thankful 2

I'm thankful that we own a Jersey cow named Maggie. She is the first cow I have ever had, and been around. She's funny in her behavior and she has an attitude. She swats me in the face with her tail, a lot when I'm stressed out and trying to milk her. I guess it's her way of getting my attention, and she'll look at me with those big brown eyes and seems to be telling me to "chill out", and she'll cool it with the tail. Never fails, when I relax, she stops with the tail, and goes back to eating. Sometimes she'll come in the barn just fine, then other times we have to herd her in the barn and make her come in. She'll even stand at the door of the barn and look at us and stand there for a few minutes before she'll come in, other times she turn and high tail it back to the farthest corner of the pasture, and make us go get her! I told you she has an attitude with a capital A!! I like to watch her in the pasture eating, laying down chewing her cud, or running around like a spring heifer when she has a mind too. I like the sound of her eating her grain or hay as I milk her and the rumble of her stomach and the sound and smell of the milk as it hits the pail. I like that I don't have to buy milk, and can make cheese, soap, butter, and yogurt with our milk. It's certainly not free milk either. There's a lot of work that is involved with having a cow, or any livestock kind of animal. We don't have the milk to buy at the store, but we have the grain bill, and the hay. Along with the cleaning, spreading and cleaning more manure, and the milking and the jar washing, the pail washing, the floor washing when I spill milk all over the floor. That's always fun. Milk is sticky.
Yup I'm thankful we have a milk cow named Maggie, even with all the attitude and extra work she brings our way.