Cozy Cold

It dropped to 9F.  Yesterday, we finished all the pipes and fittings and put heat tape along the exposed areas.  This morning the water isn't flowing.  Dang.  We assume the problem is a fitting but after an hour of pouring hot water here, there, and everywhere, we gave up and filled the stock tank with buckets of water. 

With this cold snap coming, we suddenly remembered our irrigation pipes.  The pipes have a low spot where they take the water to the back of the pasture.  My husband and oldest son pulled and yanked until they finally opened up and found they were already dry.  Dang.

The milk is still filtering slowly but there are no clots.  By the end of the pail, it's just dripping along.  So we're still fighting mastitis.  Dang.  It's getting better but I'd like it to clear up faster.

The cows don't seem the least bothered by this cold weather.  We moved the pasture gate to split the shed in half and put jerky and beefy on one side and kept Christina on the other.  A friend suggested we put beefy with jerky so they can keep either other warm.  It's cute how they cuddle up together when they sleep.  All three cows go out in the pasture several times a day to just run around.  Jerky is bouncy like a fawn.

For as cold as the thermometer reads, milking isn't unpleasant.  I figured it would be painfully cold, but it's not.  The shed breaks the wind, the cows' body heat warms it up, and Christina's udder keeps my hands nice and warm while we're milking.

This morning Christina gave us two gallons and jerky got his belly full.  Our frig is filling up with jars of milk; it's a beautiful sight.  This morning I warmed up two gallons and got a batch of cottage cheese started.  I cooked up a quart of milk with sugar and egg to start ice cream.  A half-gallon of cream is awaiting an attempt at cream cheese.  It is warm in the house, the sun is shining, and the early cooking for the holiday makes everything smell good.  It is easy to be thankful this year.