Hi from the Wisconsin, US

[MrsKK]

Hi Karen - we know your environs well, as we passed by the bridge every time we went from Chicago to Marquette.  We're in Madison, now - digging out this morning at several below, like yourself....!

Many thanks for the welcome.  Looking forward to playing around and learning more.

You may be thinking Menomonie Falls, WI or Menomonee, MI - I'm clear across the state, just 45 miles from the Minnesota border.

Shivering here at the forecast of -19 for tonight.  And I have to milk the cow at midnight.  No more winter calves!

[ArnaudForestier]

Lol, uh, yep, that would be right.  Must have been the bitter cold that got my head turned around. 

Hang in there - I think we have it nowhere as bad as you do,

[Buck47]

Shivering here at the forecast of -19 for tonight.  And I have to milk the cow at midnight.  No more winter calves!

Congratulations: I believe your the winner MrsKK ... only -17.3F here this morning. You have my respect - milking at these temp is hard - but going out at midnight is brutal.

[ArnaudForestier]

Ditto, my kudos!  We're in a balmy -4 right now, and lord knows I don't have to milk!

I do have to say that when we lived in Spring Green, on a farm, and I was an insanely driven brewer, I would often get the need to do a brew overnight - "Ugly Betty" was a 550K propane system, and needed the outdoors, so "overnight" in the Spring Green winter had some potentially interesting implications. 

Fond memory of what my wife affectionately called "Hellenback Bock" - a straight decoction brew of a doppelbock (not a helles, but the name fits, for reasons following) that I had an idea on overnight so....-10F, doing a decoction brew, and the...lauter screen lifted; I couldn't get a clear runoff, and couldn't figure out why, as I was always anal about an absolutely pristine runoff.  Finally figured out why, and so took the mash out, reset the lauter, decocted an additional portion and, bottom line, something like 18 hours later, one very tired idiot husband dragged into bed, frozen to near death, but pleased he had laid down what amounted now to a seriously dunkel doppelback into the fermentor.  To hell and back; served for Christmas, one of the best brews I ever made (always name the style after the fact, that's my motto). 

Can I claim some country hardiness from the episode, even though I sit in relative Madison warmth this morning?

Seriously, Mrs. KK, good luck with the milking, and good health to you and your cow.

[FarmerJd]

Karen,
There are very few people who can fully appreciate the warmth of a cow's bag in bitter cold weather. 

[MrsKK]

Karen,
There are very few people who can fully appreciate the warmth of a cow's bag in bitter cold weather. 

Or how warm her flank can be when you wear a loose hoodie that funnels the warmth right to your face.  Only when she's clean and dry, of course!

[FarmerJd]

LOL I was actually going to add that but I thought most folks would think we were crazy. I guess we are.

[Sailor Con Queso]

I hope you guys are putting wool sweaters on those poor cold cows (and goats, and sheep). Otherwise the milk will come out as ice cream.

[MrsKK]

The other night when it was -20 F, I had to use a spatula to scrape the rest of the milk out of the bucket.

Balmy here the past couple of days with 0 for the low and 15 for the high.

No wool sweaters for the cow, but the calf does have a heat lamp suspended above his pen, which is left open so he can come and go.

[susanky]

Holy Moses!  -20?! You go girl!  I have avoided owning a cow or goat as I know my limitations; and -20 way exceeds it.  We occasionally (though rarely) get in the single digits but it is more than I can manage.  I milked goats as a child and always struggled with those cold days.  If only you could milk them .. weather permitting. 
Susan

[acstokes]

Arnaud,
Beautiful pictures, but I'm not sure I'd trust that bridge if I were you.

Fred

[DeejayDebi]

Welcome aboard Paul!

I certainly don't envy the cold you and Karen are dealing with. I don't know how you do it. +20 degrees is as cold as I want to get never mind -20!

[ArnaudForestier]

Welcome aboard Paul!

I certainly don't envy the cold you and Karen are dealing with. I don't know how you do it. +20 degrees is as cold as I want to get never mind -20!

Lol - well, I have no idea why I took to it....born and bred surfer from Ventura, California, moved back east originally after grad school to pursue a stage career (Shakespeare, Lenox, MA; Providence, RI), and never lost the taste for seasons.  At least 3 of them - tops for me is Autumn, followed by Winter, then spring, then, if I have to, summer.  I usually get shot when I ask for colder weather around these parts....

Thanks for the warm welcome, all.  I've been doing some thinking on future plans, and have decided to think a bit more on a better setup for a cheese cave, before diving in more.  So much great and helpful information on this site - my thanks to all of you with experience and dedication to this wonderful food.

[spalko]

I think the photos are beautiful, but.... will enjoy from afar.
I was born outside Chicago... don't miss all that snow.
Remember having to be dug out of our house with enloaders.... and not be allowed to play outside due to the large air pockets folks were falling in and suffocating.

My ewes, all heavy pregnant for January lambs (let the cheese making commence BG), are laying outside "on the grass" this morning.   
We had an inch of snow here the other day and they thought it was strange.
Although it is below freezing here this morning.

Enjoy the snow... I'll keep my TN Christmas.   

[Buck47]

I think the photos are beautiful, but.... will enjoy from afar.
Enjoy the snow... I'll keep my TN Christmas.   

spalko:  Yes, it is beautiful here. What part of  Tennessee are you in?

I was born in Milan (about a 115 miles North & East of Memphis.