pretty little things
☆ October 8, 2010
Most Ridiculous. {{updated!}}
☆ October 5, 2010
Daisy nursing Frisco.
Daisy nursing Frisco and TR.
At the same time.
Do you see the serene contentment in her face?
updated: OK, to address questions!
Frisco was born in December so he is almost ten months old. He most certainly could be weaned at this point and be just fine. TR is 1.5 years old, the same age as Sir Baby. He was weaned at about nine months, and spent the winter and spring with Sir Baby, eating hay like grown-up cattle. But when Sir Baby left to go earn his keep, TR and Frisco became best buds. And in late June, I saw that TR had taken Frisco’s example and was sucking Daisy. And Daisy was just fine with that. She is the sweetest.
They actually make my job easier ~ Daisy’s production has tapered off since Frisco’s birth but I’d estimate she’s still producing about 6 gallons a day. I milk one gallon in the morning and leave the rest for the boys to take care of.
Sir Baby has no interest in drinking from Daisy, though she still treats him like he’s her kiddo, giving him baths with her tongue, which he loves.
In February, I will separate TR and Frisco from Daisy. They will spend their time in a separate pasture with Sir Baby, Sunshine, and Houdini, while Daisy will be the den mother at the corrals for all the first-calf heifers who will be calving in March. I’ll stop milking at that time, too; this will give Daisy the opportunity to “dry off” for two months before her new calf is born. This allows her body to focus solely on her unborn baby and, as the time of birth nears, begin production of the essential colostrum.
Socks = knocked off
☆ October 4, 2010
Wow, wow, and wow ~ thank you so much for the incredible support after my Summer 2010 post, via comments, personal emails, and your own telepathic replies. I’m speechless. Thank you.
Before I go into the story itself I wanted to address some of the questions left in the comment section.
I will not be displaying his photo, name, or contact info on my blog because:
a) those who need to know all that stuff, know it.
b) he’d probably sue me for harassment. *vomit*
I’ll be sharing some of the “measures of defense” I am implementing, but not everything. As one commenter put it, there are certain things I must keep under my hat :)
Thank you for all the offers to help ~ if something comes to mind I will definitely let you know. The massive support from you and from my community has left me in awe.
This has been hard on Mike, too ~ I’ve had to keep the reins very tight, if you know what I mean. But he has been a phenomenal partner through all of this. Our relationship catapulted into a whole other realm over the summer and is even stronger than it was. Sometimes I was particularly needy, sometimes I was withdrawn, and through it all he has been so patient and so solid. He’s incredible.
As are all of you.
On to Part I: click HERE
Baby On Board!!!
☆ September 30, 2010
Daisy is pregnant!
The vet came by yesterday morning to preg test her for the third time ~ attempts one and two via artificial insemination didn’t take and when the second try came up empty, I brought Sir Baby home and let nature handle it. It was getting too expensive and too late in the year to risk another unsuccessful go. (Daisy and Sir Baby are NOT related. She is his adopted mom. Just don’t think about it in human terms.)
After Daisy’s first round with AI, I called the vet and asked, quite seriously, “can I just buy a pregnancy test and hold it under her pee?” It’s a method that would make no sense for ranchers who run hundreds of cows that aren’t pets like Daisy, but it would be ideal for me. Oh, the laughter that came through the phone. No, a pregnancy stick just won’t work on a cow.
Instead, to determine if a cow is pregnant, the vet pays a visit at least 40 days after conception (or hope of conception). He puts on a long long long plastic glove that reaches all the way up to his shoulder. Then he sticks his hand…. oh, there’s no dainty way to describe this. He sticks his hand into her butt, scoops out any poop that might be in the way, and then reaches his whole arm in. From there, he can feel the uterus and can determine if the cow is pregnant and how far along she is. We’re going to have a May baby!
The last time the vet was here to preg test Daisy, he whipped out plastic gloves in a bright flourish ~ they were hot pink and he handed one to me. I immediately put it on. Neon pink plastic slid all the way up my arm, with the excess length forming a ruffle around my shoulder. Mike was with us at the corrals and he looked at me incredulously and said, “Are you gonna try it??”
“No,” I said, “it’s an accessory.”
“Ah,” Mike said, “like Lady Gaga.”
Summer 2010
☆ September 28, 2010
Yesterday, I went to court. I was there for the sentencing of the man who spent this summer stalking me.
It began in June, became very intense throughout July, and, the first weekend of August, he was arrested at the motel in my town. He had a loaded .44 Magnum with him. For those who don’t know guns, a .44 Magnum is a handgun that will stop a 1,000 pound grizzly bear.
He’s been in the county jail since then, held on a bond that was too high for him to post. Today, he is being released. He was found guilty of stalking, given the maximum sentence of six months in jail, but with “time served” deducted from the sentence and the rest waived on terms of probation, he is being released today.
When I woke up this morning, I felt sad, depressed, and disillusioned by the court’s decision. Those feelings quickly morphed into anger. I am not scared. I am ANGRY.
The sentencing drove home a point with which I have become more and more intimate over the summer: when it comes right down to it, there is only one person who can keep you safe. And that is you. The only person who can keep me safe is me.
This is why I found such a profound connection in Lisbeth Salander – she is an example of what I have been learning and living and becoming. I’m not necessarily promoting her methods, but I am promoting her underlying truth: The System failed her and she learned to be self reliant. And she excelled at it.
This is also why I will be writing more about this in the coming weeks – though this man found me and became obsessed with me through my websites, attacks on women happen every day, and the vast majority are women who have “normal” lives and no “public” persona.
Also, I’m not pregnant. If I had a penny for every person who emailed me this summer asking if I was pregnant, I’d probably be able to afford a ranch. New policy: All personal questions must be accompanyed by a penny! {just kidding} But, to those of you who sensed something major was happening and assumed I was pregnant, let it be known that I am not pregnant, nor was I at any point this summer (praise the IUD!). This is what was going on.
Next post in this series is HERE
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