Emergency Mucking

On Saturday morning we did an emergency mucking.  The area outside the cow's shed had probably been getting worse for a while, but all of sudden there was a thick layer of green-brown slop.  Poor Christina would be up to her ankles in this muck in order to get to her feeder.  So we dropped everything and threw shit.  We cleared out the muck that had made a sizable damn and drained the swamp.

Shortly after we got started, my twins emerged at the shed door with water bottles for us all. We had hurried out and forgotten. Our little girls took good care of us all.

The pile of mucking had also worked it's way over in front of the shed, so while some of us got the swamp drained, others got a good portion of the pile over.  My arms felt like they moved a thousand pounds by the time we were finished.

Sharing time with my teenage daughters throwing this stuff lead to some interesting reflections — like it's no coincidence that muck rhymes with other words to express frustration.  When we came in we were literally covered in the stuff. Ugh.

Pleasantly, Sunday morning Christina sauntered into the milking parlor with the cleanest udder and feet we have seen in weeks.  That was a nice affirmation for such hard work.  We are formulating new plans to keep this area from getting so bad again.

This is not a pleasant part of having a cow.  Although I have to admit that it felt good to get outside and work.  It wasn't too cold, the sun peaked out several times from behind the sun, and I walked away with sore muscles but a satisfied heart.

Today we begin a two weeks break from homeschooling.  We follow a year-round schedule and these breaks in the middle of the year are such a treat.  These weeks will be full for us.  I am going on a six-day trip with my teenage daughters and we have a garden to get planted.