A Calf!

We found a calf in the shed this morning!  Christina had calved in the night, in fact, probably pretty recently.  It was still wet.  We covered it with towels and gave it a good rubbing. Christina was licking it well.  I got a glimpse under it's tail and didn't see any boy parts, so we think it might be a girl.  It's windy and stormy today, but inside the shed, in this corner she has it in, feels cozy and decent.

I'm sad that we missed the birth, but not that sad since it happened in the middle of the night.  Yesterday was a long, hard day.

We started an emergency project.  We have a hose that runs out to the cows for their water and we got heat tape to keep it defrosted through the winter.  After opening it up, my husband discovered that he'd have to buy some heavy-duty extension cables to make it work, so we decided to put our time and money into a longer term solution — burying a pipe below the frostline.

My husband spent the morning getting things ready.  Early afternoon he rented the trencher.  The guy at the shop said that a 100 foot trench would take a couple hours.  As soon as he started, things looked dismal. The ground was heavy and slippery and it the going was slow.

As the sun was going down, he was no where near done.  I took a headlamp out to him and he kept going.   We took water and cheese out to him every half hour and he kept going.  I took this picture of him working.  My camera isn't very good in the dark, but it didn't look much better to the naked eye.  Finally, at 9:30pm, after six hours, the trench was done.

I've heard about farmers having to work in the dark and always thought it sounded awful.  His spirits seems pretty good, but I would have been cranky.  At least it wasn't freezing cold.

All the while I was inside taking care of kids by myself, while getting tomatoes skinned and hanging.  I've heard that the self-sufficient lifestyle means regular 12-hour days.  Part of me feels good at investing so much hard work.  Part of me does not.

But then I see that cute little calf.  There is joy and wonder in the midst of all this work that is bigger than any of us.  Christina let us over to the calf, but pushed beefy back when he tried to get too close.  Christina seems okay, no sign of milk fever, and is enjoying her first morning with her baby.  Today we'll watch closely to make sure she doesn't develop milk fever, that the calf nurses, and that everybody gets along okay.

This morning will be our first milking.  In five days the colostrum should be done and we'll be drinking fresh milk.  Praise God, creator of all good things and the mother of all mothers!