Adorable little red Bitsie placidly chewing her cud.

Sleepy Beauty, dreamy in a hay pile.

Kirkhaven My Cabernet patrolling the heifer fence line.

That’s what the brae looks like this gorgeously sunny afternoon in East Tennessee. It’s briskly chilly outside, but the sunshine is glorious! A perfect day to meander across our rolling pastures and chat with the Dexters.

I feel sure that if people overheard my one-sided conversations with these friendly bovine, they would conclude that I am a mad woman. And perhaps they would be right. Who walks in their pasture ~talking~ to their cows?? I’m okay with that assessment, however. You probably DO need to be a little crazy to do what we do.

But I assure you of these two things:

• there is method in such madness

• there is joy in the journey

And I’ll let you in on a little secret:

When we have farm visitors . . .

and I take them into the pastures to meet our beautiful cattle . . .

and I turn my back for a moment . . .

I can hear them talking to the Dexters too.

If it’s madness, it’s contagious.

And I am totally not searching for a cure.