As lousy as the picture is, it brought back all sorts of memories for me -
This minivan is owned by Mrs. Rothenberger (I would guess the fourth generation one by now). The Rothenbergers are a family that owns the MerryMead Farm which is one of Pennsylvania's century farms having been in the same family for over 100 years.
About 50 years ago my parents built a house on the edge of this farm and knew the Rothenbergers pretty well - I remember as a little boy the scent of freshly spread cow manure wafting across the backyard while my brothers and I played in the sandbox and going with Mom to get more milk in a 5 gallon box (yes, a box) that my brothers and I took care of every a couple days or so.
There are now three housing developments, a couple office buildings, and townhouse complex between my parent's old home and the farm now. Fortunately, most of this farm remains and this time of year it's quite busy, with a 5 acre Corn Maze, Scenic Hayrides, Face Painting, Pumpkin Painting, the Great Pumpkin (for which they have a lighting ceromony), a petting area with sheep, pigs, chickens, and other animals; and of course, the cows making milk and ice cream (along with more stuff for the fields).
Amid all the traffic - you can go and watch the cows being milked and try your hand at it.
The automatic cow milker looks like a huge stainless steel merry-go-round, and the cows step into the turning stall and have the milking cups applied, a bit of a turn and some hay munching later, they get led off the machine. It is really neat to see.
MerryMead Farms
I guess Alice Kay and I have some background that we share - while growing up there was always a cow or two out one of the windows.
10 comments:
It's a good thing I can see the brake lights, or I'd think your "driver" was doing some serious tail-gating.
That's a pretty cool farm! Have you ever tried your hand at milking a cow?
I bet they don't have beefalos, like AK does, lol.
I've seen many really interesting vanity plates around here. I think I'll keep my eyes open (and my camera fired up) and try to get some shots of them.
There was one that I saw while temping at a real estate office in N'Awlins one summer. The plate said DrLuv on it. It belonged to a fertility specialist....
I love how you can have anything on your car number plates..... ya cant do that over here :( - cherished registration plates go for well loads of dosh.... ya cant just make up a registration LOL it has to come when the car is first registered for road use and is issued by the DVLA.... so no MOO COWS for us......
I did look on a site once for a cherished number plate to buy for my car (you can reregister if someone is selling their plate and they have to buy another one) - ours have to have registration numbers and letters which is code for where the car was registered and what year........ I so want a plate with my name lol........ MEL somewhere in amongst the letters but they go for at least $1000....... sigh...... and I just cant warrent spending that on a number plate LOL......
Maybe I need to move to the states, adding that as another reason to start a fresh somewhere else....LOL.... on the immigration form where is says 'reason for entering country' I will write 'so I can have a personalised number plate on me car' lol that should clinch it for me lol
my matie in Maine had 2 great plates one was 'PAY UP' cos he is a money solicitor and the other one on the other car was 'SUE ME' LOL
just cant do that over here.....
x
ps.......... also in the states I noticed you are allowed to have pretty little pictures on your plates, like lobsters and lighthouses and flags and worms and slugs etc...... NOT ALLOWED OVER HERE...... plates are a regualtion size and colour and font.... no fancy writing or pictures...... YOU LOT DONT KNOW HOW GOOD YOU HAVE IT lol
x
Wow....I wouldn't pay $1000 for a plate no matter what I wanted it to say. That's really interesting how registering a vehicle works over there, toasty. I've never had a vanity plate. Pennsylvania is one of those states that requires only a plate on the back, so I have a real nice personalized plate with an ocean and palm trees and Terri's and my name on it for the front of my car. (the bracket to hold the plate is broken so it's not on the car at the moment)
Ya have to have a front and a back number plate over here that are exactly the same and its illegal to drive if one falls off, ya would get a hefty fine and points on ones license....
Its worth moving to the states just so I can have me own number plate lol.... do they have them that say 'SURPLUS TO REQUIREMENTS' lol
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Even though I wasnt bought up on farm I remember as a young child the smell of cow and sheep manure wafting across. Having lived in the same are all of my life I have watched it slowly build up into a town instead of rural land. The land my parents house is on was once the size of what we call a hobby farm. Dad never bothered keeping animals instead opted for a ride on mower which he would take for a spin regularly around the house and our "allowed" playing area as well as making sure the toilet (Which was outside until I was in my late teens) was well cleared as we had a well sharpened shovel standing against the toilet wall just in case we opened up and a snake was curled up around the toilet base. You never waited until the last minute to go. We are allowed personalised number plates here in Aus however it has to be exactly the same front and back.
Dr Towsey, a local podiatrist (no lie) has a license plate that says TOE-MD.
I've milked a cow by hand before. And I've seen cows on that milking machine. I've also bottle fed baby lambs and baby goats. There are quite a few farms not too far from here. In fact, you can hear cows and sheep from our back garden sometimes... I think there may be a farm a little way the other side of the river.
ChicagoLady - I have tried my hand at milking cows a couple times. I'm not very good at it and would most likely thirst to death before pulling a glassful of milk.
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