In our family...

In our family....we do second chances...we do grace...we do real...we do mistakes...we do I'm sorry (and I forgive you)...we do loud really well...we do hugs...we do family...we do love.















Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Married to the milk man

Quite often when I get asked what my husband does for a living, they either think I am kidding or are surprised.

I was talking to a woman the other day and she asked me what my husband does for a living, to which I replied, “He’s a milkman.” At first she thought I was kidding. Then she assumed I meant the kind of milkman that drives a big bulk truck that picks up milk at farms and then hauls it to a processing plant or the truck that hauls it from the plant to the stores. She was surprised that he is like the old fashioned milk delivery men that delivered milk in glass bottles to  door steps 30-40 or more years ago to peoples door steps.

Bottles like these…

CIMG0023

…from my old milk bottle collection.

CIMG0017

Needless to say, they no longer deliver in glass bottles like this. I sure wished they did though.

When I did daycare, I had a milk man that delivered 5 gallons of milk & other items such as cheese and butter, to my doorstep 2 times a week. It didn’t cost any more then in the store because I returned my bottles to him each time he dropped off new milk. I loved having this service since most of the time I was too exhausted at the end of the day to run to the store for milk.

Anyways…I ended up marrying a milk man…not my milk man mind you but a milk man nonetheless…and now you could say he’s my milk man. :)

My husband used to deliver for the local creamery but about 3 years ago he started to deliver for a young man that had worked on his own family dairy farm, built it up, and then built his own processing plant on their farm. They process(pasteurize) their milk at the lowest possible temperature in order to keep all the good stuff in the milk and then bottle it. They also make butter.

They also raise beef, have it processed locally and sell this too.

My husband will also deliver cheeses, sour cream, yogurt, kefir, organic chickens and eggs. 

The bulk of what he delivers is milk & other milk products to restaurants, nursing homes, apartments for the elderly, resorts, schools, daycares, grocery stores and yes to people’s homes…If you can believe this, he walks into their houses and puts their milk & whatever else they may order, into their refrigerator or freezer, for those that are not home during the day! Talk about service and trust.

I say hurray for people like this young man that have worked hard their whole lives on the family farm and have the guts to cut out the middle man, so that they could reap the full benefits of the family farm.

I say hurray for people like my husband who works hard to bring this kind of service to people in their homes…a kind of service that is a rarity in many communities. 

Little man gets to go with him on the weekends to help clean and wash his truck and then load it for the next day. Of course he say’s that some day he is going to deliver milk and own the farm that the cows live on. We will see won’t we? :)

Hope your having a terrific Tuesday!

Until next time, love & hugs…and I’ll throw in some smiles. Lori

 

 

20 comments:

ain't for city gals said...

Hi ..I came over from On the Road Again...love your header.the pic and the title is so self expainatory..(sp?).lol....love your blog...If I could have delivery on all the dairy products etc...I would be happy to pay DOUBLE than what I pay in the store...looking forward to reading all you past and future posts...do have a widget that I can follow with?..

Brittany said...

:) mom you are way too cute!

SciFi Dad said...

My grandfather was a milkman from the days when they actually had a horse and buggy, and then he "upgraded" to a truck.

I Am Woody said...

Love your collection of glass milk bottles. I have a few and LOVE them!!

mommytoalot said...

Ahh I so remember the milk man of my youth. He also delivered butter and break and stuff. We also had an egg man..straight from the farm.
What a wonderful story ..i too say Hooray for the milk man and to cutting costs. This is way more personal.
..btw..my husband is a mail man..so we have a running joke around here that the kids are the mail man's kids..and so they are..my mail man!
xo

Brian Miller said...

nice. how cool would it be if they still delivered milk...and you know the rumor mill will buzz now about your and the milk man...lol. hope you have a great day! smiles.

Jacquelyn Stager said...

Loved this Lori! Sounds like things are going well with you and your milkman! ❤ wink ❤

Busy Bee Suz said...

This is so awesome!!!
I wish I had a local milk man, or a farm of any type for that matter!!!

Hilary said...

Well now that's just cool! It's been so long since the days of milk delivery around here. Not since the late 60's, I'd say. I love that this business continues somewhere on this continent and I love your collection of bottles. Most of all, I love your beautiful daughter's comment. :)

Nancy said...

I say hooray, too! I wish we could all go back to having our milk delivered right along with that CSA box of veggies that are locally grown.

Amber said...

How cool!
You're just as adorable as your daughter! (She's my fave blogger....really!)

Um--what is kefir?

Jeannie said...

Milk is still delivered - in glass bottles no less - in Belfast - or at least is was last time any of us were there.

My son's house was built when there was still milk delivery and has the little compartment in the wall where it would be put. He didn't know what it was until I told him - and he could hardly believe that milk was once delivered (as was bread at one time)

Debbie said...

What a great story!! I love those old milk bottles and I am old enough to remember when they delivered those glass bottles of milk with cardboard covers under which was cream on top! Like your daughter Brittany said..."you are way too cute!" She's right....you are Lori!

Anonymous said...

Wonderful! We still have a milkman twice a week and I feel very happy about it too. It's such a shame that milk is found in cartons these days and more often than not, bought at the supermarket.

CJ xx

Buckeroomama said...

How nice it must to live in a community like yours. :)

I think it's so cool that the Little Man gets to go with him sometimes. :)

Tammie Lee said...

I totally enjoyed reading about your milk man ;-} really liked hearing about the success of a farm with healthy products. Those glass bottles are grand.

ellen abbott said...

That is so cool. I'm so glad to see people are starting to turn back to a better model. wish I had something like that at my disposal here. I remember having milk delivered in my early 20s.

Joanna Jenkins said...

That post just made my entire day! I love all of it-- Delivering food into people's kitchen, taking the little man to wash the truck-- It's all a kinder, gentler way of living then the super fast pace of Los Angeles where things like that would/could never happen.

THANKS! xo j

Anonymous said...

They don't have milk deliveries in Sweden. I come from the UK and the milkman service is still going strong!

Anonymous said...

The process you described is called "vat pasteurization" and the milk we drink and the butter we eat comes from a local dairy that practices it. It is a wonderful, wonderful thing.

OH - Beloved ran errands the other day and brought me a package of yogurt starter from the tiny little health food store where we buy our milk and butter. I'll be trying your heating pad method soon!

Jan