Milk.

I have always loved cows. Like, I want a cow for a pet, not to eat or sell or anything, but I want it to be my pet forever. I know with the husband I have, this dream might never come true..(he is a farm boy, and extreme meat enthusiast)  I simply just adore these sweet beings. I love them at the fair in the barns, I slow my car down and say hi to them when I am driving out to my parents house...That being said, I have taken them for granted.  I have eaten their products, gulped down latte after latte..not thinking about the being that gives us the milk that makes up 99% of coffee lover's morning start. I don't think about where they are living, who is caring for them, farming them, and producing their by products. Until a couple of months ago I was able to just buy my jug of milk, lattes, steaks, burgers, etc. with little to no thought. Yes I knew grass fed was better for ME, organic was better for ME- but what about them?

One fateful night we decided that Food, INC was the movie of choice. I am a freak for documentaries..I love them.  This one however was different. I have never watched one where I was made starkly aware that every choice I make pertaining to my food, clothing, habits, etc..truly affects someone or something else either positively or adversely. You think it is just a jug of milk..nice fresh lovely milk you are giving your kiddos. And maybe it is..but in our conventional American dairies, and feedlots, these animals are suffering. And truly, our health is too, right along with them. No, most of the time we get off easy, we have no ill effects immediately.  But the rude truth is that it is not going to get better unless we demand better quality, and better treatment of these animals that truly we need to survive.

Ok enough soapbox for now, I am not here to rant. Well not really rant...I just loved this place and want to tell all of you about it..

One dismal Wednesday afternoon, My friend Dawn and I decided to scout out any and every "organic" or free range farm within driving distance and we were so thrilled to discover that yes, here in Central Washington we do have an alternative. There is a wonderful farm really close by, called "Pride and Joy Farm" that is under  the larger corporation Organic Valley. We made the trek down to see what it was all about...is this place really as amazing as their website said? Are the cows truly happy, and unstressed? Grazing all day to their hearts content? Well let me tell you. Yes they are. You see the bales of hay just ready for them, and the expansive green pastures spread out in every direction, dotted with hundreds of blissful meandering beasts, allowed to stroll leisurely (not pushed or jerked) out of the milking barn at their own pace. Back out to the emerald green pastures to graze.

We each purchased our Gallon of milk.. (we couldn't buy meats that day because the guy in the barn didn't have the key to the freezer- it was Veterans day) Yes it is unpasteurized, raw milk. Don't be scared... you only have to worry about milk being pasteurized when e-coli is even a FACTOR which it is not when milk is produced in this method. These cows are not grain or corn fed, they are raised the way cows are meant to be raised. And it is $9 a gallon. You say yikes- I say ok, well so we aren't going to guzzle down milk, and have a bunch of half drunk cups of milk.

So I gave my kids what they needed for cereal, and a little to drink- it lasted 5 days. A normal gallon in our house survives only about 1.5 days.  Humans do not need LOADS of cows milk. But it was absolutely wonderful, creamy, full of enzymes and probiotics, the things that pasteurization kills. Apparently this company is now on the Yakima food Co-op list..I encourage you to visit the site- I will link it. I am also posting some fun pics of our trip there. So much fun and such a responsible, healthy business. Support these when you can...they are amazing, and worth saving. Stay tuned for my next pictorial on Chickens.. (chicken coops are one of my deep seeded obsessions... so prepare yourselves )

Links are below!!

                                               Yakima Food Cooperative

Pride and Joy Dairy

 

 

These guys had a blast..

life dust...it must have a purpose

  The pictures below are not meant to be beautiful or even interesting

scroll down for the detailed explanation. Think pieces, and glimpses, and life ticking away. 

These are my phone pictures from the past couple years. 

I love trying to remember why the heck I took each one.

I am not sure what I was aiming for, my awesome sweats, or my feet-

 I am sure I saw something fascinating  on the ground? Dirt? Grass?

The ghostly white foot again or the dog being  doglike to the other dog...Sheesh. Fascinating.

                                        

Ghostly images at the Gorge-this was pretty cool. Shadows. Sunset. Can't

                          go wrong.

                                

      A typical out the windshield pic by me. It was like the blanket of nasty

                             had an abrupt end in the distance. I liked that thought I guess..safe driving? Probably

                             not.

                           

   Feet again. Half boat, half ocean. My first ferry ride by myself.

Famous windshield pic again. Amazing clouds enhanced by a

                        thrilling in phone editing app. Yee haw!

                       

Its all about the pen. and light. who knows.

                                                   

Precious pink and white cadillac- and my lame shadow- not what Iwas hoping. But contrast and shadow. Important.

                                   

My original sketch for BJ's and My sculpture..which I drew in the car, and  sent him this for a visual of my mental plan.

                                 

Feet, Kankles, and mint. Mojito's anyone? My garden pics that  no one cares about but me. Joy!

                                

Sad little pink oasis of advertisement for a green salad in the midst of a blinding white blizzard.

 

Dagdagan fireworks craziness. July 4. I thought they looked like falling stars.

                            

Love this pre bloom state. Just waiting for the next morning and you know   they are just waiting for that moment, the one I always miss.

                            

Scrumptious Mike Hiler mug that was shamefully at the Goodwill! I, rescuer of all discarded treasures, snatched it up in horror and took it home for a MERE 99 cents. Disgusting! Mike- at least you know it has a DECENT home now where no
         one would even think of sending this to a thrift store. Good grief.

Sweeping up the dust.

 I have been really pondering lately the purpose of certain events and transpirings in my recent history..oh my am I thankful for most, but others I have yet to determine my thoughts on. Such as, "why would I" "how could they," and "I wish I never..." These things I guess I will never really know I guess, they are the unknown, the grey area of life.
Anyway, for business purposes, mostly, I seem to always be documenting visually things that make impact on me.  Whether it is someone I am commissioned to photograph, or something that just randomly causes my attention deficit mind to linger on long enough to think, "oh! I need to remember this!" I credit the wonders of the iphone for most of the things I have been able to catch in this way. Without that little device, I may have missed my beautiful birthday cupcakes, or the wheelbarrow by Mel's house that someone was growing onions in, or my children's first day of school escort, Ironman!(aka their little brother)..(well I would have gotten the beast out to take a picture of that, I have to think..) But now I can keep a running log of things that make my eyes happy.  I synced my phone to my computer this morning and rolled back through the seemingly countless images that are consuming most of my phone's now well outdated 3g memory space.  I noticed that I have a strangely large amount of photos of my feet, laced throughout crazy blurred out the car window cloud patterns..and every living organism sprouting in my yard for the last 3 springs.  The images have covered most of the last 3 years.  How amazing to see what has affected me in that time, and to think back I realize there was a lot going on outside the frame of these frozen seconds.  We had a hospital stay, surgeries, my Grandparents passing, amazing new friends come into our lives to stay, and others go away in haste, philosophy shifts, financial stress, successes, failures.  But throughout all this, there are the lasting images, the ability to look back and see what are the things that make us stop and want to remember, and largely, through photos or even paintings, whether you are a professional or amateur or just out grabbing the here and there photos with your phone, you are remembering what was important..aside from all of lifes ridiculous curveballs. I think you are inadvertently proving to yourself that you KNOW and want to REMEMBER what is important and that is the little things, and on my phone they are children, our truest friends, flowers you see on walks, something crazy you've never seen, expression, and even just light streaks. My favorites, though, are when my kids steal my phone and take pictures of just anything and everything, truly, they find everything cool- even the fact that mom has some phone they can run around taking pictures of whatever they want, and I find them later...what I wont post is the ones they catch of me when I have no idea. Looking dazed, confused, and usually on the phone. Ha.