What you do in your house is worth as much as if you did it up in heaven for our Lord God. We should accustom ourselves to think of our position and work as sacred and well-pleasing to God, not on account of the position and work, but on account of the word and faith from which the obedience and the work flow. ~ Martin Luther

Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Eventful












  












   



 

 Saturday we hosted our annual "Christmas in July" picnic for the Newman side of the family.  40ish people, some all the way from Virginia, were anticipated.  We did get a surprise guest though- right smack dab in the middle of the party, Andrew (who has been on constant watch) came running from the woods saying "The calf is born! The calf is born!"

I thought he was joking because, well, he's done that a time or two.  ;-)

But sure enough- the whole party trekked through the woods to discover a little fawn-like calf curled up next to her robust Mama.

(Because, you know, hosting a bunch of people for an afternoon isn't eventful enough.)

All week Matt had been out of town and I was petrified that Penny would give birth during that time- and her being a first-time heifer, I was certain there would be "issues" (which I was certain I would be completely inadequate to resolve by myself!)  Needless to say, I was more than a bit relieved when Matt came home and no calf had been born.  And more than a bit relieved when, as the calf was born, all worked out without a hitch.  We weren't even there.

  After nine months of waiting- the last two being almost unbearable for the boys in this family- Penny had her calf.  (A good sized calf, too!)  Without any problems.  She cleaned out perfectly fine.   She is just an angel at milking time- she stands still as a statue and never kicks or dances around.

The calf was having a few issues with scours but she is on the upswing now.

We've gotten 16 pounds of milk at each milking (about two gallons)...making four gallons a day.  I really wish we had pigs right now to feed the milk to since a calf can only drink so much colostrum and I sure won't!

Oh- and by the way... her name is Ellie.

9 comments:

Bonnie said...

And I wish I was there to help you with some of that milk! Yay for a sweet new calf, and beautiful party pictures!

Ulli said...

Congrats on Ellie's birth!! What a good watcher Framer Andrew is--the first to discover the miracle had occurred! Lovely that Penny and Ellie are well and easy going. Now I'll wait for your cheese making post :)
By the way--beautiful dressed up yard for your reunion--what fun!
and lastly... no wedding date yet.... I'm being patient...

Unknown said...

I'm so glad that is went so smoothly for you that you didn't even know it happened!! Congrats on getting a heifer!! Enjoy all the deliciousness that is happening in your kitchen these days!

Renata said...

Congrats on the calf!! I'm so glad it all went well. Our first calving went terribly, but it all worked out in the end. Enjoy your milk. Don't worry if it seems overwhelming at first-you do get used to making extras and it just becomes part of your routine ( by extras I mean the cheese and yoghurt etc.).
We brought our milking machine second hand and at first our cows hated it, but after a while we realised that the suction was far too strong - poor cows! Once we worked that out it all went well. Now it's just part of Bessy's routine ( we are only milking one as we have no need for more milk than that). You are blessed to have a hubby who knows all about cows. I think we've learned everything the hard way.
Oh and getting a pig is a great way to use the extra milk!
My favourite cheese recipe is on Abigail's build a belly site. It's my favourite because it is so easy and it always works ( we are still trying aged cheese recipes as all of ours have been failures so far).
Have fun with the milk and I think you are amazing for hosting your family get together!
Blessings
Renata:)

beth said...

beautiful! so much life ~

Tracy said...

I am SO very happy that Andrew was the first one to find the calf. He'll always remember that!

Anne in the kitchen said...

Love, love, love the urns on the tree slabs. Fantastic display and function! The pictures are all .lovely as usual

Unknown said...

Aww! What a cute calf!! :D And so fun that Andrew found it first!!!

Full of Grace said...

Love the Name, She is So So Sweet! :) Will you be able to keep her since she is a girl?? I hope so! :) Congrats on the new addition ;)