Milkshake (the small calico cat in the bottom right of the photo) LOVES milk! She loves it so much that when she was just a tiny kitten, she would climb up the leg of my overalls when I would milk, and sit on my knee, hoping for a taste of the yummy milk. It was quite cute.

As she's gotten older, though, she's gotten much more pushy about getting her morning milk. She jumps up on the milk stand, trying to get a taste as the milk streams from teat to pail. The goats are not exactly thrilled about having a kitty hanging around their feet during this whole process.

So, Milkshake now spends milking time in the pet carrier that is right at the foot of the milking stand for this very purpose.

As soon as milking is complete, she's let out to run over to her bowl where she finally gets a taste of that much-sought-after milk!

You know, I've read lots of "homesteading" memoirs over the past couple of years. It's become one of my favorite little subgenres -- the true tales of folks who've traded in their city lives for the older ways of living on the land. In several of the books I've read, the authors have lamented, saying that many who visit their farms imagine that living there is idyllic in some way, full of days filled with sunshine and sweet tea and frolicking in the fields with baby lambs. I'll be the first to admit that there are dark days on the farm. Drought, disease, and death all come to mind. But, there's something I love about seeing Milkshake happily lapping up that fresh milk in the milking shed. I never tire of it, or grow immune to it. It makes me smile every time I see her head plunge into the bowl. Idyllic? Absolutely.