(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({ google_ad_client: "ca-pub-1163816206856645", enable_page_level_ads: true }); Northview Diary: Summer has come to Northview

Friday, February 29, 2008

Summer has come to Northview






If only in our dreams....meanwhile a short photographic reprise of other times, when the world was more welcoming.

This is the day to wish Alan's old show cow, Balsam, Happy Birthday. Balsam is indeed an old cow, but having been born on leap day, she has had very few birthdays. She was just turned dry yesterday and is expecting a calf by Silky Cousteau in a few weeks. (We would all love it if you would hold good thoughts for a heifer.)

It was weird having a leap day calf back in Balsie's show days. March first is the cut off for junior heifer calf so we entered her in Intermediate where she would have competed against all the calves born between December 1 and February 28. She would have had an uphill battle there, as they naturally would have been a lot bigger then she. However, (much to our delight), the show superintendent pointed out that the rule book actually read "Calves born before March 1" and moved her back to junior heifer calf (where in any other year she would have belonged). She went on to win her class for Alan, which is quite a feat as Junior heifer gets a lot of entries. She is retired now, but is a big, sweet, pet and one of my favorites.


****Update, several hours later.....the sad reality of sunrise this morning


8 comments:

Rebecca Mecomber said...

HA! Yeah, we're all having big bouts of wishful thinking right now. But, silly! Tiger lilies don't bloom when the lilacs are out! ;)

threecollie said...

Mrs. M, yeah, watermelons don't grow in the cosmetics aisle either, but when we saw this one lurking there last summer we had to take a picture. lol I just chose the brightest colored flowers I could find in my files....in hopes of warming up just a tad.

Linda said...

We can dream though can't we!

Cathy said...

Oh,Honey! Keep holding Spring in your heart! That frosty sunrise is pretty, but like you - I've had enough.

Lilacs and daffodils. Lilacs and daffodils. Our mantra while we hang on.

Happy Birthday to sweet Balsam.

threecollie said...

Linda, can and do. lol. I think spring thoughts every day...

Cathy, I set the lilacs as my desk top background for today...it is nice to look at them.

Anonymous said...

Lovely unexpected photos, and much appreciated on this cold day. With 10-13" of snow expected tonight, I may need to come back to gaze at them again tomorrow.

I love the stories about your individual cows. I still remember several cows from over 30 years ago, and I smile. - NW.

Anonymous said...

I can't wait for actual blooms, your pictures helped!
It's nice reading about someone who knows their cows by nickname!

threecollie said...

NW, I needed the flowers. I have newborn geraniums on the bench by the big window, but they are only pinky fingernail sized just now. The fluffy white has plumb stopped being pretty.

Nita, we only have fifty, so even the grades end up with names. I would hate to farm the other way, but I think farms like ours are going to be forced out by farms like those. They are more efficient and they simply make more money. We are hoping to found a couple of sidelines to generate some cash from our cows, but it is hard with the men already overworked. Our son can't wait to go to college so he can quit working so hard.