Farming for a Future
I was taking the dogs for their evening stroll around the property when I looked up and saw this. I was standing in the northwest corner of our property when I took this picture and even I was surprised at how peaceful and serene it looks.
I can’t see the one thousand projects screaming for attention.
I can only see beauty. I hope that’s what you see too…
Is this an accurate representation of our small farm? Nope. But it’s a piece of it.
There are days when I want to quit, to give up on starting a small farm and move to town and board the horses and sleep more and worry less.
And then there are times when I look up and I think, “Here is exactly where I want to be, now and always.”
This was one of those times.
Just when I thought Scarlett was not pregnant after all, since her due date came and went, she gives birth to a lovely heifer on a cold, wet afternoon in late October. I was on my way to town to have dinner and see a movie with my oldest and I was trying to get the cows to come in before I left. They were waaaaay at the back of the pasture and Dawn was bellowing at me. Sure enough I took a good look and I saw a reddish lump on the ground. I quickly sent Emma a one-word text “Baby!!!” and she knew what it meant and bundled up to head out to help me. Because it was October 26th at 5:00 p.m. and windy and raining and cold and I was not leaving that newborn out in that weather.
So I picked up Rose and Emma ran interference for me as Scarlett kept trying to get her baby back and we made it to the cowshed and got mama and calf into shelter.
Then I changed out of my clothing now covered in afterbirth and mud and washed up the best I could. I didn’t make it in time for dinner, but I did for the movie, although I think I still smelled like afterbirth.
That’s two heifers in a row! If Scarlett is pregnant again now (and I hope Dawn is as well), we could use a bull calf. Just sayin’.
July is usually t-shirt weather when working in the garden, but not this year! I was out in rain gear and rubber boots today! Bleh!
We drove for 4 hours each way to pick up bacon bits today, but it was worth the drive. These are Berkshire pigs, an awesome breed, and we couldn’t find a local breeder. Plus we got to explore a new part of the state as we drove, and we had a lot of quality time in the truck for talking. The piglets? They were troopers in a dog cage in the bed of the truck the whole way home! They just slept, one across and the other three using it as a pillow.
Tonight mama hen and baby chick are on the top rung of the ladder. From nesting box and being nestled under mama’s feathers to roosting like a big chick and preening itself all pretty. That baby is growing up so fast!
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