Happy Birth Day...

We were beginning to wonder if she was ever going to have her calf...

All in her own time...only one week late...

I never get tired of seeing the babies stand up so soon after birth.  They wobble around for a while as they find their legs, but soon they're up and running!  This little big guy has had his first bottle of colostrum and will soon be settled in for the night.

Happy birth day bully!

You Know It's Spring When...

You know it's spring when...

There are lots of ways to finish that sentence, but one way you know it's spring here is that the pens at the other farm get cleaned out.

I'm a few weeks late with this post, but here are a few pictures anyway.

It happens every spring and fall, but there's nothing quite like a barn that's been completely cleaned out of pen pack manure.  Load after load of manure has been spread on the fields, and now bales of corn fodder are tossed from the mow, down through the hole onto the floor below...

(the windows are open now, letting more fresh air in the barn)

Fresh dry fodder has been spread all over the floor of the pens and the skid loader sits idle out in the barn yard...

The cows (with the bull, of course leading the way) are left back into the barn after spending the day outside...

They suspiciously explore their freshly bedded pens...

...and get right back to work at messing them up for the fall clean up!  That one won't take as long, because the animals will all be spending a lot of time out in the meadow before too long!

How do you know it's spring in your neck of the woods?

Random Five Friday...

It's been a while since I've joined up with Random Five Friday...but today's a great day to do it!  A lot has been happening to keep us busy around here.

1.  Lancaster County was hit by a nasty ice storm this week.  Wednesday morning was a mess!  It's amazing what 1/4" - 1/2" of ice will do to trees and power lines.  There are still many people without power, and it looks like it could be the end of the weekend until everyone is back in service.  We are very fortunate here, in that our lights never even blinked.  Jim was prepared to hook up the generator if we needed it, but we were glad to let it parked in the shed this time.

This is our rental property across the road.  Those old Chinese Elm trees are huge...and old...and they don't withstand stress very well.  Early in the morning, we heard "crack"..."crash"...over and over again. Thankfully no branches hit the house or any power lines.  Although it looks like a tornado hit, no major damage was done...

2.  A friend sent me this picture of our farm that she took on her phone.  The red of the Farmall M, and the orange of the manure spreader were the only traces of color!  This is what it's looked like around here for a while now...all white...

3.  I took this picture of the corner hutch the other day when I was feeding calves.  Pretty soon the snow will be melted (hopefully!!), the grass will be green, and Jenna will have two little 4-H goats in this pen again.  I might even put the chickens in here once it greens up, to give their pen a break...

4.  We got rid of this guy the other day.  He was little, but ornery, and there's no sense in keeping a bull that has an attitude...

5.  Jim and I attended the funeral for the mother of one of his closest friends recently, and I just had to share this picture.  The farmer and his wife don't always wear barn clothes!

Hopefully you're staying warm, wherever you are.  Have a great weekend!