Hugo and Daffodils

The weather was nice enough and I had some time so I decided to ride Hugo for a little bit yesterday.  

You can see that Hugo was not being a fan of getting caught, as usual.  After about 20 minutes of this, and Clyde never joining in, Hugo finally gave up and let me catch him.  He was a gentleman from then on.  

The last cold snap did in my hyacinths but the new miniature daffodils that I planted last fall were not far enough along to get damaged.  I have Minnow Rock Garden daffodils that have multiple flowers on each stem. 

I don't recall the name of this one, but it is stunning with it's white color and thin petals.  I don't see it on my order from the bulb company last year so I must have bought it on clearance and it probably had already bloomed.   I think it turned out to be a good purchase.  

And this daffodil that looks like a dandelion is called Rip Van Winkle.  It is very different looking.  But I am thinking that the flowers are proving too heavy for the stems.   A lot of them are pretty saggy.   

It had been fun watching all my new flowers pop up.  

Better Start

A first calf heifer calved right on time a couple of days ago. 

So today, Joe got them up and I moved them into the lot behind the house so we can keep a close eye on them.

The first calf is a beautiful bull calf.  

 A much better start for the heifers than the cows.  

Big Bale

Joe was finally able to help me today get a big bale of hay. 

It is supposed to be fescue free. I thought I would take Draper off pasture the first of April. That would be over 60 days before her due date. 

I am still looking for some small square bales of alfalfa.  I thought when this ran out I would switch her to alfalfa until she foals. 

I am just praying for a healthy foal this time. 
 

So Much For An Early Spring

A front moved in yesterday evening and bright with it cold and snow. 

There was also a good deal of wind.  Overnight temperatures got down to 18 degrees. 

 Then today, the temperature never made it above freezing.  The forsythia is done for the season. And I am sure the daffodils are too.  So much for an early spring. 

Bad Start

The cows here are not suppose to start calving for at least a couple of weeks.  But Thursday, on the worst weather day, one decided to have her calf early.  Of course it was a cow that was one of Joe's favorites.  

He was pretty small, maybe 30 pounds.  He could stand but wouldn't nurse.  He seemed underdeveloped.  His hair was very short and velvety, (a sign of being premature)

With rain and snow and temperatures below freezing, we brought him into the garage overnight and I tube fed it.  Doesn't he look clean and cozy?

The next morning, he wasn't so clean.                                                                                                               

He could still stand but would not nurse.  I tube fed him again but he continued to deteriorate.   He was dead the next morning.  Not a good start to this Spring calving season.  
 

Yard Work

I have been spending a lot of time in the yard enjoying the warm weather. 

Joe decided it was time to take out the pear trees.  They haven’t been doing good for several years and had gotten pretty ratty looking. 

It was a big mess to clean up. 

But Joe stuck with it and got it done.  I am expecting the flowers there will enjoy the extra sunshine. 

I finally got my grapevine globes reinforced.  They should make it through another season. 

And I had vines left over for a couple more wreaths. I don’t really know what to do with all the grapevine wreaths I have made. 

And a few more things are blooming. The forsythia bushes look nice for now. 

And the hyacinths are pretty.  But with the cold weather on the way they may not last long. 

Any you can’t really tell from here but the crocuses that I planted to naturalize the bank are blooming. It is a nice little extra for the yard. 

Close up they are very pretty. 

I think I will get more to plant this fall. 

 

Spring Grass

This morning Joe wanted to get a group of cattle up to sort out the bred heifers and fall calving cows. 

There hasn’t been anything in the barn lot this winter and with the warm weather the grass was already growing. 

It was very noisy with all the cows shoveling in the grass as fast as they could.  It won’t last long though. Next week’s weather forecast is for 18 degrees.