Chance

The days just get busier and busier!
This weekend we had perfect weather for working outdoors, so we decided to tackle the garden bed mess.

First we moved a raised bed to another spot, in order to make parking the tractor easier. Then Devin lifted all of the half barrel planters and dumped them into the raised bed. There was nice planting soil in the barrels and I am through with any large gardening. I will only be using my 3 raised beds and a few pots on my porch.

With the barrels gone and the beds cleaned up, it looks much nicer now. I may or may not plant many vegetables this year. Honestly I feel like I am at full capacity, as far as what I can do. I might plant some annual flowers and just patron a local farmer for vegetables.

I also finished class 3 of 4 of my Kid Embroidery Class. Rose did a fantastic job and will be hanging her embroidery art up on a wall...as soon as I can locate the picture nails.
This class was an embroidery of their handprint, a gift for Mother's Day.

When you get a call from a farmer friend wanting to sell a most beautiful and healthy heifer calf, you just say , "YES!"

We loaded her up into the back of our favorite stock trailer van and brought her home. She is a very healthy calf, born last November, and will make a fine milking cow one day.

She is the same age as our baby steer and she is happily out grazing the pasture with all of the other cows.

Saturday we burned her horns, a chore we always dread. It must be done however! Horns can be dangerous to not only other cows, but to any person who is milking and caring for the cows.

Of course this beautiful Jersey needed a name, so the kids all thought long and hard about what to name her. They decided to name her after the family cow in the show The Waltons.
They named her Chance.

Welcome to the farm Chance!!!!

Happy Monday Ya'll!!!

A Full Circle

I was sort of dreading my post today. Yesterday was a sad day here because our sweet dog of 16 years passed away.
Raven.
She was a faithful companion and she loved to swim and jet ski. Until this summer, a day at the lake would perk her up and cause her play like a pup again.
We took her to the lake July 4th but instead of being a lively youngster again, she was confused and didn't act like she knew where she was. Her hearing was gone and her sight not very good either.

We knew her time was coming to a close, but it was still sad to discover she had passed away in her sleep.

But then the cycle of life makes a full circle. If there is one thing I have learned by farming it is the circle of life. It's the lesson that there will be death but then there will also be life.

Devin and I went to lunch this afternoon and came home to a wonderful sight!



Belle had her calf while we were gone. It is a large, healthy heifer too!

Although I wish I had another week of once a day milking, I am glad that calving went so well and that the calf is healthy.

I am still sad that we lost Raven, although she had a wonderful, long life.
I am happy and blessed to see a new life on the farm.

What will we name this heifer?
Well, I have a special friend in Huntsville and her very special daughter, Molly, has a birthday today. I think it only fitting that I name this sweet calf after her.
So, welcome to the farm Molly!

Happy Hump Day Ya'll!

Annabelle

We woke up yesterday to a very pregnant cow who looked ready to bust. Needless to say, by the afternoon she was ready for calving.

We went out to check on her and discovered her bag of waters was out and about to break.

Of course we waited...and waited..and waited. Finally we had a nice healthy calf about 6:30, just after dark.

It was too dark for pictures or videos, so I snapped some shots of the little girl this morning.
She IS a HEIFER!!!! This makes me very happy, as she will grow up to be a nice family milking cow one day.
She is very tiny but healthy and active. She has been nursing well and gets around like a pro.

The kids came out with me this morning to check on Lucy and the new calf.
The kids all agreed to name her Annabelle since she was born in December. They got the name from another favorite baby calf who starts in one of their favorite Christmas movies.

 

 

If you are looking for a sweet Christmas movie, this one is available on Amazon, and it really is a favorite here.

 

So since we were all in the Christmas spirit here, Indiana decided to dress up our other calves, Stella and Ivy.

 

 

She decided they need a nice big bow on their halters. Surprisingly, they are still intact this morning.

 

 

They really look cute with their fuzzy winter coats. Although the weather is quite warm today, it was quite cold last week and cold weather is coming back for the weekend.

 

 



So, tomorrow I will introduce a fabulous activity book and a giveaway just in time for Christmas!!!!

Be sure to check back in because you do NOT want to miss out on this one!

Happy Birthday Annabelle!!!

Sweet Ivy

The weekend was spent organizing the freezers, cleaning the front porch and bringing our new addition home.

This is Ivy. She is a two week old heifer calf. She is a Jersey. She is incredibly sweet.

Stella had warmed up to her nicely and they have become friends. Cow friends.

She has been enjoying the fresh air and grass, although she is still drinking fresh milk and will be for a couple more months.

She spends a large part of her day running and bucking and kicking. Indiana has done such a nice job halter training Stella that I have put her in charge of doing the same for sweet Ivy.

She will make a great family milking cow in a few years and we are excited to have her in the family!

****************************

Circle of Moms is winding down in their Top 25 Moms of Big Families contest! I have been thrilled and honored to be included with so many fabulous moms! Will you please hop over and give me vote?
Thanks!

The Calf Update

I thought  I would update on the bull calf who is now a steer:-)

He will be 2 months old tomorrow so we have weaned him down to milk just one time per day. He is eating grass and calf grain and alfalfa pellets.

His horn buds have started growing but are not quite big enough to burn down yet.

But oh he has those beautiful long cow eyelashes. I could be a little jealous.

He's getting big and tall. I plan to wean him off milk in another month because I am sure he will be a big pain in the bootie by then. He can be quite sweet except if he sees a milk bucket, then he tries to run you over for milk. We are teaching him to back out of our personal space.

Until then he lives a life of leisure here and keeps the chickens and goats company.

*****************

Did you read my last post about the Lilla Rose Giveaway?

You have until Thursday at midnight to leave a comment and enter. I wanted to show you a beautiful flexi clip they now have available for the month of October.

Yeah, I love it too.
So, what are you waiting for? Go check out the post and enter!


Hope Monday was kind!

Adventures with Lucy the Family Cow: A Calf

In order to avoid organizing and cleaning my house today, I decided to throw on my swimsuit, clean chicken coops and swim to cool off.

Lucy had other plans.

I noticed from afar that she was raising her tail and then sitting down. This is what was happening. Not a sight I am used to seeing.

Ten minutes later it was like this.

Then a few short minutes later we had this! A calf.
I congratulated myself for a job well done even though all I did was snap pictures on my fancy phone and post them on FB. How did cows birth calves before smart phones and social media?

Then Lucy immediately stood up and went into licking machine mode. She licked, licked, and licked that calf clean and dry.

The calf tried to stand up within 30 minutes, but Lucy would lick him and knock him down. He finally did get his feet under him. Did I say him? HIM?
Yep, it's a bull calf. It's the year of the bulls. I should have known because Lucy had very neat and tidy forelocks. They say if the forelock is neat it will be a bull, crazy hair will bring a heifer.
I even tried messing her hair up a few times but it always went back to looking straight and tidy.

Of course this is the day when my oldest is out west playing cow girl and Devin is working. I thought I could move the calf and Lucy to a more secure paddock for the night, but alas Lucy would not leave her calf. I attempted to pick him up but the baby is very, very heavy.

Thankfully I have friends with strong husbands and one willing to drive over and carry the calf into the next paddock. Lucy followed. :-)

So milking starts back tomorrow morning and hopefully I will find another excuse to avoid organizing and cleaning the house.
Here's to a very healthy calf and a mamma cow who licks like a champion!