The beautiful weather just keeps on coming here at Howmars Farm, and the animals are enjoying the sunshine and dry conditions. We did have a rainy morning last Friday, but by the afternoon the sun was back and the next day all the rain had been sucked up like a sponge by the parched earth. The pastures are feeling the effects of the lack of rainfall, with little or no regrowth happening. We had to break out the round bale rings and start feeding hay to both the milk cows and the heifers. It's good that the hay crops have been so good this summer. 

I was doing the afternoon milking when someone popped their head into the milking parlor. It was Boris, a milk customer whose family lives in Montreal and summers at Lake Carmi here in Franklin. I was surprised to see him at the farm since camp season is long over, but he had an even bigger surprise with him. His father, Alex, was with him. Alex was visiting from Moscow for three weeks. As I milked the cows, Boris and Alex inspected the operation and took some pictures. They had gone back into the milkhouse to fill their milk container when I remembered I had my camera in the milkhouse window. I finished the cows I had the machines on, and hustled out to see if Boris and Alex were still here. They were just rinsing the valve on the tank, so I asked if I could have a picture of them for my blog. No problem, they said. Then Alex wanted a picture with me, and Boris took several.

I know it was a small thing, but having these two men stop at the farm really brightened my day. They were so appreciative, so happy to be at our farm, so tickled to have pictures of the farm it made me feel good. They were from a place on the other side of the world that I only know from the tv and newspapers, but they were just like you and me. On my little farm, two men from Russia stopping to get a gallon of raw organic milk. Who'd a thunk it. Pretty neat, huh?