CoffeeMike is my pal Michael who shall remain anonymous, unless he wishes to identify himself, but I've known him since he was a wee lad, as the Scots, say, of about 8 months.
Weather: it's still wretched here, too much rain last night, Amish kids washed away in western KY a couple of days ago, tornadoes etc. last night, flash flooding all over the place, etc., etc. It's been a seriously rotten winter (second one in a row). Like I mentioned earlier, I sold Daddy's car, and am using the proceeds to pay off our propane bill (which is more than you probably think...).
Also, the limb on the tree back there with the swing on it (swing has probably been there for a zillion years...) fell off last night, probably a result of the inclement weather. What we get here in Kentucky is floods, flash and otherwise; we're sitting on these limestone formations that create caves, and it's pretty much not an aquifer like you have in central Texas. Too much rain? It causes flash floods; the water flows into creeks; these flow into the KY river (if you can still actually call it a river...it's sort of a series of lakes); this stuff flows into the Ohio River, which flows into the Mississippi and on to the Gulf of Mexico. For example, Flat Run Creek flows through our farm, which runs into Stoner Creek a mile or so downstream; Stoner Creek runs into the KY River, etc., etc...
Last spring we had a seriously annoying set of days of rain and the cellars filled up; the sump pump couldn't cope.
On the issue of calves on the big pasture. We have had two kinds: first, yearlings we bought in the early spring, let feed out over the summer and early fall, and then sent to market in the late fall (when they were ready for slaughter, and there was basically no more food for them on the pasture); and secondly, calves that belonged to a vet across the road and down the road. We also had horses on the farm for awhile (belonged to some other guys), and this was, shall we say, NOT a good experience, and we'll never do it again. Not sure what we're going to do, though. We will probably purchase some yearlings, let them feed out on the big pasture, and figure out what to do in late fall. Until we got the fences fixed, the whole issue was moot.
Not sure I really want to butcher a whole calf, though; I grew up on a farm where we did that, and while I readily admit that we didn't know what to do with lots of the cuts (and I do now know...), am not sure I want to go there...
Cheers, Lillie
