But for the unconvinced I'll let the pictures tell the story. I'll even be arty.
One of my favorite photo blogs is The Blue Hour by Brian Ferry. He's a photographer living in London and I'm totally hooked on his work. Mostly because he takes pix of the fabulous restaurants where he eats..and lots of coffee shops...and cappuccinos.... Right now he's doing a series on diptychs where he is displaying two images side by side. Since Brian is everything refined, dignified, and classy, and I'm all...well.. farm... I'm sure he'll be horrified (or laugh) at my series below.
Let's call this "Little and Big":
On the milk stand:
Over a bucket:
By the way - yes I'm using a plastic bucket. Don't worry all of this milk went directly to the chickens. And yes, you should always use a stainless bucket when you milk for the house. Always.
Givin' the squeeze
I don't know about you, but after 20 years of typing every thought I ever had in my career (well, not ALL of my thoughts...)... I just can't milk Little Nibbles and her dang tiny teats twice a day..the tendinitis is just killing me. I can only use my thumb and forefinger without grabbing her udder so its kind of a weird strain as I have to keep my pinkies up like I'm having high tea. So I'm only milking her once a day. With Evita I could use both hands on one side!
Also
In the 8 minutes it takes me to milk Nibbles for the quart of (oh so rich and frothy) milk I can get over half a gallon from Vita... that's over a gallon a day! On her best day Nibbles could only give 2 quarts if I milked her twice a day.. maybe 3 if I gave her hay thru an IV drip and fanned her with palm leaves as she reclined on a chaise (and no, I'm not doing that).
Honestly, just get the full sized dairy gals.
With apologies and regards to Brian.. I really do love your work. And if you post pix of the Roman ruins I swear I'll stop putting your link in my farm posts. *Hogs-n-kisses from the heartland*
Posts
13 comments:
Two posts in one day, now you are just showing off!
hee hee hee nope! I just can't use the schedule thingy right! Oh well.. its a freebie
;-)
Now do a side-by-side with a cow!
;)
BR
I would like to respectfully disagree, just a little bit. You are taking your goats and putting them side by side. Not all minies are the same. There are different breeds of minis. My Goats our Mini Nubians, half Nigian and half Nubian. My one mini is 50/50 of both breeds and her teats our a little bit on the smaller size but still big enough for me to milk. My other goat is 30% Nigian and 70% Nubian in her breeding. She is still a small goat but has full size teats. almost as big as your full size goat. It is all in breeding. It is true that I do only get 1/2 gallon of milk a day but that is more than enough for me and my family of four. We even have enough milk to make yogurt, cheeses, and lots and lots of cream for making butter. just because my goats only give me a half gallon a day doesn't mean that all minies only give that much. I know of several people that have Mini Nubian goats that give a full gallon a day. I would never want any other breed than this breed even if I had a large farm with lots of room.
Thanks LCG! Just goes to show there is a goat for every body.
But I have to say if I went thru all of this and only got half a gallon a day I'd probably lay on the ground and let the chickens peck me.
We can easily go thru a quart of milk a day - just for the house. And soon there will be pigs.. oh yes.... the bacon is on its way. So for us we need lots of milk.
Which is why I need a cow. But not one that screams (you know who you are).
I dunno, after we tell you how much we like our sheep milk you will scoff at those great big, pasture tearing up bovines. We hope to have a few extra next spring - just saying.
Well you know, CC, I totally covet my neighbor's sheep... golly every time we drive by I slow down and think I could probably grab one and throw it in the back before that old timer gets out there to stop me....
;-)
Great work btw! Tons going on at your place
:-)
ps moo!
"But I have to say if I went thru all of this and only got half a gallon a day I'd probably lay on the ground and let the chickens peck me."
Hahaha! You crack me up. I always tell B if I go out to feed the chickens and don't come back in 20 minutes, COME LOOKING FOR ME. I know, without a shadow of a doubt, if I fall down in the yard and don't immediately get up, I am chicken food. End of story.
I KNOW! I always say that if the chickens ever got me on the ground that would be the end! Golly.. aren't you glad they dont have teeth! Yikes!
Teeth are for amateurs, if either one of you fall down I got the feeling that the roosters will be coming after you with pliers and potatoes!
Thats hilarious! Someone suggested that I carry a gun (with the fox and all)... I was all "Are you KIDDING!!?! If OD got that gun from me these posts would be significantly different.. iffin' you know what I mean!
;-)
Hi O, me again!
I love your photos! Lil' Nibbles is looking fantastic and that big, white marshmallo is a HAM! :P
I love, love LOVE to read your blog!
I can't wait until my sheep are ready to be milked!!!!
Hey Sally! Nibbles is such a goof.. she LOVES being milked. I've been putting the "big" bucket under her.. it just barely fits. But she's a good sport. I'm glad The Big Man put her in the witness protection program so I didn't sell her! I even KISSED her the other day. I know. Don't tell anyone.
Post a Comment