Big helps

The best part about growing up on a ranch is how much time kids actually get to spend with their family, at work.  And as the kids get older, they are essential in the operation of the ranch....but it all starts when they are very little.  They watch their parents and grandparents at work and see the rhythm of the seasons and the cycle of the farm. By the time they get big enough to really help, they already know what needs done.

My kids are VERY fortunate, because their dad and grandpa are so patient and willing to take them along. The pictures that follow are from last Monday. Maggie was heartbroken when she'd found out the first calf was born and she hadn't seen it, so when another cow calved, her daddy called me and we went to visit the new baby.

Going with Daddy to have a look....

There he is!

I love this picture, with the shadow of the mama.  She was a little worried about us coming to visit her baby.

Sweet baby! She's a good mama, and right after I took this picture, stepped between her calf and us and that was the end of the photo session.

Checking on a heifer that's in the process of calving.  She was trying to calve on that big manure and dirt pile!

They ended up getting her in and pulling the calf, because he had a front leg back.

Loading cake for the next day's feeding. Isn't that slick? My dad used to shovel cake onto a conveyer that dropped it in the feeder.  It was HARD work. When I was in my early 20's I lived at the ranch for a while and tried to help Dad by shovelling cake for him.  I couldn't ever get big enough shovel loads and so had to add a few to compensate.  It was good exercise, but if you had a bad back it would be excrutiating.

PopPops took us to the house for a little cookie break, after looking at the calf and checking the heifers. That's the good thing about grampas....they are ALWAYS ready to take a cookie break.

This picture has the combine in the background and I like the generations with the setting.  Our countryside is so incredibly dismal this time of year! Any sort of color is embraced; green farm equipment, red stocking caps.

Finally, I have a question for you.  Have any of you ever seen a bird like this? It was perched out on the swingset that afternoon and we have no idea what in the world it might be! Size-wise, it was about the size of my hand...bigger than a sparrow, although it has that sort of look.