Isabelle and Caroline

Remember when Don went to pick up a cow and came home with 2? Here they are…

Isabelle is the one in milk right now. She is a sweet cow, very friendly and approachable. She has a few bad habits while milking…tail swishing (getting cow tail in the eye is not fun) and leg stamping, but she’s getting better. This was her first calving, but she’s really got a nice bag (that’s farmer-talk for her udder) and fairly long teats (which are a must for hand milking, but are usually still small on their first calf).

She loves to “mow” our grass in and around the driveway and stanchion while she waits to get milked.

Caroline is named after my Grandma. We were trying to come up with names for the new heifer as she came to us without one. Don wanted Dot (she has one on her backside), but I thought that was much too undignified for a milk cow. I thought we should name her after a famous blonde (she’s a gorgeous blonde herself, you know), but Marilyn got boo-hooed. So I said that really, cows are best named with old-fashioned grandma names. And Don took me literally.

So, Caroline it is. My Grandma goes by Carol, but her given name is Caroline. I told Don that it would be a gamble…Grandma would either be highly insulted or genuinely flattered. Fortunately, it was the latter. She loves telling everyone that she has a cow named after her.

Caroline is due to calve in October with her first calf. She’s a little skittish still, but is getting more and more used to us. Hopefully, she’ll be right at home by the time she calves.

Burt is enjoying his new female companions. He often follows Isabelle to the gate when we take her out for milking and waits there until she returns.

He’s becoming quite a happy bull. In fact, his spirits have been raised even further, as Don brought home TWO MORE COWS!!! Pictures and the story of Lily and Belle will follow!