Well, they are gone. Some went really well, some brought what we thought they would and there were a few disappointments. One big white cow had apparently been injured and went low to a young Amishman who had looked at her in the barn. Stan told him he got a deal. We are generally happy with the end result, which was close to what Stan had had in mind.

He stood up and thank everyone for coming and buying the cows at the end of our lot and we were applauded. Then he said, it wasn't retirement, he'd kept the heifers, and I said, but he wasn't going to milk them! We got a big laugh as we were leaving.

What's next? hmmm, we'll just have to see!

At least you won't have to milk for a year or so

Kathleen, I'm glad you are pleased with the sale. I hope Stan doesn't miss milking in the wee hours too much. He'll probably wake up at the same time, maybe for the rest of his life. And look, now it's going to be daylight saving time in another week or so, so another adjustment for our sleep/awake cycle. Spring isn't the bad one for me, but the fall change back to standard time really gets to me.

Anna, I'm sorry about Pip. How old is he?

Kathleen said:Well, they are gone. Some went really well, some brought what we thought they would and there were a few disappointments. One big white cow had apparently been injured and went low to a young Amishman who had looked at her in the barn. Stan told him he got a deal. We are generally happy with the end result, which was close to what Stan had had in mind.

He stood up and thank everyone for coming and buying the cows at the end of our lot and we were applauded. Then he said, it wasn't retirement, he'd kept the heifers, and I said, but he wasn't going to milk them! We got a big laugh as we were leaving.

What's next? hmmm, we'll just have to see!

A big adjustment for sure. Glad it went well.

Mary, I think he was about 15 or thereabouts. He was a shelter rescue, so we don't know his age when we adopted him.

That's pretty old. It's so good that you do shelter rescues. A report on the news from Portland last night said that the Multnomah County animal shelter, working with others in Oregon, had placed about 90-95% of the animals they took in. They do far better than most I think. Some counties, like ours, don't have a shelter. One of the vet clinics in town contracts with the county to keep strays and unwanteds for a few days and then they go to a neighboring county. The town has a leash law, and if a dog is wandering the police take it there and the owner has to bail it out.

There's a March thread here: The thread "March, dare we hope for warmer weather?" in Farming forum