Miss this...

Miss this....

My boy doing what comes natural.

He has a calming effect on cattle.

He stopped to spray weeds for his Momma then caught a calf beginning to gentle him for his sister. No one asked him to do either. 

You would have to know him but it's his happy place. Such a natural thing.

Words are few to describe how I felt watching him. 

Came so far.

I love him.

Blouse dets...

Detail on the blouse was requested.

Here ya go MamaPea.

Coat wool has pale blue/sea foam color in it. We pulled that for her blouse.

Below is brown flecked wool for trousers.

The main body is 100% lightweight wool. The sleeves are mohair that LN knitted. I don't have pictures of her knitting because I sat with her "encouraging" her (keeping her from killing someone).

I started it off by doing a sample run with regular yarn. Good thing I did as we had to downsize the pattern by almost half. It had a 5 section repeat with plain knitted on each edge. We dropped it to 3 section repeat with no knitting on ends as it was circular to begin. LN's coat arms are form fitting so the blouse had to follow to fit inside comfortably. Since no pattern exists for sleeves set into a fabric body we made it up. I had a scarf pattern with a lace look to it. She started with 9"in circular needles to the armpit area. The rest she switched to regular knotted and flattened the pattern back out. It was tight going in the transition rows but after 2-3 rows it eased again. She reduced the first one by holding it up to a paper pattern of the sleeve. Careful notes were kept so second could be copied. 

The sleeves were pinned into the wool and sewed at 1/2". After trying it on and deciding what to resew she set them in at 5/8". The lining was folded up and hand sewed  to encase the raw edges.

Nerve racking to say the least but worth it in the end.

Fun Night....

Today/Tonight was 4-H Fashion Revue contest.

LN had good time and did well.

Pictures are hard to take with the stage lighting and dark curtains behind her but here ya go.

 

 

She was warm in her wool outfit but since we had snow flurries all day that was ok too.

 

Those mohair knitted sleeves were a pain but made a nice surprise when her coat came off.

 

That's all.

It's late and I'm tired.



How long...

How long can a body go without solid sleep ? 

Mine can't go more than 24 hrs.

I did more the other day!

I stayed up most of the night only catnapping between checking the labor and delivery. The next morning R showed up early and we worked most of the day on the calf, syringe feeding him, splitting his legs, holding him up to try nursing.. He has swelling in his head and tounge. It's a result of being so big and being squished in canal for a long time. It'll go down but makes nursing difficult. 

You can see the swelling and splits. We will try to take splits off tomorrow. 

I crashed last night and slept solid till this morning.

He survived the night so must have done something right.

He toddles around and must be nursing. I see him searching under there. He hollers sometimes but I blame R. She spoiled him by sitting with him all day yesterday petting and loving on him. 

I know survival of the fittest and all but with a smaller show animal herd we can work a little harder to save animals.

He is strong just needed a little help because of his size.

This lil boy does not need help. He flys around their field. He runs constantly. It was shocking to get him laying down.

Still doing taxes for a CPA. The 15th is rushing up on us. Mine will be last or on extension. Oh well I'm learning a lot.

Anyone???

Whose up pulling a calf at 4:20 am with a cold stiff wind blowing and temp of 34• ?

Anyone?

No?

I am!

Gemstone showed stream of mucous and waters beginning about 8:30 last night.

I checked every 90 min or so until 4 am.

I made S get up to help when I saw a 4" red tounge and a foot sticking out. I don't usually help if I see a nose and hoof.

This time we pulled and it was a struggle.

The head and feet came easier than I thought. The problem was the pelvic area and  back hips. It was stuck solid. I eased the tissues and finally he popped out.

S thought he was dead but I had faith.

I rubbed and thumped him. He blinked and moved. Breaths showed in the ribs.

Gem came and licked hard. She's still licking. His tounge is still out some. He's congested but moving quite a bit. It's only been an hour. 

I have faith.

Our nasty clothes are chugging away in the washer. Why not I'm up anyway.

Friday while I was at Wm & Mary in VA on a college visit with LN this happened.

S was home alone. He said one min nothing but an hour later out popped this calf. He was up and dry so S left to go to dinner. 

We have different views on that....

First time Diamond has had a speckled calf. Usually she throws mainly solid white or red calves. She changed it up for us. Good ole cow, witch to handle but good momma. 

I'm tired ,off to check calf then get few hours shut eye before starting again.