Oct 1st Photo a Day

Katie told me about a pretty area nearby that the bus goes by. So, off we went in search of a photo op.This pretty little spot is about 2 miles from home on Sand Road. My first photo for a Photo a Day in October. Practicing for next year when I want to do Project Life.

The October Stamp of the Month, Holiday Magic, is available during October, and can be purchased for just $5.00 with a $50.00 purchase. You can also buy it outright for 17.95. I love the sleigh and the stocking! I will be placing my order soon! If you are interested in this, or any other Close To My Heart products you can order from my website( at right), or by calling or e-mailing me!

Circle of Life

We have had a run of bad luck with our dry cows(cows due in the next 2 months) lately. We had one that was sick, the vet couldn't find what was wrong with her. She was dying right in front of us, and the vet was still there. She wasn't due for 4 weeks, and was having a calf that had outstanding bloodlines. We made the decision to have the vet try an emergency c-section in hopes that the calf's lungs would be developed enough to breathe. We had a very poor outcome from that one, the calf, a heifer, had already died inside mom, so we lost both of them.

2 weeks later we had another dry cow come up sick, also with 4 weeks till her due date. Got the vet out right away and were given the diagnosis that she was dying from a long term internal infection, the best we could hope for was to keep her alive long enough for the calf to develop.
Very sad news since we had lost her mother at the age of 13 1/2 this spring. The decision was made to wait as long as possible then give her a shot that would prepare the calf's lungs for birth. The shot would also put her into labor within 36 hours, so we needed to wait as long as possible. A week later the decision was made to give the shot , as she was declining rapidly.
When I went to check on her again, before we'd given the shot, I could tell she didn't have 36 hours. I would have been surprised if she lasted 3. Another call to the vet, only to find out that he was in the Twin Cities, and couldn't come out.
Having seen the last one done, my hubby decided to try it on our own. Our hired hand mercifully ended her life as my husband cut and went in after the calf. He was able to get him out and the little guy gasped for air. I toweled him dry and we put him in our calf warmer for the night.
He did take a couple days to be able to stand, and took a VERY long time to finish his bottle at first. He is the one that I am feeding in the above photo with my niece, Emily, and also in the other photo wearing his jacket.

Hoping to post more often.....

Sunshine

The sun is shining and its a beautiful day! My "aged" girls have had their calves, and both seem to be doing well. Unfortunately, only bull calves, three of them actually. 812 had her twin bull calves on May 1st, as predicted by me, (both the date and twins!). I was hoping they were twin heifers though. Theresa had her bull calf last night, he's very cute though!

They are all three gone already, went to Granzin's for boarding as we will have too many calves for my hutches in a very short time.

Still dealing with the loss of my Sputter cat. Its been very hard for me, as he was almost a constant companion in the house. I miss him so much. The other two don't fill the space he had in my life, he was very special. Always on my chest/shoulder if I was on the computer, always on my lap if I was watching tv and always on my pillow with me when I was in bed.

Above is a picture of Sputter with my dad. He didn't really care who was in the computer chair, he wanted to be on their chest/shoulder! Love and miss you Sputter!

Rain...

Woke up today thinking I could hear Burl barking and worried that the horses were out. Got up and dressed, let Heidi out to find that what I heard is rain hitting everything. Looks like all day rain today, forecast for just over an inch. The 15 day shows only 2 days with any sun. Hoping that alot of the other days have sun, just not all day. Actually hoping they are just wrong, and we have lots of sunshine :)

Saved a heifer calf yesterday. Momma was calving in a poopy area of the pasture so we brought her inside to pull baby. Baby was quite large, and stuck for awhile as momma's body didn't seem to want to let go. The guys all said she was brain dead, no blinking and tongue hanging out. But, she was breathing and I said she WOULD make it, just let me take care of her. Over the next ten minutes I was told at least 5 times that something was broke, she was brain dead, she wouldn't make it. I kept protesting, and after 15 minutes of toweling her and keeping her propped up and sternal she pulled in her tongue. A minute later her eyes blinked. YEAH!!!!! She ate her full bottle of colostrum an hour later and ate good last night. She is getting herself around her pen and in her hutch too.

Days like that I absolutely LOVE my job!

She is by Roy, one of the last few straws we have, and a granddaughter of 827, one of our best milkers. Her mommas daddy is Bolton, and her momma was my runaway calf from 2 years ago. Born in the south shed, in February, well below zero, and found in the middle of the night in the road in front of the barn. Quite a jaunt for a newborn!

Well, thats all for now, better get my morning started.

An update

I am going to try this again, try to be better about keeping this blog updated. It is spring break around here, so the kids are home and life is good.

Katie is working on getting Honey started under saddle, so far the under saddle is going ok, but we aren't going to try a rider yet! She has a little too much energy so far with the saddle. We'll wait till she can go around the round pen without bucking and crow hopping to try a rider.

Tyler is off doing field work, a job he is not really fond of. But, as long as the tractor has a radio and he can at least hear the Brewer games he is not too mad.

I have much spring cleaning that I would like to get done, but not alot of ambition to go with it!

Well, thats all for now. I'll be trying to keep up a little better!

Venison....

Tyler has really developed his hunting/shooting skills. He shot a deer on Wednesday night after school, and again tonight after school. We have ag tags because of crop damage that the DNR requires us to fill by mid September. At the rate Tyler is going he will be able to shoot them all himself in the future. We will not go hungry around here! Good thing we all like venison.

He is really hoping that some of the bucks he has seen will stroll past when season opens!

I got to go watch the JH Football team play last night, poor kids lost 48-0. Our team is so small, both in numbers and size, compared to the teams that they compete with. We have 13 kids on the team, and one of them has been sidelined for academic reasons for a couple of games. When the other team switches out the whole field, we can rest one boy:( They do get alot of practise, but man are they tired.

Well, guess I better go, I need to plan my new catalog open house!

Melissa