George says hi

A Day in the Life of George the Calf

Mama and I slept in the barn last night. I think maybe we’re supposed to do this every night, but I dunno, I only got here yesterday morning, so this was my first whole night in the outside world.

The barn is dark. There is lots of straw on the ground, and there’s this skinny place where I fit nicely and then Mama has lots of room on her side of the stall. She had some crunchy stuff in the food bin at bedtime from the Person who comes in here all the time to check on us, and Mama definitely seems to like that crunchy stuff. I dunno why she would want that, milk’s good enough for anyone.

I get all my milk from Mama. The front two milk dispensers are hard to eat from though, they are so huge they fall out of my mouth. I just keep trying until I get one of the back ones, they work way better. In the morning the Person came and put Mama in the skinny place where I’d been sleeping, and gave her more crunchy stuff in the food bin.

The Person put this thing on my head that pinched my nose when I pulled. I pulled anyway, ‘cause who wants a thing on their head? Well, I suppose Mama wears one but mine’s blue and hers is black and I think hers is nicer. The thing had a big rope attached and the Person tied me to a post up by Mama’s head. Mama could see me but she kept bellowing for me to come closer. I didn’t wanna come closer, I wanted to pull the stupid thing off my head. I kept pulling and pulling but it never came off. It’s weird.

The Person got milk out of those front dispensers that didn’t work for me. She has hands though, and thumbs, and that probably makes it easier. Mama did some kicking and fussing but the Person just tied her kicking foot to a post and talked to her and said it would be better once she was done and really it was all okay and the baby was right there and I suppose she meant me. Because I was right there. Mama bellowed anyway.

After the Person poured the milk into a covered bucket, she took the thing off my head and put me back in the stall. Maybe if I’m good while she milks, then I get the thing taken off my head? I’ll have to see if this happens again tomorrow.

Mama got let out of the skinny place and then the Person opened the gate to our stall and … MAMA WENT OUTSIDE! She left me there! It was all nice in the barn, I couldn’t see why she would go out, but there was this tall green stuff and she wanted to eat it. I guess she doesn’t just eat the crunchy things in the food bin. Anyway, Mama kept bellowing so eventually I went out with her, and it was nice and breezy.

Then it got hot. It got really hot. I just lay there in the grass sleeping and panting. Mama ate a bunch of the green stuff and had some water, and every time a cat or dog came near she chased them off.

The Person came out a few times and talked to Mama, and she came and stroked my side and talked to me, but I dunno what she was saying. I just wanted to stay where I was and not move, it was too hot to do anything.

After it cooled off in the evening, the Person came back and put the blue thing back on my head. I dunno why she keeps bugging me like this, it was comfortable in the grass, and I didn’t want to go to the barn. I didn’t even want to stand up. She wouldn’t leave me be, though, so eventually I stood up and then she pulled on the rope and I just had to walk to the barn, even though I didn’t want to! The Person put me in the stall and took the thing off … so maybe if I am good and go in the stall the thing always comes off? Hmm. Mama didn’t have a rope pulling on her, she just came in by herself and ate the crunchy stuff in the food bin and the Person shut the gate and brought Mama more water. Mama let the Person scratch her head. I don’t get it: Mama chases the dogs away if they even look at me, but she lets the Person put that stupid blue thing on my head. Why does she let this Person near me when nobody else can come close? It’s a mystery.

Well, I suppose the barn is where we sleep again tonight. I wonder if the Person will come in the morning with more crunchy stuff for Mama and make me wear the stupid blue thing again.

Probably.

Oh well, once that part is over I can go outside with Mama. That’ll be nice.

I think now I’m gonna sleep though. It’s hard work being a calf.

We interrupt this broadcast…

.. with a news bulletin!

We have a calf!

I got up just before 7 to get a glass of milk, and when I looked out the window, I could see Sasha over in the corner of the pasture. That wasn’t too suspicious, she’d been up there last night when I went to bed (though she’d been lying on her side and was really cranky when I checked on her, so I did think perhaps she was close to calving). What really clued me in was Bob, sitting at a safe distance, just staring at Sasha. Bob, you see, is FASCINATED by baby animals. He fights with the mama sheep to be able to lick the babies clean, and he will lie outside the barn pens when we have mama sheep in there with lambs. Hmm, if Bob’s that interested I’d better get the binoculars.

Note Bob, sitting there by the black sheep in the upper left corner, staring at Sasha and her baby.

Sure enough, there was a little white spec by Sasha’s feet. Since she was bred to a mini Hereford, her calf would probably have a white face, so that was enough to get me into my boots and outside.

The calf is absolutely beautiful – he’s black (last year’s baby looked like a clone of her papa, brown with a white face, but this one is different) with that pretty white face and he was clearly not very old yet. Mama had licked him clean, but he was still a wee bit damp and blowing bubbles of amniotic fluid out of his nostrils. He could stand, but he seemed very, very tired.

Now I’m still a bit of a rookie when it comes to calves, so it took me awhile to figure out the best way to get mama and baby into the barnyard. First I moved the sheep (okay that part was easy, I’ve done that a few times), then I got the barn ready with straw and fresh water and some hay, and then I tried carrying the calf. Uh uh. I’m not strong enough! The Reluctant Farmer could’ve done it no problem, but he’s used to carrying fully charged fire hoses. Me, I carry … one fleece. Maybe a lamb or a kitten. Not a calf. Then I thought maybe he’d walk if I put a lead on him. No way. He could stand, and walk, but he spent so much effort arguing with me this wasn’t gonna work well. So I got the quad and loaded him onto the back, holding onto him with one hand while I carefully and very slowly drove down the hill, across the low spot, and up to the barn yard. Sasha bellowed a fair bit but she watched us go and didn’t get mad at me when I lifted her baby up – I was very, very careful even though she hadn’t given me any indication that she didn’t want me messing with her calf. She did take runs at the dogs if they got too close, but I guess she knows I’m safe. I still tied her head to a fence post when I had to lift up the baby and I kept one eye on her the whole time. Once I had the calf in the barnyard and got the quad backed away from the gate, Sasha did come trotting up and I was able to give her some water (she wouldn’t walk the ten feet to the water trough, I had to take a bucket over to her so she didn’t have to leave the calf’s side) and leave them to rest.

The calf is very tired after all that exertion and the stress of being hauled about by a clumsy human and taken for a ride on a noisy red  machine so early in the morning, but his mouth is warm and he sucked on my thumb a little, and one quarter of Sasha’s udder looks as though someone’s had a good drink already so I think things are fine.

Whew, the waiting’s over!

Let the milking begin! (well, not just yet, but soon!)

I have an awesome life.

My best friend came out to the farm today with her two little boys, along with Grandma and Poppa. This is my ‘family by choice’, and we all get along really well. Anyway, it’s a hot and sunny day, so the boys played in the kiddie pool, the grownups chatted and hung out, and the biggest little one (who is three) helped get eggs from the chicken coop, took food out to the kittens, and helped me check on the sheep. We had a huge supper of buns and cheese and cucumbers and peppers and things we didn’t have to cook, the boys had a bath here and changed into their PJs so they could go straight to bed when they got home, and it was, all in all, a fun afternoon.

Back home, when his mom asked the little guy what was his favourite part of the day, he said “Lonna, I just LOVE her!”

:sniffling with a big grin on my face:

My life is so freakin’ awesome.

Tour progress

I have been at the computer a fair bit lately, doing updates for the store, sorting out the accounting system, and posting my Tour de Fleece updates … and I finally realized that in all that time at the keyboard, I haven’t been posting any updates here!

Allow me to fill you in:

By Day 4 I had to start loading spindles onto a Lazy Fred bobbin and start on clean, empty spindles again.

The Russian spindle did get a little more packed on, though not much:

As I did the status update photo, though, I was reminded that like everything else in life, spinning gets accomplished one little bit at a time.

Yesterday, The Reluctant Farmer and I had to drive to the city, and I got this done on the drive in (I had to drive on the way back home, and it’s illegal to spin and drive at the same time):

As you can see from the background of the photo, today is dedicated to accounting.

Since that also involves counting bags of fleece, it’s really not such a bad thing.

Meet Anne

This lovely Norwegian split table wheel is named Anne, or so her previous owner tells me. My grandmother was named Anne, and so it seems quite fitting that this wheel should have found her way to me.

Anne came here through an interesting route: my Ravelry profile describes my addiction to antique wheels, and mentioned that the only type of wheel that I truly  longed for that I didn’t yet own was a Norwegian split table wheel. A friend of mine saw this and realized she had exactly the sort of wheel I was looking for languishing, unloved, at her house. She’d gotten it for a great deal at an antique store (that’s extremely uncommon – antique stores tend to sell wheels with missing pieces for ridiculously high prices, and this one is in perfect working order and was only $60!), the wheel needed to find a new home, she knew I’d like it, and she was coming to Olds for FIbre Week and would bring it to me.

All she wanted in exchange was fleece.

Wow.

Fleece I have, so we swapped wheel for fibre and Anne is now in my living room getting good use already. She needs another coat of oil, the ends of the boards where the stain soaks into the end grain are looking kind of dry, but she spins beautifully (in both directions – meaning she’s great for plying, too!) and is so lovely to look at. She’s probably not all that old, judging by the wood, but she’s completely pegged together. There are two tiny screws in the tips of the flyer arms, which is something I’ve not seen before … I’m not sure why they are there, maybe for weights or something.

The turnings are fine and delicate, the leathers are in great shape, and she’s just a wonderful piece of spinning gear. I’m so honoured to have her here!

If you’ve seen one like her, please let me know – I’m very curious to find out where she came from … she has no markings at all!

Happy Canada Day!

It’s a holiday and normally I wouldn’t be posting (I do try to give myself days off) but …

Here is my progress from the Tour de Fleece, Day 1:

 

and Day 2 (which was Canada Day, and we were out and about so I didn’t get much done):

And to celebrate Canada Day: