Cows!

As I write this, Freckles, our only named cow, is staring into the window of my studio. I believe I have thwarted her desire to come into the space between our studios and leave many non-verbal negative messages which we'd have to shovel out tomorrow. I have parked my Honda sedan and the farm truck across the entrance and have put six saw horses in the spaces inbetween. Freckles is always the leader of the herd. Her calf, almost full grown and ready to go to auction next month, has the same rotten personality as his mother. I think they are out to get me. A friend is coming next week to fence the area.
When we bought this place twenty years ago, the herd of cows came with the deal. They were owned by someone else who pastured them and kept up the grass and fences in exchange for us letting the cows be here. Also, we could claim an agricultural exemption for taxes. A good deal for everyone. But now, the farmer who owns the cows had a stroke and can't manage any more. So, now in the fall we will buy the cows from him. Aargh! What will we do with a herd of cows (some with rotten personalities)? I am thinking that it would be interesting to make this herd a premier grass fed, no hormones, no antibiotics crop. Now I need to see if there is a slaughterhouse in the vicinity, a market for high end grass fed beef, how do we market it, how do I fertilize the pastures? I need to know about grasses, cow vitamins, cow obstretrics. I could just let the herd do as it has always done, that is just 'large around' in the words of my grandson Pablo.
Thank god for our neighbor and ranch manager, Warren. He's got some ideas and a lot of energy. Together we'll figure it out.
Not enough time in the day. Tonight I am finishing a fabric wall hanging and preparing for my volunteer day tomorrow at Lacoochee Elementary School. The theme for Pasco this week is 'teeth' so I have assembled a number of mammal skulls with teeth so the kids can look at them. I will also take cheese and veggies (good for the teeth) for a healthful snack, and one of my favorite stories- "The Big Cheese", a true story about the humongous cheddar cheese that was presented to the White House. And then we'll make chalk on wet paper drawings of TEETH.