It's Done

After ten straight months of milking, Christina's first lactation with us is done.  She is dry. 

Our routine of heading out to milk twice a day is at rest.   Christina will lounge out in the pasture for two months while we enjoy evenings without an alarm going off.  Even better, we can leave, only needing somebody to feed the animals.

Today we head off for our first camping of the season.  In years past, we did lots of camping in the summer, so going a summer without camping has been new for us.  But now we're going.  It's Fall, the air has begun to chill, but the mountains will be pleasant.  Even better, they'll probably be empty. 

When we got Christina a year ago, it was only seven weeks before she dried off.  It was perfect for us; enough time to learn to milk and then take a rest.  Back then I wondered if we'd make it for ten months of a full lactation.  We did.  Actually, as the months went on, the burden became lighter, just like the adjustment to each new child who has come into our lives.  Yes, it takes energy and commitment to milk a cow twice a day, but I've found that the best things in life take energy and commitment.  Christina is one of them.

But she doesn't need us now and we are going!  We are off to visit the face of God that lives in the beautiful Idaho mountains.