first refashion

Here it is, my first refashion. well, one that i wore in public anyway. The theme of James and Lindsay's Stag n' Doe was Overalls & rubber boots - on June 10th. The rules were clear You must wear one or the other to avoid paying the fine. To our surprise 90% of the party go-er's were in overalls of some description. due to the heat, there was no way i was wearing them as is, so i made a little refashion out of a pair that had a huge rip down the front leg. I got a lot of comments on my pair. Here's what i did.

Cut off the legs
Ripped out the crotch
folded crotch pieces over so they were flat - sewed
sewed the side pockets closed (overalls have side pockets so you can access your pants pockets underneath)
added some bling to the bottom with lace
sewed some pleats in the mid back section to take in the waist and excess around the tush

today was an incredible summer day - perfect for clothesline shots.

swath grazing alfalfa with dairy cows

This week we tried a couple of new things with our grazing system. We cut a paddock of Reid canary grass and a section of alfalfa with the discbine. Most of the alfalfa got baled up for winter storage but we let the cows graze the rest of the swaths on the ground last night as an experiment. They went out after milking hungry because they ran out of TMR in the barn which probably was a good thing...it encouraged them to eat it. Our neighbours called us concerned that the cows were out in the wrong area - because, from the road it looked like they were in the area of 'just baled'

We are happy with how it worked out. They ate more than i was expecting and they weren't waiting at the gate in the morning to get back to the barn. That to me means contentment. We found that traditional grazing of ripe alfalfa is not a desired meal to our beloved Holsteins. They pick away at the tops and leave a lot behind, tramping more than they eat. Bloat is also a cause for concern when it comes to grazing too much alfalfa especially if it is damp. By cutting it, letting it wilt and dry down the consumption was pretty good. I'm not going to say they cleaned it all up, but perhaps the area was just too large. Of the cut alfalfa in the photo above we fenced off about 2/3 of what you can see, it was maybe 5 acres. The dry cows are in it now, cleaning off some more...we may in the end have to rake some up.

The reid canary grass on the other hand did not work out as well. The dry cows were fenced in on a very tight couple of swaths to encourage eating... by the end they were desperate to get out of it. It would seem they would starve before eating it and it is dry like hay at this point. We may try baling it and feeding it to calves or heifers.

Now on to the calves. We only have one paddock for them this summer becasue we are short of grass all around. this will mean feeding them hay throughout the summer and that is fine. Flies are my concern with them being in this one area the entire time. Overall they adjusted well to the new set up. 12 are on milk now and seemingly enjoying the freedom. I love that i get to do this everyday.

More on the transition

To date we have built another 55 acres of pasture to accommodate our herd of 100 milking cows. This gives us 1 acre per cow...roughly. Our aim is to be able to offer 1.25 acres per cow next year.


I love the way you can see them zig zag along the lane home...

To make grazing a lifestyle choice for our herd we are starting from the ground up - calves are no longer living in huts...they are on grass too.This is called the Milk Bar...as many as 6 calves can drink from it at once... I have 2 more on the way. It took more time to get them onto the electric fence than this feeder. The Jersey a little quicker than the Holsteins i might add. I love my Job!

The most terrible and beautiful and interesting things happen in a life. For some of you, those things have already happened. Whatever happens to you belongs to you. Make it yours. Feed it to yourself even if it feels impossible to swallow. Let it nurture you, because it will

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we are all savages inside

...There isn’t a thing to eat down there in the rabbit hole of your bitterness except your own desperate heart. If you let it, your jealousy will devour you....

...from this