Things are looking up

First of all, we have water in the house.  Cliff's hunch that the problem was with the old wires running down to the pump turned out to be correct.  Several people seemed to think it had to do with frozen pipes, but we knew better than that:  We've lived here since 1975, and have never had frozen pipes.  
Anyway, Bruce and his crew came shortly after noon yesterday, pulled the pump, put new wire on it, and returned it to the bottom of the well around 3:30.  

While we were waiting for Bruce yesterday morning, we noticed that Grace was in heat.  It was rather bad timing since we were dealing with the well situation, but Gracie's age is right and it's time to get her pregnant.  Oh, and I had arrangements already made.  

This ad showed up on Craigslist some time back.  Cliff and I talked about renting him and keeping him around until our three heifers are bred.  The problem was that Penny won't be a year old till March, and ideally a heifer needs to be fifteen months old before she meets a bull.  Although Penny is too small to be bred, she comes in heat regularly and definitely would end up pregnant at too young an age.
  
So I decide to call the man and make a proposition:  First of all, I found out he's less than twenty miles from us.  I asked him if we could haul a heifer to his bull when she came in heat, let her spend some quality time with Mr. Bull, and then bring her home the next day.  I give him $50, and he has money in his pocket for very little effort on his part.  The bull has fun, and so does the heifer.  I see milk, cream, and butter in my future.  Everybody is happy.  

To make the situation even better, Cliff's brother has sold his cows, so he told us to keep his livestock trailer here at our house.  No more running to Higginsville to get the trailer and then making the return trip to take it home.  

If all goes well, there will be a calf around October 19.  I don't care whether it's a girl or boy.  It will be a beef cross, so will probably bring a good price at a sale barn.  

Crystal, Bonnie's whiteface calf, will be the next heifer to visit the bull.  Her calf should really be a dandy, since it will be three-quarters beef breed.    

Penny has to wait until May to get any action.