Chapter 2: Welcome to the farm

I headed down to the barn with both girls following me. I opened the doors and entered and took a few steps before I heard them gasp.

"Oh my God, what's that smell," Heather cried.

"How can you go in there after you just ate," Emily asked.

"That's what a barn smells like. You'll get used to it. Come on."

I lead them through the barn to the area where we do the milking. I took them to one of the doors and we walked through.

"This is where we will let the cows out after we're done. We need to get their food and water ready for them. Heather, would you go over there and get the hose. Use it to fill that water basin up so they have something to drink."

"I guess," she replied quite snottily.

"Emily, you can help me with the hay."

Emily followed me over to where the hay bales were. We grabbed one each and took them to the feed trough and spread them out. By the time we were done, I noticed that Heather had also completed her task and was putting the hose back on its hanger.

"Rich, is that all of the cows that we have to milk or do we have to round any of them up," Emily asked.

"That should be all of them. They are pretty good about waiting at the door there when it is milking time."

"You mean that they always come to get milked?"

"Yeah. They are creatures of habit. They also get uncomfortable if you are even a little late getting the milking done."

"Oh, I didn't know that."

"Ok, let's get started with the milking. I will show you guys how on the first one. I will then bring in three more for us each to work on one. If you have any problems, let me know."

I opened the door and led one of the cows into the barn. I tied her in place in the milking stall. I showed the girls how to do this.

"You need to tie them in correctly or they could seriously hurt you. If they get nervous and start shifting, this will hold them in place. You also never want to stand behind her either. If she were to get spooked, she might kick. If you are back there, you will be hurt."

"If they are so dangerous, then why are we out here," Heather asked.

"If you take time to know what you are doing, they are not dangerous. If you don't respect them, they could put you in the hospital or worse."

I noticed that Heather didn't seem to care. Emily was paying close attention. I showed them how to milk the cow and had them work a little at it as well. Once Heather was doing pretty good, I led another one in and tied her up. I got Emily started on this one before I brought in a third for me to work on.

The two girls were doing pretty well until the inevitable happened. I knew it was coming, I just didn't know when. I finally heard that familiar sound of one of the cows unloading the built up manure inside. Heather started screaming.

"Oh God, that's gross. It's splattering all over me."

She jumped up and ran out of the barn. She didn't get very far before I noticed her fall to her knees throwing up. I tried not to laugh but it was difficult. It made it more troublesome when Emily fell off her stool laughing at her sister.

Heather ended up going back up to the house while Emily and I finished the cows. We took the milk, with the exception of one 3 gal bucket, to the chill tank and poured it through the strainer into the holding tank. I explained it would be picked up later that day by the local co-op. The milk we set aside was to be taken into the house for our use.

I also showed Emily what needed to be done to feed the horses, the pigs and the chickens. I also showed her how to gather eggs before we headed back up to the house.

"That wasn't too bad once you get used to the smell of the barn," Emily stated.

"There's more work in the winter to do. We would also have to clean out stalls, since the animals would be inside much of the time. In the warmer months, they can roam around the pasture all day instead."

"I guess that that's not something to look forward too."

"It's more work. The smell is not quite so bad though."

We walked back up to the house and put the eggs in the fridge. We found Liz working in the laundry room.

"Hey Mom, where's Heather?"

"Soaking in the tub. She was covered in puke when she got here. What happened?"

"The cow that she was milking decided to relieve itself. It grossed Heather out," I replied.

"Is that all? The way she reacted, I would have thought that you butchered the cow or something. I had to throw her sneakers out though. They stunk."

"And you will never get the stink out. I warned her. Well, tell her that she gets a reprieve until six tonight."

It was still fairly early, so I went outside to enjoy the day. I didn't notice Emily follow me outside.

"So, what do we have to do now?"

"Nothing until after dinner. That's when we get to milk the girls again."

"That's all you do?"

"Well, normally I would be working around the house doing laundry before getting lunch ready during this time. Since your mother is handling the household chores, I have more free time now."

"Lucky you."

"Once you and Heather get better at milking, the amount of free time will increase even more. It used to take me anywhere from two to three hours to do the milking alone. With help that knows what to do, that can get down to 30 minutes to an hour. The other feedings and gathering of eggs is an hour when I'm goofing off."