After some challenges, we have settled back into routines. Sweetie was sold, her baby, Stripe died, Valentino was sold because he was lame, the hay fields have been fertilized, and we bought a new bull, Sir Lancelot. Red had her baby, Showers, and we are waiting on Raquel and Brownie to have their babies. We had to put out our last good bale of hay after fertilizing because the grass was dying and the new summer grass was not here yet. The hummers have returned. Peg's asparagus came up, the tomato and pepper plants have fruit, and we have lots of lettuce and spinach for salads. Calfie's back feet have been trimmed so they no longer look like elf slippers (yes, we decided to keep her). An assessment of our tree losses from February's ice storm should be a happy one. We lost four at last count, all baby trees which had great potential in our landscape. We are still pulling broken branches from live trees and unfortunately their shapes have been compromised. But living things that are rooted in purpose not only survive but flourish! May everything flourish!!!
Our new bull, Lance for short, is only a year and 2-3 months old. He is like an obnoxious teenager around the cows. He is quite a bit smaller than they are but will grow. Even at his tender young age, he must have had "the talk," as he knows what his job is.
I've had a few recent wildlife sightings. I have seen a beaver and a beautiful gray fox. The bluebirds, scissortails, and painted buntings are back along with a variety of other song birds. I may have mentioned that there was a sandhill crane down by the tank a month or so ago. Of course, I hear the horned owls on cool clear evenings. I had to relocate a giant box turtle that had somehow found itself trapped in the doggie containment area. It was not happy to have been discovered by the dogs but relived to have been removed!!
The best news is, so far in April, we've had about seven inches of rain. The farmers are joyful and we have high hopes for a great hay crop. Grass we thought was dead is coming back and the wildflowers are beautiful and plentiful. Ah spring......
