Cold again, or still, or whatever. Around zero I guess. I dragged myself out in the dark for morning barn check. Everyone but me has the dreaded cold/flu thing, so I could hardly expect anyone else to do it. Beautiful morning though. By the time I was done the sun was just rising like a peach and melon watercolor, washing the land with light. Old Mr. Fluff was crowing his heart out and ringing the morning in. The tracery of foot prints in the snow showed only cats and no foxes nudging around the hen house (unlike yesterday when some varmint was clearly looking for a free lunch right outside the windows.)
Everyone in the barn was fine. Heather was nice and warm and standing over her baby chewing her cud. Evidence and Lakota were not showing any sign of calving right away. I stopped to give Lakota a nice scratch on the poll, which she seemed to quite appreciate. It is getting to be an itchy time of year, with all of them shedding like crazy, and they love a good scratch. (You should see my dark blue work pullover...covered with enough hair to stuff a sofa.)
You would probably get a good laugh out of Bama Breeze and Carlene when I milk them. They stand side by side, so I go up between them to milk.
Bama is a real pet and always turns her head around toward me, soliciting a good neck rub. It only took a couple days before Carlene got the idea from watching her and decided to get in on the action. (Cows solicit each other to scratch their necks with their tongue, by stretching their neck toward the other cow and bunting and nudging...they groom each other quite a lot.) Now if I have time I can stand up between their heads, digging my fingers into their furry necks, as they turn this way and that to get the best angle.
Bama even licks my back when I milk her too, practically knocks me out in the aisle sometimes. (You would never guess that the same cows will stomp you flat if the mood takes them.)
Anyhow, the sun is up, it is time for chores....wonder when maple season is going to start.
PS, I think the peacocks started eating yesterday. They tipped their food table over twice, I believe getting up on it to eat. Guess I will have to make it more secure. Liz called the man who got them for me and it turns out that they have not been fed by hand, having lived free on the farm they came from. Thus they simply don't know what my food is for. I think I will go around the house and catch them a jar full of these darned box elder bugs that wake up whenever the house gets warm and crawl all over everything. That would make a nice treat, don't you think?
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9 comments:
That is great, I am glad that they are eating. I love it when the cows come right up to the fence and I scratch under his neck, he loves it. Hopefully you don't get sick. The hubby and son have it too! The daughter and I don't yet but knowing my luck I will get it. You take care.
Reading your blog in the morning always makes me feel like such a slacker. But I do think of you whenever I eat a dairy product.
How sweet! Such lovey-dovey cows! Such pleasures must make it a little easier to rise at dawn on frozen mornings.
This Tuesday Edition was pure poetry. Thanks for sharing the details of your morning.
Love cows....when they want to be loving. Like you say...they can and will stomp you flat if they decided.
Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
I love the way you write about things......I'm glad the peacocks decided to stay too!
Lisa, they seem very intelligent and appear to like me to talk to them. Thanks for the good wishes on the nasty bug thing. Hope you can avoid it too.
JB, hehehe, I scratch their butts sometimes too!
Jan, don't feel that way! I am dog lazy and only do what I have to. And thanks for eating dairy products! Without you there would be no us.
WW, I do love animals and have since I was born just about. They are a huge responsibility and I don't think we could keep up if we didn't love them
Susan Rose, thank you! Loved your photos when I visited your blog, very, very lovely
Linda, they are quite various aren't they? Frustrating and rewarding. Kind and not so kind. Sweet and downright evil. Never, ever boring.
Linda, thank you so much! I like the darned thing and really hope they do all right. Of course we are having a nasty cold snap that just won't let up.
Lovely. From the sunrise to the coaxing nudges.
I have to 'google' poll. I'm not at all sure where that is on cow anatomy :0)
Good luck with rounding up those bugs - I get 'em too. Not pretty.
Hope the family gets back on their feet quickly.
(Get some zinc for any future rounds)
Cathy, I will save you a search. the poll is the very top of the head up above and between the ears. It is one of the few places a cow can't reach with her mile-long tongue when she has a pesky itch. Thus there, around the ears, and the base of the tail are popular scratching spots. I learned long ago from a veteran farmer that sometimes a good scratching on the side of the base of the tail will keep a heifer from kicking when you are training her to stand to be milked. My little Egypt, who just had her first calf the other day, can't wait for me to milk her so she can get her itches tended to. Wish you could see her. She is way funny.
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