I have worked way too many hours this week. I think, "Well, if I put in extra hours today, then I will get caught up." But it doesn't happen. The next day is just as hard. On Friday, four shareholders came out and helped clean the barn. What a great help that was! They did most of the work, with me stopping in to send them to the next task, bring tools and equipment, haul out old hay from the barn to the mulch pile in the garden. But I was always busy, never sat down, realized at 5:00 that I hadn't eaten any lunch. At the end of the day, the pile of work waiting for me was just as high.
Today market was very busy. Phyllis and I inventoried honey, spices and essential oils between customers. No time to sit down. Phyllis finally insisted that I sit while she finished the essential oils on her own.
After market, all I wanted to do was come home, do my evening chores and go to bed. But a guy was coming to buy a calf. I have decided to keep Earl. He has a great personality, was kicking up his heels within an hour of birth, and has a grandmother and a mother who both milk very well. So he will be our next breeding bull. The other one - well, I have a hard time naming them when I know they are going to be fed out for meat. So Smarty Pants's calf left this evening, and she is crying for him. I am ready to burst into tears myself. I just HATE this part of the whole thing. She will be over it in a few days. But tonight I will listen to her grief.
From the uneducated regarding farm life, there are two statements that really bug me. One is that animals don't have emotions. Tell that to Smarty Pants tonight. Come over here and listen to her, watch her, and tell me that it isn't emotion she is feeling.
The other one is to hear that humans are the only animals that drink milk from another species. Who started that fairy tale? I have never figured that one out. I had a dog that nursed a full grown cat. My cat drinks cream (no milk for her, just the good stuff). Both of my dogs LOVE kefir and have it every day. The chickens go nuts when I take old milk or whey out to them. When people see that I have raw milk at the market, they often feel beholden to bring me up to speed. Why do I hear that one so often, when it has no basis in fact?
As you can see, even without reading my title, yes, I am grumpy tonight.
Well, I am going to put in ear plugs, take my new copy of Wise Traditions to bed with me, and hopefully get a good night's sleep. That will get me over the grumps by morning. Or anyway, I hope so. Sigh . . .
Animals don't have emotions? Why is the human animal so stupid? The day after one of my dogs died, the dog who was most bonded to him wouldn't get out of bed. She was just too depressed. She's still sad and is very aware that he's gone. I hope your cow feels better soon.
ReplyDeleteShe seems to be a little better today, but broke out of the pasture yesterday and spent most of the day trotting around looking for the calf. So sad. Hopefully she will be a little better each day. If it had been a heifer calf, I wouldn't have sold it, would just have left the calf on her. But we kept only one bull calf, the one with the better blood line. Yes, sometimes I think animal emotions are deeper and purer than many humans' emotions.
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