November: The Beginning at the End
It is an interesting experience to think about the end of things while we are at the very beginning. The end of bare arms and dusty feet. The end of golden and crimson leaves. The end of the Year.
But here we are at the end of the first eight weeks of Livi’s life on the outside. She has been a part of our lives since January, this tiny blob, and now she’s a ten-plus-pound, smiling baby! She is strong and likes to have me sit her up for a 3 to 4 am good-humored chat. It turns out that she is already the spitting image of her namesake, my Grama named Marie.
Clancy is absolutely enamored with her. She is more incredible than sliced bread, and Clancy really loves a sawed-off heel. He has been our greatest challenge. This entire year he’s been faced with so many changes. Through it all, he has remained our household's sweetest and politest member. Livi is likely to wind up suffocated by hugs and kisses!
November was really our month to figure out life as a family of four… with two family members under four. It hasn’t been easy meeting all of our needs when each of our needs varies so greatly and doesn’t line up.
Clancy is bursting with ideas and excitement.
Livi is in either observation or sleep mode.
I feel quietly retrospective.
Nathaniel is working as hard as he can, producing and installing bookcases for his current project at Big Rock Woodcraft.
Days often feel hectic, no matter what is on the docket, with Clancy bounding around and ready to do ‘work’ of all kinds in his little world. Livi and I are very in sync with this time of year, the slowdown, and rest time. It is easy to get caught up in the holiday hype but we really have missed it this year. Nathaniel’s job for Paulina Springs Bookstore has kept him busy; he isn’t making anything extra to sell through the holidays.
We said goodbye to Leftie the Bull. He has been such a wonderful bull for us for a few breeding seasons now, but his time has come to an end. He is so massive that he could injure himself or a cow while breeding. His weight (which is not realistic to manage) and the fact that cows around here live on irrigated pastures that soften their hooves have left him with hoof problems. Managing them at this point isn’t realistic. Leftie’s owner took him to the auction yard, where he probably got bought up to go straight to the butcher house for a big meat buyer. It is a sad end, but that is the way of it.
Next year will be a new bull. This means that we can retain one of the heifers that Leftie sired. We have been thinking we would retain Granger’s calf, Lily.
It is really nice to be emerging. Getting outside. Nathaniel has been sharing his passion of climbing with Clancy and it is clear that it is in his blood!
Nathaniel and celebrated our 8th anniversary by recreating our first date that started at our Creative Writing class at COCC and included a walk in the dark after class at Shevlin Park. It was really special to look back at where it started and reminisce over our years together. Livi, of course, was a lovely third wheel.
We got our first big bales for feeding the cows this winter! Estimating our hay needs has been a challenge over the years, but I think we finally have a clear picture of how many bales we need for our current herd and feeding system. We estimate that our herd of three gestating and lactating cows and their three calves will need 28-30 700-pound bales. Here are the first ten!
I am not yet in the mindset of planning ahead and dreaming of the future. It is still processing my pregnancy, birth, and new family dynamics time for me as we try to adjust and Nathaniel works on deadlines.
