On having a milk cow... Part Two

A bunch of you have asked me to tell more about having a milk cow. If you missed part one, here it is.

We decided we definitely wanted the duo we met.  Ophelia and her calf, who we called Oliver.  Next step was getting the duo 2 hours south to us. We asked a bunch of friends, random strangers, the feed store. In the end the folks who we bought them from found us a driver. 

You know, there's nothing like the flurry of excitement and nervousness floating around in our belly with these beginning stages. Am I crazy? When will we get them here? Where will we put them? Will I like having them? Are we capable of keeping them alive and thriving? Can I really milk everyday?  Do I have what it takes?
 
I thought I was working through the to do list in getting ready for them.  Only it all came crashing together the weekend of. I had brought my two kids and our fresh air kid to the store to get the materials needed for fencing. I had no idea what was needed to put a fence up. No one was available to help me, so I'm trying to read and figure out what I needed with overtired kids distracting me at 7pm. I did end up finding what I needed and had planned on putting up the fence that weekend. Only it also happened to be the same weekend that the farmer who hays our field decided to do his haying. Oh, it also happened to be just about the hottest day of the year. My husband hadn't slept in a full 24 hours (due to his job) and we were trying to figure out this fencing thing with our kids and  an extra little boy distracting us every 3 seconds.  I wanted to cry. 


As it turns out, we just left the cows in the barn the first day and my husband did a great job putting up a small area for them to graze the next day. I guess this was my first lesson in the "It's all going to work out" book that we've been writing in our minds living in this farmhouse.  Anyway, the duo arrived and we all were just so happy. 

Let me share with you my tidbits.

-I about had a heart attack when the calf got out.

-I got really good at lassoing a calf.

-There's many parts to a fence and it's beyond frustrating when there's no electricity and you cannot figure out why. 

-It's quite interesting leading a cow to pasture who doesn't have regular practice being led.

-Hungry cows go through our little corralled pasture sooo quickly that the movable fence needs to be moved daily. (Cannot wait for a permanent fence!)

-A woman can really surprise her husband, even after being together over a decade ,as he utters in disbelief "I had no idea you could handle an animal like that." 


-A certain three year old thinks the calf is her chair.

-A certain 4 1/2 year old was caught a number of times that first week just looking at them and smiling.

-I get home from work and they come running to the edge of the fence to greet me, often with a moooo.

-I no longer have to lasso a calf.  He comes to me willingly now. (success!)

-It's been me and only me who has taught these two to walk halter led. (And they both do beautifully now!)

-My 2 kids roll out of bed and head directly to the barn, which how neat of a childhood is that?!

Overall, their transition to our home has been a good one.  It really feels nice having this duo on this farm. In fact, there's a special place in our heart for this bovine love.

Stay tuned for next time, I'll talk about milking.

Thrifted.

 1) That random basket that Adrian thinks is a portable fence for his cows. A muffin tin. All that felt!  Watercolors (Brand new!) and all those brand new workbooks. They may or may not be of use to us, but couldn't pass them up at a bargain price. $5.00

 2) The marble track. Two I Spy games, A metal tin. A heavy rooster lamp. A dress. Brand new stride rite shoes, the size up.  Random Christmas glasses.  Two books. $5.50.

Yards of fabric (many vintage ones too!), patterns, random notions, scissors.  I don't even remember how much it cost. A bit more than $5, definitely less than $10. Certainly a bargain!

Snippets

 

This time of year is exhausting. There's just so much coming out of the garden that needs attention. Never mind all that milk.  Never mind this giant house that needs major cleaning. Not that I'm complaining.  It's a good thing, it really is. It's also such a good thing to find little snippets of goodness around this farm. Takes my mind off of the list and focus back where it belongs.

 

 

 

His sewing projects and an Epic Picnic

I tell you, this kid, he always has something up his sleeve. I was turning the cows out to pasture the other day. While I was doing that, he collected a massive amount of grain bags. 18 of them to be exact.  He decided he was going to make grocery store bags with them. He had plans to do 18 of them that day.

Now, I'm beyond thrilled to do sewing projects with my kids and love to encourage any creativity. But, I don't even sew much myself this time of year! Harvest time we're out in the garden and kitchen. 

 Now as in today? Are you serious?

Oh, so  serious.

 And how cute is it?  He is thinking of making more and selling them for four bucks. I have no idea where he got the idea. He says he sees bags like that at the grocery store. 

 It was the perfect tote for our picnic.  You know,I've been mostly keeping  up the summer picnic goal. Doing pretty good so far!

 One down and 17 to go according to him.  After that work, it's time for a picnic/concert break anyway.

Blueberry Zuchhini Cake with Lemon Buttercream

Not my recipe, not my idea. It's just one of those recipes floating around facebook. Since I try to keep all the recipes I like here in this space so I can find them, I'm posting this here.  Recipe is from here.

By the way, if there's a recipe that is posted here and you can't find it in the "Recipe" tab, it's because I stink at updating that tab.  To find one the recipes listed on this blog, go to " google.com " and type in my blog name and what you are looking for (ex " born imaginative cookie cake").  It will pop right up.

The one thing I did change in this recipe here is I didn't put two sticks of butter for the frosting. That's a LOT of butter. One stick, confectionary's sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest and vanilla and it worked fine. I listed the original recipe below, so you can choose.

Blueberry Zucchini Cake with Lemon Buttercream

3 eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup vegetable oil

3 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 1/4 cups white sugar

2 cups finely shredded and drained zucchini

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 pint fresh blueberries (you can reserve a few for garnish if so desired)

Lemon Buttercream

1 cup butter, room temperature

3 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar

1 lemon, juice and zest of (about 2 tablespoons)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/8 teaspoon salt

 

 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare two 8-inch round cake pans.
Grate a large zucchini (or two small zucchini) and place in a clean dish towel. Squeeze until most of the liquid comes out. You will want to have 2 total cups of shredded zucchini after it has been drained. Set aside.


4. In a large bowl and using a hand mixer, beat together the eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar. Fold in the zucchini.
5. Slowly add in the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Gently fold in the blueberries. Divide batter evenly between prepared cake pans.
6. Bake 35-40 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a knife inserted in the center of a cake comes out clean. Cool 20 minutes in pans, then turn out onto wire racks to cool completely.
7. Lemon Buttercream
8. Combine butter, sugar and salt and beat till well combined.
9. Add lemon juice and vanilla and continue to beat for another 3 to 5 minute or until creamy.
10. Fold in zest*.
11. *If you are piping this buttercream, I recommend leaving out the zest. 

Oh those chicks....

My kids and their chickens.  I tell you, there's some amazing imaginative play going on there at times.  The first few pictures were the 'daycare'. My kids are running a service, they are babysitting for mama hen.  They even have toys. 

A child who gets to hug a chicken daily?  Well, that's mighty special.