Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Drying Up

This picture has nothing to do with drying up.  It's just one of my favorites.

The problem with coming back to blogging after a long break is that nothing seems worthy of talking about.  I'm not sure why that is, but if I force myself to write something every day for a while, before I know it, I have a lot to say.  Of course, that's not really the same thing as having something worthy of talking about, but maybe with enough quantity, I'll get lucky and get some quality.

So I am forcing myself to write.

Emma started drying up Fiona today.  We've been talking about it for a while.  She actually started when college began.   She dropped the night milking.  Now, with the prospect of Emma going to Ohio for two weeks at Christmas, she decided this morning to begin drying her up completely.  Today was the perfect day to start because Emma is sick with a head cold or a sinus infection.  She told me that her head "feels like the apple she baked in the fire on Halloween, minus the butter and cinnamon."  Make your own diagnosis.  Whatever the ailment, it seemed best to stay inside, as it was cold and windy out, and we still have no barn.   The other good reason to dry her up is that I do not want to be stuck milking that ornery cow for two weeks while Emma is gone, especially during Christmas.  It would probably rain every day and be 40 degrees.

When I went to the grocery store this afternoon, I bought milk.  It felt really strange.  It's been almost a year since we first brought Fiona home, and it has been a major lifestyle change.  How odd it seemed today not to wash a milk bucket.  I will miss it.  We do plan to get Fiona bred.  Then it will be nine months before she births, and we can have milk again.  That seems a lifetime away.  I hope we don't get soft and citified in the meantime.

3 comments:

Emily said...

I enjoy reading about your experiences with a cow, compared to my 10 years with dairy goats. You don't have to plan so much to dry up a goat.

Emma's coming to Ohio??? Can I meet her? I'm so excited! (And nervous-maybe I will be a huge letdown.)

I know your exact feeling about coming back to the blog. I have so little time, but I need to make myself write. It's good for my brain, I think, to have some stimulation in a day beyond wondering about what to feed Maria for lunch. I've missed you these past few weeks.

Wendy Haught said...

Dear Emily,

Yea! I'm so glad to visit you again in the comment box. I have missed you too. I can't get over how close I feel to you, even though I have never met you in person.

Yes, (again) Emma is coming to Ohio on Dec. 18 and staying through Sunday, Jan. 2! We have been hoping that you two could get together. You'll have to do a blog post on the visit so that I can link to it!

You couldn't possibly be a letdown, Emily, even if you made up half of the stuff on your blog. hee-hee!

Hugs to you and yours!

Mrs. Haught

Dymphna said...

I have a city girl question. How do you dry up a cow? Doesn't she give milk as long as she has a calf somewhere?