We are in the Milk Again

Jewel, the Jersey cow, calved once again and we will now be using her milk!  Here she is still in her ratty winter coat with new heifer baby;

Max wasn't sure about her milk so he brought me a dripping pint to test (I was out weeding).  I took a drink and  told him  it was perfect.  He must have lost his sense of taste because he kept telling me it wasn't good yet.  I will let it rest overnight in the extra fridge and then skim off the cream and bottle the rest for drinking.

While out near the pens, I took a few more  cow pictures because several had  come  down the lane and were standing in the lot.

This is either Jewel or Willow's two year old heifer who will calve before too long.  I will have a small herd of milk cows (won't be milking them though).
We will have her dehorned soon.

This is my usual view of Willow since she  heads for the back 40 when she sees me!

This Willow with her current offspring,  another heifer. 

This is a better view of  Willow's  daughter.

We are promised some rain and storms for this evening so I tried to do some weeding in the flower beds before it hits (so far the storm  has just brought some showers).  This is what I fight all summer long, henbit.

It is a slow job especially with the very dry soil.  Maybe we will get enough rains to help.

Cooking:

I gave in  to Max's pleading yesterday and  made a Long Island Cheese Squash pie.  I cheated and had some too. This is all that is left and it has his name on it.

The squash/pumpkin is very prolific and makes a very tasty pie.

It is still raining lightly.....

First Jewel Milking and last Cold Weekend for a While

Up at 3 AM which is a 'sleep-in' time for me.  I do go to bed very early so it all evens out........sometimes.

It is very cold this morning and will be  tomorrow before our warm week begins....up to 70°  by next Friday.  I hope to dormant oil spray things during this  time.

I haven't been outside much this past week because of the cold  weather.  So pictures are few and the quality is not good.

My last walk was east of the house and I only took this picture of a remaining pool of water still standing in a low spot at a gate.



This is in part of what we call the East 20.  No cows here because it is a hay field and all cattle come off in January until hay is cut.

No other farm related news.  Just DH's daily checking and feeding. I did have him  move  all the hay feeders and the mineral feeder to a central location  off of another hay field.  We are a bit slow on this this year.  He does the work but I do a management control (in the background and very low key).  We work together well that way.  He is not a detail man.

We have weaned Willow from house milking but her calf is still nursing.  He will be taken away in May.  If she does as expected she will calve again in July this year.  I am  going  to try to manage the bulls better this time.

We milked Jewel for the  first time on Thursday. Their milk is good for use on day 3 after calving.  We will leave her calf on her 24/7 for a while.  She will still have enough when we do milk for us.  In fact we plan (we being Max)to milk her every other day for a while so she won't dry somewhat or her udder won't get too uncomfortable for her.  The calf won't drink more  then he needs which is about l gallon a day.

We got 2 gallons the  first milking.  I skimmed l  full pint of  cream  from the gallon Max brought to the house.  The milk is delicious but not too buttery tasting this way.

I apologize for the quality of the picture but here it is:



Note the new blue dish cloths:

This brings on another Sis story.  My sister lives in Iowa and  is two years older.  This has happened to us before.....doing the same thing or cooking the same  thing at nearly the same time.

When talking yesterday I mentioned that I had just ordered something that she would probably make fun of, dishcloths.
We were raised in a household where they were called dishrags and that is exactly what they were.  discarded old shirts cut to size.  She laughed and said she had been looking at them the day before.  She was gifted one that had the scrubbing back side and loved it so much she wondered if she could find any online.  I  told her if it was available Amazon would have it.....and they did. She ordered some that same day.

I told her  it was maybe  because we each spent so much time in the kitchen and loving to cook that our minds would naturally be interested in those kinds of things.  Her love  is cooking in general and mine leans more toward baking.


I feel I need to explain why Max now does the milking which used to be my chore exclusively.  When I had my first bout (and do mean bout) of polymyalgia rheumatica, it was in  my arms and especially hands.   I couldn't hold a pencil much less squeeze a cow's teats.  That is when we bought a portable electric milking machine.  Max was very familiar with that use from our dairy operation.  He did so well, he just kept on.  Another reason is that ornery Willow who doesn't like me at all,  likes him very much and just trots up the ramp into the barn.  Whereas if  she spots me she heads for the west field at a trot and Max has to go get her.  I am quite content to let him continue.  I do go out and clean the parlor now and then.

This will be another lazy day for me. I cooked a large pot of white beans yesterday and we will enjoy leftovers today in some fashion. I also had fried potatoes with onions and corn bread.  Mom never served beans with out those sides and often macaroni and  tomatoes.  Don't really know why but I love the combo and so does DH.

Winter is back and First Milking

The last two days have been very cold and dreary.  We have been getting a little moisture but not enough to really help much.  Temperature is running 40's and near freezing at night.

This has been a much busier  week than is normal for us.  Monday was allergist (just dust mites!) a veritable waste of our time and we will not be returning.  The medicine  they precribed for DH had more negative effects than his occasional sneezing fits. I did, in a weak moment, order the suggested mattress and pillow covers...........and a new comforter.  We have a hepa filter vacuum.

 Tuesday was DH's day to run his Mother on her errands  which took all day!  She is amazing at 96!

Wednesday was deliver the beef  to the processor.  I am almost out of beef in the freezer.  They took us out back to see something interesting:  The had a 2,000 lb Hereford steer from MSU that had a "window" embedded in his left side so students could observe.  I found it very disgusting.  He told us we had the only 'normal' beef delivered so far that day.  The other  pens were Long Horns, 2 very young and one mature with a set of horns so wide they had to unload him through a side panel instead of the regular gate.  He said there is a big demand for Long Horn hamburger; it is supposed to have more nutrients. I am wondering if it just means no fat?  I hadn't heard that one before.

Today is  my run  to the local store  for a few groceries; DH's run to Ash Grove for a haircut and chicken feed,  salt blocks and l00 lbs of puppy feed.

I did finish cleaning the dog pen one morning.  I think it  was 5 5- gallon buckets.  We finally got smart and trapped the babies on one side of the double pens so I could empty the buckets without fighting them back each time.  Now we will spread straw and I hope to clean the pens on a regular basis.  They are  little butterballs of hyper-activity!

Farm

I ordered fertilizer for the hay fields and now we just wait for a good, dry day to spread.  Then, of  course, I will hope for rain on the fertilizer.

We milked Jewel for the first time  day before yesterday and are milking her again this morning.

She came right up the ramp and only kicked once then settled right down to the milking  machine.
Her personality is very different from Willow's.

From Jewel

She gave 2.5 jars of very yellow milk, also different from Willow's more white version.  I haven't checked  the cream  line yet this morning.



We don't know yet if we will try to find another calf to put on her.....probably not.

Well all the news  for now.  I need to get an early start  to the store.  From noon on I go downhill rapidly!

Jewel Calved! and first outside yard work.

I am thinking Spring is here at last.

I actually worked outside this morning for a couple of hours.  DH charged the battery on the riding mower so I could hook up  the garden cart.  Those small batteries do not like cold weather.

I checked the chickens....no eggs.  I  did find where the possum came into the larger chicken yard....sneaky rascal.  I am now down to 8 hens and one is pretty old.  I may enlarge the flock this spring.

I dug up some henbit for the girls and tossed it to them before I came in.

Gardening

I thinned the broccoli's and cauliflower and put them under a cold frame (aka. shower door propped against garden fence).  I hope to plant them out in a few days.

I saw where DH had been driving across a planting of my beautiful cream colored iris.....they were in a very bad location.  They were barely showing green tips so I decided to relocate  them before he did permanent damage to them.  The ground was so soft  that lifting them was very easy.   I replanted them in what used to be the Ash Tree Bed  right next to the patio and drive.  I need to rename that bed since the Ash Tree is no more.  I still have several smaller tubers left.  I haven't decided where to put them yet.....maybe a nursery row to grow on.

I burned off the grasses too. 

Egg plant is up....3 plants only; Vinca is coming up. 

Will be planting tomatoes and peppers soon.

I had plans to finish cleaning the  dog/puppy pen but ran  out of steam.  That will be next on the list.

Farm

Now for the good news:  Jewel calved March 13, Friday with a beautiful light red heifer calf.   I never see my milk cows  bred even though they are very close to the house.....beef cattle seem shy!  I am assuming she was bred by Willow's two year old dark red bull calf that I kept for breeding.  He is beautiful and I think is out of another black Angus, shorthorn cross bull (also Willow's) so he is 3/4 Milking Shorthorn and 1/4 Black Angus  (if I am figuring correctly).  So  her new baby is half Jersey and 3/8 Milking  Shorthorn and 1/8 Black Angus.  Whew!  She is a little doll.

From Jewel's Second Baby

If I am correct on who bred Jewel, then this is Papa and Mama at the feeder:


Her teats were so skinny after  the first calf that milking was difficult  (we didn't have the milking machine then  either) so I think things look more promising now:


Other news is we finally with our help gathered up the beef calves ready for sale and were very pleased that prices were still very good.  I know that isn't good news for  people buying meat, but it made us happy.  Sorry.

Hope the weather is nice in your area and you can finally enjoy the outdoors!

September is Almost Gone

and where did it go?

To be doing absolutely nothing of importance, I am amazed at how fast the time goes.

Life is running pretty smoothly on the farm. We have had lots of fall babies born.  More are showing their Holstein genes this year.  There can't be much Holstein blood left in them, but I was told many years ago by a neighbor that it could flare up out of the blue and that seems to be happening.

I had DH do some pictures for me.  I always enjoy what he takes.  Usually he has a different perspective from mine.

These are of Jewel, the Jersey milk cow and her "baby" that should be weaned very soon1



and Jewel,



This is a shot of the silo and the blue sky above to old barn.

and I will leave this one just to show how we are doing better about piling debris back here.  We now just pile it on the trailer and then we can remove it to the back of the farm,



This is the west end of the Milk Barn (freshly painted) It is just east of the garage where DH was standing,



The chickens are still laying nicely.  They haven't begun to molt yet.  Surely they will and then production drop quickly.

I talked with my Sis yesterday and she was talking about expired driver's licenses....I told her I had never let that happen.....something told me to check.....My license was due on my birthday 9/22/14!  Egads.  Usually the state notifies us; not this time.  Guess where I am heading today!!

Cows are Pregnant!

The heat continues.  We did get a 1/4 inch shower Tuesday evening.

The garden is pretty much history.  I finished canning tomatoes yesterday morning before the vet came to preg check the two milk cows.  My total is now 46 pints of canned tomatoes.  I am happy with that; it is the best from the current garden so far.

There may be a few more tomatoes but basically the garden is finished.  I am too!

I froze almost a bushel of sweet peppers.

These were not all flat like the cheese peppers I have grown before.  Don't know why.  I just washed, dried and bagged most of them.

Cows

The vet came to check Willow and Jewel.  He didn't even bother with Willow since she has started bagging up almost overnight.  He says around the first of October.  Time will tell.

Jewell is 75 days bred.  If I go from when I saw her in heat on June l, she should calve between March l and ll.  That is based on a 283 day gestation table.  Smaller breed can deliver l0 days earlier.

Farm

We  had a short power outage after the shower yesterday evening and the generator did not kick on!  I have a call for a serviceman this morning.  Somehow we must squeeze in a trip to town to see MIL who is moving this Friday.  I know she will need something done.  Friday will be reserved for overseeing the move.

House

We finally got the new shelving unit  put together and up.  It is the Swedish shelving sold by Williams Sonoma and was just as I expected.  I had intended to put it on the back porch but that required unloading and removing two very heavy pieces and we had MIL's situation to deal with, so "line of least resistance" and here is where I put it:

From House

Here is a close up: 

I could use another one of these....on the back porch this time (and I may have to move this one when my daughter gets a look at it in the kitchen!)  Between her and my "older" sis in Iowa, they don't let me get away with much........

I have already moved things around once and will probably do it a few more times before I get it the way I want it:

From House

Daily Doings and Update on the Barn Babies

February 26, 2014

This was a long put off shopping day.  I am proud of us; I think we have gone almost a month without visiting Walmart!  That is my goal.  We also stopped  by our local market, Murfins, because I will not buy some  fresh things from Walmart (such as eggs).

February 27, 2014
 
Today is 'milk' day.  I am not out but since we will have company soon, I want to get some ahead.  .  All the grands, but especially our son's kids, absolutely love our whole, raw milk,  If they come when Willow is dry they  let me know  how disappointed  they are.  I have taught them a little farm animal biology about her having to be dry 60 days and then having to wait 3-5 days to use her milk.  They may start timing their visits accordingly!

I plan to be like the Administrator of the Family Cow Forum who is in her late 80's and still milks daily.  I don't even have to do that, only when we want and need milk.

Do you read food labels?  If not, please start doing it now!  I thought I was being very conscientious about that since becoming a nut about real  food (not processed, home cooked and grown if possible) but now and then something slips past me.  For instance since DH started eating a yogurt daily and I was too lazy to milk more often  to make  yogurt, I have just been buying him a week's worth with blueberries.  He likes Dannon's Orikos Greek brand. I finally read the label.....they use cornstarch to thicken it.  Now that is not horrible since cornstarch is a food product and not a chemical, but it annoys me  and seems  like cheating to thicken it that way.  It could possibly be even more nutritious since they aren't draining the whey to keep it thick.  I need to be open minded.  However, there are more things added.  Mine has only whole milk, and a  starter that is just a little natural yogurt.

Another product that jumped to my attention  was vanilla.  I have made my own for a couple of years now and even got my son and ex-DIL making it.  Gave my Sis l0 beans too.  She told me she thought it didn't have a vanilla taste!  Well she ordered two bottles of Mexican Vanilla and brought one to me the last time she was down.  It was a full quart so I thought I would just use mine up and then use hers.

Here are the ingredients:  Vanilla bean, Extract in Purified Water, Vanillin (Artificial Flavor), Alcohol, Corn Syrup, Natural Dark Color.

Mine would be:  Vanilla beans, alcohol.

You can't take pure, natural, or any of those other terms for granted.  You have to read the label!

BTW, the older my vanilla got, the sweeter it got.....and the smell was wonderful. 

UPDATE ON CALVES
These two are of  Willow's calf, a bull.  He will become a future herd sire in 2015 as a 2 year old.



This is the calf we  bought to put on Willow  so I wouldn't  have to milk daily,

That is Jewel's rear you can see.  This isn't a prime animal; he has too much Jersey in him and probably some Holstein. He comes from what is called a rainbow dairy herd. (I won't share my opinion of those dairies which are mostly grass based!)



and this is Jewel's first calf, a heifer.  I love her beautiful brown color



RANDOM  CAT PICTURE

There would have been several more cats enjoying the morning sun but my 'assistant' decided to drive
 Willow past the door into the field and the cats scattered.

Jewel's Baby

It was really cold here this morning at 4 AM, 10°.  I think we  will be at normal temperatures for the rest of the week which is 40's and  20's.

I milked yesterday morning, both cows.  Getting  them both started up the ramp was the hardest part.  Once on the ramp they moved up into the barn easily.  We  had so much excitement getting them  up to the ramp that Jewel didn't give quite as much.  It is not good to excite a dairy cow before milking......you pay.

I did go out afterward and got a couple of pictures of the baby.  The color isn't as  good  with the Panasonic as it  is with the Canon.  The baby has slightly more red in her coat.  I think she will end up being black.



Our granddaughter and her  friend got in about 7 pm last night.  I had a pot of hamburger soup waiting.  I wasn't supposed to do dessert because her friend is dieting....but I had made  a new  recipe for a large sour cream coffee cake early in the  day.  So be it.   The dark  is a layer of streusel filling  around the middle of the cake. 



This was a recipe  from Martha Stewart.com called Sara's Classic Sour Cream Coffee Cake. 

This is errand day.  I need  to grocery shop (lots of fruit and veggies! no fat), pick up a library book  and get a license for the trailer.  DH and I may leave before the girls get up.

Red Calves on a Black Angus Farm - Jersey Milk

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas.  I still haven't  taken down the tree but will do it soon.  We had half the family here and I did the requested fried chicken dinner.  I made my SIL a traditional tres leches cake.  I couldn't believe it would be good.....you pour a quart of mixed condensed, evaporated, and cream (three milks) over the cake and let it soak in overnight.  It is topped with whipped cream.  I was very surprised at how good it was and not nearly as sweet as I thought it would be.  He was very surprised that I made it for him.  He is from Honduras.

I may have more guests by January l.................................

Today was a very nice sunny day, a change from what we have been having. 

FARM

I have now milked Jewel (Jersey heifer) twice.  She lets me milk her without even lifting a leg, but she is very leery of the barn.  It takes longer to get her in and out than it does to milk both cows.  When I got to the barn this morning DH already had her up the ramp but she wouldn't take that step up into the barn.  After about 20 minutes of that nonsense I decided push Willow up behind her thinking that would shove her on.  Didn't work.  Next I decided to back them both down and make Willow the lead cow since she comes into the barn readily and I thought if I followed (loudly) that Jewel would follow her up and she did!  So now we have a new routine.  I hope it works next time.  If she once gets over that fear of the step up, I won't have to use Willow.  We have three bypass stanchions in the milk parlor so I just let Willow in No.1 and Jewel moved down to No.2.

So, I milked both cows and kept the milk separate.  I am letting Jewel's sit overnight in a container I can skim easily.  Her milk is delicious but we don't want to drink all that rich, golden cream.



After DH came in from checking the cows he said he wanted to take the camera out later and take a picture for me to see the all red calf.  I couldn't figure how we could get a red calf from black  cows and bulls.  We knew the neighbor's bull hadn't visited.  He came back  with about 50 pictures....he gets carried away but I love seeing all of them.  While  we were looking at  them it came to me:  These were from Willow's (she is a red Milking Shorthorn with very little white)bull calf Ferdinand we saved back from over two years ago in August.  He is finally breeding the girls.  We are delighted.



and here he/she (don't know yet) is with Mama,



I  spotted two more reddish ones in the photos,



I kept blaming the neighbor's Hereford bull but couldn't figure why the  calves didn't have white faces which is the normal coloration with a Hereford.  I have been noticing reddish color for a year now....

The other nice surprise for me (I don't travel over the farm much) was the lush stockpiled grass on the old farm.  I bet the cows were pleased once that snow melted. 



I still haven't got another shot of Jewel's reddish brown baby but will get one maybe tomorrow.

At Last! Jewel Did Her Thing

This post will be dedicated to   Jewel, my Jersey heifer,  calving and on a very warm evening on clean pasture.

 DH came in about 4 pm and told me she had started so I went out to check.  She was in the pasture just  west of the house and very close in.  Everything looked correct; front feet out and pointed down.  I waited just a few minutes and then calledDH to bring the equipment.  I decided to help her get the baby out and safe before it got any darker.  Heifers are notoriously prone to 'giving up' when they get too tired and then you are in trouble.  Once  that head is in the birth canal, it needs to come out quickly.

We used the puller and OB chains (gift from my BIL and they work so much better than the straps) and the baby came easily.  It was a very nice sized calf and was a heifer.  I drug the baby around to Jewel's nose so she could begin cleaning it and they could bond. Once that happened, Jewel got up and the baby started trying to get up, I left  them alone.  Help at this point is futile.

I took  a few pictures.  I hope no one is squeamish but here they are:





and the baby trying to get up; they go end over end the first few attempts,



I was going to show her very nice udder, but from the back  end she was very messy so will spare you all that one!

I can now relax.  I will begin to milk her in a couple of days and see how that goes.......

The Cat and the Mouse (and Thanksgiving and catchup .... again

 

The cold front arrived last night but so far is showing 28° on my thermometer. We are north of I-44 so could miss the entire precipitation thing....time will tell.

The Thanksgiving holiday is over and I have been in a resting up mode since the last left on Sunday.

All the family was here which was wonderful; it is rare that both can come at the same time. Our granddaughter stayed with us the whole week (her BF lives nearby.......) She may join us over winter break (for the same reason).

DH has been busy getting ready for the possible storm by putting out bales of hay and moving the cows to the field with the in ground waterer that doesn't freeze. He also put a bale of straw in the hen house and filled the nest boxes (I have still been inside in rest mode). I did make oatmeal bread yesterday. I was not happy with the recipe so will keep experimenting until I find one I do like...may go back to some original Hogsdon Mills ones that I began with.

I had a mini disaster in the kitchen yesterday. I was getting something off a pantry shelf when the overloaded shelf slipped off one of the little shelf brackets and dropped down on one side to the shelf below! Nothing broke but some oil spilled. DH came to my rescue and we unloaded everything from that shelving section.

I took advantage of this to get rid of some very old jars of pickles that had gone bad. Now I have the counter top covered with clean canning jars that need to be transported out to the Milk Parlor (I knew I should have bought another shelf!). I had three dishwasher loads of jars.

This clean-up led to redoing the entire wall of cabinets...I have more to do this morning. I also redid a section of the cabinets where we keep coffee, tea and cereals. Be interesting to see how we like this new arrangement.

Next is organizing the freezer portion of the new refrigerator which is already a mess. Having all the company didn't help. I found a bowl I use daily at the top of the pantry.....bet my nice son-in-law did that. He was in the kitchen helping a lot. He and our daughter were both a tremendous help in after-dinner cleanup. The grands were attached to their phones................except the older one and she was studying almost the entire time here. I couldn't believe the amount of homework assigned over the break.

I made DH a half-gallon batch of yogurt. He has now become addicted to a dish a day with fruit, mostly blueberries. This is a man who a year ago wouldn't even taste it! I am guessing he saw or read something about the health benefits. I had been buying it for him when I finally decided I could save tons of money doing it myself. I have made yogurt before. I think my last batches haven't been as thick as I would like. I need to research that. He is happy with it though. I will also make my own fruit for it. I bought a jar of Duncan Hines blueberry topping and it is 80% thickened juice with just a bit of whole fruit. I can do better.

What did I learn from my cleaning pantry project? I will never can pickles again....just tomatoes and . maybe salsa and ketchup. DH has been telling me for a few years that I should stop. I will be working on my garden plans accordingly this winter. I am the only one to eat pickles; Vlasic can surely work for me.

I will be milking this morning. My steady girl, Willow (the milk cow) returned to a very vocal heat yesterday and we turned her to the field and saw her bred by one of the senior Angus bulls. The Jersey heifer, Jewel, still hasn't calved. I am sure she is waiting for the zero night due in a few days.

Random Cat Picture

 Prince come down with our granddaughter.  It was time for his surgery.  He paid his way while here!

Another Week on the Farm

Fall has arrived here.

After the hard freeze and the following 2 inch rain, the leaves are coming down.........we  love looking out the window at  the 'raining' leaves....they will remain on the ground.............unless I get a chance to mow.  I do not rake leaves!!!!



The top of the white oak is just beginning; that is the rejuvenated Pin Oak behind it.  It has the best color I can remember.



This is the Pin Oak, west yard.



I was just coming from the Milk Parlor and loved the changing colors, the shrub to the right  is spirea prunifolia; you can see the top of the Pin Oak in the west yard.  This view is looking southwest.


Back to the front yard.  This is the Limelight hydrangea,

and the Oakleaf hydrangea,



I think this may be millet dropped  from the bird feeder.  I don't know why I am not seeing birds feeding on it....maybe they will come later,

From fall 2013

We had weekend company again.  Very enjoyable and easy to have.  I just did my standard crock-pot roast with mashed potatoes and gravy.  I had a very late picking of haricort vert (which I will discuss later).  Dessert was chocolate cake which turned out nicely.  Bread was the French bread I had made earlier in the week.  I also made our son's favorite Scotch Shortbread Cookies.....and sent them home  with him (also all the left over cake).

Speaking of bread; I am getting more adventurous with bread making.  I am not following recipes closely some days.  This time made Oatmeal bread but substituted some white whole wheat flour for regular, no bread flour (I was out), potato water (left from Sunday dinner's mashed potato cooking) instead of milk....results were great.  DH loved it.  I want to broaden his tastes a little from plain white bread.  He just said this morning that it toasted really well.

I made rustic loaves just for fun,



I also made us a pineapple upside down cake.  I hadn't made one in years.  I like the size for the two of us.
I need to try some variations.

I didn't like the texture of the cake...sort of grainy.  Next time I will use another cake recipe.

FARM

I finally found a recent picture of my Jersey heifer, Jewel who I hope will be calving soon.