Liza

Flame has fallen in love with her calf, hovering over her and talking to her constantly. Her lively, long-legged little heifer loves to buck and dance around, showing off to any audience, whether human, bovine, or avian. She’s got her mama’s long, upturned nose, plus these big, gorgeous eyes framed by insanely long eyelashes. Even though our little ranch couldn’t be further than Broadway, I can’t help but name her Liza.

“You have turned my mourning into dancing….” –PSALM 30:11

Last and First

The first calf of 2013 has arrived! Not only was she 11 days early, but her mama, Flame, was on the bottom of our list for possible early calvers. From the looks of the ladies-in-waiting, my bet was on a trifecta consisting of Bubbles, Blossom, and Cupcake. A surprise like this was delightful but rather humbling.

Flame calved out in the pasture. When I checked her, the baby heffie had sucked and was up bucking (see photo), so I was going to leave the pair out there. But then suddenly they were discovered by a dozen other curious and playful heifers. I tried to lure the troublemakers away with hay in the back of the Ranger, but Flame decided to come too—at a run. When I saw two heifers running at the calf, shaking their heads, I jumped out, scooped up the 70 pound calf, and shoved her into the “cab” of the Ranger. Somehow I managed to keep her inside and drive at the same time.

Long story short: with the help of some helpful cow angels, I got the calf in the barn and the heifers in the corral. Since I had to run the gate and sort cows at the same time, it took a while to get Flame isolated and reunited with the calf. The latter is currently napping on a pile of hay. So far, so good!

Needless to say, I haven’t even started on laundry and breakfast dishes. But first I need a shower because I smell like newborn calf slime and urine.

“So the last will be first, and the first will be last.” –MATTHEW 20:16

Hooligans

I suppose every neighborhood has them: two or three impudent young thugs with more nerve than brains. If there’s trouble to be made or property to be vandalized, those guys will have a hand in it.

Since we live in such idyllic country environs, one would think that we wouldn’t have to worry about hooligans. Not so. Two yearling mule deer bucks, ruffians both, had the audacity to tear the bark off of five of our young quaking aspens one night this winter. The little twerps committed the crime right in front of our house, while we slept!

Hopefully, the trees will survive and the hoodlums will either reform or move to another neighborhood!

Mule Deer in Aspen by Jenny Robinson

(To see more of Jenny's artwork, click on the Horses Out West Studio link at right.)

“In the day of my trouble I will call on You, for You will answer me.” –PSALM 26:7

Ladies-in-Waiting

Every day, the ladies-in-waiting look less and less like heifers, and more and more like cows. I wonder if they have any idea of what’s coming!

 Cupcake-in-waiting

“Since before time began
    no one has ever imagined,
No ear heard, no eye seen, a God like you
    who works for those who wait for him.” –ISAIAH 64:4 (MSG)

Nesting

As an eagle flies, we live less than half a mile from the Big Horn River. From our vantage point, we can’t see the river itself, but we get daily glimpses of one of the bald eagles that fish in it. A few days ago, we were surprised to see two of them together in the same tree. Could nesting season be upon us already?

Back in the barnyard, there's definitely some nesting going on. We spent most of the day getting the barn ready for calving. First we cleaned it all out, then hauled in and shoveled dirt to level it and to prevent melting snow and rain from running in, should the drought break! The dirt is a little damp, but since it’s sandy, it should dry before I need to spread down the straw. We also had to take the very heavy palpation cage (used for A.I. and pregnancy checks) out of the maternity pen. (The latter is ready in case a heifer needs assistance with delivery.)

Next on my to-do list this week is converting a shed/greenhouse into a temporary goat nest, since new mama cows will probably not appreciate sharing their calves’ nursery with animals of a different species!

“How can I picture God’s kingdom for you?...It’s like a pine nut that a man plants in his front yard. It grows into a huge pine tree with thick branches, and eagles build nests in it.”  –LUKE 13:18-19 (MSG)

Solly's Eyes

Horses primarily use body language to communicate. Whinnies and nickers aren’t heard nearly as frequently as horse movies would lead us to believe. A good horseman can easily read a horse’s body language and converse with the horse using his own.

But one doesn’t have to be a horseman to know what our Tennessee Walker, Solomon, is thinking. His eyes tell all! One glance says he’s content, hungry, wanting attention, begging a carrot, proud of the good work he’s done, or jealous. (He’s easily offended and gets miffed if someone pays more attention to Sugar than him.) Solly would make a terrible poker player.

This morning Solly looked so cute, all covered with tiny icicles, that I just had to snap his picture before I did chores. Needless to say, his eyes read like a book:  Enough already! Where’s my breakfast?

“The blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is being preached to the poor.”  –MATTHEW 11:5 (NLT)

Best of Ranch

Dog people probably know that this year’s Best of Show at Westminster was Banana Joe, an (I had to look this up) affenpinscher from the Netherlands. What folks may not know is that our cowdog, Bodie, was just recently named Best of Ranch. While it’s true that the judges (us) were biased, and the competition was not stiff—actually, he was the only contestant—he certainly has the stuff of greatness: stunning good-looks, superior intelligence, athleticism, courage, devotion, and dignified presence. Bodie is humble, too. Despite winning such a prestigious award, he still helped me do chores and herd cows this morning!

“They all shook their heads in wonder, astonished at God’s greatness….” –LUKE 9:43 (MSG)