Robbie's new little brother

What a crazy day it has been!  Actually, the last few days have been some of the busiest I can remember in a long time.  We have had quite the education in calf rearing, that is for sure!  Farming is not for sissies!!  I think maybe, just maybe we finally have it figured out with these calves.

As some of you may know, our first little calf (Sam 4...Sammy Sirloin) did not make it.  I am sure that he had the scours, and I am very sure that he was already sick when we got him.  We had a terrible time trying to get him to eat, and in the end his little body just wasn't strong enough.  He died on Monday night in John's arms while he was trying to feed him.  I have to honestly say that I never got attached to him - probably because deep down I wasn't really sure he was going to make it.  David took it pretty hard though.

I wasn't really sure that I wanted to bother with another one, but John convinced me that we should try again.  We were planning to get one this weekend, but Duffy called last night to tell us he had a replacement for little Robbie.  He arrived last night just before we were leaving to go to basketball practice.  Right away we could tell that he was a lot stronger.

So, at 5:00 this morning - long before the sun came up, little Sam 5 started to moo.  Oh, btw, this cow's tag also says "Sam 5"!  Anyway, he mooed and mooed and mooed.  I finally got up and started my morning routine of coffee, prayer and Bible study.  I was determined not to give in that early lest we start a routine that we could never break.  I woke David up around 7:00 and told him we were going to have to feed the calves a little early because poor Sam 5 was about to moo himself silly.  I figured this was going to be a walk in the park.  He is so hungry, we will never have trouble getting him to take the bottle.  Boy was I wrong!!!

We tried everything.  We chased him around, held him down, pried open his mouth, you name it.  That calf was not having any part of that bottle!  Finally I sent David in to get Steven about 7:45.  (I had originally told him he needed to be ready to feed animals by 8 am.)  The 3 of us all struggled to get that calf to take the bottle.  One of us was holding him down, one holding his mouth open, and the other one squirting the milk into his mouth.  Still no use.  He wanted no part of that bottle.  In the meantime, he is still mooing his head off because he is hungry.  I was beginning to get frustrated!  I was ready to shove him in the back of my minivan and take his little butt back to the dairy farm.  I even nicknamed him "Stupid A-- Moron"  aka SAM.  I think you get the idea.  Then I called Duffy about 8:30 to see if he had any advice.  He said try giving it to him in a bucket.  We tried that too.  No deal!

By that time it was getting late, and we had to get the other animals fed.  I fed his bottle of milk to the pigs who lapped it up in about 15 seconds.  Then I decided to milk Esther and try again with a fresh bottle of warm milk right from the cow.  I figured if he didn't drink that, then I would surrender.  It is just not in my nature to give up though.  So I called the local feed store to see if they had any advice.  They said to force feed him.  (We kind of already tried that, I thought!)  They said to put the nipple in his mouth and hold his mouth closed until he started to suck.  Well, low and behold, it worked!!  By 9:30 he finally had a full belly and stopped mooing.  Hallelujah!!

I figure somewhere in this story there is a lesson.  Persistance?  Patience?  I am not sure.  I do know that my prayer time this morning was spent praising God and thanking Him for all our wonderful blessings.  Despite how difficult it may be at times, I am extremely grateful for the life I have.  I truly wouldn't trade it for anything.  God is good - all the time!

Oh, one more thing....Sam 5 will from now on be called "Sam I Am."  That is a name I had been thinking about for a while when we had the other calf because the two of them reminded me of Dr. Suess.  Today's experience with the bottle was very much like the story, "Green Eggs and Ham."  "I do not like them Sam I Am!" ..... "I will not drink it from a bottle, I will not drink it from a bucket.  I will not drink it with the dogs.  I will not drink it with the hogs..."  (I could go on and on, but it is now11:30, and we have not started school yet.  It is going to be another one of those days...or what I am learning is just a typical day on a very busy farm.)

New additions to the farm

Wow!  What a busy and exciting weekend this has been for us.  It started on Friday night when we were having our regular Bible study with some good friends.  Duffy is a dairy farmer and has become a very close personal friend to our family.  He and my husband John have become bff's and he has become somewhat of a surrogate grandpa to my kids.  Anyway, during dinner at our Bible study, he told my son David that he had a present for him.  This he said with a big smile on his face.

Knowing Duffy to be a big practical joker, I was concerned.  :)  He said he was going to bring it to the house on Saturday morning.  He later told us what the surprise was when David left the room to make sure we were okay with it.  Then when David came back in, Duffy asked him if he wanted one present or two.  Of course, he said two!!  When he told David that he wanted to give him a little calf of his own, David was so excited! Then he asked Steven if he wanted one too.  Of course he also said yes.  So, long story short we are now the proud owners of two adorable baby steer.

The boys agreed that they would be the ones taking care of them.  Little did any of us know how much work would be involved to bottle feed two little calves!  Not only does it take a long time for them to drink their 1/2 gallon bottle of milk, you have to prepare the formula, wash the bottles... It is much like having a newborn (except they only have to eat twice a day).  One of the little calves is still having some trouble taking to the bottle, and we are concerned that he may have the scours.  Duffy is going to come over tomorrow to check on him.

Meanwhile, John got busy building them a new pen and shelter.  He converted part of the dog's pen.  They will live there for the next few weeks until they get a little bigger and we can put them with Esther and Annabelle.  Then I hope to convert it into a chicken coop.  The dogs were very curious about the new calves, and were not at all happy about being temporarily kicked out of their pen.  It was really quite funny.  When they are in the pen, they want out.  Then when they are out, they want back in!  Since Katy can't be trusted not to jump the fence, she had to spend the night tied to the pole barn while Sadie was able to run free.  They were both very happy to be back in their pen tonight.

So, the big question everyone is asking is, "Will you be able to butcher them?"  Only time will tell!!  It will be at least 18 months before we have to do that.  Their names are Robbie Ribeye and Sammy Sirloin.  :)  Robbie is David's new best friend, so we will just have to see.  I do know that they will be the tamest steer you ever want to be around if he keeps hugging them and letting them sleep in his lap.  LOL!

Happy New Year

Wow!  This past year has brought so many changes to my life.  I hardly know where to start.  Let me first say, I am trying more than ever to listen to the "still small voice,"  and lately it has been telling me in more of a roar than a whisper that I need to blog daily.  So, I suppose you could call it a New Year's resolution, but I am going to think of it as more of a response to a calling from God.  Again, I have no idea if what I am writing down will ever be read by anyone other than myself.  But, if it helps me somehow in this journey of life it will be worth it.  However, my deepest prayer is that something I say in this blog will profoundly change another person in their life in someway.  My deepest goal is to share the love of Jesus and to minister to others as to how to have a more personal relationship with Him.

I have experienced a lot of personal growth this past year - especially since my last post.  Breaking my ankle was one of the most painful experiences I have ever gone through.  I would not wish it on my worst enemy.  It did however teach me many valuable life lessons that I may not have learned otherwise.  I do not say that to say that I believe God was responsible.  I believe that the enemy (Satan) was responsible, but I allowed myself to be used by God through the situation.  I believe my family became closer.  I believe my husband and children learned a greater respect for how much I do for them.  At the same time, I appreciate them more too.  I learned to be a little less of a control freak.  Most of all I learned how much I appreciate the ability to walk.  I have such great empathy for people who do not enjoy that freedom, and such respect for our armed service men and women who have lost that ability while trying to protect our freedom.

The best thing to come out of that situation was it gave me time to just sit and do nothing and think and pray.  I had time to read, write in my journal and just reflect on life.  I had time to visualize what I want for my life, and just as I can picture my home all finished, I am beginning to picture our farm and business take shape.  It also seemed that as I was beginning to have these visions, I was discovering articles about "finding your vision".  I even wrote down the following quote in my journal after watching an episode of Oprah:  "You become what you believe.  To find your purpose, pay attention to the life you are leading now."  So once again, the "still small voice" was speaking to me.

I also believe wisdom is where you find it.  Again, after watching an episode of Oprah, I wrote this quote down:  "Your life doesn't have to be what everyone else thinks it should be."  That resonated with me because I think some people - friends and family - probably thought we were crazy for making the lifestyle changes we have made.  It is not easy or glamorous to own a farm.  We are still far from the vision we have for this place, but the vision is still there.  I am committed to working each day to make our dreams a reality.  We have also left the conventional church in order to pursue a more personal relationship with Jesus.  I know that for most people reading this, that sounds like an oxymoron.  However, since "leaving the church,"  we have grown spiritually by leaps and bounds.  I'll have to expand more on that later.

As we move into a new year, I would also like to share something Sid Roth said on his program, "It's Supernatural" a few months ago.  He said, "Do not be like Lot's wife.  Do not look back to the old.  It's time for the new."  Then one of his guests said, "The key to breakthrough is a determined spirit that refuses to take no for an answer."  That is kind of how I feel about this process of trying to sell milk and cheese (which is illegal unless you have a huge expensive operation).  I know that with God all things are possible, and I am just pressing on with the vision.  I am ready to start classes on cheese making soon, and I believe God will work it all out.

I pray that all of you reading have a very blessed New Year.  I welcome any comments.