Two things

Two big events happened at Skookumchuck Farm in less than 24 hours: a new calf was born, and Annabel left for a new home. I feel both elated and sad at the same time.

As I mentioned last night, Bridgit calved at 7:40. Paul and I went out this morning to clean up the calving paddock a little bit and get a better look and photos. What I felt - not testicles, but definitely something - turns out to have been a scrotum with no testicles descended in it! Yes, we have another bull calf, and strangely, this little guy is the twin of Cowboy! I swear he's the same color as Cowboy was his first days (Cowboy's a darker red now), has the same white "under carriage" (boy parts!), the same white hooves and the same blue eyes! I'm starting to second guess myself...I could have sworn both T-Bone and Annabel had brown eyes when they calved, but maybe they really were blue and just changed? I'll have to watch and see what happens with these two little guys. Cowboy would come by it honestly, since Sheila's grandsire was a blue-eyed white bull. Bridgit's dam is white, but I don't know whether her eyes are blue. And besides, what would the chances be that both dams carried a gene for blue eyes?

I mentioned Bridgit's weird behavior in my last post. Now that I've been able to catch more details about both Sheila and Bridgit in the hours prior to calving, maybe I'll become a better predictor of the event. Bridgit's behavior was strange, though. It's as if she thought Cowboy was her calf! Sheila could eat or nap or wander around not worrying about him, because Bridgit was stuck to him like glue. She laid by him, stood over him, licked and cleaned him, even let him fiddle with her udder, and stranger yet, she called to him whenever he went somewhere or did something she didn't like...just like Sheila does. I think it was her hormones kicking in, preparing her body for labor. Once she calved she was done with Cowboy, in fact didn't want him near her new baby. (Like protesting works. That little guys is fast!!) She's showing good maternal instincts now, although not aggressive toward us, and Sheila seems to have relaxed a bit now that Cowboy is older. We were able to do some paddock clean up within feet of them (even when the new baby kept coming over to watch Paul scoop, which Bridgit didn't like much), and no one freaked out on us. Yay! The calf doesn't have a name yet; we are going with a "C" name still, and are bouncing around Clyde and Chief. Our sister-in-law likes Chet. I think I'll have to pull the baby name book back out!

And Annie...she has had a secret admirer for awhile, and the secret came out last weekend, just a couple of hours after T-Bone left for his new home. Kristina and her husband came to visit today to see Annabel, bought her and took her home to Buckley, where she'll live on 65 acres with two cows, two calves (a heifer and a steer) and a mare. She'll have a great home, I have no doubt, but I have to admit it hurts a little to know she isn't here to brush and hang out with. I'll miss her a lot. She'll have lots of new adventures in Buckley I'm sure. But...this is a business, and letting them go is part of farming. She sure has given us a lot of happy, funny memories, that's for sure!

Bridgit's new baby, 16 hours old. I'm having deja vu from last Sunday!