Wild Week and Weekend

Well, this holiday season was a total bummer on the farm. As usual, I cooked and cleaned it all up too. Wednesday was a decent day, I got the milk cow paid off! I can't believe I managed to get the extra $500 I needed in 5 weeks with aluminum cans and misc farm work. I recruited the neighbor to bring it home for me and we made a deal to move her home first thing Friday morning. Of course, that did not happen. It was late Friday afternoon, almost dark before the truck and trailer showed up. So, settle the cow in the double horse stall in the dark and wait for daylight. Saturday morning came around and I'm pretty excited, I get to milk a cow! ¾ of a gallon is what the Amish man told me she was giving. Yah, right, hello! A quart is all she has in her. That Amish man sold me a cow he was drying off as a milker. I was also told that his kids milked this cow and she stands tied. Another yah right! Our first round of milking was a rodeo. The cow kicks, she knocks the pail over constantly and dances all over the place. It took me almost an hour to milk her out. Sunday morning went a bit better, I got smart and held the milk pail in one hand and milked one teat at a time. I still ended up with straw in the pail. I know how to milk a cow and this pretty little jersey cross is an outlaw. That'll change but it'll take time.

Oh but so much has happened in the past couple of days. More farm disasters, LOL. I got a text message first thing Friday morning, the last calf over at the farm I work on occasionally was dead. No big surprise, I knew it was going to die. The cows were thru the fence and in the hay field, again. I just don't understand that one, they have hay right up by the barn so why do they keep tearing the fence down for a dead hay field? Stupid cows. They tore up several of the round bales stored in the hay field. Slopping thru the mud in boots with holes in them was not my idea of big fun. Saturday morning was a little better. I met Gary to help move his cows. Half the herd went wild cow on us and would not come up. We spent 2 hours chasing them around 50 acres. I did manage to corral the good half up so when Gary was ready to give up, we headed back to the barn. Coming thru the run off ditch, I stepped in a mushy cow pie, slipped like a cartoon banana peel and popped a tendon on my forearm protecting the rods in my back. My forearm swelled almost instantly and boy, does it hurt! Which brings me back to milking the cow. That swelled up arm I can't straighten out right now sure did make it uncomfortable to milk a cow!

Okay, LOL, enough of my misery, eh? What about the wonderful celebration of giving Thanks for being alive??? Oh yes, I am very Thankful to be alive, Thankful for my good soil, my harvest and the bounty I am able to preserve. I am Thankful for my good health and still being able to walk and work. I prepared a nice meal of what is left of my butchered steer mixed with deer meat mixed into a nice meat loaf with chopped onion, green pepper, garlic, salt, pepper, a couple of eggs, oregano, thyme, marjoram and some bread crumbs. Side dishes of things I grew this year, potatoes, corn, beans, carrots and of course pies. One apple and a couple of pumpkins. Fresh bread topped it off. Perhaps next year I will manage to get a couple of turkeys raised up. I miss my turkey, LOL. Just could not bring myself to buy one from a store. My morals just would not allow it.

So, now it's back to enjoying the bounty of my harvest for the rest of the winter. It is winter now, even if the season is still technically fall. The last couple of days have been below 30F overnight and the water tubs all have ice in them. I actually like winter because it's when I do all my baking. It's too hot in the summer to do much baking and I love breads, pastries, pies, roasts and cookies. I make more pizzas during the cold months too. I love fresh, home made pizzas with fresh dough crust, sauce I made myself from tomatoes I grew, the veges I grew, meat I butchered and real cheese. It always reminds me of my childhood. My parents used to take us kids to this great pizza joint called Home Run Inn. I have never had pizza as good as that, anywhere else in the whole country. So, when I make my own pizza, that is what I measure it by. So, I am looking forward to a wonderful winter....