Day 28: miracle cows

Over the years we have had some miracle cows. One of the most recent would be Dizzy. Dad and I went to a dispersal sale last spring in Indiana. We were running a little late due to the time change, and he had about three heifers marked down to look at. Dizzy was one of them. She sold pretty late in the sale and after a big bidding war I ended up with her. Since we took a car instead of the truck and trailer, we had a neighboring farmer bring her to our farm. After her first day at our house, we noticed she wasn’t eating enough, and she didn’t seem to be feeling good. We called our vet the next day and he determined that she had a dislocated abomasum, which is one of the four stomach competently cows have. She had surgery to untwist her stomach, and her health seemed to decline even more. The vet came back to look at her, and told us he didn’t think she would make it to the next morning. Dad and I took her up to the university of Illinois vet clinic. The vet asked us about her situation and we explained all that had happened. She asked how much we were willing to do, and dad said whatever it takes. We headed home to do evening chores, and received a phone call asking if we gave them permission to operate. The next morning we received a phone call that she had made it through, and seemed to be in good health! After hearing they gave her a twenty precent chance to live, and a twenty percent chance to make it through surgery. They said they really didn’t find anything in the surgery, but she finally was going to the bathroom regularly! We were all so excited! When a cow gets sick, it’s the same as a member of our family being sick. After another day or two, they called and told us we could come and pick her up. She came home and got babied, she also showed all summer. She’s now getting a little chubby, but that’s okay, because she’s pregnant!

We’re blessed to have her still in our lives, as well as such awesome vets at the university that we can count on to help us keep our black and white beauties alive.

Day 17: Kitty Cats

Today as it’s cold and snowy out at school, I’m thinking about home. I know that you could most likely see the cow’s breath and they will be running around like little calves. Another thing I would bet money on, is that the cats will be laying on the baby calves.

Over the years we have gone through multitudes of kittens and cats. Some of us are more fond of the cats than others. Yet, the cats always get fed the leftover milk twice a day, and get their fair share of the dog food.

Some kittens have stolen the heart of my sisters and I and get special treatment. A few kittens have even managed to run up so high vet bills after they participated in some not so clever activities.

All in all, the cats and kittens can be a pain when they weave inside and out of your legs trying to steal the calves milk. But they still are a blessing. They add a little more spunk and sparkle into our lives.

Day 12: Sleeping anywhere and anyway

After a long week in Louisville at NAILE, I’m still worn out. Heading to the hotel at eleven and getting up at four aren’t all that unusual for my family though. And I started thinking about all the people who say they have trouble sleeping. In our family that isn’t an occurrence, we can sleep anytime, anywhere almost always. This week alone I can think of a few interesting places we all dosed off. The cot in the tent (with music blaring), the show ring seats, the chairs we had set up behind the cows, the truck, in a display trailer in the shopping center.

Some may not see this as a blessing, yet I do. I’m glad that our family is hard working and we therefore have catnaps throughout the day. Yes, it can be quite funny to watch mom or dad doing the “headbob” but I understand why they do it. Getting up at 4:30 everyday and having a day full of outside work to do would have this affect on anyone. I’m thankful that I can sleep and not lay awake for hours on end in bed.

Cots, I think we sleep on these more than our beds in the summer.

Day 11: Europe

 

Two weeks, in Scotland, England, and Ireland. That was our reward for winning World Dairy Expo. Never in my life would I have dreamed that at the age of 20 I would have a passport, and been to a different continent. It seemed like we prepared and pack and purchased things for months, and finally we got to leave. We had a two part flight, first we were to fly from St Louis to Philadelphia. As we were zooming down the runway about to take off, the plane began to slow. We went back to the air port, had to unload and then reload onto the plane, it was an interesting beginning to our adventure.

My first glimpse of Scotland

 

While in the UK we toured museums, castles, dairy farms, and other monumental parts of their culture. It’s hard for me to remember every detail of what we did. It now seems like we were barely gone for a couple of days. Some of the highlights were our tour guide falling into a creek and soaking his clothes and phone, the crazy coach drivers, the new and interesting food, the weird tissue like toilet paper, attending a prom in a different country, and all of the beautiful scenery. I am so blessed to have experienced the two weeks in Europe, and can’t wait to go back as soon as possible.

Bed and Breakfast in Ireland.

Cliffs of Moher.

Ring of Kerry