Thursday, January 22, 2009

Cows and hoses

So, anyone who'se taken care of animals knows that you must have a steady supply of fresh water. And cows drink a LOT of water, especially the pregnant and lactating ones. So, when the long hose was frozen this morning, I knew I was in for a long morning. Rusty had hooked up a series of hoses for the two pastures where the pregnant and the milk cows are kept, after the hydrant out there froze. It's still frozen, if you were wondering. I actually wonder when it's going to thaw.

I milked last night, and filled the tanks and drained the hoses. Or, I thought I drained the hoses. But no, they were full of ice this morning. So I took them in the barn to thaw, and in moving them, two broke. Arrgh. So I spent a good chunk of time unattaching and reattaching hoses, and trying to thaw out the ice dams, and got good and wet (did I mention it's cold?), and finally succeeded in getting water in both tanks, hurray! And I feel that my character has grown and is strengthened. There's nothing like a little wrestling with obstinate inanimate objects to strengthen your character, I've found.

And that on top of getting up at 2am to make sure our pregnant cow wasn't calving. She wasn't. She wasn't this morning at 6am, either, and it may be that she won't for a while...

Okey dokey,
much love,
Kelpie

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Argh, what a pain...I bet the cows really appreciate your patience, though! I'm so excited about the calf-to-be.