News, Moos, and Mews

First, the News

The obligation of chores, morning and evening, doesn't leave much time for watching television. Not to worry....

We call it the New TV. Watch that milk slosh, listen for poor suction, be on the alert for kitties who have sneaked in and could be in danger of being stepped on by those big cow hooves. Hey! It's even a little like the Wii in that we don't just sit and stare at the boob tube: we exercise arms and legs and backs as we enjoy the comedic drama of the twice-daily show.

Next, the Moos

Feeding the young stock happens before we start milking the big girls. Pat handles the 3 youngest on her own. With all three of us feeding the five "middle-aged" calves at once, the job gets done quickly. I'm usually standing there between Pat & Weldon, but someone has to take a photo now and then!

The picture above is looking over the backs of the 5 youngsters and seeing the older calves eating their grain. I think there are 8 of them. They are so big now that Weldon has to go in to give them their grain. They could easily knock any one of us on our butt!

Last, but certainly not least, some Mews

In my January 11 post, I mentioned three baby kitties, saying, "I'll get you my pretties!" To date, I'm unsuccessful in attaining that goal. Mom Google moved her babies to the truck shed near the house and, for unknown reasons, one of them died. However, I've been feeding the other 2 and talking to them twice a day, but they remain aloof. Since I'm not certain of their sex, I haven't named them ... but I do have pictures!

     Gretchen with 5 new babies: 

Baby Ruth & Iris snuggling in the Kitty Spa:

In closing, I have a cute story to share. Just over a week ago, Weldon told me he saw a bluish-gray tiger-striped kitten in the old milk barn. A day or two later, Pat saw it. I couldn't imagine what kitty it could be and I couldn't think of any cat that had kittens that we hadn't found yet. Morning & evening I looked for this mysterious cat and talked nicely to it, in case it were listening, but I never caught a glimpse of it. Four or five days after the original sighting, just before I was heading out to chores, Weldon came to the door and told me to grab my camera and come. There was Pat, holding this big gray cat! Wow! I was expecting something a lot smaller.

Pat said, "Here's your ghost kitty! What are you going to name her?"

(Please ignore the fine farm fashions and finish reading the story!) I went back to the house to change into my milk duds and suddenly had the name: Mrs. Mewer! Once again, how my brain works is totally awesome. Pat called her the ghost kitty and, within minutes, I thought of the 1968-1970 TV series, "The Ghost and Mrs. Muir." Muir ... Mewer! aaahh, I'm good!