Celebration of Cows

Yesterday started out rainy, but it turned into the perfect afternoon for a cow puja. By midmorning the cows had dried off enough to be painted.

Bethany and I painted while Brendan distracted the cows with treats and Rog documented with the camera.

Being smooth white, Lindy was the best canvas - and was the most obliging.

He even let us daub his tail.

Jitterbug was her usual jittery self when faced with weird situations. We managed to  splotch a bindi on her forehead- the most important part - and  splatter a few unartistic streaks on her.

Bethany and Brendan had made  beautiful ginger cow cookies for the event.

We  accepted donations for the cookies to support Heifer International.  We raised just over $100 for this cause - thanks, friends!

We had no idea how many people to expect, but we opened up the pasture for parking, just in case.

It was a fabulous turnout!  (Unfortunately, I have no photos of the band playing or a photo from the  bovine blessing that our friend Dave Kraemer did.)

After the music and ceremony under the tent, we took a large platter of fruits, chard leaves, edible flowers, cow cookies and grain over to the cows.  I expected we would stay on the people side of the fence, but all the children spontaneously burst through and began treating the cows.  Happily, we have very mellow cows, especially LaFonda, who reveled in the attention and treats.

Lariat accepts a chard leaf.

LaFonda was the only beast willing to wear a flower garland, but she wore it with style.

I was  nervous about somebody getting hurt on LaFonda's horns if she lifted her head, but luckily she was totally focused on the treats on the ground.

In the middle of the mob is Brendan, trying to keep everyone safe. Our only casualty was a foot stepped on by a cow.

LindyHop inherited his mother's calm nature.
This photo makes me melt.

This little girl wasn't sure she liked cows until she found out that's where ice cream comes from. Then she broke into a grin.

Geoffrey and Martha helped Brendan and Bethany cut out the cow cookies the Saturday night and returned for the puja. They worked as interns at Heartbeet Farm this summer and will be leaving in a couple weeks to start their own farm in Wisconsin.

Winona showed off her beautiful chicken tattoo, a silver lace wyandotte, I think.

I had cleaned up the farm store and rearranged everything to highlight Enid's quilt and all the cow artworks.

The LaFonda quilt was quite a sensation.

Bethany's parents even drove down from the Twin Cities for the puja!  Afterwards, Bethany and Brendan showed them how to make wood-fired pizza from the clay oven, so they finally got to taste some Squash Blossom pizza.

It was a wonderful celebration, Thank you to all of our friends, old and new, who helped make it such a success!

P.S. KSMQ Public television showed up and did some filming for their Farm Connections show! When it airs and is posted on YouTube I will post  a link.