Janet Brien's photos with the keyword: cows

(+7 insets!) (big is better for this pano! :) (Please scroll down to "Today's Pictures" to learn about the insets! :) Trip Talk: Cheese Snobs Who doesn't love cheese? I'm sure there are plenty out there but I've been a fan since I first tried it as a kid. As an adult, I've had my trials with it though, because most cheese is high in fat--for many years I was a fiend about keeping the fat in my diet at the lowest possible amount, so usually I'd pass on cheese. However, when Steve and I changed over to a ketogenic lifestyle, my whole outlook on fat changed. It took me a while to trust the concept that fat doesn't make you fat, but once I proved it to myself, suddenly foods like cheese and sausage were no longer evil and to be avoided at all costs! Hooray for CHEESE!! Steve and I have become huge fans of cheese and love trying out new types. Visiting Provence, France a couple of years back was like stepping into Cheese Heaven…Europe really has the market cornered in regards to specialty cheeses and we were just blown away by the incredible variety. We have lots of choices here in the US but it's maybe 10% of what you can find in Europe. Well-stocked specialty cheese shops here are really nice but still, they don't come close. Even though we've developed a pretty good understanding of what makes a good cheese, we are quite happy with non-gourmet cheese--honestly, the extremely minor difference isn't usually worth the high price in our book. Of course there are exceptions…just miles from our home is the Rogue Creamery, home to one of the best Blue Cheeses in the world! When we visit, we take home a wedge of their truly exceptional Rogue River Blue …it is in a class all by itself! Anyway, whenever we go to a creamery, we love to try the samples and load up all the cheeses that were wonderful. Of course this means we almost always get more cheese than we can possibly eat in the next six months but we can't resist! Alas, it was a huge disappointment when we entered Qualicum Cheesework's little shop and tried their few offerings. Bland, plain, boring, flavorless, unexceptional in all regards, there wasn't a single cheese that was even remotely special. Talk about feeling disappointed! After the fantastic farm tour and learning about their operation from A to Z, we couldn't wait to dump our coins on the counter and bring home piles of cheeses to remember this place by. They didn't even carry other company's cheeses--but perhaps it would embarrass them when all of the other cheeses sold out and none of theirs was touched? Steve and I were reminded of the must-miss, overpriced joke of a cheese "festival" we went to last year--organized by Rogue Creamery…they should be ashamed!!--that featured a paltry handful of creameries selling overpriced cheeses stuffed into a tiny tent with far too many people shoving and pushing for air space. Two of the perhaps ten cheeseries were just like Qualicum Cheeseworks and we couldn't understand why they were wasting their time on their horrible attempts at making cheese, especially when compared to the excellent--albeit overpriced--cheeseries right next to them. Truthfully, who am I to talk?--I've never made cheese!--but I have a developed palette and it's not hard to judge the quality of a cheese! We were also disappointed that Qualicum Cheeseworks didn't offer fresh cream for sale--we'd hoped to buy some for our lovely creamy espressos we have every day. However, their reasoning was fair--they don't pasteurize their cream and it would go bad too quickly to make it worthwhile to keep at their shop. *tears of sadness* They did, however, have a really cool offering! Fresh milk on tap where you can buy a bottle or bring your own and fill up at a reasonable price! Alas, we don't drink milk (not enough fat, lol!) so we could only watch people filling their bottles, but what a fun idea! If you take out their shop, Morningstar Farms was a total hit with us. It's the only time we've ever gotten the chance to tour a farm before and learn about the whole process. This was so much fun and one of the countless highlights of our trip! Today's Pictures My main picture today would have been perfect for Happy Fence Friday! Morningstar Farms had Holsteins as their majority in dairy cattle, though they had a few Jersey's too. It was wonderful to see them all, and what fine condition their stock was in. Happy, healthy, well-fed and with plenty of room to graze and relax. A total spa for moo-moos! :) The insets are quite the variety! The first one features a pair of cows, the left of which was mooing non-stop! Unfortunately the graininess of this image was really horrible and I nearly tossed the shot but I couldn't stop looking at this funny expressions on their faces! I decided it was worth the time so I played with filters until I was able to use the image…hopefully you guys find it to be fun and amusing too! :) (If only it was higher quality, I'd have made it my main image!) Insets 2 and 3 show a brand-new calf! We obviously arrived at the height of their calving season--THREE were born that day, two while we were there! What fun to see them all wet and wobbly, mom licking and nuzzling them towards the milk station! :) What a wonderful experience for us. We didn't actually see them being born but it was such a joy to see them minutes old and standing for the first time, shaking their heads and wagging their tails. Such dear babies. :) Inset 4--HOLY PSYCHEDELIC MADNESS, BATMAN!! :D LOL, ok, so they had a pair of pot-belly piggies in the petting area and of the two, only this one was illuminated well and standing. Unfortunately it was also a pale greyish-pink and covered in spiky, yellowy-anemic hair. There was absolutely no way to make that ugly pig look nice--and coming from a person who adores piggies, that's saying something. That being said, I couldn't leave this guy out of my lineup--it was time to break out the artistic filters! WHAT FUN! After going to town with layers and filtering, I must admit that I absolutely love this shot--from blah and ugly to fun and fantastic--just to be sure I wasn't crazy, I showed it to Steve, and I was glad to see that he loved it too! :) What do you think? Horrible or neato? :D The final three pictures show the darling Welsh ponies with a close-up of the chestnut's sleepy face. The final picture shows the interesting massive group of aqua/teal and white-wrapped, round hay bales that are stored next to the big cow barn. All of the ones up-front were just for the ponies and everything behind was for the cattle…and what you see wasn't the whole lot, which was pretty staggering in totality. Given that this area gets about 45 inches of snow during the winter months, it's understandable they have so much hay set aside! * * * Pam, it was fun to read about your experiences with farms as a youngster. There are few things as iconic or important in our history. I love that as we're getting older, more and more people are working to preserve aspects of our past farming history. Online resources abound to share past methods. Reenactment farms are located in many places for visiting and festivals revolving around how things once were are grand celebrations I'd love to visit if we're lucky enough some day! I have been rereading the Little House on the Prairie books and now, as a 55-yr old, it's been a great delight to be able to cross-reference on the internet to see and understand all of the aspects of farming and homesteading life back at the 1900's turn of the century. I hope life is treating you well these days, Pammy! :) Stay warm and cozy--it's a cold day here and I bet it is in OK too! *BIG HUGS* Explored on 3/2/20; highest placement #9.

(+8 insets!) (please view large!) Trip Talk: Visiting Morningstar Farm If you can believe it, on the same day that we went to Englishman River Falls and Little Qualicum Falls, we also visited the Qualicum Cheeseworks! It was actually our first stop because it was a mere 10 minutes' drive from our campsite so we began our day there (I have included a map inset that shows the three locations we visited that day so you can see how close all three destinations were). I was really excited about visiting this cheesery because it wasn't just a store to buy dairy products from. Instead, the shop was located on their busy farm which was also a totally accessible tour destination. Visitors are offered a self-guided tour map that included clear signage along the way and explanations of what happens on a dairy farm. Other than the complete cow-to-dairy process, there was also petting area to meet farm animals, antique equipment to look at and even a video area with seating to watch their farm presentation! How cool is that?! Steve and I were extremely impressed by the Qualicum Cheesework's operation. We are fascinated by how things work so getting a chance to look behind the scenes of a dairy farm was so much fun! Today's Pictures My main picture isn't really beautiful but it does show the main stars of Morningstar Farm! Every day the cows are fed in the main barn and nearby is a robotic milking system which cows line up to go into! They are treated to the most delicious food inside, individually blended for each cow and based on the data gathered by the special collars they wear! The process goes like this: a gate opens, a cow enters the milking machine area and the gates close behind her. A milking machine washes and disinfects her udder, attaches onto her teats, checks to make sure the milk is free of issues and then proceeds to milk her. When no more milk is detected from any teat, the machine then detaches and pulls away, the gate in front of the cow opens and out she walks! Meanwhile, the next cow is waiting for the gate to open so she can have her turn! This entire process takes less than 10 minutes per cow and results in content and happy cows which aren't over-milked and have current information on their health and well-being. I invite you to watch this video which shows what a robotic milking operation looks like--it's totally fascinating! Video: how automatic milking works (By the way, you'll also see an automatic rotary brush as an enticement for the cows and Morningstar Farm has one too! It's so funny to watch the cows turn this way and that to get the brush scrubbing exactly the right spot!) Insets include pictures of a day-old Holstein calf licking Steve's hand and another one which shows it relaxing in its softly bedded stall (there were three other babies for company!); there's a picture of workers using farm equipment with a grain silo in the background, an image of a darling goat and finally three pictures of lovely pair of Welsh ponies relaxing in the warm sunshine. Pam, I can't remember if you mentioned living on a dairy farm before. I think you grew up on a farm though, yes? You lucky stinker. I know it's a lot of hard work but it was always a dream of mine to live in such a place. It's no wonder the James Herriot books continue to be favorites to this day! I would love to stay at a farm for a week sometime to get the opportunity to experience this life. :) Hey, thanks for your lovely comments on my last presentation--you left me all a-glow! :D *BIG HUGS from southern Oregon* :D Explored on 2/29/20; highest placement #7.

(1 inset, read below for explanation!) December 20…just one more day to go before the shortest day of the year! I'm so happy because of course that means that finally the days will begin getting longer again! Hooray!! I simply can't wait before it starts to get light earlier again! This morning I saw some familiar red envelopes on the counter that needed to be mailed so I grabbed them as I walked out the door for my daily exercise. Netflix. We love these guys. In fact, we've been loyal customers since 2001! In fact, the moment I found out about this new movie and tv service, I was on them like white on rice! Why the fervor? One word: commercials. I hate them. Wait, that's not quite right. I LOATHE commercials. But actually, that wasn't the straw that broke the camel's back. It was the ticker tapes and the pop-ups that began covering the screen during a show. All of this garbage made me so crazy that I stopped watching television entirely, in about 1998. I just couldn't stand it anymore. And you know what? I didn't miss a thing. And I was also much happier. Then I found out there was a new service that actually mailed dvds to you and included free return mailers. What?! Who?! Where?! I couldn't sign up fast enough! No more schlepping out to a video store and dealing with returns the next day? No more wasted time picking out a title? No more disappointment because the movie I wanted was rented? I was instantly in love with Netflix and remain blissfully happy all these years! I walked the envelopes down to our mail box and popped the red flag up to alert the postman that we have mail to pick up. Isn't that the coolest thing?! I just love the fact that I don't have to find a public mail box when I need to send something out! Having spent most of my life in San Francisco or a nearby city, I have always relied on public mail boxes. I know you can clip your mail to your mail slot and it will be picked up but I never liked the idea of a stranger noticing and possibly taking your mail. Of course it's possible that our outgoing mail could be stolen from this rural mailbox but the likelihood is very small. I turned to walk back through our gate when I stopped in my tracks and turned around. On the post that holds our mail box was a zip tie used to hold a sign in place. Somehow an Oak leaf had jammed itself onto the zip tie and was now stuck firmly against the post and the sign. I stared. I goggled. How does that even HAPPEN?! I returned a little while later and took a picture because you guys just have to see this!! (see the inset!) It's Thursday for me but Friday in Europe so I'm posting my HFF picture now! This one is from the five-day motorcycle trip that Steve and I went on a couple of years ago with our friend Andy. On Day 4 we rode up the eastern side of California with the spine of the Sierras to our left. We traveled from a town near eastern Yosemite called Bridgeport all the way up to a small town called Alturas. Along the way were mind-bendingly huge ranches littered with cattle. I took this picture while we rode along on this incredibly beautiful day! (The Sierras can be seen rising up in the distance.) Pam, I hope that you've been doing a little better lately! I have seen more of your comments on people's pictures and everyone is so happy for your visit! Here's a wish for a holiday gift from all of us, a healing present that will push you gently towards a happy, healthy you! Thinking of you every day! *HUGGGGGGGS*! Explored on 12/21/18, highest placement, #1.