On the 8th day of Christmas

"On the 8th day of Christmas, my True Love gave to me, 8 maids a milking"

I have tried to milk a cow one time, and honestly that was enough for me! I was NOT very good at it and having a giant cow stand over you when you are trying to extract milk was not something I found fun. But when I was growing up in Zambia, we would go to the Dairy farm to get fresh milk once a week. Milk was not delivered to you and buying in the store was not always a guarantee that it would not be sour. We lived very close to the dairy farm, so getting fresh milk was always fun to me. We could watch the guys herd the milk cows in to the yard, and then each one would take their turn being milked while they got to stand and eat from a big trough of fresh hay. . There were machines that speed up the process instead of milking by hand. It was quite fascinating. After we got the fresh milk we would take it home, Pasteurize it in a huge machine mom and dad had, then we could drink it. The next day when we would take the milk out of the fridge we would scoop all the FRESH CREAM off the top. YUM!! Loved  having fresh cream. Mom would make it into all kinds of yumminess! What I would do for a glass of fresh milk! Getting milk here in Galena is expensive. $11 a gallon. We usually use powder milk or boxed Life long milk to cook or drink. When we go to town I tell the boys they can drink as much fresh milk as the want, and neither complain about that. Getting a gallon of milk is a treat. Keith bought me one for my anniversary. Most people would think that not such a great present but afer weeks of powder milk... I WILL TAKE IT!!!! Milk is precious. To make a gallon of fresh milk go farther we mix it with some reconstituted powder milk. You get the great taste of real milk. I know this sounds weird, but in Galena we make it work.  As I said Milk is a precious treat. And so is todays gift in our song.

Eight maids a milking symbolizes the 8 beatitudes. Or what I call the blessed verses. Coming from the book of Matthew, Chapter 5.

³ “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
⁴ Blessed are those who mourn,
    for they will be comforted.
⁵ Blessed are the meek,
    for they will inherit the earth.
⁶ Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
    for they will be filled.
⁷ Blessed are the merciful,
    for they will be shown mercy.
⁸ Blessed are the pure in heart,
    for they will see God.
⁹ Blessed are the peacemakers,
    for they will be called children of God.
¹⁰ Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

 I love these verses. God really has blessed us! And what a cool verse to have to remember on the FIRST day of the year!

If you were to buy or pay for 8 maids milking, today my true love would be getting off pretty cheap, at least in the milking area. In most states, minimum wage is $7.25. So if you were to pay for an hour for 8 ladies to milk cows, you would be coming out at $58. But if you add all the other things that my true love bought me today it would come out to be $9,032.95 Here is the break down.

On the 8th day of Christmas my True Love gave to me, 8 maids a milking ~$58

7 swans a swimming ~$7,000

6 geese a laying~ $210

5 golden rings ~$750

4 calling birds ~$519.96

3 French Hens ~$165

2 Turtle Doves ~$125

and a Partridge in a Pear tree ~$204.99