Morning Ritual

Clyde is excited about the wildland fire industry's off-season. Most of us won't hold Uncle Clyde because of his unnecessary roughness. He's downright dangerous with his claws and his teeth. He likes to rub his head on us, drooling from happiness, and sucking on fingers.
Now that Big Dan is home, Clyde gets his morning nap on a lap every day.
It takes a man to snuggle with Clyde.

Bottle Calf

Becky successfully pulled the calf away from Penny and got him on the bottle.
Penny's acting ok with the whole thing. I know she still misses him for now.
He seems to wander back toward his birthplace when we let him on the yard for a potty break, but I don't believe that he has any particular longing for his real mom.
Penny gave about three gallons this evening. Becky brought a gallon and a half up here, and Penny had spilled about the same amount.
Momma would get a little anxious about her son during milking, but Becky would tell her soothingly, "It's ok, Penny." and she would settle right down.
We're not storing any colostrum because we don't have any upcoming babies on the farm. What he doesn't drink, we'll feed to the pigs.
He's taking the bottle like a champ now.
He's been sold to our friends for a beef steer and will leave next week (or the week after.) Becky will have an abundance of milk after he leaves!

Nuts and Fruits

Katie and Snowflake are two crazy nuts who were cozily watching Dan plant fruit trees. But on Providence Farm, if you put your arm around a dog, sure enough, another dog will come and demand equal treatment.
Lily is the third nut this morning.

Handsome Danny planted two pear trees, three peach trees, and a flowering crab apple in the orchard. He will be planting two sweet cherries up by the garden, plus two (much smaller than the last) red maples down the driveway.