Rita was supposed to come and look at the cows today, but they were caught in stand-still traffic on the express way, so will come tomorrow. They are interested in Bambi, Worsie and Mabel. Please, please. Need to bring our hay requirements down. They are currently eating a bale in 2 days. Went to fetch some from Mike this afternoon in the snow, he loaded me 4th cutting and advised the price was $65 each, $15 each more than the other cuttings. Going to have to look at alternatives.
Our road wasn't plowed, nor any in the village. At Mikes' and again coming up our drive home, put the truck into 4WD or else I wouldn't get anywhere. Just backed it into the shed with the hay still loaded. Too much snow on the ground to manoeuvre the tractor safely. But will need to off-load it tomorrow as the sheep will be out of hay, as will the cows. They broke the hay bale feeder again. Popped the screws, so will need to get large washers and more nuts, plus tore the section out that we welded. Think I'll try take a whole section out of the other one that DH welded last year and cobble a more sturdy one together. Cows are rather rough on the equipment. It lasted one day :( So it looks as if I'm going to have to get a lot better at welding very quickly.
Yesterday I made sloppy joes at the request of my DH. My friends in South Africa will be shaking their heads in dismay. Meatloaf, sloppy joes, split pea soup, stuffed cabbage, oy vey Child, where are all those gourmet dishes you used to be so fond of ? He said it was great, had 3 helpings served on my homemade bread. I cooked some spaghetti and ate it like spag bog with sour cream on top. Not sure I liked it. The brown sugar in it gives it a sweetish tinge I'm not too fond of. The heat had mellowed out overnight but was still there. Called keeping DH happy, part of my wifely duties :). Maybe I'll cook a steak for me tomorrow.
Daron said that Pearly is settling in well at his place. He pulled some of her hairs and sent it off to be tested for A2 genes for her milk quality. Sent me the website so I can test our girls. A2 milk is in higher demand than A1 milk and the test is $ 25 for each cow. Will be nice to know as it could be another marketing point for our herd-shares. I thought all Jerseys were A2, but seemingly there could have been some inter-breeding in the past which can change that.
Saw Daisy May jump Doofus this afternoon, and then he tried to return the favour but she moved away. She must be in heat. Wonder if it's the 5 month pregnancy heat. Both boys are milling around her. If so, Star should calve end January, Daisy May in mid April and Dolly end July.
Ron advised that Anni was mated again this afternoon, so maybe I can fetch her tomorrow or Monday. Rosco seems lost without her here. He didn't come for breakfast this morning. I called and called, nada. Put his food on top of the garage fridge. When I came back with the hay this afternoon I checked down the hatch, yep, he was curled up in the straw in the milk parlour. Made an appearance later, so I called him into the garage and fed him. The cats run up to me meeowing like crazy every time I go into the garage. You'd think they were starving ! Chipmunks, birds and mice must be hard to find. Suppose I haven't seen any bodies for a while.