Spring to Summer update 2015

K8 puts medicine on cattle to de-worm them during the Spring.

K6 is working in a big city making money and gaining experience. He has been offered a pretty cool job opportunity in the TV, video, editing world later this summer...stay tuned.

Summer time means K8 mows our giant yard weekly. He drives a little too fast sometimes without looking at the ground. Result? Look at the yellow mowing deck under his feet - notice the front portion is touching the ground? He hit a rock or stump and broke off the linkage that holds the deck to bottom of engine. He finally noticed it a few minutes after I took this photo. Had to special order the part from John Deere, because it is out of production and hard to find. Hope he doesn't do this again.

One of the bridges near our farm collapsed and had to be replaced. We had to take a detour for over three weeks, but finally fixed and re-opened.

A gorgeous evening. We have had lots of rain throughout the Spring and Summer.  At least the pond is finally full to the top.

K8 and I came home one afternoon and I noticed this small cow, Wendy, was still trying to give birth after three hours of effort - something really wrong, it should have taken less than half an hour. 

We called in the professional midwife because none of the Vets were available.

Everyone of us tried pulling the calf out, but could not get her out. It was a girl, and she was still alive at this point.

But by the time we called our neighbors to bring a come-along to help us pull her out, she died. First time we have ever lost a calf on the farm in 5 years. Wendy is a tiny girl and Red's calf was just too big for her. Wendy laid in the pasture for a week resting before she stood up. The boys took her feed and water. Thankfully, she has recovered and now healthy. I'm waiting until end of July to put her in with our tiny black bull, Black Bart. Hopefully, the two will have lots of little healthy calves over the next many years.

Other critters die on the farm - especially if they come uninvited. Our big dog took care of this trespasser. 

K2 has been very busy in the barn the past few months. He built several shelves and organized this corner of barn for all our feed and garden items. He even put the big heavy feed barrels on wheels so they are easy to roll around. He also made a long board for K8; cut all the trim so we could finish the floor board trim in the basement rooms; and built a new laundry room shelf unit that holds 3 large laundry baskets.