It worked!

Shutting Heckle up for the night did the trick. Nobody was crying in the morning, and Bella had a nice full udder. It was so satisfying to get more than a few streams of milk. I didn't measure it, but it looked like around a quart. I know the most accurate way of knowing how much you are getting is by weighing the milk, but I just strained it into a container and chilled it. And don't you think she's smiling just a little in that picture?

Here's little Heckle, who seems to get bigger by the day. He's a heavy little armful now and not so easy to hold onto.

And for fun, here's a couple pictures of our cats who I don't think I've ever shown before. They are named Salt and Pepper. I'm sure you can figure out who is who. We adopted them as kittens from the Humane Society, which was actually cheaper than getting a free kitten somewhere and having to take it to the vet for first shots and spay/neutering. They are about a year old now.

And while we're at it, here is our neighbor's bull. He runs along the fence and scares me. I look at those few strands of wire and know he could come straight through if he wanted to. He is so huge!