Monday, October 31, 2011

Expecting...

Ever since moving to the farm, we have been more integrated into where our food comes from.  We have grown some of our own food, purchased a lot from local farmers, "put-by" nearly everything we need for winter, largely from local sources (martini olives excluded).  We have also started eating meat again, since we participate in raising and slaughtering our food.

In fact, everything we have done has left me more confident that we made the right decision.  You want vegetables?  You need cows, for the manure.  You want milk?  You need cows milk...and a lot of otherwise unwanted baby cows unless you raise them and eat them.  Ditto for cheese, butter, sour cream, etc.  Because of this, we have taken on the responsibility of slaughtering the animals we intend to eat, as quickly and humanely as possible.  We have done this for two cows, a pig, ten chickens, and eight trout so far.  None of this has made me squeamish or derailed my enjoyment of the meals that follow.  In fact, they have only been enhanced by knowing the sacrifice these animals make for us.

However, one thing has happened this week that may, in the end, put me back on the Vegan path:


This delightful creature is the buck that Kitty has been sequestered with for the last several days.  I am not sure I can even describe the smell, let alone the awful habits, of this creature.  He spits, wiggles his tongue, pees on is own face and belly...and the smell!  Since Thursday all the way through yesterday, Kitty seemed to hold the same opinion.  Every time this guy came near her, she'd run off leaving him to spit and wiggle and pee in her general direction. 

All of that changed this morning.  When I arrived to milk Kitty, she looked like she hadn't had much sleep. She was listless and droopy-eyed.  Her coat was also a matted sheen of goat pee.  The worst part?  She was now cuddling up to the buck, rubbing her face on him, nuzzling his neck.  

Clearly, something changed overnight.

So, she'll be doing this for another 12 hours, and then I'll bring her home.  With luck, in five months we'll have a couple of new kids and some milk for drinking and cheese making.

Provided I can stomach the stuff after what I've seen and smelled this weekend!

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