I too kept a milk cow the whole time my kids were growing up. The last Guernsey gave less than 3 gallons a day because she was blind in one teat. I cheated and let the calf nurse her too, so I or the kids only milked her once a day .....and because we shared, I only took less than 1 gallon per day. The kids made lots of butter, I used the buttermilk to make bread. Our youngest became the ice cream connoisseur and could make any flavor in the world. (we had the ice cream attachment to a kitchen aid mixer) . Never learned to make cheese or yogurt.....Not enough hours in the day . LOL. But butter in a blender is made in 3 (?) minutes. I miss the closeness to my children during those years and the warmth and loving loyalty of our milking a cow. Our cow died at 9am on Christmas Morning, and it is our family tradition (15 years now) on Christmas Morning to place the Baby Jesus in the Manger, and lay the cow in the manger down on her side. We try to be solomn, but we all still giggle after all these years