Summer Days

 The lazy days of summer are winding down and I'm looking forward to transitioning back into our regular rhythm and picking up our school books again :)

We have packed our days full of camping, exploring, playing and enjoying the special moments that summer provides with nights spent on the beach in our cozy camper, collecting buckets full of shells and other treasures that I know we'll find a use for somehow, watching little ones fall asleep in front of the campfire and become brave little swimmers at the lake, trips to the aquarium and special dinosaur exhibits, watching our baby calves grow and making wishes on every dandelion gone to seed in sight.

I think we made good use of our days *grin*.

Hugs,

Rosina

Betty Beefsteak & Sir-Loin Alot

It would seem that I've been sleeping, breathing and obsessing over calves for the last 4 days. Monday morning the little heifer was not quite herself and was completely uninterested in her bottle of warm milk which was a huge sign that something wasn't right and her bowel movements had been looking pretty runny. I checked the cupboard for the emergency electrolyte and mineral replacement powder that I try to have on hand all the times for calves that get the runs to help replace what their bodies loose with all of the loose stool and I was so happy to see that I had some.

By the time I returned she was lying down making little moo noises as she lay her head on my lap and really did not want to get back up. I was really getting worried that I was going to loose her :( So I spent most of the day in and out of the barn trying to get her to take sips of the electrolytes which was going painstakingly slow but a little is better than none. You shouldn't underestimate how fast one of these little guys can dehydrate but I had one more little trick up my sleeve to help her to feel better and that was to give her 30cc's of pepto bismol with one of those little baby medicine syringes every 4 hours. Some people swear by using pepto for calves with the runs and others will say it's an old wives tale and doesn't do anything at all but I have used it a few times in the past and it always does the trick!

Later that evening she was ready to take her bottle of milk again, drank a little more than she had managed in the morning and was back on her feet again. Yay! Over the next few days we continued our regime of electrolytes and pepto and I am so relieved to say that today her appetite is back and growing in leaps and bounds and her bowel movements are all back to normal :)

Sometimes the change from being moved to a new home, or the switch from fresh cow's milk to a milk replacer can trigger the upset or even the stress from so many new faces and hands wanting to pet her can do it to them but all is well in the barn again and oh by the way that's her up in the first photo... Betty Beefsteak herself. All bright eyed and bushy tailed today as she bounced around *grin*.

Heehee, don't you just love her name?! Hubby came up with them :) Well actually first Betty Beefsteak was going to be T-bone but we didn't think it was girly enough and the little boy has been named Sir-Loin Alot :)

There never seems to be enough milk for the little guy either! He makes the cutest little face when he's finished with the tip of his tongue hanging out...

but watch your backside or front side for that matter *grin*. When the bottles are empty they sometimes look for more and bump you in some not so nice places LOL. Yeah, we're going to have to break them of that habit :)

Hugs,

Rosina

Meet Our New Babies

We picked up our baby calves this morning and they are adorable! We had thought we were getting two little bull calves but actually ended up with a little heifer and one bull calf which is even better :)

They were little troopers on the long ride home, laying down nicely in the back of our horse trailer under the little shelter we had built for them to keep any wind off of them so they didn't catch a chill as they are only two weeks old and still quite susceptible to the cold and damp.

As soon as we had them unloaded and into the barn the kids were right in there with them petting and brushing them and falling hopelessly in love with them *grin*.

They seemed to settle in pretty well but they're still a little skittish and unsure of us...

but I know that as soon as we bring out the milk bottles tonight we'll win them over :)

Hugs,
Rosina

Catching Up & A New Magazine

Somehow the few days I had intended to stay off the computer during the Easter holiday have turned into nearly 2 weeks! The days are flying by me at great speed but we had a wonderful holiday baking cookies, making and sharing in big family dinners, chasing down clues hidden all over our property for our easter hunt and getting ready for the new members of our family to arrive :)

No we're not having another baby although I really really want one *grin*, but we're adopting two new baby calves just barely a week old that we're going to bottle feed and raise. I think I may be more excited than the kids!! I just melt over their little doe eyes LOL. So we've been cleaning the cow barn and doing some repairs to it that were needed and as soon as hubby gets home from work we're going to load up the trailer and pick them up. Yay :)

I had wanted to share some pictures with you tonight as well but for some reason Flickr's new photo program Aviary and I are just not getting along and it wouldn't work for me :( I'm crossing my fingers that it's just some sort of glitch and I can get back to business soon but in the meantime I wanted to share with you this really great homesteading e-magazine I found.

The Homestead Community Post is a brand new online magazine published by the Harrison family over at Homestead Drying Racks and right now they are offering it as a free preview for anyone and totally worth checking out!

It's 40 pages long and looks just like a professionally laid out magazine unlike some of the newsletter type mags I've seen and it is full of stories, helpful tips and tricks, recipes and more. You can click on the link below to go directly to PDF of the magazine or save it to your computer or ipad to read at your leisure and check out their website as they are having a fun giveaway to kick of their magazine to :)

Homestead Community Post ~ Spring 2012

Hugs,
Rosina

Meet Our Newest Family Member

Say hello the 'Bee' :)
The kids and I took a trip down island yesterday to pick up a couple of little calves and they are the sweetest little things. They're Ayrshires, a good hardy Scottish breed and I am so in love with this ones cute little doe eyes *grin*. Yeah, I know all babies are cute but we just love cows around here with their whiskery noses and inquisitive nature :)



The fellow we bought them from had named the above one Bee because apparently when he was born he had huge bugged out eyes that reminded him of a bee and the other little guy (don't have a photo) was named Appy because his coat looks like an Appaloosa but the kids changed his name to Bumble so now we have Bumble & Bee *grin*.

They took to the trailer really well and were quite content to spend their time peaking through the crack between the doors while they waited to be unloaded. I don't think we've had a quieter pair before either, not a peep out of them! No mooing or bawling from the change, just happy to be piglets in all of the lush green grass that has sprung up finally :)

I think we're going to make them into a nice 4H project for my oldest and he can spend time halter training them and learning how to care for them. Should be fun!

~ Rosina