Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Pansy

Our cow Jenny was getting too old to keep our family in milk so Daddy visited some of the area dairies to see if someone would have a friendly little Jersey they would be willing to sell. When he came home he was happy to have found someone who said they had just the cow for us. Gentle, sweet disposition and a great milker who would be sure to provide all the milk we could possibly have use for. He had paid for her and they would deliver her free of charge sometime the following day.

The next forenoon John, David and I were playing outside when we saw the man come with the cow and unloading her in our pasture. We ran inside to tell Mom about it. She came outside as the man went on his way. We joined Mom to go to the pasture to have a look at our new cow. When we got close to her we saw why they wanted to sell her. Not only did she look older and more worn out than Jenny but her udder was practically dragging on the ground.

Daddy had gone to a lumber kiln to get more lumber for our woodworking shop and we knew he would be disappointed once he saw the cow the farmer had tried to give us. Once he came home and we told him about it we all went back outside to have another look at the cow. As we expected Daddy wasn't happy. There wasn't much we could do about it though and the cow obviously needed to be milked. He asked us to bring the milk pail and a cake pan. I ran to the house to get what he needed wondering what he would use a cake pan for.

After giving it to Daddy, he slid the cake pan under her udder and started milking. It was a slow process of sliding the cake pan in and milking a little bit until the pan was full then emptying it into the milk pail. After chores were done Daddy went to the pay phone at the corner store in the village and called a cattle dealer and told him we have a cow to sell and that we want a good one to replace her.

Several days later the dealer came and unloaded a pretty little fawn colored Jersey and took the old cow the farmer had sold us. We all admired her as she lay under our apple tree and chewed her cud. once chore time arrived we once again followed Daddy to the barn. This time there was nothing wrong and it didn't take long for the pail to be filled with frothy milk. As we were finishing up the chores we discussed what we would call our new cow. We didn't want to call her Jenny like the family cow before her, as we turned her back out to pasture Mom stood there watching her graze and turned to Daddy and asked. "How about Pansy?"

"Pansy sounds fine to me." was his reply. I said the name to myself a few times and decided I really liked it. A pretty little cow like that was perfect to be named after Mom's favorite flower.

21 comments:

  1. Sometimes I think I know how the old cow feels. ha ha When my kiddos were little, it would've been so handy to have a cow around! Your poor dad was taken with that other cow wasn't he? I'm glad you all got Pansy and it sounds like she turned out to be just what was needed (and she had a cute name) ~ ♥

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  2. Pansy sounded just like the thing you guys needed - and what a sweet name - after your mom's favorite flower . . .sandie

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  3. I love my little bitty Jersey cow.

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  4. What a wonderful memory to share, I loved it thanks!! I sure hope the poor cow with the droopy udders got a good home :o)

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  5. Aloha, Mahalo for taking me back on the farm for a moment. I love your Dad having so much patience,the sign of o good Farmer, I'm missing the country lifestyle, mmmmmm, good sweet memories...
    sending Aloha wishes from across the sea

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  6. Oh what a story! Sounds like such a beautiful place to live. Daddy seems to always know what to do. Daddy's are like that :)

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  7. We used to have a Jersey cow to supply us with milk. Mom would make cottage cheese, and we'd make butter with he rich cream. Used the buttermilk for baking. The whey was fed to the dozen chickens, which produced eggs, which hatched into peeps. And the cycle started all over again year after year.

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  8. Your stories are wonderful. I so enjoy reading them.

    Wishing you a blessed day!

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  9. I love your memories. They make me yearn for a simpler life. I've only been reading your blog for a few weeks and truly cannot get enough. I read back to what you used to do with the milk. I vaguely remember my grandma making butter and loved the taste of "fresh" milk the few times I drank it.

    Thanks for the memories. They are truly wonderful.

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  10. I enjoy your memories. The simple life! My mom always thought she had to have a cow after she retired. That is one of my daughters best memories, helping her make butter. She had a crock churn with the wooden dash. Memories...

    until next time... nel

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  11. Our "growing up animal stories" are just the best memories aren't they?

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  12. What a sweet post...! I grew up in a logging town, so reading about your farm stories is just wonderful to me. And what a great name -- "Pansy".

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  13. How much I do love this part of your childhood's memories! Having had a cow (Holstein) when I was young (50 years ago), I remember thanks to you my feelings when I visited her during the milking to the stable and the little conversations I could have with her :)! Her name was "Marguerite" (the french name for the daisy flower) It's a bit strange that we often name our cows with flowers species, isn't it? Thank you for sharing your childhood with us! It's always a pleasure to me to visit your blog!

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  14. Jerseys and Guernseys have the prettiest faces. Pansy seems like a perfect name.

    I always feel sad for the old cows. Not much joy for them after a lifetime of hard work.
    Marnie

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  15. My family lived out in the country for a few years when I was a kid. We had just about every kind of animal except for a cow. We always bought jars of whole milk from our neighbor. My dad would skim the cream off the top and make butter.

    I always wished for a cow!

    Great post! :)

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  16. Shame on the farmer who brought you the worn out cow. But how clever of your father to use the cake pan to milk her.
    I never had a milk cow but our neighbors did and they supplied us nicely when she came fresh. I also had a butter churn and my children all loved taking turns cranking the handle. I will post a picture of it soon.
    I left a comment on your previous post about your plant.
    Blessings

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  17. Hello and thank you for stopping by to take a peek and leave a comment on my blog. I just read your entry about Pansy. It was like reading a book. How enchanting. I will be sure to stop by and visit you more often. Have a wonderful day :)
    Kelli

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  18. That's just a very sweet story I can almost see the pasture and small children looking on at the cow. You're a very eloquent writter!

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  19. Pansy is a great name for the family cow. Back in the day all farms had their cow to supply the family in milk. It was my job growin' up to keep her fed. Oh, heavens to Betsy!!!

    Ya'll have a terrifically blessed day!!!

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  20. Pansy was my great-grandmother's name, so I've always thought it was lovely. What a sweet story!

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Thank you so much for taking time to comment. I love hearing your thoughts.