Moooooy Christmas !

Moooooy Christmas !

This is our Christmas card this year. It’s from a painting by Tim Knepp titled “Ho, Ho, Holstein.”

I couldn’t resist it. It just looked so “North Carolinian” with the cow in the snow in front of a red barn. Here in the mountains, farms with cows and red barns are still the norm. Everyday farmers can be seen driving their tractors along on our winding roads to bring bales of hay to their cows. Yesterday morning we saw a new baby cow nestled between two big cows eating hay for breakfast. It’s been bitter cold here and that baby is one smart little cow.  He’s already figured out how to keep warm.

Some interesting tidbits about Holstein cows:

One of the oldest dairy breeds, the Holstein’s development began almost 200 years ago when people of the Netherlands began selectively breeding the cow for its efficient use of their land’s most abundant resource, grass. The Holstein is long valued in Europe as a high yielding milk cow. American farmers, eager to meet the growing demands for milk products, looked to the Holstein. The first cow arrived in American in 1825. Today the splash black and white Holstein dominates the dairy industry and is valued for its generic superiority.  

Ho, Ho, Holstein.
Meakin and I wish you a very merry Christmas filled with wonderful food, family and friends. Happy holidays to you and your family. Be good 'cause Santa Claus comes tonight.

Sam & Meakin