Kathleen, that must be so hard to do. Praying your transition to a non-cow life goes smoothly, and you will now have the chance to travel a bit, or do things you weren't able with the responsibility of the cows.
Name: Mary The dry side of Oregon Be yourself, you can be no one else
Kathleen, it's a big step, but apparently a necessary one. How is Stan's health? He might feel a bit lost for a while, but soon will enjoy the freedom.
Can I tell you that we are having a mild and almost snowless winter without someone throwing snowballs at me? Still, spring will be welcome. The pastures have green in them, not much growth with most nights and some days below freezing. It does look good, and keeps my horse busy trying to get a mouthful. He could nibble at it all day and never get enough to fill a bucket.
Name: Kathleen Tenpas Wickwire Corners NY (Zone 5a)
Stan actually feels much better than he has in years. The valve replacement was a huge success. But it is time for the milkers to go. Help is impossible to find, and he really can't continue to do it alone. All the kids that have helped over the years are moving on with their lives and the little kids aren't ready to fill in. We're keeping the calves and heifers and all of the equipment, not with the thought of going back into dairying, but as income for the years to come. Stan and our son-in-law have a hay business and may increase that. He's also talking about a small beef herd. A friend who has a farm between us and Melissa asked Stan if he would be boarding heifers next year, so that thought is going through his head. We'll see.
It is nice that we are closing out the dairy with the best year we've ever had. The price of milk was generous last year and while the hay crop wasn't the best we've ever had, it was good. The girls put out some over a million pounds of milk, good girls! There are 50 to go.
Both daughters have told Stan they have lists of things they like him to make for them. I may start a list myself!
I grew up working on a dairy farm and now have beef cattle (among other things). They are far less labor intensive than the milk cows! In fact most local farmers who raise beef cattle do it as a part-time job as there are few if any daily chores connected. I hope you find a new life that is less intense and still satisfying.
The SU and I had great fun today............we stopped at an RV place and looked at a "Toy Hauler"...........a 5th wheel that we can live in and take the motorcycles with us. It's a 44 footer; a Cyclone.
Name: Margaret Near Kamloops, BC, Canada (Zone 3a)
My neighbor bought one of those a couple of years ago, they leave every October and spend the winter in AZ, come home in April. He bought it so that he could take his motorcycle.
Here are some pix that I took. They really don't do it justice, but you get the idea. Gads, the SU was bending my ear at 4 this morning about what we'd need to get to outfit it...........linens, etc, etc, etc. (he didn't wake me, I couldn't sleep and was reading). This is from the man that is still saying "we don't know if we will get it yet". Ha, ha.............he's already made up his mind but the rest of him hasn't caught up yet. I think this is going to be MUCH more fun than milking cows.
It is GORGEOUS!!!!!! 
