And I am very happy about that! After our nice rain last weekend, everything is trying to green up and grow. I had already given up on the soybeans and figured that they were done long before we got this big rain.
Just on a whim, on my way back in to the farm from town, I decided to stop the truck and get out and take a look. What a surprise!! Those early slight rains must have done more than I thought! The soybeans by the road in the lower areas of the field are just loaded down --- and blooming again! I walked the higher parts of the field and they are not nearly as nice but there are beans out there and those poor plants are trying to bloom. We may not make a fortune but I am thinking we won't lose MUCH money anyway..... LOL!
Even better news is that we are expecting to get a few showers from Issac...... not tropical storm or a hurricane by the time it gets this far inland.
Yesterday, we finally got a calf from 904. We have been checking her and Mercy everyday for about 3 weeks. She was heartily sick of seeing us! She had a nice strong bull calf--- all on her own. Last year, as a first calf heifer, we had to pull her calf. This was her last chance and I am happy that she managed with out us because she is a very nice cow. Mercy should calve with in the next week. She had to have help last year, too. Therefore, we will continue to keep a very close eye on her and try not to harass her too much.
Four other cows are due later in September. I am very anxious to see two of the them since I bred them artificially...... I am going to be a Papa!!
Out of that last set of sickly bottle lambs, I managed to save 4 out of the 6. We are keeping two of the ewe lambs for breeding and planning to put the other two in the freezer. A friend brought us a big Hampshire ram to use this fall. He promptly leaped up and over the trailer gate and was roaming loose and free with my little ewe lambs--- Catherine and Elizabeth. I think that they are too small to breed yet and I do not want any lambs or kids born before mid-February. That is late by most breeder standards but I do not like "Popsicle babies"! Neil has spoiled "his girls" terribly and they are obnoxiously tame. The ram followed them right into a pen and we sorted the girls out....... He has stayed in the pen for three days and not jumped over the panels yet. I am hoping to keep him penned for at least another two weeks. I am going to have to start calling Neil "sheep whisperer" because this ram has learned that Neil is the guy with the feed and is settling down. I wouldn't call him tame by any stretch of the imagination but he certainly knows what a bucket is for.
A friend has generously shared her fig tree with me and I have made a few pints of strawberry fig preserves. The color from the jello makes plain old figs into a beautiful spread.
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