Dad's Ten Gallon Milk Can

I was pretty young when I learned about milk cans.  My dad tells about milking the cows in the winter time.  Much of the coral was made with cedar post and barbed wire.  He would tie the cow to one of these post and using a milking stool would milk the cows by hand.  The cold winds blow and his only protection was the barbed wire fence.

When I was young he made a milking barn and had milking machines.  The barn would hold six cows.  He would clean the utter, attach the four cups, one on each teat, and then prepare the next cow.  Rolled barley was fed to the cows while there were being milked.  The cows were eager to come into the barn for the barley.   A strainer which was shaped like a large funnel would be fitted with a filter which would remove any solids that would end up in the milking machine.  In the summer time the can holding the evening milk would be put in a tub of water.  A piece of burlap would be wrapped around the can.  The water would soak up the burlap and help to cool the milk.  Dad had four ten gallon milk cans.  Each morning some one would come by and pick up the two cans of mild and take it to the creamery that was in Delta.  By the time driver got back the next morning.  Other two cans would be filled and waiting on the platform at the side of the road.  The drive would take the two full cans and leave the two cans from the day before.

Dad would wake me up in the mornings to help with the milking.  He would carry a bucket of hot water to rinse the milking machines and use the hot water, warm by now, to clean the cows udder and teats.  He wore overalls and had a pair of pliers in the pocket on his outside thigh.  The bucket would hit the pliers and make a noise.  I would hear the noise and jump out of bed before he made it back to the house.

He used artificial insemination to breed the cows. He would call a technician whenever a cow would come in to heat.  That was not very successful he sold his cows.  Soon after that the chemicals used in killing aphids and weevils in the alfalfa was found in the milk.  That pretty much caused the milking business in the county to come to and end.

The milk can below my dad's name pressed into the can.  Lester Johnson.  Somebody gave that to me several years ago.  It has been stored under the house for years.  I brought it out a couple of days ago.  There is a number written with red paint which is my dad's  account number used at the creamery.

There was a dairyman south of Delta who was selling his herd.  My dad wanted to expand the business.  He bought the herd.  I don't remember how many cows he bought.

Comments are welcomed

Went to Fillmore for:

• Unclaimed property - Yester day we received a letter from the unclaimed property division of the state of Utah.  It was a little over $1100.  We had to take it too Fillmore and have a notary sign it.  We needed our driver's license and Social Security cards. 
• Food storage - We bought #10 cans of storage food for Robert, Lisa, and Eric.  Three cans each.  Potato flakes, dehydrated onions, flour, and a bag of  Cocoa mix.
• Some groceries - Just groceries.

Roofing Shingles    The hasn't been any roofing activity for a couple of days.  It was different today.  Ropers brought shingles for our house and garage.  The had a big fork lift that was used to get the shingles at roof level.  Two of them and later a third man came to unload the pallet and put the shingles on the ridge.  There were three or four pallets.  Picture is of the back or south side of the house.

 Next picture is the front or north side of the house. 

The front of the house has not yet been stripped clean of shingles.  A trailer is backed up next to the house with some plywood place as a slide so the shingles will end up in the trailer.  It takes a lot of maneuvering to back the trailer into that position with out much room to twist and turn.

Craft Show    There are quite a few crafty people in Holden and they organized a craft sale that started at four and ended at eight.  Carol bought a some towels that hang on the oven door.  They are gifts for some of our kids. 

Hanging Christmas balls   Yesterday morning we drove to Orem, Utah.  Carol was invited to a luncheon at Gary and O'leah's home.   Carol's sisters, Margery and Nyleen,  and her sister in-law, Leslie Peay were there.  They were honoring O'leah's whose health has really declined in the last few years.

Hair cut   Carol dropped me off in Linden where Miles cut my hair.  After that we had lunch in a Mexican restaurant in American Fork.  It was very good, and Miles paid for it.  I was a little slow to get my card out.  The picture below shows Christmas bulbs hanging from the ceiling.  I took a picture with and idea that we could do that in our house. 

Today I gave it a try.  I could not find a good place to hang them.  Finally in our family room.  It has a vaulted ceiling.  I hung them on the wall on the west wall where the vaulted ceiling begins.  I used some string from the chicken feed bags which are the same color as the wall.  Two of the fell loose so I used more tape to hold them.  The ceiling that is shown is in the kitchen,

Comments welcomed.

I Offered to Help, Roof Slippery

We were at the temple this morning and got home this afternoon.  One person working on the roof.  I told him that I would be willing to help for a little while.  He advised me to stay off the roof.  It was slippery.  I complied with that suggestion.

It took some skill to the truck and trailer into this position. The is between two trees.

Working on the Roof, But Not Me

A couple of weeks ago, David, submitted a bid for re-shingling our house.  Copy of the bid is below.

A couple of days ago, one of his workers showed up and indicated that they would start tomorrow, but tomorrow would be Tuesday which is our day to be at the temple.  Two men showed up this morning and began the job.  They began to back their trailer at the front of the garage door.  I had them wait until I got the our car out of the garage.  They then backed about a foot from the door.  There was snow on the roof and with a snow shovel they were able to scape off the snow.  A blower was use to remove the rest.   One person started peeling the singles and nails off the roof, and the other worker would pick up the shingles and drop them into the trailer.

picture of trailer.

  I wanted some pictures of the progress that they are making.  I suggested that I would get a good picture if one of them fell off the roof.  Below, one pretended that he had lost his balance.