Its Always Something

Today I called to see what happened with our heifer that had struggled with the stanchion.  We knew prior to the stanchion issues she had always been thinner than she should be and that she had delivered a stillborn calf.  What surprised us was that she had been condemned by the Department of Agriculture, food safety inspection for a condition they call "lumpy jaw".  Evidently it starts as a bacterial infection through a skin break in the mouth.  It causes pain and difficulty eating.  She obviously had more issues than we realized but after all these years its a surprise to still have "firsts" like this.

Its my intention to post something here daily but the last couple days I had the opportunity to spend time with some friends away from the farm.  While Bruce grew up with this life and is a farmer to his core, the 7 day a week, 365 day a year grind really gets to me.  To keep my sanity I try to get away a few times a year.  Thankfully Bruce understands so I take my sanity breaks when I have opportunity.  Our last milking off was 12/29.  Bruce chooses to do the work himself when I am gone so his days are even longer than the normal craziness of this life.  He reports that all went well while I was gone.  The weather has improved with temps in the mid 20's which helps everything.

Last summer we had a 14 year old interested in working on our farm.  He was great help and fun to have around.  One day he asked us if things "slowed down" in winter.  We laughed because winter is just different daily challenges.  Now, in the dead of winter we have realized that things really do "slow down".  Bruce goes from a warm bed to a feed room that can easily be 0 so he gets up slower.  The silage is frozen so the unloaders are slower so feeding is slower. The barn cleaner chain is frozen down and has to be chopped loose so cleaning barns are slower.  Getting between buildings can be slower with snow to trudge through.  Dealing with things like frozen pipes slows down the day.  A snow event takes 4-5 hours to clean up and open driveways which slows down the rest of the things that need doing.  Cold weather means the tractors and skid steer need block heaters to heat the coolant so they will start.  Forgetting to plug them in slows everything down while we wait for them to warm.  We have so many more clothes on to stay warm that just us moving around is slower.  We are that much older....and slower : )

Bruce just informed me that he is stuck in the cow yard and needs to be pulled.  He was bedding the steers and managed to get on top of a frozen lump of manure with the skid steer so all 4 wheels are off the ground.  Guess the fun just never ends sometimes : )