Days like this should be bottled

I'm completely obsessed with cows at present. I can't help it, and I know it will pass in time, when my 'lil babies grow up a bit and are not quite so reliant on me. Life is busy.. busier, and because my hands are full most of the time there are no photos of me with my babies.
Yesterday our dairy farmer friend phoned to ask if we wanted the Angas calf that was born during the night. We're hand feeding one already (Gordon) and have so much excess milk, we can just as easily hand feed another one. So, armed with my Arnica pillules, we drove over to collect little Ambrose.
What a feisty little chap he was, but in twenty four hours he has calmed and is completely lovable.
He's suckling well on the feeder now which contains all of the ingredients mentioned in my last blog post.
I promise to take some pics of all of the little ones soon. They are hilarious to watch, cavorting around the paddocks with their tails held high and teasing the mums/aunties, Daisy and Lavender. Tonight, Gordon had fallen asleep up in the paddock when the others came down for milking and feeding. (It's hard work being a calf and there's so much to do, soo tiring) Brian kindly volunteered walked up there, to the top of the hill, to wake him and bring him down.
Today started early, as usual, because it was market day and we had two steers to be sold.  After we loaded  them onto the trailer, Brian drove over to the sale yards early in the morning, while I stayed back to do all the milking, calf feeding, chook feeds etc. After lunch we both went back to watch them go through the sale ring.

If you are an average person you would not have been to a livestock sale or market, and I would urge you to do so, just once, to get a feel for what it's like for the people on the land. It's a social day, catching up with other farmers and sharing stories, knowledge, and gossip, with usually plenty of dry humor flying about. This is the real Australia, and I love it. I don't have the merest urge or desire to swap my life for anything else. This is what it's all about, it's not always pleasant here at the market, but it's a true indication of how our communities are traveling.
Pictured above is a yearling Angas steer going through the sale ring. No, it's not one of ours. When ours went through, my hands were clenched and I think I might have been holding my breath. Each sale goes so fast, and of course we're hoping for that dollar figure to keep going up, higher and higher.
Ours fetched good prices today although the market this month is down slightly on last month.

As we are prone to do, we bought a couple of pens of weedy lambs for a cheap price, so we came home with our trailer full.
While waiting in line to get to the loading ramp to load up our lambs, I was entertained by this truck driver and his two Kelpie dogs. It was a joy to watch. The dogs were incredibly smart and brave, willing to go the extra mile to please their handler. I had a welling up in my throat to witness the loving care this bloke bestowed on his working dogs.
Our day ended quite late, the lambs needed to be drenched for worms before driving them off to one of our leased paddocks where they will eat and grow before taking them back to the market in a few months.
There were cows to be milked, chooks to feed, calves to be fed, some electric fences to be fixed. Just as well Brian has a head lamp, and thankfully there were lots of left overs in the fridge to eat for our evening meal.
It was a beautiful day, good enough for bottling.

Last Saturday morning I received a message from Emma - A simple living journey to say that she was nearby at our local Farmers market and was coming by to shop at my Farm-gate stall. Of course I told her that she had to call in and have a cuppa. We have been blog buddies for some time, and can you imagine my delight to finally meet her? We chatted over cups of tea, walked the gardens and some of the paddocks, and talked for nearly two hours. Such a joy to meet someone who has a zest for life such as Emma. Her blog posts are full of simplicity and family core values, written eloquently. Thanks dear Emma for the beautiful gift of the Happy Soul Infusion Tea. I felt totally spoiled.
Thanks for visiting dear reader. I hope your days are worth bottling.