As we prepared for our trip, a number of people told us to be sure and visit a local dairy
in Denmark so that we could sample some delicious Danish cheese.
We take food suggestions like this seriously so, at the first opportunity, we asked at a tourist info office where we might find a local dairy. The guide headed to his phone and quickly returned with an address and appointment time for us the following day.
The next morning, we arrived and were surprised to find not a single cow in sight?
Surprise quickly became delight when we realized that this particular "dairy" was the kind that bought milk from other dairies and turned it into cheese, butter and ICE CREAM! Oh yes - there were samples!! Blueberry, buttermilk, strawberry, licorice...oh my!
One thing I want to remember from this man? It was clear this dairy did not give tours and that we were being allowed in places that were usually not open to the public.
When we asked the owner why he agreed to do so he simply said, "So often when I go places I am curious and wish I could see behind the scenes. Some very kind people have often allowed it. When I got the call I thought how nice it would feel to be the one who allowed it."
Goodness received with gratitude. :)
Our day of touring behind the scenes was not yet over.
Remember the farmer that lived near the Horby church that we met the first day?
Well - he was a pig farmer and invited us back for a tour!
His barns hold more than 1000 sows and each has about 16 piglets. That's a lot of bacon!
Is a clean pig barn an oxymoron? We even had to do a surgical scrub and suit up!
Even a CLEAN pig barn leaves some fragrant reminders. With 6 of us in the car the Stinky Cheeseman jokes were rampant and appropriate. Windows down please!!
...and the day wasn't over yet!
Back to our family history quest.
Grandma wanted to find the family farm of her great grandparents.
Thanks to the family history "cousin" found the day before - stay with me friends - we now had this farm circled on a map. With windows still down, we hit the backroads....and paydirt.
The original house is gone, but the current owner said he used to play in the well where the old house stood. He walked us out in his field to show us where it was. There's just something special about walking on the same ground as your ancestors....even when it's in a corn field.
in Denmark so that we could sample some delicious Danish cheese.
We take food suggestions like this seriously so, at the first opportunity, we asked at a tourist info office where we might find a local dairy. The guide headed to his phone and quickly returned with an address and appointment time for us the following day.
The next morning, we arrived and were surprised to find not a single cow in sight?
Surprise quickly became delight when we realized that this particular "dairy" was the kind that bought milk from other dairies and turned it into cheese, butter and ICE CREAM! Oh yes - there were samples!! Blueberry, buttermilk, strawberry, licorice...oh my!
One thing I want to remember from this man? It was clear this dairy did not give tours and that we were being allowed in places that were usually not open to the public.
When we asked the owner why he agreed to do so he simply said, "So often when I go places I am curious and wish I could see behind the scenes. Some very kind people have often allowed it. When I got the call I thought how nice it would feel to be the one who allowed it."
Goodness received with gratitude. :)
Our day of touring behind the scenes was not yet over.
Remember the farmer that lived near the Horby church that we met the first day?
Well - he was a pig farmer and invited us back for a tour!
His barns hold more than 1000 sows and each has about 16 piglets. That's a lot of bacon!
Is a clean pig barn an oxymoron? We even had to do a surgical scrub and suit up!
 |
| The Optimist, NoFear, Dr. Voice, MamaG, AuntieL |
But there were rewards.... :)
Even a CLEAN pig barn leaves some fragrant reminders. With 6 of us in the car the Stinky Cheeseman jokes were rampant and appropriate. Windows down please!!
...and the day wasn't over yet!
Back to our family history quest.
Grandma wanted to find the family farm of her great grandparents.
Thanks to the family history "cousin" found the day before - stay with me friends - we now had this farm circled on a map. With windows still down, we hit the backroads....and paydirt.
The original house is gone, but the current owner said he used to play in the well where the old house stood. He walked us out in his field to show us where it was. There's just something special about walking on the same ground as your ancestors....even when it's in a corn field.
...and guess what? We were at a DAIRY farm...the kind WITH cows.
The owners gave us an amazing tour. We're country folk and we still had never
seen anything like these robotic self-milkers.
These cows are trained to line themselves up when their udders feel full. The machine scans their tags, recognizes them and their udders, and then sterilizes them, milks them, cleans them again, gives them a treat and opens the front gate to release them. If they come for their treat too soon after a recent milking, the computer catches their sly trick and opens the gate without milking them.
We saw with our own eyes the line-up for the milking robot and the cow next in line nudging Bessie in front of her to keep moving!! Amazing!
What is also amazing is that our day, unplanned, still ended at a dairy farm.
Another wonderful day. Time for a shower!
The Optimist, "If a guy who rides a horse is called a cowboy, what's a guy that rides a cow called?"
NoFear almost lost his fingers to this hungry calf. :)
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