finally

It's an absolutely gorgeous day out! Plenty of sun and a light breeze and the air is glorious! Even the cows are enjoying the sun!

 Most of the cows are laying down chewing their cud in the warm sunshine. Things are starting to green up and dry out. Can you see them?! Haha. The specks out there!

Here is our rooster. Mr. Luke. The kiddos named him. He thought a dirt bath in the sun would be nice too. I caught him!

And truth be told, I'm enjoying the sun too. I decided that having an afternoon iced coffee while watching the critters was a must. The kiddos are out and about as well. Far too nice to be inside.

Have a great day y'all!!

spring flowers

The crocus are up!
My husband and one of our daughters went for a walk the other day and saw some. At the time we didn't know what they were, so we looked them up. They are pretty little flowers.

I think I'd like to someday have a flower garden. And put some of these in it. Until then I'll enjoy others flower gardens! I know my oldest daughter is really into flowers and would like that too.
Have a great day y'all!

heavy metal

Just one of the locals out for a morning drive!! :)

Have a great day ya'll!

20 days

 I woke about 3am. As per usual the past few weeks. And various other times throughout the night.We've been keeping an eye on Daffy since her due date being the 21 of May.
This being her first calf we wanted to be sure to be home in case she ran into trouble. She has had some signs, her udders getting bigger and her vulva swelling. But nothing unusual for a cow about to gives birth. We just would watch her. She was happy. Eating, pooping, peeing. No problem. The days ticked by.
5 days over due.
10 days over due.
14 days over due. We call the vet. They say to keep watch on her and wait a few more days. Don't worry. We call some other dairy farmers in the area. They say don't worry about her. We think, weird, she is not having this calf. She's gonna be pregnant forever! So we wait. And pray. She is still fine. Still happy and not in any distress.
17 days over due. Still fine. Her udders are getting bigger. Her vulva is getting more swollen. She still looks huge, so the calf has not moved up into the birth canal. We have been staying closer to home. Me usually always home, and if we both are gone it's only for a short time. We wait. I don't get much sleep. I'm up checking on her in the field. My husband is up checking on her.
18 days over due...more phone calls. More being told she is fine. Don't worry. It's not usual for a cow to be this over due?! Is it?! We give her one of those big calcium pills. Her udders are bigger. Her vulva is even more swollen.
3am June 10. 20 days over due. I get up and head out. I can't find her in the pasture. I run back in and wake up my husband. He put her in the barn, and forgot to tell me. I go back out and check her out. She is standing, she has some discharge. No big deal. But as of yesterday I figured it had to be soon. The calf had moved because she wasn't as wide. Her teats were swollen. I told my husband "I bet she goes tonight" while we were doing chores.
I get back in bed. I lay there awake. We hear soft mooing. (Our house and that barn she was in are close by). My husband gets up and heads out. I wait. He taps on the window and says to go get our oldest daughter. This is her cow. I wake her gently and ask her if she wants to watch Daffy become a mommy. A sleepy smile comes over her face and she quickly joins us outside. We watch. And wait.

I didn't get many pics of the delivery. It was dark in the barn and I didn't want to disturbed her hard work she had to do. We had her in the barn because of the outside temps last night, and the possibility of rain. We didn't want the calf to catch a chill.

25 minutes later she had delivered her first calf all on her own. A bull calf. She was up and licking him off. Mooing softly at him. We were so relieved. She was doing fine. The calf is alive and she is doing her job. And she didn't need any help from us on her first delivery, like her sister Dandie did on her first calf last year.

 He was up sucking, and mama was still cleaning him off. She drank some water and licked him dry and he had a good first meal!

 A beautiful sun rise on this glorious morning. What a beautiful day to be born. We left the barn and went into the house to let Daffy and baby rest and get better acquainted.

Outside in the pasture together. See her tongue licking his face? Her first milking done and now to rest and bond the rest of the day. At least until we figure out what to do with him.
As far as her first milking going? Well she was OK. She kicked the pail and danced around and mooed the whole time. Her calf was there with her. She was a bit nervous, but she knows us and trusts us. She can only get better from here on out!
Have a great day ya'll

belle in training

I thought I would share some of Belle's training. I'm new to training a herding dog, so if you have some kind, helpful tips I'd be glad to get them.
We were told to get her on a routine, and take her out to do chores to get used to the critters and how things run around the farm. So we have been doing just that. I try to keep her lessons not too long because she is only 9 weeks old now.
So here we go!

 Belle and I are heading out to the cow pasture to round up the stubborn cows that didn't want to come in the barn. Time to milk the cow! Yes we are only milking 1 cow at the time. We are waiting on the other to calve. We have a small herd. But none the less a herd!  (My husband is around too! I say I sometimes, but mean we)

 Walking up the cow lane. Belle looks back to be sure I am coming too. She would run ahead then look back and wait for me.

 She's working so hard here. ;) She's in my arms when we get close to the cows. She's too little and she doesn't 100% come when called, and I don't want her getting trampled.  But she is right into it and watches the cows.

 Another shot of her in my arms. See her ears and face is all about the cows! While walking the cows down to the cow lane.  Not too bad for being a lefty and taking the shot with my right hand!

And here we are at the barn. Belle is sitting with me keeping the cows from going back up the lane! She did a good job!! I think she will be a great herding dog and a huge help on the farm. I'm not bias at all ;)
Have a great night ya'll!

a few more updates

Well yesterday was Daffodils 2end birthday! And today is her due date for her first calf. We are waiting...things are changing on her body to tell us the time is coming. I just don't think it will be today while it's nice and sunny out. Probably tomorrow when it's cold and raining she'll have it...

Daffy is the cow in the back of the photo. The one in front her mama, Maggie.

Spring is springing. It's dry here. I'm surprised with all the snow we had all winter long too. But things are blooming. It's been a cold spring too, temperature wise it feels more like April then May.

We bought a pin wheel rake this winter. Got all it's teeth it's a little rusted but works fine. Fairly simple piece of equipment, nothing fancy about it. And it's a big step up for us as far as raking goes!
We also got a hay elevator! I'm most excited about that! It's all in working order too. We got it out and put it together and greased it all up. I don't have a pic of it though. Maybe later.

One more piece of equipment we got this winter was a chicken plucker!

I think this one will defeather 5 chickens at once.  This will save so much time for us! And we have lots of broilers to be doing in a few more weeks! I'll take pics and show you. Aren't you excited?!

Well here is hoping that when I post next it will be birthing pics of Dandie or Daffy!
Have a great day ya'll!

maple syrup

So this year has been anything but a great sap season. Oh we had plenty of snow to help out the run of the sap! Rain and ice to boot. But the weather was so cold most all winter long, and well into the season it was still too cold, or just too hot. Really weird.  Anyways we did get some maple syrup, and some to sell. Not as much as previous years, but whatever. Tis the year for crazy weather.

My oldest girl, collecting one fine day.

 My second oldest girl collecting some more sap one fine day.

I'm stuck in the house finishing off some maple syrup. It was all darker stuff this year. I'm floating 60 briks in the cup back there. Time to bottle it. Just in time to get it done before chores if you can see the time ;)
Smells really good too!

Here is an area where we tap trees.

This is the ditch down the road from us. Looks more like it would be a stream. All the snow and rain we got finally melted!

Have a great day all!

perks

The perks of being a mom and living in the country where there is an abundance of them.

I love the bunches of dandelions that my kiddos bring me on a daily basis. They look forward to when they are big enough,  and can pick me some. They come in the house with their hands behind their back with a big smile and have me guess what side I want.
I never lack for fresh flowers in the house this time of year. But mostly I love the hands that bring them to me!

12:04pm

Well Maggie's due date has come and gone. It was Tuesday the 14th. Nope, no calf. But with the last two she has had with us she has been 9 and 10 days late. So... we wait.
We had thought she was going to go early due to the fact that her udders swelled up so. So we have been watching her and staying close to home. Well, I'm usually always home, but you get the picture. We even checked on her in the middle of the night a few nights. No calf. Not to mention she wouldn't come in the barn. Not even for me!! She always comes in for me. Stubborn cow. I would have felt better having her outside and calving in the field. More room and I didn't have to worry about anything happening to the calf outside.
So today I was doing school with the kiddos when  looked out the window and checked on Maggie. She was way up in the pasture, and it looked like she was dancing. I grabbed the binoculars to get a closer look. She was dancing. I know that sounds weird but that is the only way I can think to get a picture in your head. She was moving slowly in a circle, her hips slightly swaying and her back legs moving slowly around the front. Her head was low to the ground and then she would stop and take a few bite of lush green grass. Then sway her hips and back legs would move again. I stood in the window watching. The kiddos were watching me wondering what was going on. I smiled and grabbed the phone. I told the kiddos that "I think Maggie is gonna have a baby today." They cheered. I called my husband. He's been working out of town. I told him what was going on, and he said to keep him posted. I hung up and tried to get the kiddos back to school, but we were all too busy wondering about Maggie. We went outside and stood quietly watching with the binoculars. Each one taking turns and chattering excitedly as Maggie would lay down, and stand back up and dance around again. We came back in the house and got lunch ready, and peeking out the window. Not really wanting to eat, but getting it out anyways. We looked out the window and Maggie was laying down with her butt in the direction we could not see. Bummer. Then as she stood up and turned out came the baby as she stood!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I saw it!!!!!!! The kiddos saw it!!!!!!!!!!!! How excited we all were!!! I called my husband again and told him she had just had the calf!!!!!!!!!!!!! I looked at the clock. 12:04pm. We gave her about 10 minutes and then we walked up the path to see her. We kept our distance because she gets real upset and pushy and will try to knock you over. We saw such a beautiful, wet, red looking calf laying in the grass soaking up some love from her mama. It shook it's little head and tried to stand up. Fell over and tried again. It laid there and rested. Mama Maggie mooed her special moo to her baby and licked the baby's  face. She pawed the ground, and kept her eye on us. Reluctantly we walked back to the house. I didn't get a look at the hind end of the baby. I still didn't know what it was. But I was happy to see it getting loved and dried off, and trying to get up. I knew they both needed some time. A few folks driving by stopped to see the new little calf too.
Within the hour it was up and nursing like a champ. I was pleased. And relieved. Still I did not know what the sex was...and dying to know!
Maggie delivered the afterbirth and my oldest daughter saw that. She thought it was gross. So I explained it to her, and then it wasn't so gross. Well Maggie decided to eat the afterbirth. I know that can cause them to choke and was worried about it. I didn't dare go out in the field alone, even with a stick. My father in law came over and we drove his jeep out in the field and I had a stick and a bucket. Well by the time he got here and up there Maggie had eaten all the afterbirth. We sat in the jeep and watched her for maybe 20-30 minutes. Not really sure what was going to happen. I do know she has eaten it before with her first one she had with us. But as we were sitting in the pasture watching the miracle of life and motherhood it stood up and wanted to eat...I held my breath and hoped it would turn and give me a nice shot of it's butt...it did!!!

We are pleased to announce we have a new little heifer calf!! Her name is Daffodil aka Daffy. Our oldest daughter named her. A fitting name for a spring baby. She is also the full sister to Dandie!!

Isn't she the sweetest thing????????!!!!!!!!!!! She say "hellooooo"
Her and mama are fine so far. We'll be keeping an eye on them and making sure they both stay fine. They are in the barn for the night. Maggie is all milked. My husband said it was nice to be milking again.

I didn't have the camera, my husband took it with him, so I had to wait until he got home from work to get any pictures of her. She is super cute.
We feel blessed and are very thankful.
Have a great night all!

update

Here's Maggie. She's big, and cranky too.
 Things are getting green around here finally too. The weather has been BEAUTIFUL!!!!! We were able to put the cows out in their bigger pasture the other day too. They have been enjoying the warmer days and the lush green grass!
Have a great day all!

lazy saturday

The sun feels so good today. Warm, sunny and no wind. Just ask the girls! Or wait, don't bother the sleeping beauties!!

Have a great weekend all!!