Ha ha! Made you look! 🙂
First, congratulations for all those who’ve made it 10 days! Nice job of keeping on yourself writing for the first week and a half! Now comes *insert dramatic music* another weekend! A bunch of my students got tripped up here, so keep that writing regiment going! 🙂
Now, we are NOT farmers, nor do we play ones on TV. When we moved out to our little piece of heaven 8 years ago. The idea of chickens and a garden were front and center. Other animals, a dog, some cats, yes, here were right there too. Cattle? Nope. Not. At. All.
S0, Wednesday night, my youngest daughter got home, cleaned out the pen, and we went up to our friend, Eric’s place, and came home with another Brown Swiss baby. She’s not named yet, but we are thinking of names that start with the letter A. Her mother was named Ashia, so with registered Brown Swiss, that’s the pattern to follow, naming the calf with the first letter of the mother’s name.
This will be our 8th heifer we’ve had over the years, and maybe our last. Our youngest daughter is a junior, and we know that senior year can get crazy. She’s involved in many activities, but loves her babies. All I know is, even though I didn’t sign up for this, I’ve loved having these animals at our place. They are playful and mischievous, looking for ways to get into trouble. Yet, they are very docile and, just like with kids, if you build the relationship, you can lead a 1,500 pound animal anywhere you want to go! Pretty dang cool!
Both of my daughters have benefited from working with their animals. Whether it’s the actual care of their animals, figuring out their feed, to the business end of seeing their babies sold because they’ve gotten too old or aren’t milking as much. That’s the sad part of this business, because in the end, it is Eric’s business.
I wasn’t raised around cows at all. My wife was the daughter of a dairy farmer, so she’s always been a bit more knowledgeable than I am. I do think my father-in-law would have gotten a kick out of seeing these animals on our place. A family friend came down to our place for graduation last year, came up, gave Melissa a hug, and said, “What’s with the Brown Swiss?” It was like Melissa’s dad, Don, was right there. It made us all laugh! 🙂
So, we have another baby again and while I never signed up for this, it’s been an awesome experience! 🙂
March 10, 2017 at 9:38 am
This post just made me smile—although I knew it wasn’t a real baby when I clicked….
I love the things kids learn from animals and being responsible for one. Bet you’ve learned a few things too 🙂
March 10, 2017 at 9:49 am
Love it! I grew up in Davenport Iowa leaving many weekends to head to the family farm to help with animals and gardens. Loved your post! Thanks
March 10, 2017 at 10:56 am
It’s amazing as parents how we find delight in activities or undertakings we would never have imagined for ourselves through following our children’s passions.
Great job with the engaging lead!
March 10, 2017 at 10:58 am
It is a dream of mine to leave my suburban life and live on a farm! Thanks for letting me live vicariously through you!
March 10, 2017 at 11:29 am
I opened this post because I thought you had a brand new baby(child)! How exciting that you have a calf! Your daughters are lucky to have the experience of raising it from a baby! It must take a lot of work! Congrats on your new one! Enjoy!
March 10, 2017 at 11:34 am
You did make me look, Darin! The Brown Swiss babies are pretty special too. I’m glad you have embraced the journey with your daughters. The description you give of your babies: playful and mischievous, yet docile. They respond to a relationship with their people. It was very nice.
I have some A name suggestions — Alya or Amira. What do you think?
Blessings to you and your daughter and the new “baby”,
Denise
March 10, 2017 at 2:20 pm
Awwwww, what a cutie pie! Such a great addition to your family.
March 10, 2017 at 2:47 pm
Great opening. I am glad I looked and met the new baby.
March 10, 2017 at 3:07 pm
You got me! I totally clicked on this post expecting to see the story of an exciting new baby’s arrival, and I must say that I’m glad I arrived at your post regardless. Congratulations on the new addition to your family! Animals and pets bring so much joy. Thanks for sharing!
March 10, 2017 at 3:52 pm
You got me! I thought, “No wonder this guy’s been topsy turvy on and off lately. Ha! The pictures are so sweet and the thought of having such a lovely creature around the place is so inviting. But we are not folks who adhere to an early schedule. So my daughter talks occasionally about getting chickens. More our speed, but no nearly as cuddly.
March 10, 2017 at 6:02 pm
Dreams come true! This is what I want some day. And that is SUCH a CUTE cow!!!!
March 10, 2017 at 7:50 pm
How exciting. The Brown Swiss sound like a lot of fun…and baby calves ‘are’ so darn cute! 🙂