BOO !!!

A Halloween pepper from the garden!  Isn't he perfectly suited for this day!

A frost is supposed to happen tonight, so yesterday I gathered what I could from the garden: okra, green sweet peppers, peas and green tomatoes.  I'll pick the ripe tomatoes today.  The green tomatoes were wrapped in tissue paper and put in a cool place to ripen; hopefully they will be ready for Thanksgiving or maybe even Christmas.  The ripe tomatoes will be put in the crisper and some will be given away.  It was a wonderful year for our small garden and this momma squirrel put a lot of the crop into the freezer.

An update on the baby calf:  she died last night.  Her wounds were just too deep.  The Farmer has gone to bury her this morning.  I will miss her feeding times, and the nuzzling at my hands and shirt tail.  So, I did a final washing of the bottle and put it away and put the rest of her powdered milk replacement in the freezer, ready for the next little calf in need.

Of course that is the emotional side; there's also a financial side.  Cattle prices are at an all time high now; the Farmer estimates a calf her size would probably bring $500-$600 dollars at market.  Then there is the cost of $26.95 per ten pound bag of formula and I've lost count of the number of bags I've fed.  My time of feeding her three times a day at the beginning and then twice daily for two-three months was free.

The dogs are still free to roam.  The Farmer doesn't like to confront someone over such an issue; besides, as the old saying goes, "you can't get blood from a turnip".  I don't want to see it happen again!  Sometimes one just wants to use the words of the Lord: "Vengeance is mine; I will repay."  I don't think it's over yet...

Charlotte

Another Little Mouth to Feed

Monday evening Popa found a little calf all alone. Then he found a cow with a little calf who was the spittin' image of the first one, so he knew what we had: a set of twins. And, as happens so many times with twins, one was taken and the other left behind. This morning he brought the cow and both calves to the barn here at home and now I guess I have another little mouth to feed; remember I've been feeding one since Mar.{see post for Mar. 3, 2011, Left Alone}

This little calf if not nearly as big as the March calf was, but she sucked the bottle as soon as I gave it to her, so maybe we're off to a good start. She tired quickly, so in order to make sure she got the milk, Popa put it down into her stomach with a tube feeder.

This is her twin sister; they're like "two peas in a pod". Now wouldn't it be nice, if this evening when I go to feed her, she would be sucking the cow? It's not a difficult job, just time consuming and more stuff to wash up.

I wonder what the bigger calf will think when he has to share me with the baby?

Wish me luck! Charlotte


By the way -- I'm not as big as I look in that picture!