Hard winters and babysitting equal less blogging

That, and dissatisfaction with a few minor circumstances that will, with passage of time, change for the better.  Honestly, this super-cold, extra-long winter has affected the attitudes of most everybody I know.  Not to mention how propane prices doubling and tripling have wreaked havoc with budgets of we rural-dwelling folks.  

Then there's the incidence of various colds and plagues:  I've heard it said by people in day care than you get more communicable diseases when you're around children a lot.  That seems to be true.  I usually have one or two minor colds each winter.  This year I had one minor cold and one case of cold/bronchitis that refuses to leave and has had me coughing for two weeks.  Cliff said yesterday, "You know if it was ME coughing that hard, for that long, you would be forcing me to go to the doctor."  

And then there was the intestinal virus the baby passed on to all her favorite people.  At least we haven't had any flu.  (Some people think the stomach virus is a form of influenza.  It isn't.  So don't expect the flu shot to prevent the tummy thing.)

The cows are doing well.  Penny, the nearest in the picture, is big enough to breed any time now.  Sometime within the next month, we hope to get that done.  We are still assuming Crystal, the whiteface, got bred when she visited the neighbor's Angus bull.  And of course, Gracie, in the middle, is due to calve October 19.  It will be great to have some good, raw milk again.  

I heard that cattle are bringing all-time high prices at our nearest livestock auction barn, so I checked online.

The item here that staggers my imagination is "2yr old hfr pairs - $3,550".  That is the price for a first-calf heifer with her calf beside her.  Now, the price of dairy-type animals hasn't really risen at all, to speak of.  So the only animal I have that might bring some ridiculous money is Crystal, the half-breed Hereford (whiteface).  But it would be hard for me to part with her, since she's all I have left of Bonnie-the-Jersey-cow.  

These boys will never be worth much, except in somebody's freezer where the ground beef from their flesh will taste as good as any other, and better than most.  But remember, Homer, the little guy, gets to have an active sex life before he dies.  Some people think the meat won't be good if it's from a bull, but that's wrong.  I guess they get that idea because in the case of hogs, boar meat does have a strong taste.    

Any time I venture out on a photoshoot, Iris, Mama Kitty, or both are somewhere nearby.  This day, it was Mama Kitty.