We then spend 10 minutes waltzing around the milk room, getting the evil eye.  She does not get aggressive at all, never lowering her head or threatening us, just backing away and watching her daughter.  I tell #1 to leave.

Another five minutes and she settles and goes back to eating.  I resume milking and drain the front right side.  I resume cross milking both back teats until she becomes fidgety again.  That's enough for today.

I take the milk bucket in, strain and measure.

1 2/3 Cups of milk with very little effort.  I am very pleased.  I wasn't really expecting to be bringing any milk to the house at this point.

Majesty was raised by her mother, Dorie.  Other than tagging her ear, and the occasional nose pat when she got curious, we have been completely hands off with her.  Last summer I kept asking the boys to catch her and bring her up to the milk pen so I could work on taming, petting, and haltering her while they were gone to camp.  It never happened.

I expected this milking adventure to involve wrangling a halter on her, tying her to a tree, and waiting for her to figure out there was no escape.  Then spending many attempts to milk her getting pushed around and the bucket kicked over.  I am amazed that she is being so agreeable.

We will continue taking things slowly as she learns the routine.

It's a Girl!

Our royal Majesty has given us the only girl of the season.  She took after her mother and hid in the pines to deliver her calf, the same spot where she was born.  Quietly in the wee hours of the morning, all by herself despite her small size.  Mom and babe are both doing well.

A view of her udder yesterday.  It's a little deceiving, because she has six teats.  She was bagging up really well.  Her udder was smaller than Mildred's, but much larger than the beef cows.  I'm very excited to soon be milking again!

We had not planned to keep this one, but she is oh so cute.  She's about 3/4 holstein, so we'll see how the milking goes with Majesty before we decide for sure.

I love her spots.  She's adorable.

Majesty's not thrilled about all of the attention.  I'm sure she'll be even less thrilled once we try moving them to the milk room pen.

Wait!

Last night at dusk I looked up to the sound of the geese overhead.  Not a good picture, I know, but there they go, headed south.  I am so NOT ready for winter!

We've had a couple of frost warnings already, but so far we've been lucky.  The city to the north of us had it's first freeze last week, and a heavy frost hit the city to the south east.  It's not a huge concern for me this year, since all I've got growing in the garden are the stunted beets and some potatoes.

Inside the greenhouses, the sunflowers are looking beautiful.

They need more time to set seed though.

The tomato jungle is still growing strong.  With each frost warning I pick the largest and any tomatoes that have started to turn.  They are ripening just fast enough inside to keep us in tomato sandwiches.

The peppers are buried under the tomato plants now, and though they have new flowers, there haven't been any new pepper growth in weeks.  I think the bees are having trouble getting to them.  The Hungarian sweet wax peppers are the right seed- the ones Dad grew when I was a child.  Delicious.  Only one plant survived to the garden, but it produced 7 peppers itself- much higher yield than green peppers.  Next year I'll have to keep them out of the jungle for even higher productivity.

The cucumbers are finally producing, and I've made a dozen quarts of dill pickles, in addition to all of the cukes we're eating fresh.

The radishes and carrots in the greenhouse produced big lovely tops, much like the beets outside, but the roots are all tiny.  It makes me wonder whether the soil was too cold or just too dry this year.  We've had plenty of rain, but it all seems to fall at once, then a week or three with none at all.  I'd lean more toward soil temperature though, since I do water the greenhouses regularly.

I've been cleaning out the old coop this week- heavy with manure from last winter, since there was nothing living in it this summer, and no need to rush.  The milk room was also neglected, since we've been milking outside all summer.  The garden gets a fresh topping of litter and manure, to compost in place over the winter.  The chickens are doing a fine job of spreading it out evenly too.

The weaning of the calves is under way.  We put Maureen and Monsoon in the pasture last week.  Murphy remains in the yard/chicken pen, and still gets two bottles per day.  He is nursing a bit, but not much.  Mildred sleeps in the chicken pen, then spent the day in the pasture last week.  Yesterday we kept her in the yard until 2pm.  The calves were crying in the morning, but she didn't want anything to do with them.  About 1:30pm, she started bawling, so finally, at 2, we put her in the pasture.  The plan for now is to try and keep her in the yard a little longer every day.  I'd prefer to continue once a day milking, and allow her production to drop down.

Meats and Meals are doing well.  They build a little hay nest to sleep in at night.  I give them a bit of fresh hay every morning, and they add it to their little pile.

I don't see any obvious growth, but they seem happy and satiated, so I'm maintaining their feed at 4 Cups cooked scratch, with milk, lentils, and now beets instead of potatoes.  I found a few jars of 2009 beets in the cold room.  They look, smell, and taste fine, but I really don't need them hiding in a corner and taking up space.  After they finish off the jars I'll start picking the beets in the garden for them, then back to potatoes.  They love the raspberry leaves, and happily gobble up a bucket full of them daily.  I'm tempted to move them into the turkey pen for a few days before butchering, to wipe out the plants.

The Herd and Pasture

#2 is back from camp.  We gave him a nice easy job to get him readjusted to farm life- go out and wrangle those calves.  I have to say, Dorie's calf, Majesty, (in honour of the royal baby, lol) is one tough little cookie.  She fought him tooth and nail, dragged him across the yard, kicking the whole way.  To his credit- he never let go.  To his detriment- he took a few scrapes and I'm sure he'll be bruised and sore for a few days.

Round two went better, with Mindy's calf being much smaller and younger.  They're both tagged now.  Then it was time to flip and castrate.  Um...  er...  I don't think we'll be castrating that!  The little one is a girl.  Her working name is Mugsy, for the moment.  I don't love it, but she doesn't seem to mind.

We worked on the fence again yesterday afternoon.  The little 'cow proof' zone, a bad spot in the corner where the alders have been growing through, and the section beside the chicken pen where Toothless broke through in early spring to get to Mildred.  Guess what happened while we were working.

Mindy and Sharlotte escaped!

Seriously- I need to shoot that cow.  They didn't wander far, and were back fairly quickly.  Mindy fed Mugsy, then we drove the lot of them into the cow proof section.


This morning, everyone but Sharlotte is still in there.  That doesn't really surprise me though.  There's still a bit of the inside fence line with only three strands of barbed wire, and Sharlotte is still small enough to walk through it.

So, we now have four cows- Dorie, Mildred, Mindy and Nelly, and four heifers- Sharlotte, Maureen, Majesty and Mugsy.  I still want to keep a heifer from Mildred, but otherwise, I think we're at our limit.  Unless, of course, I do shoot that cow.  That'll give us 10 full grown cattle to overwinter, including the bull.  That will at least double our hay consumption starting winter 2014.  Which means, by fall of 2015, these girls have to start paying for their keep.  Up til now, we've just been a hobby farm, raising our own meat, growing our herd.  We are about to embark on the journey of becoming 'real' farmers.

Next fencing job will be to repair and cow proof the next section, to move them into in a couple of weeks after the grass has had a chance to grow a bit. 

A little sketch of the pasture as is.  Section 2 is where the cows are now.  Section 3 is the next section to repair.

I messed up from the chicken pen.  Ignore the lower line.  The barn side really shouldn't be as wide as the open side either.

And here's a sketch of the eventual plan for the pasture.

Section 3 will be split into two sections, and I forgot to draw in the gate between them.  That probably won't happen this year though.  I'd like to get the dividing fences between section 5/6/7 and 12/11/8, and then the fenceline between 12/11/8 and 13/10/9 done this year, along with the far side of section 1.  That would give me 6 sections to start next spring.  Of course, I've had this planned for two or three years now, and it never seems to happen.  Still, the dream of being able to rotate the cows through grazing areas lives on.

Trails and Travels

The trails were looking more like a hay fields than trails, so Husband ran the Bush hog around last weekend.

The trails are looking much better now, and Mildred is appreciating the fresh hay delivery that the boys are raking up for her.

The 'culvert' roadway over the ravine has been eroding away over the years.  It wasn't bad enough to warrant a complete makeover just yet, but it was getting a little too narrow for our liking.  The boys, Mom, and I, cut down a few trees, filling the washed out side with tree tops and branches.  We laid logs across the road, extending over the washed out end, then Husband covered them with a few buckets of composted manure.  It's a work in progress, that will need to be repeated over the years- somewhat of a continuous hugelkultur mound.  The logs allow the water from the spring run off to seep through, without completely washing out the roadway on top.

I ended up making two batches of strawberry jam, using some of last year's homemade crabapple pectin.  I had to cut the sugar down- actually, I added more strawberries after adding the sugar- because it was so incredibly sweet.  Fresh, ripe, pick-your-own strawberries make a world of difference!

And we're back to fencing.  Dorie and her crew were missing yesterday morning.  They casually came sauntering up the driveway around 11am, like it was perfectly natural to let themselves out for an early morning stroll.  She had Mindy, Nelly, and Sharlotte with her.  Toothless was alone with the horses in the pasture.  She took her new calf along too, but she didn't come back at the same time.  Dorie called her back an hour or so later, and the boys managed to get the skittish wee thing through the gate.

#1 replaced a couple of rotting fence posts.

The Littles helped nail the fence back in place.  I unfolded the sections wrapped up accordion style.  We only got the road side done yesterday, so we'll probably be working on it for the rest of the week.

Meanwhile, Mildred and her crew broke into the garden and all but demolished my peas!  The boys get the blame for that one though- when the gate is not latched securely she just pushes it open.  Previously it only had to keep out goats, who haven't been as determined to gain entry.

The blueberries are just starting to ripen.  Raspberries look a couple of weeks behind schedule this year.  I'll soon be busy picking, canning, making wine and jam.

Mildred

Miss Mildred is out loose.  She likes to follow me.  She likes to follow me as I weed and pull grass for the birds.  She likes to eat beside me as I work.  She likes to steal out of my bucket instead of picking her own!

Then she follows me to the turkey pen.  She whimpers as I take my bucket to the birds.  Have you ever heard a cow whimper?  It's like a moo crossed with a sigh.  I tell her to pick her own.

She guards the garden gate while I work.  I won't let her inside without being tied, and she keeps breaking things when she's tied.  So she stands outside the gate and waits for me.

kymber nailed it.  Good dog!

Little Maurine in her pretty new yellow halter.  She hates it.  The boys got new halters too, but they had halters before, just bigger ones now.  Maurine was halter-less and thought she was special.  She has no idea how special she really is.

Getting Motivated

The Bigs put up the temporary fence between the chicken coop and the barn.  That's Toothless behind the fence, looking much prettier and much less evil without his winter fur.  He has a bit of an attitude right now- Nelly's in heat.  Overall though, when none of the girls are in heat, he's still pretty much a big baby.  I'm reconsidering butchering him this fall.

This is where we'll be digging down to the water pump.  You can see that it's still a muddy mess.  The water to the coop has been shut off in the basement for over a month now, and this area still hasn't dried out.  The plan for now is to dig it out, then cap off the pipe where it splits off to the barn.  Hopefully that will solve the problem.  We'll have a better idea once it's dug out.  For now the critters will be kept at a safe distance, and the boys will have a safe work area.  Well, except for the goats, who have yet to meet a fence they can't go over/under/around or through.  I won't be surprised to find a goat or two in the hole from time to time.

Mary Jane and Max

 The calves are doing well on pasture, Mildred, and 4 bottles per day.

They like to sleep in the original turkey shack (it was here before we bought the farm), so I guess my plans to tear it down are on hold once again.  It's not really a problem, just an eye sore, although it does contribute to the snow build up on top of the hay lean-to. 

Mildred seems to be part goat as well.  It seems we were spending more time catching her and putting her away and patching the fence than we did even with Casper.  We now have five strands of barbed wire on the yard fence, better gates, and a cow who still gets out and wanders four or five times a day.  She doesn't wander far, and isn't hard to catch, and was actually at the point that we'd find her grazing in the backyard or the ditches, tell her to get back in the yard, and she'd put herself away. 

The yard grass was getting pretty short, so we tried tying her out in the back yard on a stake.  First she broke her halter.  Then she broke the lunge line.  Then she pulled the stake out of the ground.  Every time she broke free she had had enough of the long grass and was on her way back to the side yard to feed her calves.

Finally, the other day as we came back to the house with a load of firewood, she was out in the ditch.  I drove past her, parked my quad in front of the wood shed, and put my chainsaw away.  I was about to go and get her when she walked up the driveway to see what we were doing.  She stood there eating the long grass in front of the wood shed while we unloaded.  I pushed her out of the way a couple of times (she was blocking the door), and kept talking to her as we unloaded.  We left her there when we finished, and watched her put herself away about fifteen minutes later.  I didn't think we'd ever have a friendlier cow than Nelly, but it seems a milk cow has a very distinct personality of her own.

At that point I gave up.  She isn't going anywhere, at least not for long, so what is the point of trying to keep her fenced in?  We opened up the gate, so now she is free to wander.  She goes in the backyard, or out by the garden, eats her fill, and returns to the hay lean-to to chew her cud.  With the side gate open she is staying out of the ditches, which is probably safer than when she was sneaking out, so, so be it.

I still want to finish the fence from the edge of the turkey pen to the corner of the yard, and put gates across the driveways, to try to discourage her from going out on the road, but for now I'm giving her the freedom to mow the lawn as she pleases.  Over night she still gets locked up in the chicken pen.

 

The last batch of chicks I incubated are doing well.  They've doubled in size.  I was out of chick starter when they hatched (the larger birds are on a mix of cut corn and duck grower, along with all the weeds and bugs they can eat).  I took equal parts corn, oats, barley and ground them up in the magic bullet.  I added some pumpkin seed, sunflower seed, and oatmeal.  They're doing well on it, along with a handful of weeds every day.

Notes from Daddy
Grease is cheap and easier to apply than fixing mechanical parts.  A trailer hitch is a ball joint and ball joints need grease.  I greased my quad today, including the trailer hitch.  I'm not sure exactly what I'm doing, so I just gobbed grease on anything that looked like it should have it, or used to have it, or might rub.