One Sad Necessity

Little Dorrit lost her voice this morning...

I can't imagine anything more sad than a calf going hoarse from mooing after being separated from it's mom...

...except maybe a mama cow who looks like she's crying while she moos back.

Sad necessity... baby was tearing up mama's teats with her sharp teeth and was growing far too tall to reach the low udder to drink. She'll be happier on the bottle until we wean her in a few months.

Farm Updates

Last week I found a buyer for Chestnut, one of our Angus/Jersey cross heifers. We still have Cocoa for beef, so business-wise I think it was a good decision to sell one animal before winter and high hay prices hit.



Baby Dorrit is a testimony to the benefits of leaving the calf on its mother, she's huge and very healthy. We're just struggling to put weight back on her mama, Mattie, who is giving at least 7 gallons of milk per day - right off her back, of course. :bangs head on desk: I love Opal, my fat wonderful cow... she's a brick, still giving almost 4 gallons a day, steady as you please. Jani will be dried off in a week, getting big with baby due mid-October.

Both Mattie and Jani tested as A2/A2, which is a praise, and I may get our 14 month old Jersey heifer Shiloh tested just for kicks. She's a gorgeous animal, I'm impressed that she has performed so well on just grass.



I wish it was all roses, though... Mattie came down with the first case of mastitis on our farm. Hopefully it is improving, and only one teat is affected.

I caved in... and bought two piglets... lol, I'm nuts. They escaped their pen the first day, and luckily we got them back in before the cows trampled them to death. It has since been quiet for the past few weeks. Then Sunday night someone opened their pen door and they escaped again. Isaac and all the kiddoes enjoyed the wild pig chase... the pigs' owner, not so much enjoyment :P

We bought 10 ton of premium eastern OR orchard grass hay to fill the barn. Very spendy, but good for the animals. Grain will need to be purchased next month, and then we should be set through December.

Country Courtship

Isaac and I, walking cows home for milking ;)

I enjoy spending lots of time with Isaac these days... :D

These past few weeks I have met with and talked to many godly ladies, younger and older, about this courtship. To be honest, I feel as though my communication 'quota' (yes, strange as it may seem, I'm a girl who has one of those) has been exceeded by 200%. There's a lot of pressure to get married, and do things the 'right' way, so it has been a struggle to be patient with myself. I'm different than everyone else, move at a different pace, and have different struggles to work through. For a while I'm going to focus less on getting advice from other people, and work on communicating with God and Isaac. Just the three of us :)

"May the peace that passes all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus."

The lyrics to one of my favorite songs by John Michael Talbot:

Shepherd me, O God beyond my wants,
beyond my fears, from death into life.

God is my shepherd, so nothing shall I want,
I rest in the meadows of faithfulness and love,
I walk by the quiet waters of peace.

Gently you raise me and heal my weary soul,
You lead me by pathways of righteousness and truth,
my spirit shall sing the music of your Name.

You have set me a banquet of love
in the face of hatred,
crowning me with love beyond my pow’r to hold.

Surely your kindness and mercy follow me
all the days of my life;
I will dwell in the house of my God forevermore.