Author Archives: nataliecalvino

(Continued from ‘A Calf in the Bath?’ My apologies for leaving you hanging so long!) So, why did we lose Billy, our calf? We didn’t find out the reasons until we almost lost Spright as well. She was a big heifer calf, and full of energy right from the moment she hit the ground. ButContinue reading “A Tale of Two Calves”

It’s calving time! Winter is not the season we would have chosen to have our cows give birth. Things can happen which necessitate interventions such as… putting a newborn calf in your bathtub. Here’s the story of little Billy the calf, and how the Calvinos took a crash course in one kind of calving emergency.Continue reading “A Calf in the Bath?”

Happy New Year! Life took off like a rocket, and I’m still running to catch up. I feel as though it has been way longer than a month and a half since my last post. So much has happened, I’ll give you a drive- by update. We got the hay in! That was a funContinue reading “Catching Up”

Our Thanksgiving weekend did not go as planned. Well, we didn’t really have too much planned, other than having some family visitors. But boy, oh boy, it turned out to be a roller coaster ride! First off, we were contacted by a friend the weekend before saying that he was available to help us butcherContinue reading “Surprising Blessings at Thanksgiving”

Beware of buying pullets on clearance at your local farm supply store- you never know what you’ll get! That is, if you are not an expert on identifying chicken breeds. We are not terribly familiar with all the different varieties of chickens, or perhaps we would have figured this ‘mix up’ out sooner! But theContinue reading “Mystery Chicks’ Identities Revealed!”

Two really huge projects are coming close to their completion. Because we want our cattle to remain in pasture all year long (ideally) and rely on feeding hay as little as possible, we found it necessary to fence several more acres of our property, and run water lines to several different locations to make itContinue reading “Digging Trenches, Building Fences”

It’s November! Most of the country kicks it off with a celebration of Halloween and Thanksgiving planning, and prepping for the Christmas season that follows right on its heels. We actually don’t celebrate Halloween in the ordinary way; what we celebrate is All Hallows Eve. That refers to the day before All Hallows Day, orContinue reading “Odd Occurrences”

Meet Bosco, a five month old (yes, I did say “month”! )Great Pyrenees-and-possibly-something-else mix. I had been wanting to get a farm guardian dog for security reasons for some time after we moved. It would guard the chickens in their various locations, and warn us and the cattle if predators or intruders were in theContinue reading “New Dogs on the Block… er.. Farm…”

“Mom! Mom! Come look! We caught a mourning dove!” C burst into the house excitedly. “A mourning dove? Really?” “Yes! Come see!” Well, it turned out it wasn’t a mourning dove, but a baby sparrow. Apparently it was trying out its wings in the driveway and the boys decided it needed help. This highlights oneContinue reading “Little Children, Little Things”