Sold our 5-month old Jersey heifer calf yesterday. Wasn't planning on selling her, but Hank arrived with his trailer and cash, so we corraled her, me bare-foot in deep, squishy mud / poop mixture, got her into their trailer and off she went. Practically, we have the car insurance and the Summer taxes coming up, so the money will come in handy.
Everytime I go through the kitchen, I stop and look out the window. It is so clear and bright. Taking the curtain down was a brilliant idea, Jackie, thank you. Even Herbie is amazed how great it, and the kitchen, looks. He says it's like when you get new glasses - everything is brighter and clearer.
Today I took the horses out to the pasture. A bit of drama, does anything go smoothly here on the farm ? Knew that I could control Levi, and that if I led him, Max and Missy would probably follow. That part worked fairly well, the other 2 were skittish but sort of followed, until we got opposite the cows, and Boytjie started performing, coming up close to the fence. Got Levi past him, but Max and Missy ran back towards the house, and then back and forth across the lawn. So I tied Levi to a large fallen tree branch, and went to open a new pasture, calling Star to follow, then all the other cows came trailing after, including the belligerant Boytjie. Went back towards Levi, to see Max and Missy race past him towards me. Levi didn't like this, and tried to go after them, dragging the tree until he stood on the lead and fell on his ass ! Max and Missy wheeled and raced back towards Levi, Missy fell and rolled over and was back on her feet. I was still coming across the pasture, they turned and headed back towards the hayfield. I opened the pasture gate wide, reached Levi, unclipped him and led him into the pasture. The other 2 hesitated, I gave them a wide berth, holding the electric gate, and shoo-ed them in too. Phew. Didn't get to show them the water trough, but figured they'd find it by following the cows and alpacas, or they'd drink from the pond. Love seeing them sort of free in the pasture :).
Went out later and led Levi towards the trough, with the siblings following, until Boytjie once again came barreling down the channel towards us, bellowing his lungs out, scaring the horses, and off they went out back again. Daisy May, hurry up and birth that calf, get knocked up by Boytjie so that he leaves the farm !
Didn't get the rest of the hayfield cut, didn't get to rake or bale the part that was cut, and expect rain tonight and tomorrow.
Anni is still on heat, I'm waiting for her next one to get her bred again for Spring puppies rather than Winter ones.
Can't believe they're still letting off fireworks. Virtually all last night and been going steadily all night so far again. Really disturbs the animals and we're out in the country.
Have our 1st herd-share owner collecting milk tomorrow :). It's been nearly a full year now. Not sure how much cream she's giving though.