Post by nancyinidaho on Apr 2, 2007 9:48:47 GMT -5
Hi, I thought i'd take the chance to introduce myself. I hope others do it too, so i can get to know ya'll since i am new to the forum (just started a month or so ago)
I am living my dream of raising my kids on a farm. I grew up in the suburbs of Oklahoma City and my husband grew up on a farm in rural Idaho. I have always loved animals and have a bachelor's degree in agricultural education from OSU. My husband's undergraduate degree is in agricultural economics. We have been married 11 years and for the past two have been living on the 8.5 acres of land we were able to purchase here in Kuna, Idaho. The property used to be part of a dairy so we have lots of concrete pads and a huge freestall milking barn with water and electricity to it and other outbuildings. We grow our own alfalfa hay on about 3 acres of it and have about 3 acres in pasture. When we first moved here i never imagined that i would even want a milk cow, much less have one. Now i am starting to put the old milking barn back to use and finding out that i LOVE my cow and the time with her each day. It all started last summer when my mother in law who is really into dairy goats talked me into milking one of her gals for the summer and i found out i liked the feeling of producing our own milk but i wasn't too fond of the goat milk flavor. So now we have our Holstien/Jersey cross and more delicous fresh cow's milk than i ever dreamed of. She freshened about 3 weeks ago and i am sorrowful to find out that my carpal tunnel syndrome i experienced during some of my pregnancies has come back with a vengeance. I am pretty sure it has to do with milking. I am looking for solutions and praying for a miracle because i really, really want to continue handmilking!
My five children (three girls, two boys) range in age from 9 to 1. They are the absolute joy in my life. I could spend my day just relishing their personalities and accomplishments. But somehow i also have to fit in: housework, milk the cow twice, bottle feed three calves, bottle feed the bummer lamb, feed and water the horse, the two angora goats, the three sheep, the 6 hens, the 6 baby chicks and the one cat, clean stalls, yard work, gardening, canning, cooking, shopping, plan and hold den meetings for my Cub Scout den, scrapbooking, wool spinning, church volunteering, and then there is my children's 4-H group of which i am the leader and for which i have to do business meetings, community service, poultry meetings, sheep meetings, rabbit meetings, field trips and cloverbud activities. And did i mention i also have to figure out what to do with the 8 gallons of milk we are getting each day from our cow? Of course some of this goes to the calves, but i am trying to learn the arts of butter,yogurt, ice cream, cheese making, etc. I'm guessing that all of this sounds much like the busy lives of all the board members. I am so grateful for HARD WORK. It is so fulfilling and so much more interesting than our life in the city! I used to read a lot more books than i do now and i miss that but figure some day i will have time for that or maybe i'll get so good at milking that i can invent a book holder/page turner that straps on the cow and i can multitask even that!
Meanwhile, my reading moments are spent here at the computer learning from and enjoying all of the posts on this wonderful forum!
I was going to put in a picture of me and my family, but i am having trouble figuring out how to do that. I guess i'll ask my husband. He has a master's degree in computer stuff so i defer to him on most computer issues.
I am living my dream of raising my kids on a farm. I grew up in the suburbs of Oklahoma City and my husband grew up on a farm in rural Idaho. I have always loved animals and have a bachelor's degree in agricultural education from OSU. My husband's undergraduate degree is in agricultural economics. We have been married 11 years and for the past two have been living on the 8.5 acres of land we were able to purchase here in Kuna, Idaho. The property used to be part of a dairy so we have lots of concrete pads and a huge freestall milking barn with water and electricity to it and other outbuildings. We grow our own alfalfa hay on about 3 acres of it and have about 3 acres in pasture. When we first moved here i never imagined that i would even want a milk cow, much less have one. Now i am starting to put the old milking barn back to use and finding out that i LOVE my cow and the time with her each day. It all started last summer when my mother in law who is really into dairy goats talked me into milking one of her gals for the summer and i found out i liked the feeling of producing our own milk but i wasn't too fond of the goat milk flavor. So now we have our Holstien/Jersey cross and more delicous fresh cow's milk than i ever dreamed of. She freshened about 3 weeks ago and i am sorrowful to find out that my carpal tunnel syndrome i experienced during some of my pregnancies has come back with a vengeance. I am pretty sure it has to do with milking. I am looking for solutions and praying for a miracle because i really, really want to continue handmilking!
My five children (three girls, two boys) range in age from 9 to 1. They are the absolute joy in my life. I could spend my day just relishing their personalities and accomplishments. But somehow i also have to fit in: housework, milk the cow twice, bottle feed three calves, bottle feed the bummer lamb, feed and water the horse, the two angora goats, the three sheep, the 6 hens, the 6 baby chicks and the one cat, clean stalls, yard work, gardening, canning, cooking, shopping, plan and hold den meetings for my Cub Scout den, scrapbooking, wool spinning, church volunteering, and then there is my children's 4-H group of which i am the leader and for which i have to do business meetings, community service, poultry meetings, sheep meetings, rabbit meetings, field trips and cloverbud activities. And did i mention i also have to figure out what to do with the 8 gallons of milk we are getting each day from our cow? Of course some of this goes to the calves, but i am trying to learn the arts of butter,yogurt, ice cream, cheese making, etc. I'm guessing that all of this sounds much like the busy lives of all the board members. I am so grateful for HARD WORK. It is so fulfilling and so much more interesting than our life in the city! I used to read a lot more books than i do now and i miss that but figure some day i will have time for that or maybe i'll get so good at milking that i can invent a book holder/page turner that straps on the cow and i can multitask even that!
Meanwhile, my reading moments are spent here at the computer learning from and enjoying all of the posts on this wonderful forum!
I was going to put in a picture of me and my family, but i am having trouble figuring out how to do that. I guess i'll ask my husband. He has a master's degree in computer stuff so i defer to him on most computer issues.