Arlo and Janis by Jimmy Johnson for April 24, 2014

There you go ruining a good lazy day…and lifestyle.

I think this is just lazy day talk. “I’ve always wanted…”. The problem is her daughter, who now knows, and will tell her friends and Grandpa, that Mom and Dad are buying a zoo.

Panel 4: The pony!! What about the pony?? Every little girl deserves a pony!!

Oh sweet wanna-be Farm Girl. Farm animals never take a day off, and you can’t exactly board them when you need to be away.

Makes me think of Bing Crosby in “Holiday Inn” who imagines how lazy and relaxed he can be on a farm only to discover that it’s actually more work than he can possibly handle.

yawn

Who came running when “animals” were mentioned?

My daughter liked the farm life, too, before too much reality set in. The cats (well, they’re part of farm life, too, aren’t they?) got too louche about spraying things in the basement (where she hangs out at night – yeah, they’re altered, ), the turkeys were the grossest thing ever (evidently pecked one of their number to death after it got a wound on it), and the pygmy goats had to be altered (too late), injected, and suffer having horns removed (the kid). The at-large house budgies, the screaming macaw, and the twenty-three chickens have their problems. The two little raised veggie gardens became too much to handle, too.

Farming is one of the hardest jobs on the planet

Even one cow gives more milk than the average family can use, and most states won’t allow you to sell it. Properly handled, fresh milk is much healthier than store milk.

Boring

i think Gene is just wondering if she will let him have a say in what their future plans might be. seem obvious Mary Lou wears the pants in the family. of course it was the same growing up for him. Janis is the alpha in his folks home.

The kid missed the first part about how she’ll be hoeing in the garden all of the time….

I think the word going through Gene’s mind is ‘nesting’, not farming.

And we’re back to the Sixties: “Gonna get back to the land/And set my soul free.”

Does she even know what SHE is getting into? That is going to be a lot of work.

Shades of “The Good Neighbors” of BBC/PBS fame in the ’70’s with Richard Briers and Felicity Kendal.. RIchard is dead now, and Felicity is um, ‘beginning to show her age’…to be kind.

@dani rice: yes, nobody realizes the volume one cow produces; and what do you do with the calf every year that is required to induce lactation? even if you raise it for beef one steer will provide enough beef for 2 years; and what if it’s a heifer? destined for veal? also yes; no vacations allowed and there’s nobody competent enough to take care of them if you do try to get away. i may sound bitter but i wouldn’t change it for anything. just watching my critters eat is very calming.

Can we just get to the divorce story arc? We all see it coming!

ive never had any chicken lay more than one egg per day. usually one per day per chicken is our average. once in a while somebody slacks off but for the most part it’s one per day per bird. 3 layers is more than enough for our 4 person household & we end up[ giving away a dozen every week or two

We had a cow. Sweetheart. A calf every year (which we ate) a gallon or two of milk per day. Lots and lots of butter which we gave the neighbors.The good life.

John Smith…So to speak….That’s funny……

Dani Rice: There is a way to “sell the milk”. Get a couple of families per cow. Organize a cow co-op and sell the cows to the co-op. Now the co-op members own the cows and you are paid by the co-op to take care of them. They also own the milk, which they buy at the co-op. It is legally their cows and their milk, so the restrictions on sale do not apply. They get better quality milk at a lower price (co-ops are nonprofit), you get a market for the excess milk (you are also a member of the co-op), and now all you have to be concerned about is running a dairy properly – with a guaranteed market for your product. This is not hypothetical, it has been done in Washington state.

You do NOT want a milk cow. Talk about never having a day off!