Talk About Weathering The Storm...

7:55AM. I moaned and rolled over in bed, fumbling for my alarm. I hit snooze for 5 more minutes. I'd gone to bed on time last night, 10PM, but didn't feel sleepy until 11PM. So much for my exhaustion issues. I tossed and turned for another 45 minutes. Just as I was drifting off, my golden retriever puppy, Elsie, starts whimpering. Urgently. She needed to make an urgent trip outside. Quickly. Once that was taken care of and she finally fell asleep so that I could fall back asleep it was nearly 12:30AM. So nope, I didn't wanna get up this "early".
8:00AM. I turned the alarm off but curled back up. Elsie was starting to wake up, I doubted she'd let me sleep much longer anyway. I did NOT want to go milk that cow. She was stubborn. And annoying. And...and...disgusting. Not for the first time I ask myself why we even have cows. Oh yeah, I remind myself, major saving on milk. Plus it tastes better. But then, is it really worth the extra work? I guess so. I throw back the covers and make myself get up. I wake Joshua up because he's my milking partner. I let Elsie out to use the great outdoors and find that it's drizzling but it's not stormy at all. Weird. I bring Elsie back in and find Josh waiting for me. He wants to know why he's milking and not Mama.
"She has a headache, Josh." I explain. He's grumpy now. "How do you know?" I try not to feel exasperated. "Maybe because she's not awake and getting ready to milk right now? Because she told me last night that she did? Or maybe I know because she was awake at 4 this morning." "All you had to do was tell me that." I'm frustrated now. We need to get going. "Josh, I know what I'm talking about, I don't just say random stuff. Now while we've been here arguing, you could've been getting the bucket of water ready." He stalks off. I finish getting the gallon container and milking cups. Don't worry, we're friends again in five minutes. That's just how brothers and sisters are ;)
I decide to take Elsie with us this time. She and Latte (the cow) don't get along too well but I'm going to let her run around free so if Latte charges her, Elsie can get out of the way. I feel sorry for Elsie. She hates the picket line, she's too mischievous to stay in the kitchen, and she's not fully potty-trained so she can't roam the house. And I can't let her loose outside unless I'm with her. I take her for walks twice a day, but I'm in my senior year of high school and I've got to get school work done. So I decide to let her roam around while we milk and hopefully Latte doesn't have a fit.
We wait a little while for the drizzles to stop and then head up to the Back Pasture. The Front Pasture has a milking shed but the back doesn't. I can't wait until we move them to the Front again! But for now we make do. The dark clouds are rolling in and fog mists around us. We need to hurry if we want to stay dry. I carry the bucket of water and Josh carries the box of supplies. Cleaning Latte is a big deal lol. Anyway Elsie is so happy to be free and running around sniffing everything. She finds a um...*cough*...fresh cow patty. And a...well...*gag*...a little snack. I shudder every time she...yeah.
ANYWAY Latte, as I previously mentioned, is very stubborn. She kicks and messes and gives us plenty of grief. But probably the worst inconvenience is that she won't have a milk let down unless we let the calf nurse. This means that, to get the highest amount of milk that we can, we have to milk her first and usually we get about quart. A very precious quart because we definitely work for it. Since her milk hasn't let down all the way it's very difficult. It's like wringing out a rag that's hardly wet. Definitely defines the muscles in your hands and arms! A drizzle has started back up. Great. I'm tired and now I'm going to be wet and tired. Elsie keeps popping into the pen and we have to chase her out or risk Latte having a "cow" ha. ha. Funny right?  Ok maybe not ;) But Elsie ain't allowed inside with Latte because the last thing we need is Latte tearing out of the stall...again. But Elsie picks up pretty quick and runs around but stays within sight and gives up on coming inside.
After we get our desired quart, we back Latte out of the milking stall halfway, rope the calf - who is HUGE now and almost as stubborn as his mama (literally, we've had him drag us across the the pasture while we hang onto the rope! No joke) - and let him nurse. After about two minutes we pull him off which, let me tell ya, is very difficult. Usually takes two people. He's big and strong and stubborn and HUNGRY. He doesn't want to leave her. One person tugs and strains on the rope and the other slaps him on the rump. We prevail and get him out of the pen and move on. Elsie is interested in him and that keeps her preoccupied for a little while :D We wipe Latte's teats off again and now milking is like wringing out a sopped rag. Ah, so easy! Even still, it's not as easy as our other cow Nutmeg who's half Jersey. And SHE isn't as easy as HER Mama, Ginger, who's a full Jersey. Latte is 3/4 Angus, 1/4 Jersey.
Anyway, back to the subject, the rain is falling heavier. It's funny too because Joshua brought up his bulky "waterproof" coat. I had asked him why. "So if it rains, I'll be dry!" He cheerfully explained. Well, he turned out to be the smart one I suppose. I'm just out there in my rolled up jeans, and spongebob t-shirt with the sleeves cut off. The rains keep on and I'm getting soaked. "Hurry!" I call to Joshua. His little hands are pumping as fast as they can but it's not really fast enough. I already switches sides with him while we were working on the first quart. Latte is the hardest cow to milk and Josh is the smallest milker. It's funny to watch him though, he's way cute ^_^. So my side is somewhat done, but the rain is just pouring down. And then I realize, we're getting more milk than the usual a-little-less-than-a-gallon amount. We have a little less than a gallon but the froth from milking has filled up to the top. And we still have a ton of milk left to milk! We need another container. Josh and I are laughing hysterically at milking in the rain. He looks like a wet cat with his not-so-water-proof jacket on and the hood clinging to his wet face. I weigh the options. THE two most important things about a milking cow is to keep her (1) healthy and (2) keep her milk supply as high as possible. To keep her supply up you have to milk every drop out. Then the calf gets what you couldn't get, thus raising the supply. Yeah, it's complicated but you get the idea. To keep her supply up or to raise it we need to milk her out. And for some reason we are suddenly getting a major load of milk today! So on one hand is: We're already wet, we're getting a ton of milk, and Latte - for once - is calm. On the other hand: we've got the usual amount, more actually, we're soaking wet, and we want to be done. Finally I decide....We need another container. "Josh!" I laugh. "I'm going to run back to the house real quick and grab another container. Keep milking!" His little hands are still pumping furiously as the rain pounds down on him. "Okay!" He calls back. I dart out of the pen and call for Elsie. She comes bounding alongside me as we dash through the pasture, out the gate, and into the van. I drive down to the house, burst out of the van and Elsie leaps down beside me. We run up the steps and into the house. I need to put Elsie in her crate. So we run through the house (GASP I know lol) and I pop for a half a second into David's room. He's got his huge headphones on listening to music while he does school work. Gianna and Mama are still asleep. Christie is doing her school work. "Hey, put Elsie in her crate real quick? I'll be back in a minute," I gasp to him and then run back into the kitchen. I'm out the door when I suddenly stop. Did he hear me? Growling in frustration I go back to check. Elsie is still standing in the hall, wet. I peek into David's room again, he's totally oblivious. "David, can you-" He can't hear me with that stupid contraption on his head. "DAVID, can you put Elsie in her crate for me?" Nada. I step into the room and bang on his desk. His head pops up and he whisks the headphones off. Finally! "CanyoupleasetakeElsietohercrate?I'llbebackinalittlewhile!" And I'm out the door with just his shocked expression to tell me he'd heard ;)
Back outside the rain hasn't let up. Poor Josh! I get back up there and run back to him with the container. He's only gotten 2 cups since I left. But he kept at it! :D "Ok ok I'm back! Move to my side and let me milk your side. It's more full." He obeys and runs around Latte to my side that's pretty much empty. Whoosh! Whoosh! After I wiped off my hands and got ahold of her teat I had four cups (which is a full container which means I need to empty into the gallon container) quicker than you can blink. Then Latte decided to get stubborn. She steps forward and her left back leg covers the entire left side of her udder. Josh can't milk. If he gets her to move it could risk her kicking my cup or my arm. "Just leave her, Josh. Wait until she moves on her own." So Josh is doing nothing but sitting in the rain! hahaha! I empty twice and STILL she has more milk. Why did today have to be "overflowing day"??? The rains pours and now a wind has picked up. I empty again. A roll of thunder sounds. Uh oh. Time to go! "Okay Josh, we've got enough for now. Let's go!" We quickly pack up everything and let Latte out of the stall. My hair, shirt and jeans are soaked. Josh's pants and jacket are soaked. Everything is wet. We close up the gates and hurry as quick as we can to get out of there. Once in the van we sit back and breathe. Whew!
And all I had wanted was to sleep......

A Week Of House Sitting

Hey everybody! I've been away for a week house sitting for a dear friend, Miz Trish and her husband :) I had a grrrrreat time! I took care of her two horses, Candeloro and Coco, their two doggies, Koa (a golden retriever/husky mix) and Sugar (a verrry sweet german shepherd), and her wittle gway tabby kitty cat, Mia.

The only part I didn't really like that much was that I had to get up at 5:30am to feed the "kiddos" ;) Miz Trish had said I could go up at 6:30am but I wanted to keep her old schedule because she has to feed them at that time before going to work and I didn't wanna mix everything up. But I really didn't mind because I got to go back to sleep when I was done ;) So let's see...I'd get up and feed the doggies, then let them outside for awhile, let Mia outside with me while I fed the horses and then I'd walk the dogs. You know, it really does feel good and cool early in the morning! Anyway, then I'd go back inside, eat breakfast and jump back in bed haha ;) Oh the other thing that dampened my vacation was I had to do school work :P blahhhh *NOT FUN* I can't wait! for graduation!

But another cool thing they had at their house was Dish!  And they had TVLAND! Those of you who know me well know that that is very exciting for me hahaha ;D So I got to watch Gunsmoke and Bonanza everyday. I was very happy. And do ya know? I saw the episode of Bonanza where Ben meets his third wife/Little Joe's mother! I'd never seen that one before lol. Now I've gotten pretty addicted hehe ;)
Okay, then here's something funny that happened lol :D I was watching Gunsmoke and they had to track down this guy with hound dogs. So Sugar was laying on her bed by the TV dozing off and on. And suddenly the scene comes on with about ten hound dogs howling like crazy. Sugar lifts her head and pricks her ears, listening. Then she turns and looks at the TV and started watching the show!!! Once the dogs were quieted she went back to sleep mode but it was SO funny watching her watch the TV. I was wondering what the dogs were saying that caught her attention like that :D

I went up to the pasture on Sunday and Candeloro let me brush him down, comb out his mane and french braid it! He's sucha good horsie! He would nuzzle me with his top lip, it feels so funny haha :D The doggies let me brush them out too and now I know what it'll be like when Elsie has her full coat in ;D
Oh but it was even funner with Candeloro when I was mending a few parts on the fence line. He has such a fun personality. I wish our cows were more fun like that. Ah, oh well. Anyway, when he got used to my being up there he comes up to check everything out. So he nuzzles the fencing, then me, then he checks out my back pocket where he knows I hide carrots ;) But all he found were the wire cutters and tried to take those twice! It was sooo funny! Watching that top lip of his nuzzle everything was just crackin' me up! And then he checks out the fence to make sure I did everything to his satisfaction. He's such a silly boy ^_^ Oh and you know what else he did before I left? I can't remember what day it was but it was like a day or two before I left. He grinned! I am NOT kidding! He did! He lifted his top lip and lowered his bottom lip and just grinned this big cheesy grin! It was SO cute :D

I went and visited home Friday night, Saturday afternoon, and Sunday afternoon. Adam ran by and picked me up. See he was also house-sitting for Miz Trish's daughter. I house-sat for her daughter once and that was fun too :D But anyway, they don't live that far apart so Adam could just run by and get me and then we'd go home. Friday night we all watched MacGyver - oh yeah! :D Saturday afternoon we all played Monopoly which we haven't done in forever. It was a lot of fun until Adam and David formed the "Tyrant Corner." Little mischievous buggers. I was the second or third one out. I could've gone on but I was getting tired of it, you know how long Monopoly can run. I got to play with my wittle Elsie which I enjoyed :D Then it was back to my charges :)

Haha, but anyway so my house sitting days were filled with school work, funny four-leggeds, a little TV and a few chores. Ahhh, it was so much fun :)