Vivian Travels to Estonia Ch. 06

Eino Tarvas was amazed, albeit pleasantly so, that Vivian Laaning's personal participation in his quest to amass the prerequisites for the planned expansion of his dairy farm, proved to be so beneficial to him. Although, as a member participant of various agricultural associations in Estonia, he had kept up to date with the latest innovations and technologies, but nevertheless, Vivian's input proved to be surprisingly most helpful.

For the day Vivian again opted not to importune the hospitality of the Läänemets any further. She engaged to take her baby daughter with her throughout the day in the convenient back pack bed. Accordingly, she was ready to truly attend to any and all of her baby's needs despite being in the public. She dressed herself comfortably. However, her clothing attire was visibly very expensive, and noticeably so, to even the least observant. That in return demanded that she be taken seriously by each person she was in contact with, and that was an advantage that Eino realized was not available to him.

Eino's original plan was to purchase all the material he would need and arrange to be transported to his farm, to quickly construct two barns in the newly acquired farmland to house 52 cows, per barn. He intended to purchase at least 52 milking machines plus 52 active milking cows to get his proposed expansion under way. In addition, he would be interested in purchasing at least one bull, possibly up to two more to eventually augment his dairy herd to an additional 52 milking cows, plus replacing the cows whose milking productivity would cease.

Vivian played no part as to the purchase of materials needed for the construction of an extra barn. That was Eino's first item on his agenda for the day's purchases. However, Vivian was most adept in negotiating the purchase of the milking machines. She was demonstratively aware of the pros and cons of the various manufacturers of milking machines. As a result, without protest from Eino whatsoever, Vivian negotiated the ultimate purchase of the milking machines from the best manufacturer at a significant lower price than Eino had expected and was prepared to pay.

After the completion of the purchases of the building material and the milking machines, they then visited the lawyer's office. The law office had all the necessary documentation completed, so that Eino was now the owner of the adjacent farm.

Taking a break, they then partook of an early restaurant luncheon prior to going to the cattle auction in the afternoon. As they were going over the strategies for the balance of the day, Eino could not help marveling, "My God Vivian! You sure know the value of the various dairy farm milking machines even better than I do. That's so impressive given that dairy farming is my living, and I'm member of two agricultural organizations in Estonia to keep me up to date on modern agriculture industry. I know you said you grew up on a dairy farm in the United States, but still you became a lawyer, which surely would preclude any current interest in dairy farming such as you now still seem to possess."

Vivian replied, "Yes, well the thing is that I have a brother, Paul, who in essence has inherited the family farm from which I grew up. Both my sister, Erica, and I were cognizant from an early age that he was going to take over the dairy farm from my parents. To be fair my father established trust funds upon birth for both Erica, and me to compensate. Thus, there is no feeling of animosity towards Paul from either of us.

"Now whenever I visit Paul and his family at the farm, the conversation necessarily turns on the status of the farm. Actually, it's really the only thing he's interested in talking about, as the lives Erica and I lead are foreign to him. So, he's not concerned about our personal affairs. Paul graduated from Iowa State University with an agriculture business major, and as a result he's on top of the absolutely current agriculture concerns which then keeps me in the loop. I admire what he has been able to do with the farm, and as a result my parents were able to retire earlier than they had originally intended, without any fear that the farm would be lost through poor management."

It was though, the afternoon auction session that Eino became fully aware of Vivian's superior dairy farming acumen, and her applicable skills to bring about optimum results for him. The auction was held at a dairy farm quite close to the city boundaries of Tallinn. That farm along with two other adjacent dairy farm properties, plus some other local real property had been purchased over a period of time by a real estate conglomerate, for the purpose of converting all the acquired lands into a high end modern residential subdivision plus a convenient commercial strip mall to service the needs of the residents of the new subdivision.

The sale of these lands had been a controversial political battle for the real estate developers. There was plenty of opposition from environmentalists concerned about the loss of such rich agricultural land. Finally, all the government bureaucratic processes were approved on the proviso that all the farm animals were sold by this date and the following day. As a result, the auction was scheduled for that day's afternoon starting at 01:30 PM and continue the following morning. The auction site was available for inspection by prospective buyers of the animals to be sold that afternoon starting at 12 noon.

Eino and Vivian along with baby Maia on her mother's back, arrived at the auction site with more than an hour of inspection time available. At the prior luncheon Vivian and Eino mapped out a strategy for Eino's intended purchase of fifty cows plus one or two bulls. As Vivian had attended a couple of auctions with her father when she was a teenager, she had more experience than Eino who had simply took over an established farm from his father. Consequently, this would be the first time he would purchase a cow in this manner, and he, therefore. relied heavily for her advice. Although her experience was confined to America, it was unlikely that there were any real significant material changes for a cattle auction in Estonia. In particular, during the inspection period, the criteria as to what to look out for in an animal suitable for purchase would be the same. In this regard Vivian proved to be invaluable to Eino.

So, to be able to make a quick judgment call on whether an animal is worth buying or not, Vivian was able to point out the crucial signs to look for. This would include:

Eyes: Should be bright, clear, not runny (no discharge), crusty or bloodshot;

Nose: Should be cool, moist muzzle, with frequent licking; breathing should be regular, and not labored. Also, attention should be paid to nasal discharge, coughing, wheezing or irregular/shallow breathing, to ensure the animal is free of disease;

Coat: Should be glossy, clean and generally unmatted, free of extensive "tag" or dried feces over the body, hair coats that appear mangy with some or a lot of hair-loss, or have crusty lesions which would likely be ring-worm, or appear dull and/or dry are especially to be avoided;

Weight: Should look to be at their average weight, not severely emaciated or thin. Especially to be avoided are those animals one can plainly see their ribs as they're likely undernourished. Should also avoid overly fat ones as well;

Attitude: Should be curious, alert and contented; Should avoid cattle that stand apart from the herd, seem disinterested in you, or show signs of aggressiveness, no matter how subtle those signs are. Should also check the location of the whorl on the forehead----the lower the whorl, the less flighty the animal;

Mobility: The animal's walking should be smooth and free of limps, legs and feet should look normal and free of sores, swelling, or lesions; should be on special lookout of uneven gaits or subtle signs of injury by how the animal stands and walks on. Placement of hind feet to front feet is especially important with bulls for breeding purposes;

Udder: Should be healthy; size isn't necessarily an indicator of a good udder, but rather placement of both front and hind ligaments. It should sit forward and square, not sag too much either in the front and rear quarters, and not be too meaty or appear to have too many fat deposits. Should observe the cow when she walks--the udder should not display too much sideways movement. Teats should be small and neatly grouped under the udder, not too large and/or sticking at odd angles.

Essentially, Eino Tarvas was aware of most of these signs Vivian had pointed out as relevant for consideration in buying a cow. However, what was a real eye opener for him, was the weight and the strategy Vivian proposed to ensure of making the most effective purchases to fulfill his plans in the most economically way. Given the logistics of dairy farming the most important point in purchasing cows is determining their lactation period to balance the overall schedule of milk production envisioned.

Normally, a cow can give milk for 305 days or 10 months after calving. The level of milk production peaks at around 40 -- 60 days after calving, then decreases steadily and stops after 10 months. A cow in a stage of their lactation cycle where milk production ceases is called "dry period". It lasts roughly 60 days or 2 months before calving again.

The dry period is an important period of rest for the cow and her udder. During this stage, farmers should adjust her diet or seek the advice of an animal nutritionist. This adjustment during this 2-month rest ensures to provide the right balance of nutrients for her, preparing for the next healthy birth. Cows in good body condition can calve again within 2 or 3 months of their last calving. In contrast, if a cow gives birth in inadequate body reserves, milk production will affect negatively in early lactation since body reserves are not enough to contribute energy.

The overall strategy in buying initially as many cows Eino desired, has to be in deciding the proportion of each cow's milking state. Vivian pointed out that most buyers in an auction usually are there to buy at the most five cows to fulfill specifically the needs of the farmer for the moment. Thus, the cows who still have 200 or more days left in their milking cycle would fetch the highest prices. Pregnant cows would fill the next plateau of prices with those close to calving fetching the higher prices in that category. The least inexpensive cows would be those cows who are almost finished in their milk cycle, or are not yet pregnant or at the early stages of pregnancy. Most of the latter group of cows were to be auctioned off the next day.

In their discussion at the luncheon, Eino was mortified to discover that within minutes of discussion of his plans and goals of expansion, Vivian had drawn up and formulated a superior comprehensive plan of what kinds of cows to purchase. It was not lost on him, that for several months he had been devising and planning for this day. He believed that he had come up with the most feasible plan and strategy to augment his farming income, taking advantage of circumstances that had developed to make his ambitions possible. His neighbor had decided to sell his farm and in conjunction a real estate developer had purchased lands which made purchase of additional cows possible. And yet here was Vivian Laaning with only a minimum knowledge of his ambitions and aspirations, able to come up with a better plan to fulfill his dreams.

This prompted Eino to say at the luncheon, "Again I have to reiterate, that I know you've told me that you're a farmer's daughter and that your brother is a dairy farmer in the United States. Still, you live in Chicago, employed as a lawyer, without presumably retaining any real latent interest in dairy farming, and yet here you are outlining a plan in buying cows which quite frankly I admit is much better than my plans. I might say that for the past several months I've been consumed with the idea of expanding my farm and contemplating what I thought was most realistic and plausible way to go about achieving my aspirations. How do you do that? Needless to say, I'm ready to follow your advises as those sure as hell seem sound."

Vivian smiled gratified by his assurance. In her perception, usually apart from her sister, Erica and Angela Peterson, her closest friend, that people whom she came in contact with, were not overly impressed with her, especially those aware of her promiscuous sexuality. So, she diplomatically replied, "The thing is Eino you are the farmer who must work constantly so you do not have the luxury to contemplate the big picture of dairy farming and its latest innovations. I guess I've always had an active mind with the view of how to do things better. Even my brother Paul, who as I told you has a university degree in agriculture, with presumably the complete knowledge of the latest dairy farming exigencies and innovations, will still be surprised when I could point out a better technique for resolving a particular dairy farm problem."

With that reply, Eino Tarvas was mollified, and probably no longer needing to admit to himself of his possible shortcomings, and instead was prepared to shed all of his male ego to recognize and benefit from Vivian's expertise in dairy farming. In this light he asked, "Fair enough, and as I indicated I'm on board with your planned strategy of the purchase of the cows at the ensuing auction. I also understand the inspection process prior to the auction. I'm in agreement of all the signs you articulated which would be necessary to consider prior to acting on the quick judgment of whether to purchase an animal or not. However, I'm not sure of the importance of your admonition that teats should be small and neatly grouped under the udder, not too large and/or sticking at odd angles. I'm not convinced that such is a critical factor for the successful dairy farming process."

Vivian replied, "When I was twelve years old, my father had added to our herd four cows who right from the get go, balked at being milked by machine. They would kick at the machine and at any person in the vicinity. Even when a worker successfully got a machine hooked up, the cow would be concentrating on trying to detach itself from the machine and thus little of its milk was extracted. As a result, these cows could only be milked by hand, and I was the one appointed by my father to do the honors. Unfortunately for me, I actually got quite good at milking these cows, so my father found it more economically viable to have me to continue milking them until I left for college rather than having them prematurely slaughtered.

"As you're aware Eino, it only takes five to eight minutes to completely milk a cow by machine. Whereas I, and I would proudly claim that I was the speediest of my family or of our workers to manually milk a cow, and at I would require a half hour to do the task. So, it goes without saying that it is preferable to milk a cow by machine than by hand. Of those cows I milked by hand during my teen years, all of them just had to happen to have had teats stuck at odd angles from their udder unlike the other cows on our farm. That irregularity in teats position was no problem for me in hand milking them, but it seems to have been a problem in machine attachment causing discomfort to the cows. That is my theory anyway. It just might have been a coincidence with these four cows, but I'm just saying, that it's better to avoid such an irregularity."

Eino merely replied, "I guess what you're saying is that it's best to be safe than sorry."

After the luncheon, Vivian and Eino, along with baby Maia in tow on her mother's back, arrived at the auction site, and proceeded with a thorough in dept inspection of the cattle slated for the auction. As a result, Vivian was able to identify sixty cows in the must buy category. In the subsequent auction Vivian and Eino were successful in winning bids of fifty of the animals they wished to unconditionally acquire. In addition, they were able to acquire two bulls to augment Eino's current solitary bull on his farm.

Eino Tarvas was totally elated by the events of the day. He could not have possibly envisioned a more perfect outcome for this day, when he had first embarked on his journey to Tallinn to try and realize his dream to substantially expand his dairy farm. Naturally, he was very cognizant that the overwhelming success of his aspirations could be solely attributed to Vivian Laaning.

Eino Tarvas was not the kind of a man so unsure of his masculinity, to the extent that he would need to downplay the absolute material assistance provided by a woman to ensure his success. He had no problem in acknowledging in his own mind as well as proclaiming to others the essential contributions Vivian had made which ultimately led to a very successful subsequent agriculture endeavor. He was obviously in a very good humor as he could not be more grateful to Vivian for her help beyond even her financial contribution. He realized that his plans for expanding his farm had been converted from an iffy dream into reality.

He was thus in the mood to celebrate, really and truly celebrate with Vivian. Hele Mölder was once available to babysit Maia. Accordingly, Eino dropped Vivian off at the Läänemets residence, as he returned to the hotel room to allow time for both of them to prepare for the date. Sensing that this would be a wonderful occasion, Vivian chose to wear her best evening dress she had in her possession during this European holiday. It was a burgundy colored trumpet/mermaid off-the-shoulder sweep train lace evening dress. In sync with her copper fiery red hair the dress exuded an especial sexual confidence in Vivian. Of course, she had no doubt that she would get laid after the date, but still her appearance in this dress had to send a message to Eino proclaiming how lucky he was to be able to enjoy the charms of such a sexy woman as her. That conception in her mind caused her to appear radiant.

Indeed, when Eino returned to pick up Vivian for their date, he was astounded at how sexually alluring she appeared to be. In his mind was gone forever the notion that perhaps universally Vivian would not be considered a glamorous woman. He now thought if those who did not think Vivian was gorgeous, then they must be blind. He now was grateful, that he had chosen for their date, an evening meal at a very trendy superior class Hungarian restaurant with an acknowledged highly regarded cuisine. After the meal, he proposed they could go dancing at a club, or simply bar hopping as he sensed Vivian was not shy in imbibing adult beverages. In any case he viewed this a more formal date than the previous two evening activities.

As they were seated at the restaurant, and scrutinizing the menu Vivian couldn't help but observe, that her dates with Eino had become progressively more spectacular. That first night was a dinner at a modestly priced restaurant featuring a predominantly Estonian cuisine. The second night saw them dine at a fine high end seafood restaurant. This evening the restaurant exuded an ambiance of high class luxury featuring a magnificent selection of Hungarian dishes that would please the palate of even the most demanding gourmet. She ordered Paprikás Csirke a tasty traditional Hungarian dish of chicken paprika that proved to be absolutely superb. As she was enjoying her fine meal complemented by a different popular Hungarian wine, Tokaji Aszú, she developed a premonition that reinforced her very first impression of Eino Tarvas. She had expected that he was about to become another prominent man in her life heretofore populated only by the wealthy billionaire, Jed Baxter and her late husband, Sam Crawford. Now she believed such premonition would become a reality before this night was over.