bottle calves and rest homes

I have mentioned on this blog that I had contacted some people about buying a calf to raise alongside Clyde.  I called them a second time to see what happened, and the lady told me that the dairy from whom they buy their calves had not called them as yet.  
Friday I got a call asking if I still wanted a calf, because now they could get some.  I explained that my plan had been to put the calf on my cow alongside her own, and she could raise them like twins.  
At this point, Clyde would be double the size of a newborn calf and would crowd it out until it starved.  
"I'm sorry," I told her, "I just don't need a calf at this time."
"Would you be interested in one next spring, perhaps February or March?" she asked.  
I mulled it over quickly.  February and March we probably won't be going on any motorcycle trips.  I wouldn't try to put a calf on Bonnie at that late date, but I could raise one on the bottle with milk replacer.  Or, I could try weaning Clyde and sneak a new calf on Bonnie.  
I told the lady I'd be interested in a calf in early spring.  She said she'd call.  
We'll see what happens.  


Cliff and I just had a discussion about nursing homes.  Not a pleasant discussion, believe me, although we were laughing a lot; sometimes you have to laugh to keep from crying.  My mother got to the point that she felt she wanted and needed to be waited on and watched out for, and she put herself in a rest home.  It worked well for her until she got to the point that she couldn't do anything for herself; then it wasn't so good.  
Nobody actually mistreated her.  It's just that nursing homes do not have the staff to tend to bedfast patients constantly.  
If we're mentally able, Cliff and I agree we'll take care of one another.  I have told him, though, that if Alzheimer's should set in, to please place me in a home.  The time would come where I wouldn't know the difference anyhow.  
Barring that, if things get bad enough, there's housing for old folks, apartments where we would still have our privacy and could lock our doors.  I could do that all right, I believe.  I would still have the freedom to get out and walk around the block if that's what I wanted to do.  I'm don't know how I'd do with a nursing home where I couldn't lock my door and shut people out.  
But we all do what we must.
I've often told Cliff I'm going to live with my oldest granddaughter if something happens to him.  She asks very little of me and is easy to get along with.  
Cliff said, "You'd have to move her mother out first."  
Well yes, there's that.  Amber is a momma's baby; I couldn't ask her to kick out my ex-daughter-in-law (who has multiple sclerosis) just so I could move in.  
OK, so it's senior housing.  That's fine.
If something happens to me, my daughter says Cliff can live with them.  She's said the same about her mother-in-law, so I always tell Cliff I hope he and Linda have fun in my absence.   
We laugh, to keep from crying.  


Oh, and by the way:  my husband approves this message.