It's Kansas, all right!

     After posting faithfully for a few days, I have already begun to slack! AHHHHHH! D= I was out of town so I at least ha a bit of an excuse though. I just popped it to say that it's VERY windy here. So windy, in fact, that the electricity just blinked. Therefore this will be a short post. Sorry the video is so poor, I didn't realize you couldn't see the wind if I walked. Oh well.

The More Continued Story of Hope

     Once Hope entered our herd, her life became more normal. She had other cows to hang out with and presently, calving season came along. The anticipation in the house grew as we waited eagerly for her first calf. It finally came on May 19, almost three months after calving season began because she had been bred later then the other cows. Farm Boy and I were so enthralled that we made a birth announcement celebrating the arrival of Jesse Christian Dietrich. The following year she gave birth to Remington Roderick, the next Poseidon, and then last year Mocha Benoit.

     Hope was in with all the other cows and  Farm Boy and I would go out to visit her quite often. This gave us a lot of time on our hands, so we began making up a story about Hope in which she was a super cow leading a band of heroes. We called it, appropriately, Hope's Heroes.

     In Hope’s Heroes, Hope takes the role of the main hero. Their mission is to thwart the evil plans of a Longhorn bull named Ecirocil. I'm not certain what all he did, but he had an underground lair in some rocky cliffs nearby and was experimenting with some chemicals. I guess he was your usual evil, villainous, nasty-wasty bloke.

The Continued Story of Hope

     To relate the next part of Hope's tale, I must leave her and go to our cow herd where calving season was in full swing. One cow had caught our attention, and in a bad way. Her name was Peach, and we were having problems with her not letting her calf nurse. Since this had happened with Peach before, and was likely to happen again, we decided it was time to sell her. Instead of selling her calf with her, we decided to keep her calf as a bucket calf, so Hope would have some company. That was how Faith joined us.

     Hope and Faith became great buddies, growing up together. They also became good friends with our dog, Missy. Through that summer Farm Boy and I spent a lot of time with them. We discovered that Hope led exceptionally on a halter, but Faith was obstinate. As soon as you had the halter on her, she'd flop down on the ground and lie there until it was taken off.

     When late fall came, it was time to wean all the other calves from their mothers, and Hope and Faith were put in the same pen with them. Farm Boy and I still went out every day to see them, and we discovered they worked like cowmooflage. When we were standing with Hope and Faith, they weren't scared of us, allowing us to infiltrate the other calves' suspicions and become friends with them all! That was by far the tamest group of weanlings we have ever had. We even got a halter on one of the steers! Our reasoning was, 'If we get a halter on him, dad will have to let us keep him and he can be our ox and pull us around a cart!' It didn't happen.

     When sale day came, all the steers went and a good half of the heifers. Much to our grief that included Faith. Hope was kept because she had no tail. (Really, just a little 3 inch stub. It's likely a genetic problem, but we aren't sure.) Her lack of tail would dock her sale price a lot so Dad decided we would keep her. He gave her a chance with all the rest of the heifers we had kept for cows, and if she was bred, she would become part of our herd. If not, to sale she would go. A few months later we took all the heifers (first time calvers) to the vet to check whether or not they were pregnant. When he said yes on Hope, our joy was unbridled! (Not to mention everyone in the county deafened by our joyous shouts xD)

To be continued...

The Story of Hope

     It began, well it began as you might expect. In the middle of a windswept Kansan pasture, there was a calf. Not a fluffy, fat and happy calf, but a cold, lonely and hungry one. All the other cows had been moved to better pastures, but she had been missed. No one knew that one cow had calved early and nestled her calf into winter's tall, parched grass. No one noticed her there, huddled down, conserving heat. No one knew that she was left all alone.
     The proprietor of a neighboring pasture saw her when she was still just a few days old. He notified her owner who came and picked her up, but this left him with a problem. What should he do with the calf? His cows were spread over multiple pastures and he had no clue whose offspring she was. She was nearly as likely to die with the wrong cow as with none at all.
     That was how she came to be with us. The owner called our dad up and asked if we'd like her. Being the cow and calf lovers Farm Boy and I were, we said 'YES!' So dad picked her up and brought her home. We raced out to see her shakily standing in the front of the trailer. We mixed up for her some powdered milk replacer and coaxed/pushed her out of the trailer. After a few days she got the whole 'nursing from a bottle' thing down, but it took a while and the intermediate time was filled with milk-drenched clothing.
     The next order of business was what what to name her. Farm Boy and I co-owned her with an older brother who suggested 'Hope', because we 'hoped' she would live. Despite my getting mad at him (somehow I thought that was cruel and callous, I'm not sure why) we agreed it was a good name. So Hope she was dubbed!

Updates and Shame

Jack Sparrow's first day here

Wheat field

     Yeah... I am not too good at the whole 'writing faithfully' part. But I shall attempt to bring you up to date!
     Firstly, we did get that bucket calf! (I personally cannot see how human existence has carried on without knowledge of him, but apparently it has) His name is Jack Sparrow, and he is one of the most fantastical buckies to ever live. Period.

Hope, the cute cow

Marty and Missy

     Secondly, wheat harvest has come and gone. It was... honestly I can't remember much of it. Oh dear. =P

Jack and Jackanals

An Olaf snowman

     Thirdly, we have acquired a new dog! My oldest sister and her family moved away, but they couldn't take their dog with them. So please welcome Marty! Also, if you'd keep them in your prayers, that'd be a huge blessing. =) In the picture on the left, Marty is the brown one, Missy is the black one. And they're playing, not attempting to murder each other. ;)

     Fifthly, FarmBoy and I made some candles. But failed to get a good picture. Anywho, it's a really fun project to try!
     Sixthly. some cute cow pictures. C= The Jackanals thing is a take of of Bacchus and his Bacchanals from Greek mythology.
     That's really all the news to share. We've had a bit of snow, and we just brought the cows home from milo stalks. Other than that... life is just goin'. I missed all the big holidays so I didn't get to wish my nonexistant readers a good one, so I'll have to settle for this: I have been blessed beyond measure the last year and I pray that you and yours may be equally blessed in the coming year!