We Added a Calf to the Family
Yes. Yes we did. I considered not saying anything, since this is a dog blog, but y’all have been through cancer and back with me, so I thought it only right to let y’all in on what our family is doing. We added a calf to our family! Some back story, yes?
You probably know that we live in the city. We have seven chickens and a duck in our backyard. We have four dogs and two cats and a koi pond. We really are suburbanites. We want to be homesteaders. Our oldest chicken is six years old, so we’ve been doing this backyard chicken thing for awhile. We’ve been talking, for about that long, about getting a few acres, a few goats, more birds, some guardian livestock dogs. Nothing has ever come of it.
I’ve been blogging for Jones Natural Chews for five years next month. I travel for them sporadically and LOVE IT. Traveling would be more difficult if we had more creatures. How could we pull this off? We resigned ourselves to staying in the city. We settled.
And Then Cancer
And then I was diagnosed with stage 3 rectal cancer. Thank God we hadn’t found our land or decided to move! I can’t imagine being in the middle of a move, or trying to farm acreage, and caring for a homestead while battling cancer. Hunny was taxed to his outmost limits last year caring for me and everything else.
But then I was done with treatments and reevaluating my life. I escaped certain death. I have a ton of weight to lose. I’m still physically recovering. I missed out on so much last year. Dang it, I have a lot to do! Every day could be my last. Why the heck shouldn’t I do what I dream of doing if it will benefit me and Hunny, not harm us?
So I decided to sell the house and look for a small farm. I told Hunny that this was what we’d do. And that my mom would move with us. It was rather well received all the way around. Phew! Cancer will do that to you, though. You’ve escaped the dragon. You can do pretty much anything at this point. So you do.
But Why Would We Add a Calf to Our Family?
Here’s where the photos take over. We were sitting with our homesteading friends this weekend, chatting about what they do, and I asked why they only raised one calf at a time (for the freezer – they raise steers for meat for themselves). They said that they’d love to raise two at a time, but there were too many minor emergencies claiming the funds to pick up another. So I opened Craigslist and found a calf. And just like that, we now own a calf! I drove down yesterday to pick it up.
Isn’t he GORGEOUS? The calf, not the farmer. Okay, he’s a cutie, too, but he’s married. Calm yourself. He’s a dairy farmer, but Mignon, my calf, is half dairy, half beef cow. Perfect for stocking our freezer in a couple of years.
Our good friends, the homesteader and his family, have agreed to raise Mignon until we have our own little farm – hopefully before fall sets in. They’re currently raising another calf for meat, a dairy steer, Brisket.
I’m so excited! Can you tell? And I bottle fed Mignon before leaving for home.
Giveaway
Now that that’s out of my system – aw, who am I kidding? You’ll be seeing Mignon here probably once a month when I visit him – let’s get down to dog business! Jones Natural Chews is giving some lucky dog a Bully Bone! It could be YOUR lucky dog. To enter, simply click this sentence, leave a comment on the new post which will open, click the magic box near the end of the post, and click I Commented! Easy as pie. Pie isn’t actually easy to make, but like pie, it’s totally worth it. Your dog agrees with me.
Spreading the good chews …
Flea
