Becky

This is Becky, my oldest daughter, the middle child.   

Becky has this fantastic dimple, just one.  It's as deep as they come.  I don't know where she got it, but it's lovely.  She spills things....quite often. 

And this is her in all her cuteness. 

Tomorrow, number 3.

Peace.

The many faces of us.

Ever have family get-togethers and get in silly moods with cameras and cell phones?  Well, as you can see from my home page photo, my family and extended family does this often.  If I ever need to provide official photos of my husband and/or children to anyone, it will be difficult because most of my photos are with tongues out, eyes crossed and hair whipped!  I treasure these photos though, because they display the great love and fun we have when we're together.

This is Danny, my oldest.  He's got great eyes.  And, he can make them do about anything.  This one makes my eyes water when I look at it.  He's really a cute young man when he just gives a normal smile.

And this is him in all his cuteness. 

 Tomorrow, number 2. 

Peace

June is a week old

June is a little over a week old.  Wow, how she has grown in barely 10 days!  She is going to be such a great addition to our herd.  And, the fact that she is a Jersey/Angus cross, she should be a good mother too.

 This evening, as I checked on the farm animals, I noticed June out pestering her mother.  She wanted mama to play, but all Cinnamon could think of was eating the green grass. 

 She tried to get Shirley to run a bit, but Shirley just looked at her.  So, she played.  She played by herself.  And as she played, she bucked, squatted, snorted (that is new today), and jumped!  Oh, the fun she had playing alone.  And, oh the fun I have in watching it all.....right here, on my little piece of of the family farm. 

Until next time, peace.

Beauty

Look how my little pasture is smiling at me today.  It's just a small patch of tiny little daisy-like flowers.  I sat down to take this photo and was happy in how it came out for you to see.  A few days prior, I'm sure I just walked right by this, not noticing.  But, not today.  I stopped, looked and smiled right back at it.  I hope that you have something, that you love, that is smiling back at you today. 

Happy Father's Day!

Today is Father's Day.  This man is the father of my three children and my husband for almost 27 years.  He is the greatest person that God could have given me to spend my life with.  He is patient, kind, giving, compassionate, hard-working, smart.....very smart, faithful, friend to so many, funny, stinky at times, dirty most of the time, a great cook, a great small engine mechanic, a great honey-do-lister, terrible dancer, sharp as a tack..sayitlikeitis, wonderful man.  He'll most likely never see this, but you will....and now you know.

Happy Father's Day, John.  I adore and love you.

Marilyn

Vet on speed dial

Cinny (Sweetie, Cinnamon, Christmas) is struggling with a sore udder.  Her left front and back quarter are terribly swollen.  We have milked her out this morning, and again this evening.  We called the vet early today and expect him sometime this evening.  We don't see any signs of mastitis: the milk is clear and clean.  The bag, however, is ultra large.  It's swelling at it's best.  The right side is fine, lovely, normal and June is taking good care of it. 

I'm not a vet, but I am hopeful that he has a treatment for swelling that will instantly make everything normal for Cinny and us.  All we can do is keep her milked off for now and keep her comfortable. 

June is having a blast, hanging out with mom in the barn.  The hens come in and she moos at them, jumps and kicks her back feet.  A very healthy little heifer.  I'm thankful for that.  I also have no doubt that our care and the vet will get Cinny back to perfect health very soon too!

In the meantime, 5 of our 25 eggs have hatched.  We have 3 yellow and 2 black baby chicks peeping in the basement.  Happy happy joy joy!  Springtime on Cedar Lane Farm is wonderful, even if there are bumps along the way.  Kind of like life, eh?

Peace.

June!

Sweetie did it!  My morning barn visit at 5:30 proved to be a successful one.  They were cuddling together out in the pasture.  Mama did a great job!  A little heifer calf.  Mom seemed to be doing ok.  After running back to the house to alert my sleeping husband, we returned to the pasture, camera in hand.  Sweetie loved her already.

John and I got the calf up and wanted to see her nurse.  She was a little uneasy on her feet, but finally got up.  She couldn't find the spigot! She was sucking the top of mama's leg instead of the udder, which was terribly swollen.  We tried and tried, but this little stubborn girl wouldn't locate the bottle.  All the while, I became more aware of just how tight mama was. 

We lured both of them to the barn, and milked out enough colostrum to feed baby a half gallon bottle.  Mama's left side was so swollen, she wouldn't allow us to touch her.  Long story short, baby was caught nursing a couple of times throughout the day, and John and I were able to milk mama out later on, to make her more comfortable. 

Tomorrow will bring a new day, hopefully an easy one on mama, maybe some new chicks too.  Oh, and the baby's name is June.