When the Cows Come Home

                       

So, we've been back from our stay on the ranch a few days now - clean and rested!  This was my (Bobbie) first time out at a ranch so the whole experience was very informative and, overall, a great experience.  It was like being on a farm you would of seen in the 1800s.  No running water, no electricity, no mass production of products. The ranch is owned and run by an elderly couple that, despite their ailments, does just about everything.  It was amazing watching them work!

The old lady wobbled around on her cane, very bow legged, obvious arthritis in both hands and hips, yet never complaining, working hard: milking cows, taking care of young sheep that needed medicine, making meals, helping her husband with the animals.  One day she did mention a headache and was going to call a neighbor to help me milk the cows (I'll discuss that process in a minute).  So, me being a nurse I, of course, had loads of medicine, and I gave her something for her headache.  A few hours later her husband came to our yurt asking for the brand so they could buy some (it was Excedrin, which isn't sold here).  

She thought it was the best thing ever.  It really struck me how much we take for granted.  Simple medicine we have access to that and not even think twice about, she appreciated.  That is just one example of some culture differences I noticed out there.  I've always known the people here were NOT time oriented but now I know why.  I was so time disoriented out there I kept asking Jesse "What time is it?" every few hours.  Since most people here live without clocks and watches here, they naturally will not take time into consideration like an American would.  And, because of this non time oriented lifestyle, things are a lot more relaxed and slow (something that I had to get use to out there).  So, you ask, what did we do all day?  

             

Well, I would get up in the mornings and make breakfast.  Then, we would go and help clean out the sheep pens.  Then, kind of walk around doing nothing most of the day.  In the evenings, after supper, they would bring the cows home.  Their farm has about 10 calves and 20 cows, and they would separate the cows they wanted to milk and let two calves at a time out of their pen to suckle a few minutes.  One of us would stand there to make sure the calf would suckle from each nipple, which brings the milk down making the cow easier to milk.  We would then drag the calf over to the fence and tie them up.  

 

Once the mama cow stopped walking we would pull up our chairs, hold the buckets between our legs and start milking.  Since this was my first time ever to do this I only got half a bucket the first time.  By the last day I was getting 1 1/2 buckets, which I was pleased with.  Of course, the grandma was getting 2 buckets in half the time I was getting my 1 bucket.  It was really amazing to watch her work.  You could tell she's done this all her life.  

         

 Once we got the four cows milked, we would haul the buckets to her cabin and prepare the milk to get turned into butter.  Now, let me stop here and say that I LOVE milk.  I mean, I could drink a gallon a day easily.  And butter?  Don't get me started on how much I love butter.  I used to eat the stuff straight as a kid (and could probably do it now).  That said, I couldn't stomach the milk products we were getting.  What ever the cows feed on here (which is like thorny grass stuff) makes not only the milk products but also the meat pretty untasty.  

                   

                   

Anyway, back to our work.  We would heat the  milk in a big metal bowl on her gas stove.  As this was heating she would assemble a contraption (a hand-cranked butter churn) to pour the milk in and make butter.  One of us would then start to crank the machine as the other would pour the heated milk into the machine.  After a few minutes, it would start pouring out the butter through one of the arms and the leftovers would come out of the other arm.  And, voila, you have butter (the stuff coming out the left arm of the churn below).  

                      

It was great to spend time with her because she loved to just talk and let me listen.  Great language and culture study.  

Thanks for checking in with the Wandering Family!  More on what's happening coming up in a week or so.