Fall Changes

My last post over a month ago was regarding several cattle losses we've had over the summer due to anaplasmosis, which is a blood disease that causes fever and anemia.  Thankfully since that time we have had no more cases.  Likely mainly due to the changing of the weather.  Far less tick and flies cuts down on disease.  With the changing of the season also comes time for moving from summer to fall and winter preparations.  Hay bales need moved off of the hayfield, calves weaned, and cows pregnancy checked. But on top of that we've had lots of steps happening with the house renovation and addition.  

For my birthday I received a drone which has been more fun than useful, though not entirely without utility.  I took it out with me while moving bales.


This is a pass I took with it around the place in September.


With weaning we bring all the cattle into sorting pens, let the cows back out and hold the calves.  Then  the cows are given access to the pasture and calves are kept in kept in a feed lot, with grain, hay, and lots of water.  This helps us keep an eye on the calves, respiratory illness is pretty common so often the grain or the salt and mineral is medicated.  When I was in high school my daily job this time of the year was graining with the old WD-40 and wagon.  20 years later its just about the same thing.   

There are also three who had leg injuries in the past year and are kept up close and get a bucket of grain a day.  1 bull who we found with a hurt back leg, I started calling him Claudius because its believed Roman emperor Claudius had a limp, I thought it fit him.  I make him let me pet him each morning now. There's a steer we're feeding out with a swollen front leg. And a heifer calf who broke her back left leg so badly it had been hanging loose.  No idea how it happened.  Here's a clip of feeding them.  

The renovation has been redoing the entire kitchen, dining room and bathroom. Denise has become an expert tiler through this process. 


We've also been making preparations for an addition to add bedrooms, garage, laundry, office, etc. 

We've received so much timely help from friends, both new and old with the project.  If this is you, thank you so much.  You are a God-send.  Here's a timelapse of removing concrete.  


What is crazy about this is a friend from church drove over an Amish guy on a skid-loader with a jackhammer attachment to break it all up. I had a nice talk with him about technology and about Jesus.  After he was finished then I just had to do skid-loader and tractor work to take the concrete away.  Even before that step we had to knock down the old garage and remove it.   Here I knocked down the garage onto an old haystack underslung, then drove it to the dump.  

There will maybe be more updates to come regarding that.  As of today we are at footings poured and getting ready for a foundation.  


I've been struck by the power of gratitude and it being a better catalyst for change in my own life.  Namely the blessing I have in Christ, the forgiveness of sin as a means of turning from my own selfishness and pride and toward better things.  No better time for change than Thanksgiving season.  May you all have a blessed fall.  

David

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