First there were the calves that have been arriving since early March at the farm G. works at. G.'s cow Sparkles (the aptly named spirited cow who gave her a run for her money in the show ring a few years ago) gave birth to a calf this spring. G. is loving working with a small calf again and hopes to bring her to the fair this year.
In hopes of encouraging this calf to be less "Sparkle-y" and firecracker-ish, G. named the calf Serena. G. settled on this name because it means "serenity." She's hoping if the notion of names affecting behavior is true, this name has the right kind of influence.
The jury is still out on that however. G. is thinking Serena has a bit too much of her mother's sparkly nature to truly be influenced by her name choice. This questioning came after we confirmed - via this photo - that Serena was in fact sticking her tongue out at us while swatting her tail during a halter training session.
Just for the record, this is typical cow behavior but still, it seemed too coincidental at the time.
Every animal of every species has a few gems full of personality. G. has a knack for finding them.
A few weeks ago L. met her lambs for the first time. She chose a natural-colored lamb (black/brown coloring) and a white wool breed mix. She named them Onyx and Pearl, respectively.
They are oh so sweet.
The little lambs are at our house with the big girls (Minnie and Symphony) now. The big girls are a little unhappy with us at the moment because of the indignity we subject them to - shearing (their second of their lives).
SUNDAY, before shearing
IN PROCESS at a friend's farm
AFTER the shearing
Minnie and Symphony have been quite vocal since the shearing. It seems clear they are letting us know they miss their coats. L. has told them to get over it because she is very happy with the wool she now has to get prepared to spin (and a fleece to show at the fair).
Although Symphony will be leaving us soon, we seemed to have gained an extra animal in L.'s machinations for her 4-H sheep showing season. I am not quite sure what happened to the two sheep limit I set up last year. The issue is that when L. says she'll take care of the animals, she really does. Therefore, I seem unable to say no to this child when it comes to new acquisitions.
The piglets L. is in the process of purchasing will be arriving in early May. L. is pretty jazzed about that too. We also have a few new chicks coming in June per L.'s request to get some new breeds in our coop.
I continue to have random moments of worry when the full impact of our decision to take on new animals hits me. It's a lot of work and a lot of uncertainty with the issues that inevitably come up while raising animals.
But it is all about perspective.
We have friends who breed pigs. A couple of piglets from one of their litters were having trouble. We stopped by to visit and found an undersized piglet hanging out in their living room inside a laundry basket by the wood stove (she also had a heating blanket in the basket under her blankets too). She's gaining weight so they're optimistic about her survival now.
But that's when I knew that my crew can handle the plate/backyard we've filled this year.
Because at least I have not had a piglet living in a laundry basket in my living room.
But as L. reminded me, "Well, at least not yet mom."
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