Delilah
Samson
Because All We Do Is Hang Out With Cows…
Page 22 of 154
Daily Dose of Delilah
Ya gotta love that face!
Samson
As if Delilah wasn’t the cutest thing I ever saw…this is Samson.
He is our seven month old bull calf and he is as adorable as anything I’ve ever seen.
No, “adorable” and “bull calf” don’t normally go in the same sentence, but can you argue?
He’s a bit shy at the moment. He’s getting closer every day, but he was a bit traumatized just prior to his arrival on our farm (not our doing) and so he’s going to take a little extra work – read that, a little extra grain – to get him trusting us. Every day he comes a little closer.
We are so excited to have our pair. They are getting along well. Delilah is clearly the boss. For now – as The Mister points out. Certainly Samson will eventually rule, but he loves her company and makes a good pasture mate. We couldn’t be more pleased with our Highlands!
A Way With Words
The Mister knows of my dream to some day become a published author. Before bed last night, I was reading “Accordion Crimes” by the Pulitzer Prize winning author, E. Annie Proulx.
“This is why I could never get published,” I remarked. “Just listen to this one sentence, ‘The smell of kerosene, bilge, metal, marine paint, the stink of anxious men, of dirty clothes and human grease, mixed with the briny flavor of the sea, etched Silvano’s sensibilities, a familiar effluvia later on the Texas shrimp boats, and not even the rank stench of crude oil and gas in his roustabout days in the early decades of the new century erased it.’ “
To which, my dear husband calmly replied, “Well, I wouldn’t have said it quite that way but…”
We are quite a pair.
When the Cows Come Home
Delilah arrived yesterday morning.
She was glad to be out of her trailer and into a fresh, new pasture!
While it will take some time for her to get to know us (and us to get to know her!) she didn’t mind an offering of sweet grain from The Mister, nor some brushing by me!
Much to our surprise, she spent quite a bit of time in the shelter. Every highland farm we visited said a shelter was nice, but the cattle rarely (if ever) use it. Delilah sure seemed to enjoy it.
She also loved the hay that The Mister had put out for her. She’ll get a big round bale when we open up the full pasture for her, but she didn’t mind this small offering. Of course the first thing she did was show The Mister that hay isn’t supposed to be neatly contained! She pulled quite a bit out and spread it out as if to say, “Now THIS is what a farm looks like!”
She took a look at those maple leaves…
…and decided SHE loves Maple as much as I do!!
My new favorite cow under my favorite tree.
Delilah and Maple
My favorite look! (So far!)
Fall on the Farm
I love fall on our farm. I love all the colors – and how different they are from one year to the next.
With a front yard so full of trees, fall and winter means sunshine pouring in to the house – a definite plus! The property is just covered with small beauties!
The best view from the house is out my bathroom window. Lucky me!
I love the maple’s colors over the marsh.
Looking out the living room, or sitting in the hot tub gives us time to just enjoy the beauty of the season.
Cranes
Last year, we stopped by the Bernard W. Baker Bird Sanctuary in Bellevue, MI to see the sandhill cranes as they migrate south. Last night, we spontaneously decided to field trip over to see (and hear!) the birds again.
Just like last year we were treated not only to the amazing sights and sounds of thousands of sandhill cranes, but also to the majesty of a bald eagle.
This year, The Mister, with his amazing hawk-eyes, spotted two eagles!
Now that’s our kind of Saturday night!
The Shelter
Last weekend, with the expertise of Bear, and the help of Jules and George, we built Samson and Delilah’s shelter. Bear’s wisdom and experience in building was vital for us. We, as many people know, are a little more of the “Does it look okay? Then it must be level.” kind of people.
The Mister had many important jobs. Cookie sampling was one. Holding the ladder was another. You can’t accuse him of not being able to multi-task!
(And yes, Dad, that is the wooden ladder you bought for Jules and Bear almost 25 years ago. I believe you remarked at that time that it “wasn’t rated for Bear’s size.”)
Actually, The Mister was very involved in the construction
(once Bear told us what to do so we couldn’t screw it up).
(once Bear told us what to do so we couldn’t screw it up).
And now, out by the maple tree that I love so dearly, is our shelter.
We are certain, after this experience, Bear and Jules will not be calling us when they need help with a project. But we cannot thank them enough for all their help. We had a great time, we laughed a lot and we have one huge item checked off our list!
Finch
I am guessing this is a finch of some variety.
He (she?) was sure singing away on a branch just outside my dining room.
He (she?) was sure singing away on a branch just outside my dining room.
Delilah
The real Delilah!!
The farm where we found Samson (the bull calf) connected us to another highland breeder who had a yearling cow for sale. She was all the things we were looking for – except that she’s in Nebraska!! After many, many phone calls to other local highland farms, we finally decided we weren’t going to get a better option than this beautiful cow! We bit the bullet, wrote the check and will be having a cow delivered from Nebraska in three short weeks!
This yearling has been to many shows and has been handled by adults and children alike, which is exactly what we wanted.
So, the first weekend in November is going to be a busy but very exciting one at Someday Farm! We will be going to get Samson (who was weaned this past week, the poor thing) on Saturday and then having this beautiful cow delivered on Sunday.
Sure makes me want to call in sick that Monday…
