There is a part of me that loves wearing tall rubber boots and mucking about with farm animals. A bigger part of me enjoys letting someone else get up before dawn to milk the cows and feed the chickens.
We've been getting our milk fresh from a small local ranch for several years now, and the girls and I wear our boots and live vicariously through our friend who does all the real, daily, hard work to run the place. Recently one of the mama cows wouldn't keep her baby, so they've been bottle feeding the calf, and the girls were delighted to help.
The mama cows are not quite as interesting, but there is one that is often more curious and friendly.
A few weeks ago Elsa commented thoughtfully, after spending a few quiet moments observing the pigs, that "pigs have such busy lives. They sleep and eat and get in the water and lie down and get up and snort and run around and smell each other! They are so busy!" Sheesh, their routine makes my day look lazy!
Among the dogs and cats at "our" farm is an obnoxiously friendly cat that has been named "Annoying" by the grown-ups and who is the delight of every child that visits. He even got smuggled home with one of them and had to be driven back! Elsa loves it when he jumps in our car, but thankfully we've caught him each time!
And when we have had our fill of throwing acorns to the pigs and Nora stepping in fresh cow paddies, we drive the 15 minutes back to our house in town, take off our boots, and are thankful those who do get up in the morning to do the milking.
