The Scenery

Is March as Marchy at your neck of the woods as it is here (stormy, sleety, snowy, rainy, muddy, mucky, windy)? I haven't seen so much as a dandelion yet, but the cute new calves do much to enhance the landscape. 

Tulip and her darling little guy, Teddy. 

Dazzle with her boy, Razzle II. (We're recycling some calf names this year. It's just easier to remember!)

Curly with his doting mama, Peaches. 

Bella, showing off her new heifer, Bonny-Lee, to an admiring crowd.

Ziggy's terribly proud of her not-so-little Hoss.

Cupcake and her heifer, Cocoa. I find the coal-black calves difficult to photograph; unless the light is right, they just look like silhouettes. We have calves that have been here for weeks who still don't have a decent picture!

Sweet little Midnight, Fancy's heifer, trying to eat hay at only 24 hours old.

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"When we are secure in the finish line, the winding road is just scenery." ~Alli Worthington

Sit, Stay, Trust

Can anyone recommend a reputable dog obedience school?

Seven-month old Ellie couldn’t be any sweeter, smarter, or friendlier. She’s great with kids, goats, cows, other dogs, even cats, but she doesn’t follow directions. Oh, she doesn’t ignore us; she just weighs her options first.

For instance, if we tell Ellie to get in the truck, she pauses and then paces warily, just out of reach. Her eyes tell all: Hmm, is this a trick? Are we all going on some adventure together, or do they just want to imprison me so I won’t be in their way? What a dilemma! Should I submit to their wishes or to my own fun-at-all-costs philosophy? Which is worse, making them mad or losing my liberty? Can I really trust them? I can't decide....

In the meantime, Ellie’s humans are beginning to growl and bark.

Ellie doesn’t realize that if she did obey commands like Come, Go Home, and Stay, we could trust her more, thus allowing her to accompany us more. But if she disobeys orders which keep her safe from vehicles or tractors or protective mama cows, then we must leave her safely tied or penned up--when we finally convince her to do so. 

One day I was grumbling to Hubby, the cats, Jesus—anyone who would listen, really—about how disobedient Ellie is, how slow she is to trust us, and how many good times she’s missing out on because of that. Ahem. That's when it occurred to me that the Lord could readily say the same about Ellie’s mistress and, in fact, couldn’t be blamed if He enrolled me in obedience school.

Ellie gladly follows her big brother Zach on fun excursions.

Ellie expects her goats to go where she tells them. They usually do, eventually.

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"Trust in the Lord completely, and do not rely on your own opinions. With all your heart rely on him to guide you....Don't think for a moment that you know it all.” ~Proverbs 3:5-6 TPT

Felicity and Friends.

Calving is proceeding faster than my photographing and blogging. Sometimes I think I don't have time to stop working long enough to stalk calves with my phone camera, but then I remember that I should share pictures with those of you who may not be fortunate enough to have cute baby cows in your back yard. (If you do, you're not reading this anyway. You don't have time.) 

The newest arrival, Felicity, with her mama, Joy. 

Frosty morning with Little Blossom, Calla, and Bugs.

Breakfast. Left: Marcie, shown in front of her mama, Lucy. Right: Calla with her mama, Lily. 

Abigail with her mama, Annabelle. The latter diligently watches over every calf on the place; I've been calling her Mama Belle.

Violet with her mama, Pansy. Violet is much spunkier than her name would suggest.

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"Nobody savors a spring breeze like the one with a face chapped by winter winds." ~Beth Moore

Bear With Me

It was one of those inexplicable dreams set in a place I've never been and populated by folks I've never met. Had I not been awakened by the cow-check alarm clock just as the kindergarteners were painting the polar bear, I'm sure I'd have forgotten it. 

Yes, indeed. A real live polar bear, tranquilized for the safety of the young artists eagerly applying bright splotches of tempera paint to its fur. As I leaned over to inspect their work, I asked their teachers the obvious: Why?

It's therapeutic, one of the ladies answered, beaming. It's helping them heal from winter.

I nodded as if the whole business made perfect sense. I very much wanted to ask, How much longer until the tranquilizer wears off? and more importantly, considering there was no bus or building in sight, How do you plan to keep these kids from getting mauled by the polar bear? But that's when the Harp ringtone (sounds lovely but is actually annoying) on my phone alarm interrupted the dream. 

Ridiculous dream notwithstanding, we do have a bear on the place now. 

Glory's little black Bear was born a few days ago. 

Bear's first morning.

Glory gives enough milk for multiple cubs, so life is good for this Bear.


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"Jesus didn't come for the rich, the educated, the popular, or the esteemed folks. He came for me. For us." ~Angie Smith

    

Five Signs of Spring

If I raise cows for the rest of my life, I won't cease to be amazed by the devotion and mothering ability of the mamas as well as the toughness, moxie, and joie de vivre of young calves. But you don't want to read about that, you want me to get on with the introductions! Here are the first five, all of which were born to first-calf heifers.

After 283 days*, Sunny now has Shadow...

Bunny has Bugs...

     Buttercup has Little Blossom...

Cameo has Opal...

 ...and Nellie has Speck!

*Average length of gestation for cows

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"God will let you laugh again; you'll raise the roof with shouts of joy." ~Job 8:21 The Message