My Friends Are Good To Me......

I haven't said very much about losing my beloved Holly. It has been a tough summer and I frankly just didn't want to dwell on her death....... my menopausal heart can only take so much hurt.

Recently, I was tidying up in the barn kitchen and found the Grand Champion ribbon that she won at the fair this summer. This may sound a little morbid but I plan to hang her skull up in the barn. I figured that I should hang her ribbon with her.

I have missed having her come to the gate and bellow for treats. I regret not taking more pictures...... Holly was old and her death is not a total shock but I very much grieve for the loss of the heifer calf that she was carrying.

I consoled myself with the thought that I still have Noelle...... ornery beast that she is. I decided that I would just push aside my "big cow prejudice" and go ahead and milk Salena's shorthorn cow, Wilma, next year, too.

I had talked about buying a young heifer still on the bottle to raise for a replacement but..... just didn't seem to do much more than talk about it.  

I have very good friends...... people who understand that my girls-- both bovine and caprine---- are not just livestock. They are not pets like the dogs are but something else...... something that I just can't quite describe at this point.

Last night when I got home from my trip to St. Louis, one of my friends called me and told me that he was bringing something to me. He also told me that I needed to open the gates over at the barn.... He unloaded two first freshening Jersey cows that needed lots of TLC.

I am not going to post pictures of them. I have taken some just to use to remember how this project started.

They both injured their feet and are not able to get around very well. Living on concrete at the dairy just did not allow them to heal and they are very thin. My friend was visiting the dairy and saw them...... he said that he knew just where they needed to go.....They needed me and I needed them. He is going to maintain ownership and we are going to split the milk. He told me to breed them and get my heifer and stop just talking about it.

The poor things are sooo incredibly sweet. Seth and I milked them this morning with very little effort. This evening, they limped into the barn on their own. They spent the day easing around my barn lots grazing for all they were worth and already look much better.

I have named them "Belle" and "Bambi".

Just thinking about this kindness makes my so full that my eyes overflow.......