Friday Night Drama (Almost rated R)

I should be wrapping bread and pizza crusts right now but decided to take a short break.

Covered in flour. Hot and sweaty. But there are over 80 loaves of bread baked and almost 50 pizza crusts. Several pounds of freshly milled whole wheat, spelt and rye flours for customers who like to bake their own breads. I decided to skip making pancake and brownie mixes this week. Forget the chocolate brioche. I am hot, tired and uninspired.

We had to take a break at some point and chase Duncan, the bull away from heifers who had gone into heat. They are too young to be bred, at 10 months old, but they don't realize that. We moved Dulce and Carmelita into a small field for birth control. For one, we want them to be bred by a bull that is not their father. For two, we wish for them to reach 15-18 months old so they will be large enough to bear calves with minimal trouble.

They are lovely heifers and should make great mamas, but not quite yet!

In the urgent moment, Coco escaped from her field and went straight to the calves who promptly drank all the evenings milk. So, the good news is that I get a break tonight. The bad news is, well, I can't think of any bad news. We have plenty of milk for our customers from this morning and last night's milk.

This morning a friend from grief group came by. He and his posse helped the boys with some fence mending. We are hoping to repair the fence adjacent to the bottom hay field so we can graze the middle pastures. I was grateful for their work while I baked. The boys took care of a lot of mowing later on in the morning. This afternoon the kids read books and relaxed in the heat and the girls played in the garden hose. It brought back memories of my childhood and sisters and hot summers with a garden hose. We invented so many games to go along with hot summer, three girls and a garden hose.

The kids are having baked potatoes for supper. I grabbed a quick bite of Jimbo's smoked trout, Rachel and Jason's dill chevre and some pickled peppers and veggies. The trays of bread are waiting. But at least the kitchen, bakery and floor is clean. I even got the piles of dirty tubs and mixing bowls clean. Hopefully the cool breeze will pick up for the final push. Hopefully our customers will remember to get out in the morning to buy their daily bread. We are thankful for them. So very thankful to have a job here on the farm. Thankful to be able to see when the cows need some interference and to be able to pause and care for them right in the middle of the business.

By the way, the moon is waxing, but I haven't seen it. Forgot to check rising and setting times. The stars are beautiful. I tried to see the showers last night, but didn't. Watched the distant lightening over the National Forest instead. Very nice.

Alright, back to work, everybody. Want to get a shower and have a break before the morrow comes!