January 18, 2009

Today we sent our steer, Salisbury, to the butcher. In a thick snow fall, we loaded him up into the trailer and drove slowly in the storm. Salisbury was Dulcie's calf. To make sure Dulcie didn't get lonely and to ensure the family's dairy consumption remained steady, we brought home another Jersey cow last weekend. Brown Sugar is a strong, blocky, dark colored Jersey cow. We are all still getting acquainted with one another.

We are preferring the snow of today to the frigid temperatures of last week. The Friday morning milking occurred at -18 F. The metal parts of the machine were freezing and clogging with ice from small amounts of condensation. If you had romantic notions of farming and living the simple life, I assure you a trip to market for milk is remarkably more simplistic.

Our days indoors between milking and chores are spent inventing new games for Flora and deciding how much screen time is too much screen time for a disgruntled 12 year old and wondering if it would be considered neglectful parenting to allow unlimited screen time. Since Emma seems to like us less and less these days, forcing her to pay attention to us can be a battle. Watching 2 girls blossom into their own is a wonderful pastime. In those moments between YouTube video clips, Emma emerges and we are thankful for her place in our life. And then in the next moment Flora asks "Can we YouTube it guys?"

We are currently in our renewal process for members from last season and will start to make our way through the waiting list in early February. As the new year dawned, so did our new web site. Please visit the site and send us any feedback you may have. Like all things farming, it is a work in progress.

Blessings on the meal-
Stacy and John