{"items":["5f681ccd2d299400173c0e3a","5fce446f04c71b0018b07919","5f60360c039fa100178e4dbb"],"styles":{"galleryType":"Columns","groupSize":1,"showArrows":true,"cubeImages":true,"cubeType":"max","cubeRatio":1.7777777777777777,"isVertical":true,"gallerySize":30,"collageAmount":0,"collageDensity":0,"groupTypes":"1","oneRow":false,"imageMargin":25,"galleryMargin":0,"scatter":0,"rotatingScatter":"","chooseBestGroup":true,"smartCrop":false,"hasThumbnails":false,"enableScroll":true,"isGrid":true,"isSlider":false,"isColumns":false,"isSlideshow":false,"cropOnlyFill":false,"fixedColumns":0,"enableInfiniteScroll":true,"isRTL":false,"minItemSize":50,"rotatingGroupTypes":"","rotatingCropRatios":"","columnWidths":"","gallerySliderImageRatio":1.7777777777777777,"numberOfImagesPerRow":3,"numberOfImagesPerCol":1,"groupsPerStrip":0,"borderRadius":0,"boxShadow":0,"gridStyle":0,"mobilePanorama":false,"placeGroupsLtr":true,"viewMode":"preview","thumbnailSpacings":4,"galleryThumbnailsAlignment":"bottom","isMasonry":false,"isAutoSlideshow":false,"slideshowLoop":false,"autoSlideshowInterval":4,"bottomInfoHeight":0,"titlePlacement":["SHOW_ON_THE_RIGHT","SHOW_BELOW"],"galleryTextAlign":"center","scrollSnap":false,"itemClick":"nothing","fullscreen":true,"videoPlay":"hover","scrollAnimation":"NO_EFFECT","slideAnimation":"SCROLL","scrollDirection":0,"scrollDuration":400,"overlayAnimation":"FADE_IN","arrowsPosition":0,"arrowsSize":23,"watermarkOpacity":40,"watermarkSize":40,"useWatermark":true,"watermarkDock":{"top":"auto","left":"auto","right":0,"bottom":0,"transform":"translate3d(0,0,0)"},"loadMoreAmount":"all","defaultShowInfoExpand":1,"allowLinkExpand":true,"expandInfoPosition":0,"allowFullscreenExpand":true,"fullscreenLoop":false,"galleryAlignExpand":"left","addToCartBorderWidth":1,"addToCartButtonText":"","slideshowInfoSize":200,"playButtonForAutoSlideShow":false,"allowSlideshowCounter":false,"hoveringBehaviour":"NEVER_SHOW","thumbnailSize":120,"magicLayoutSeed":1,"imageHoverAnimation":"NO_EFFECT","imagePlacementAnimation":"NO_EFFECT","calculateTextBoxWidthMode":"PERCENT","textBoxHeight":60,"textBoxWidth":200,"textBoxWidthPercent":75,"textImageSpace":10,"textBoxBorderRadius":0,"textBoxBorderWidth":0,"loadMoreButtonText":"","loadMoreButtonBorderWidth":1,"loadMoreButtonBorderRadius":0,"imageInfoType":"ATTACHED_BACKGROUND","itemBorderWidth":0,"itemBorderRadius":0,"itemEnableShadow":false,"itemShadowBlur":20,"itemShadowDirection":135,"itemShadowSize":10,"imageLoadingMode":"BLUR","expandAnimation":"NO_EFFECT","imageQuality":90,"usmToggle":false,"usm_a":0,"usm_r":0,"usm_t":0,"videoSound":false,"videoSpeed":"1","videoLoop":true,"jsonStyleParams":"","gallerySizeType":"px","gallerySizePx":1000,"allowTitle":true,"allowContextMenu":true,"textsHorizontalPadding":-30,"itemBorderColor":{"themeName":"color_12","value":"rgba(230,230,230,0)"},"showVideoPlayButton":true,"galleryLayout":2,"calculateTextBoxHeightMode":"MANUAL","targetItemSize":1000,"selectedLayout":"2|bottom|1|max|true|0|true","layoutsVersion":2,"selectedLayoutV2":2,"isSlideshowFont":true,"externalInfoHeight":60,"externalInfoWidth":0.75},"container":{"width":300,"galleryWidth":325,"galleryHeight":0,"scrollBase":0,"height":null}}
Cookie is Coming
Here’s our BIG NEWS: we’re getting a cow! Her name is Cookie. I can hardly think or talk of anything else. I am deeply in love with Cookie, even though she has yet to arrive at the farm, and I have only spent a few minutes actually touching her. I am sure the fantasy will collide with the reality, but for now I spend some time every day preparing joyfully for her arrival.
“I built you a whole empire for miniature goats, and now you want a cow?” says Daniel.
“Oh don’t worry, I still will use the goat pens and will keep the goats,” I reassure him. He is not convinced spending another two hours a day milking is a good idea.
“I’m not a fan of change,” he says. Cattle have ruined many wild places in his beloved Montana, so he’s understandably unsure about bringing such a large and poopy mammal onto Hawthorn Farm. I’m not deterred, just inspired to make this the best permaculture home dairy cow set-up I can imagine.
All my childless-38-year-old maternal energy is getting funneled into 1,200 pounds of placid cow. When I tell this to Daniel he says, “Well, you should just have a child.”
“But I can’t have a child by November 1, and I can get a cow by then!” I reply.
Here is a picture of Cookie at 7 days old. She is now 2 years old, but come on! This is irresistible!

“Will you treat me as nicely as you treat your cow?” Daniel says in a mock-plaintive voice, and I laugh until I gasp for breath because it hits at the truth. Yesterday I consciously set aside my new cow books until I had cleaned up the kitchen and contributed to the household’s well-being, even making a big apple crisp (Daniel’s favorite dessert). I do love novelty, but I can’t let that blind me to the importance of maintaining long-term relationships.
“Just think, soon you will have food-challenge cream to pour on your apple crisp,” I say as I kiss the top of Daniel’s head. We’ll see.