Thursday, November 6, 2008

Snow and Surprises!

True to her promise, the Bag Lady is sharing a picture of the snow that fell yesterday. For those of you in the warmer areas who want to see snow, but not necessarily first-hand, enjoy. For those of you who will eventually get some snow, here's a taste of what's to come!


The Bag Lady had to do some ranch work this morning. Because of the snow, the Rancher decided that the cows needed to be fed, so the Bag Lady took 4 feeders and 4 bales to the cows. The Rancher knows that cows are inclined to wander if they don't think there is enough to eat where they are, so feeding them helps keep them happy and inside the fences!

On her first trip to feed the cows, the Bag Lady had a look around and did a quick nose count (it's faster to count noses than it is to count legs and divide by 4....). All but one of the cows had a calf this spring, and two of the cows have two calves. One of the Bag Lady's old cows didn't have a calf in the spring, and the Rancher and the Bag Lady thought that perhaps she was just too old and would have to go for slaughter sometime soon. This idea didn't sit well with the Bag Lady because this particular cow was one of the first cows the Bag Lady bought. The cow was old when the Bag Lady bought her some 11 or 12 years ago, but she has produced a good calf every year since! The Bag Lady calls her Marble because she reminds her of marble cheese.

When the Bag Lady was doing her nose count, she glanced over at old Marble and had to do a double take. This is what she saw:



The Bag Lady had been working in the corral the day before and had seen Marble, but she didn't have a calf at that time. She must have been waiting for the storm!
As most of you know, the rest of this years' calf crop were all named for bloggers. The Bag Lady gave the opportunity to Marianne, who passed the honour on to her children. They chose to call this last calf of the season:

Autumn!

This is a comparison shot. The black calf (Mojo) was born June 8th. How quickly they grow!

So calving season has officially ended at Scratchnut Creek Ranch. Finally.

27 comments:

Reb said...

OMG! Autumn is so cute - and so late!

Well, at least marble is safe for a little while yet then.

carla said...

DAMN they DO grow fast!

casts a glance at Toddler and is thankful...

Leah J. Utas said...

What a happy surprise for you. Autumn looks like a fine figure of a calf.
As for the snow, well, it's thoughtful of you to start us out easy.

the Bag Lady said...

Reb - imagine my surprise! At least there was no trouble, and she is a nice, healthy calf!

Carla - don't they? You don't really realize it until something like this happens.

dfLeah - I was definitely happy that Autumn finally arrived! :)

Penny said...

Sweetness! That is a big Moo-er for a newborn....

Pretty snow! Still grey here, but we had Bonfire Night last night so it certainly wasn't cold... (or quiet, grrr fireworks!!)

TA x

the Bag Lady said...

TA - Bonfire Night? Fireworks? What is that in celebration of?

Sarah said...

Very cute calf!!

And BRRR that snow looks cold! I'm willing to wait a while longer before we get that!

JavaChick said...

Aw! What a nice surprise to find! I'm so glad, because I don't like the idea of you having to...uh...send Marble away either.

That border to the land of Vegetarian gets closer every day.

Anonymous said...

Bag Lady: I'm not sure, but I think TA was celebrating Guy Fawkes Day.

And I'm really glad Marble got to be a mommy again this year.

the Bag Lady said...

Sarah - I would have been willing to wait a little while longer, too, but guess there's not much I can do about it!

Javachick - I was really happy to see that little calf, too. In fact, I got so excited, I called the Rancher at work. He said Marble had just saved her own life.....
*gulp*

Tricia - I wasn't sure if it would be Guy Fawkes already or not - thanks!
And I'm glad Marble had such a good little calf, too!

solarity said...

Go, Marble! Us Old Girls can produce (although not, in my case, calves.)

Snow is so pretty until you have to work in it.

Mary Anne in Kentucky

Ann (bunnygirl) said...

Wow, I didn't know cows calved this late in the season, at least not in cold climes like yours. (Almost-perpetual summer here, you know.)

Yay, Marble and Autumn!

Send along some of that snow if you get the inclination. Eight and humid is what I'm looking at today. Ugh. So un-autumnlike.

Anonymous said...

Never underestimate us old gals! Make sure to put pink tags on her, ok? LOL

Unknown said...

So cute! Congratulations to Marble:)

Missicat said...

Awww!! Cute little critter.
Send snow this way! I want some this year puhllleeeze!

Emily said...

I can't believe you have snow already- it's going to be 75F here today!

My mojo is getting so big. I will most def show to the hubby when I get home (he pretends to care that a cow thousands of miles away is named after our dog!)

the Bag Lady said...

Mary Anne - I was quite relieved that Marble came through again. Better a late calf than no calf!

BG - we don't ordinarily have them this late. Some ranchers start calving around Christmas - gives them a head start over those of us who take a more traditional path.

Wait until you see the pictures I'll be posting tomorrow! It is absolutely gorgeous here today!

darksnark - totally going to get special pink tags just for Autumn! :)

Sagan - thanks! Good ol' Marble!

Missicat - I'll do my best to get some snow to you, really I will!

Emily - your Mojo calf is almost as tall as your Mojo dog now! Hehehehe

Aleta said...

Awwww, they are adorable! My grandmother used to have cows. When a calf was born, she'd name them after her grandchildren. Yes, there was an "Aleta" out there. Lol.

Melissa said...

Little baby calves!!!! My parents live on a farm and they have cows too. I love it when they have babies. *sniff* I miss my parents.

And my mother-in-law was kidnapped on election day. Seriously. But we're working on it.

Penny said...

Guy Fawkes night! November the 5th! To commemorate the Gunpowder Plot, when Guy Fawkes tried to blow up the Houses Of Parliament many moons ago, but they caught him and burned him on a big fire. Every year we Brits celebrate it with fireworks displays and big bonfires with a "Guy" (not real person, a bit like a scarecrow) which we burn on it. And we have toffee apples and bonfire toffee and sparklers. It's a cute tradition but there's WAY too much fire involved for my liking! Very busy night for the fire service and hospitals :0(

TA x

new*me said...

those pics are so beautiful. We had a cold front come in last night and brrrr.........did you send it on down to us!?

the Bag Lady said...

Aleta - having a cow named after you is a great honour! :)

Melissa - Sounds to me like you need to make a trip home for a visit!

TA - Dangnubbit, I missed it again! I'll need a reminder next year to celebrate Guy Fawkes Day, 'kay? In fact, you might have to come in person and help me light the bonfire!!

the Bag Lady said...

Annette - I would never do something like that....well, okay, I would if I had any control over the weather! But only for a day or two to remind you to savour the warm days!

Anonymous said...

I'm definitely in the camp of "don't live near snow but like seeing it." I felt cold just looking at the pics.

the Bag Lady said...

Hi,Charlie - makes me cold to look at it too....oh, wait, I live here!
:)
Thanks for stopping by!

Hilary said...

Autumn is a great name and so cute. I'm glad the mom came through and had her calf. I would hate to have to say something like "That Bag Lady - did you hear? She's lost her Marble!" ;)

the Bag Lady said...

Hilary - that cracked me up! Thanks!