Bulls and Computers: Love 'em and hate 'em!

For the most part, I have successfully avoided technology and gadgets. Not that I am against them, I just don't look for reasons to need new stuff. I would rather eat a blackberry than stare at my emails on one. But in the harshness of this past year, I have really enjoyed and truly have been blessed by reconnecting with old friends and discovering new ones via Facebook and smallerindiana.com. Friends who, because of similar circumstances, have really reached out in ways that others could not. Who would have thought an introvert like me would enjoy and be so blessed in the world of social networking. (Especially since I always made fun of it!) Who knows, we may start using these tools to help us better connect with you. Someone has suggested we use Twitter for the cowshare owners to stay connected on issues such as supply, and other uses as well that I don't really understand. It's not really my thing. We'll see, I'm open to it.

This past beautiful week was absolutely perfect for making hay. Making hay is one of my most important jobs because our winter feed expense is our biggest expense on the farm. While everyone else was making hay, I was not. Why? Uh, well, some computer malfunction on the hay baler. Hay balers have computers? Yeah, so they can help me bale lots & lots of acres per day. Well, the Amish with their horses got alot more hay done than me and my high tech equipment last week. (And they probably ate blackberries in the shade while their horses rested and drank water.) Oh well, at least I read some good emails last week, while they were getting so much work done! Hopefully I'll be ready to go when the weather cooperates next.

On kind of a humorous note, we have 2 good Dutch Belted dairy bulls. Both are good, but one I think is outstanding. The kids I think call him Big B, but his given Christian name is Slick Willie Nelson Mandela the 2nd. His only job is having healthy intimate relationships with 30 hot cows. (Well, I'm just assuming they're hot by the way he acts.) He takes his job very seriously. He 'had' it pretty good. 'HAD!' He developed a bad habit of knocking over the mobile water tanks in the pasture which would sometimes break the water lines. I don't know if he was just showing off for the ladies, or if he actually realized that if he broke it at night when I wouldn't notice, the water would spray all night and by morning there would be a small pond for him to stand in. After the second time, I told him "from now on, it's swimming OR the women." He decided that night it would be both, swimming WITH the women! I got to the pasture the next morning with all the cows bunched up standing in water. So I removed him from the milking herd and put the other bull in. Slick Willie is now in a pasture with about 10 calves that all hang around him like he's a bigshot celebrity. I wish I were tech savvy enough to take and post photos on here because it truly is hilarious. He just stands at the edge of the fence looking at his women in a far off pasture and just moans so sadly like he has lost all that matters to him, which is exactly what HAS happened. Poor guy!

I love this time of year because this farm now truly is a land flowing with milk and ...... uh, that reminds me, we do actually have local raw honey back in the store, thanks to the Browns. I so much appreciate all the beauty that has been added to the store thanks to Josh and Sarah, especially Sarah's art, both on canvas paintings hanging on the walls, and now directly on the walls themselves! I love it! The canvas paintings are for sale, the walls stay here. I also really appreciate Heather Harvey and all the flowers and landscaping. Beauty is so uplifting to the soul!

I wish you all a wonderful day. Please come and hang out with us, and let us know what more we can do for you. Soon we will start our Friday evenings featuring all the coffee/espresso drinks you can think up, maybe smoothies, Trader's Point ice cream, yogurt, and chocolate milk, (which many have pointed out causes a "crack" like addiction.) We'll have the grill going if anyone wants to cook out, and we'll make music and have great conversations about anything and everything, and just let the spirit lead. Sounds like fun, I can't wait! God bless you all!

Mark