The day started with the usual milking of the Joy our Dexter, such a wonderful way to start the day. The milk she gives us is not too creamy, which we like for drinking, but makes wonderful yoghurt and cheese also. At the end of milking we let Angie, Joys calf suckle on the other two teats while I milk out as much of the creamy hind milk as I can, but this has become increasingly difficult as Angie has gotten older. She wants all the teats to herself, and all the milk! She bites me and pushes me away. I've tried pushing her back, but have ended up spilling all the milk in the process, so have now just let the greedy little guts have the teats, and had to make do with what we can get.


After milking, we brought the new calves into the yards, feeding them some nuts so they learn that coming into the yards is a rewarding experience. We will train these young ladies in the ways of hand milking, and having them super quiet is essential.

(Amber and Acorn play a new kind of hide an seek while exploring the yards for the first time.)




We also started laying the snake mosaic, and it certainly took longer than we had anticipated, but the care and time it took to get the levels right and parts sitting nicely will pay dividends in the long run. Sylvia had spent a lot of time yesterday getting the cuts precise, and that made much easier.