Alright, Angelina, I am here to prove myself a woman of my word.Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeere's BOSSY!
She got that name because she IS.
Bossy is the mother of the calf we lost back in May and, I'm reasonably sure she holds me personally responsible for her tragedy. I was, after all, always doing *something* with her baby every single day for about six weeks.
Must be my fault.
Even if she doesn't think I killed her sickly offspring, I still feel guilty about it. It's the first calf I've lost on my watch and that's really hard for me to take.
Even though she can be kinda grumpy, I still think she's just beautiful.
I eagerly await the arrival of her next calf in February. I hope her new baby is much sturdier than the last and perhaps she'll find it within her big bovine heart to forgive me.
This is Princess MaMaKau.She came to us with the name "Princess" but my mom-in-law can't bring herself to call a cow by a royal designation.
We added the Hawiian-inspired spelling and pronunciation to give Fran the ability to call her just "Mama Cow," but still have at least a little flair to go with her "pedigree."
Princess is quite a nice cow and is *very* pregnant with her second calf which she will deliver around the end of August.
She's SO round! I remember those days. UGH.
Right now we have to keep her separated from her nearly-year-old heifer calf, Sparky, who insists on continuing to NURSE!
Little piggy.
If we keep them together she'll suck up all the new baby's colostrum and we'll have another sickly calf on our hands. Been there. Done that. NOT doing it again!
This means we get to endure a LOT of bellowing from both sides of the fence. Thankfully, it seems things are beginning to quiet down.
Meet Sparky, who also came pre-named. It was kind of like "fate," though, that these two came to live with us. Grace is *very* into princesses and James's pet name for me, on good days, is "Sparky." Cute, huh?
And so is she. I just love her.
She's very bouncy and fun to watch.
"I'm ready for my close-up, Mr. DeMille!"
OH! And, don't worry. We won't be eating any of these ladies. They are strictly for making more baby cows... and eating garden scraps and lawn clippings...
Luscious and Divine
WARNING! If you find the sight of succulent, dewy expressions of fertility offensive... look away NOW!
These are my mom-in-law's Marionberries.
Mmmmmmm.
Hey. You were warned.
She also has raspberries and blueberries......right next door.
One of the MANY reasons I LOVE living so close to my in-laws!
The last of the potato blossoms.
The FIRST of the potato harvests!
I can't get enough zucchini flower shots.
This little baby stopped me dead in my tracks.
Look at that precise, simple beauty.
Again with the bean tendrils...
... and their loving embrace.
Ohhhhhh... do I have future plans for YOU babies!
A little olive oil, some fresh basil from just over there... cool mozarella...
... wait a minute... do I hear Barry White?
Red-cloaked vigilance.
This is something we are very excited about and proud of every single Summer.We call it our "Home Grown Meal."
The steak, potatoes, lettuce, green onions, and garlic ALL came from our garden, raspberries from my in-laws'.
One day, we hope to add the wine to our gleeful demonstration of self-sufficiency, but for now, vino from a couple miles down the road will have to do.
Life just doesn't get any better than this.
We are so blessed and so VERY grateful for our amazing, bountiful life.
6 comments:
Hi Angeleen,
I don't think we have met, but I wander over here from time to time from Beth Fox's blog (we have known one another since we were about eight years old, so if you need dirt on her, let me know!). I love your writing style.
But I decided to comment today because now I am in love with your produce pictures--goodness! Beth was just here for the weekend and cooked for me with things I never know what to do with, like beets. It was heaven. Finding these pics at the end of the day was a perfect capper--thanks!
I love the curly tendril shot. I'm very proud of you guys and impressed at your local HOME FLIPPIN GROWN goodness.
You're going to make wine someday?
I'm back to comment on the cows because I didn't realize these were in the same post. I love your cows.
Can I meet them? will they run away if I come close? Will they try to kill me?
I've communed with a calf once and I wanted to take her sweet self home but my mom wouldn't let me. However, I have never stood at the side of a full grown one. Or touched a full grown one.
I think they're adorable!!
I want/hope/crave to have a vineyard and make wine someday, but who knows when/if that will actually happen.
For one thing, there is a very imposing learning curve involved... and a three year wait for grapes mature enough to crush...
It's a beautiful picture in my head, though!
The cows we have now are not the big *dogs* we used to have, but they are in no way threatening. Bossy can whip her head around pretty fast and that can be intimidating. Remember, though, that cows are prey animals and have no real idea that they could snap you like a twig. If they start to get too full of themselves you just wave your arms and make some noise and they back right off. A stick works, too.
You can always come feed them greenery through the fence, too, if you're more comfortable with that proximity.
Come on over!
Kathie, thanks so much for commenting! This post was a lot of fun and I love that you enjoyed my pics. They make me happy. I now have the cucumber curly cue and the lady bug lettuce shots on my monitors as wallpaper. Delish!
Did I meet you at Pumpkin Palooza?
Dirt on Beth. Always welcome. Yes, please! ;)
I love garden photos. They make me feel at one with the world. I'm took pictures last week of my own garden to post on my blog, but didn't get around to it and now I have to take more because the garden changes a lot in one week.
We DID meet at PumpkinPalooza--good call!
Man, I'm getting old--I can't remember a thing without help!
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