Impulse Purchase?

I received an email from Swan Island Dahlias that they are having their clearance sale. So I decided I could have about $25 to splurge. If they take, planting five tubers should be doable. And if they burn up or something sad like that, I'm not out too much money. And since I'll need to lift them this winter anyway, I can plant them almost anywhere and enjoy them and move on. (Not to mention that my grandiose ideas of January were completely squashed by three months of feeling crummy. Perhaps its just as well. Moderation in all things, even dahlias.)

I had a funny milking experience. Yesterday evening, I was milking away and suddenly a calf nose poked through the cattle panel and went searching for a teat. I think Elle had managed to actually lick a front teat before I realized what was happening. I started to milk the front teats right away, and she sucked on my hand with her rough little mouth and made my milking go awry. For a while it went squirt, squirt, push nose away. Squirt, squirt, push. Then she tried to lick the milk out of the pail as I was milking. What a rascal! I think she pushed her head out a bit too far then, as she rather gave up, although she later needed no aid to extract her head.

I had a nasty milking experience. Belle was reclining this morning when I came to get her. Perhaps she needed to void in the night and didn't feel like standing up, or perhaps she was just extra unfortunate in her choice of resting places. In either case, it was the first time I've dealt with a manure-caked udder and teats. I tried not to think about it while cleaning her off, and just gave all the milk to Elle. I figured, if Elle was nursing, she would have gotten some of that manure anyway (ewww!).