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Yesterday, we drove to Arlington/Stanwood to look at a miniature Irish Belted Jersey, a cross between a Dexter and a Lessor Jersey. Our plan was to wait a year before getting a cow, and just do pigs and poultry this year, but when she showed up on Craigslist earlier this week, it seemed like a good idea to at least go have a look.
She is on the tall side for a miniature, and may actually be considered a mid-size, I’ll have to get out the tape measure to find out for sure. She is halter trained, thank goodness, and while cautious of strangers, didn’t try to run or kick me when I touched her (she was eating some grain at the time, so I’m sure that had a lot to do with it).
She has quite a beefy shape, that’s the Dexter in her. She is five years old and we plan to breed her to a mini Jersey for a replacement dairy heifer at some point, and we can also breed her to a Lowline Angus for a nice cow to put into the freezer. Although she is dry now, I am so looking forward to the milk, yogurt, cheese and butter.
She is quite the pretty girl, though she needs a good bath and brushing.
. . . and you all thought I was crazy before.
*the color is off as the photos were taken under a red heat lamp, and white balance can only do so much with all that red.
After eight months, the farm is finally ours. We put in our first offer in July of last year, it was a short-sale, and we waited and waited. No response from the bank because of issues with the agent representing the sellers. In December it was foreclosed on and went to auction, no bidders, then it sat, for two months. We gave up and started looking at other properties, then it popped back on the market the end of February.
We closed April 2nd.
Now that the hard part is done, all we have to do is remodel the kitchen, replace all the windows and exterior doors, replace/fix most of the interior doors, put down flooring throughout the house, repair and paint walls . . .
OMG, what have we done!
“Would you stop, I’m trying to sleep!”
Hubby and I spent the morning shopping. We went to, shudder, the mall, and considering how close it is to Christmas, we weren’t fighting crowds. I did point out that most normal people were at work and perhaps that was why we were so lucky.
Shopping went quite quickly, in and out . . . MIL . . . check . . . BIL . . . check . . . SIL . . . .
Actual conversation at the Ann Taylor Loft (let me note I am not what Ann Taylor Loft would consider their “target demographic” financially or size wise):
After browsing for a few minutes I pick up a cashmere sweater in a S and an XS, had a brief mental debate about the overgrazing of cashmere goats in China leading to desertification of large regions vs. getting the damn shopping done (sorry to say, the “git ‘r dun” won), and walked up to the register.
me: What’s the difference between the XS and S size?
shop drone with blank look on her face: The XS is smaller.
me: Yes, I understand that. What’s the size?
Perhaps fearing the drone would point to the tags and say “this is a small and this is and extra small”, another associate swooped in and told me the size difference (one was a 0/2 the other a 4/6, I don’t think either would have fit my big toe) and I was able to check the SIL off the list.
I’ve been knitting dishcloths, lots and lots of dishcloths. This seems to happen every year at about this time, I have no idea why. This year the dishcloth knitting came as a need to knit something other than garter. I’d been working on the garterstitch blanket and just couldn’t take it anymore. These little dishcloths provide distraction, a chance to try out new stitch patterns, color combination, and sense of accomplishment all in a 9″ square of cotton.
I ran into a bit of a snag when there were no darning needles to be found anywhere in my house. None. I know I own three Chibis, poof, gone. After a quick stop at the local mega-craft store, I am ready to start some grafting.
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sewing
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