Blessed Event

I know, I know, I'm supposed to be writing about whether or not I actually made it to Baja this spring, and I was, I really was! Yesterday morning I was inspired anew, wrote quite a bit, and had planned to finish the post in the evening, after my Little Miss Muffet lunch of curds and whey*.  But I was unfairly railroaded. By this:

If you've been paying close attention, you'll know that this summer, in additional to my usual opera flutist duties, I'm moonlighting here.  But what may not be apparent is that the cow in the idyllic alpine photo above is in labor.  It was supposed to be cold and rainy last night (it was!) with up to a foot of snow in the mountains.  Good thing I took my mountain ride a few days ago, because even then, it looked like this:

And just a few weeks ago, the calf barn looked like this:

Dawn. Time to milk the cows. In the.... SNOW?

But I digress.  Point being, it sure would be nice for Clara's sake if she were to bring a calf into this world under a roof.  Thankfully, we had just that sort of place in mind for her. And we got her there without a minute to spare!

Because only moments later, a tiny cloven hoof began to emerge. And then another. And then the startled face of a being leaving one world and entering the next.

Welcome, Little One!

Oh, auspicious day! It's a heifer**!  Clara tended to her charge like only an experienced mama would, cooing in her gentle bovine way throughout the process.

Good job, Clara!

We decided to give mama and calf some quiet time. Besides, we needed to fetch some basic necessities for these two for the night. After all that, Clara must be hungry and thirsty.  When we returned there was a surprise waiting for us...

Twins!

*Not even kidding.  Leftover cheese curds + salt + pepper + garlic scapes + drizzle of olive oil = the lunch of cheese apprentice champions. They are especially satisfying after spending the entire morning, stomach growling, stirring those curds. These are the sorts of things cheese apprentices do. And eat.  And? The next day, once the curds have knit together, you can slice the loaf, fry the slice, and top it with roasted garlic scape pesto and roasted cherry tomatoes. Yep. You can.

**That's code for more milk. Which is code for more cheese!