Winter has returned

I know winter doesn't begin for another week or so, but it sure does feel like winter today.  We've had some unseasonably warm days, and I sure did enjoy that.  Now, back to the 20's at night.  

It rained last night and this morning, so the baby's daddy didn't work, which means no toddler running around making us laugh today.  This winter is much better than last, though:  There were some weeks when he didn't work at all, and Cliff and I would beg him to bring her over, we missed her so much.  

I haven't been faithful at doing blog entries for the simple reason that nothing is going on around here.  Every day is pretty much the same.  I wake up at three o'clock, try to stay in bed until four, get up and drink coffee for an hour, and then go outside and let the cow in with the three calves for fifteen minutes.  I fix the meals, do the laundry... see, this is why I haven't been blogging.  This sort of stuff is boring.  

We put out a bale of hay for the horses, but they were such gluttons they wouldn't leave the hay for a minute.  They just stood there and ate, nonstop.  It's pretty good hay with quite a bit of alfalfa in it, and we sure didn't want Adam's horses foundering.  So Cliff fixed up a small pen at one end of the pen the calves have been using, and we open the gate and let them in twice a day for a couple of hours.  It looks like that is going to work just fine.  

The baby is really growing up.  Sometimes she will use the potty if I put her on it.  She is trying to say more words.  She minds really well for a toddler, and doesn't throw tantrums.  

Cliff is getting to the point where he can't walk every day, thank to arthritis in his knees and hip.  I told him he may as well just start using the exercise bike at this point.  He's working on restoring the Allis Chalmers tractor, so that's his winter project.  He doesn't spend nearly as many hours in the shop as he used to, though.  Both of us are pretty sedentary these days, not by choice, but because we don't like to hurt.  And moving around hurts to some degree.

Still, life is good.  The highlight of our days is Cora.  On days when she's here, it's impossible to be anything but happy.  We have a roof over our heads and plenty to eat.  On a somber note, Cliff's brother, who is eighteen months younger than he, was put on hospice care last week.  He's been in and out of hospitals for two months, not able to keep food down.  He finally said, "No more".  

This puts a cloud over the house, and may be another reason I don't care whether I do blog entries or not.  Cliff and his siblings are very close, and it's hard for them to even talk about these awful circumstances.  All of us feel the doctors mishandled things, but a person is pretty much helpless in the hands of the medical profession.

I will leave you with a link that SHOULD allow you to watch my three calves chewing their cuds.  I put it on Facebook, but according to their information, if I share the link, anybody, even those who aren't Facebook friends, can see it.  We shall see.  Click HERE.