Double Trouble

All the rain of the past few days has turned the barnyard into a muddy quagmire.

I am greeted each morning now with GlenNora  inside the hay ring.  Even though it irritates me because I have to get her OUT of it before I can drop a bale to the herd, I do realize she seems to be the smartest heifer in the bunch.   She has found an easy way to stay out of the mud the past few days.

 

She has finally found the special opening in the hayring by which to exit (and enter) from.

Glennie doesn't seem fond of exiting.

 

She at least stands up when she sees me coming, which is an improvement over the past 2 weeks when I have to entice her to wake up, get up and get out of the hay ring amidst the herd chaos of waiting to get fed.

This is a good sized girl. She won't be a year old until May.

 

The rest of the herd seems to delight in my tongue lashing of this red lass each and every time I find her in the hay rack.

 

If this group could talk I often wonder what they would say in response to my morning frustrations with Miss Glennie.

 

Smudgie and Shorty say the same thing every morning and evening;

Feed us, I want that box of treats, got an apple ?

 

Yeah, that dog cookie looks good too, is that a carrot in your vest pocket ?

 

Just when I think i have seen it all.....

I return in the evening to again water the herd and tuck them in for the night and I see this.....

Maybe I need glasses.     I was seeing double.


Nap time IN the hay ring.    The Heifer Clubhouse

Glennie on the right and her sister, Gouda Giggles on the left.

 

The rest of the herd was eating the hay around them and bumping the heifers as they pulled out the good hay pieces they lay on. 

The girls didn't bother to get up as I walked over.  I think I surprised them. They actually look a little embarrassed.

I assume they will be out by morning when the next roll comes in.

At least I hope so.

 

Smudgie says:  Its my birthday today, yesterday and tomorrow...can I have that carrot ?

Sure Smudgie.  Just stay OUT of the hay ring, OK ?
~

Mud Season and other scary things....

Just when you think you have survived the winter then mud season hits.

Vehicles get sucked up by the mud and end up in ditches, stuck deep in the mud or with tie rods broken in multiple pieces.

My truck suffered a bit of a bruis'n yesterday. 

Every dirt road is an intense obsticle course.

Most people put away their vehicles and just drive their tractors the month of March and April around here....

We were down to just 1 roll of hay last night.      Scary.

Luckily, the hay fairy came in the morning and deposited a good amount of the favored green food that my cows are so attached to.

The load was dumped at the other end of the field where the cows are now eating, making it easier to roll a bale directly to the round hay feeder every morning.

While I was taking photos of the cows chewing their cud, an unexpected vistor stepped out from behind the rolls of hay.

Sadly, this is the only remaining deer (a yearling) that remains of the original group of 6.   Four were killed by coyotes as they struggled to cross the deep snows in the fields and one was hit by a big truck on the road.

She did't seem interested in the hay but wanted to visit with the cows.

Mavis was barking her head off so she stayed her distance until we drove off.

Then she easily walked over the fences and joined the herd.

Lonliness does strange things to all species.

It was very dark and overcast this morning, I hope it doesn't rain.

Panda the calf was taking a deep nap in the hay.  Oblivious to the deer.

Gizmo is looking more and more like a young bull.
He is also telling me which cows are in heat.

He also tells me when he wants his cinnamon covered graham crackers....like NOW!

How I wish I could cut that dang diggleberry off.  I hate seeing it.  It really ruins his photos. 

He won't let me close enough to do it.     Yet.

I am so very proud to announce that this good bull is going to be a herd bull for a small Simmental herd on the western side of Vermont.    Near Burlington.  Home of the University of Vermont (UVM).  Not far from 5 colleges and dozens of frat houses.

He will be going to his new job at his new farm with his paperwork, photos, family tree and at least 2 boxes of cinnamon covered graham crackers.    When mud season is over.

He better send me frequent updates.
TailGait Farm Graham Gizmo.  Our first home grown bull.
Vermont born, raised and grazed.

10 minutes after I finished watering and "crackering" the herd it started snowing like crazy!

6-10 inches are coming our way.

Mud season has been temporarily postponed as now we are right back into winter!

The robins are NOT happy!

Life in Vermont.    Wonderful.  Beautiful.  Unpredictable.  Perfect.

Freaky Snow Storm

My boss called me at 6 am this morning to warn me about the blizzard he was dealing with 3 hours from here and to warn me about coming up to the main office today.  I had only an inch on the ground, so I wasn't concerned.    I have a 2 hour drive to work, one way, so I thought maybe the snow would all be melted by the time I reached the office.

What the heck was I thinking ?????  Within 5 miles and 3 minutes of leaving my home, the snow started bombarding my truck. So intense was the amount of snow blowing at me that I got a wicked headache.
You know the kind.   Snow got deeper and more blinding the further I drove.  The ride to work was over 3 hours. Most of it at 40 mph behind a long line of vehicles. The last 12 miles were at 20 mph.
Many cars were off the road in the ditch.  The roads were very slick and as you can see from the photo, we were down to only ONE lane.  Visability got worse and worse.     There were confused turkeys sitting in trees by the highway.        Amazing to me was that I could NOT see higher than the treetops because the snow clouds were so low and the snow was coming down so hard.

It was a long day at work and I was glad to head home. By 5 pm the roads were much better, but the tress had lots of damage from the weight of the snow. Many big trees were down on the powerlines. Lots of Vermonters have no electricity tonight.  Worse yet, all the berry and fruit growers are in a panic that their crops may have been destroyed.

I headed for the farm as I had a gut feeling there were new calves. When the barometer falls, like it did for this weird storm, calves start being born.
I was not dissapointed.

Three new calves. Two huge boys and a big girl were born in the snow, sleet and rain.  Lots of rain.

Mud season has returned.

Here is Gwen and her new 90 lb boy, Galvin.           Gwen is a serious graham cracker addict.