Hunting Season

Noel has been an avid gun deer season hunter for as long as I can remember. His Grandpa owns some land about 45 min. away from us. He loves going out there. It is so peaceful. It has no electricity or running water, but you don't really mind it. When you are surrounded by so much peace and beauty it is hard to care about inconveniences.

Every year that we just had beef it was not a problem to go. Beef are easy to take care of. He made sure that they all had hay and I filled their water tanks. Our first year as dairy farmers he only did the bare necessities. He went out in between chores. The second year, he really wanted to go and stay over night there. We couldn't really afford to pay someone to milk the cows for us. That's when I decided, against my better judgment, to learn how to milk. Even now that is hard for me to say, because I really, really, really did not want to milk cows. They are big and can kick you. Not my idea of a good time. I had several farm girls tell that once I start it will forever be my job.

That first milking I was so nervous. It seemed to take me 2 times longer to milk then it took Noel. Well I started to get a rhythm, started to learn the cows, started to learn what a full vs empty utter felt like, and started to do it by myself. It was a hard pill to swallow. When things went wrong i got mad. I yelled. I have learned that the cows don't like it when you yell. It scares them. One of the hardest things, for me, to learn is how to stay calm when things aren't working out. I have gotten better but I am still working on it. Now my main job, one year later, is milking the cows. I can't say I didn't see that coming.

This year is the 3rd year we have been milking cows during hunting season. I have been milking for just over a year! Crazy to think of the things in my life that I never thought I would do. Turns out I'm good at it too. The cows have white blood cells, like us, and when they are fighting of sickness their white blood cells increase. this is called their somatic cell count, and we get paid more if it is low. This means we have healthy cows. The cell count is the lowest its been sence I took over milking! I am very proud of myself for being able to do this.

In this 3rd year, we have worked really hard to get the farm breaking even and cash flowing. This year we could afford to pay someone to milk for us! I am loving the time off. I hardly know what to do with myself and our dog, buddy, seems really confused too. he keeps looking at me like he wants to go out it the field to get the cows. When I don't go he just sits next to me, looking at me. cute really.

I have been able to go our with friends, sit for hours on the couch, and get some cleaning done too. What a blessing!