A Day in Exclamations (!)

In looking back at my notes for today, I realized I thought of all four tidbits as more-than-usual. In chronological order:
Electric bill: high!
Sprayer: frustrating!
Bethany: bred!?
Fern: sways!

Our electric bill doubled this month. Was it from the 100W bulb we have to keep the RV water line from freezing? Was it because our space heater runs 24/7? Was it because we plugged in our industrial freezer? We aren't sure what caused it, but to double our bill was extremely discouraging to Phil. How could we manage to go electric-free?

Compounding his irritation, the sprayer has a broken fitting. Whether it broke in shipping, or in the transit from upper driveway to living area, I'm not sure, but the sprayer is no good without a functional fitting ("It's like a nylon piece worth the price of the entire machine!" Phil said). He had gone to the hardware store and bought an "Easy Out" tool that was too small, so wrestled with the two halves of the fitting for a couple of hours before he went back to sleep, depressed.

My optimist husband was tired, so while he slept for a few hours, I called the manufacturer. They confirmed that the Easy Out tool was what we needed, but when Phil woke up, he did some more checking and found a set that has five graduated sizes. We hope that will help.

"Nothing is ever easy," is, for us, the saying of the day. I suppose that's also known as LIFE.

While the boys and I enjoyed time with visitors, Phil came in to say, "Bethany may be in heat!" I ran out to watch the cow mounting others, and what I saw was a cow lying on the ground. Phil said, "Oh, a minute ago, one of the little ones was licking her!" Which I've seen almost daily.

However, we later went for a closer look, and she had mucus on her tail! Signs of heat! Giovanni came, and he said, "Well, it doesn't feel quite right, but she may have ovulated already." So we did AI with one straw, and we'll watch again in about three weeks. I do hope she's bred; it's been one of my greater concerns, the lack of signs of ovulation for the cows.

I've also felt some concern about Fern keeping her pregnancy. But today, I noticed that she's a good bit rounder, and sways when she walks. Not dramatically (only about halfway through for her), but definitely different than the yearlings. I am so, so thankful for that.

In other baby news, we're watching Buttercup the Pig for signs of heat. Apparently, her vulva will turn red and grow swollen, and then we'll take her to her farm-of-birth for breeding about two weeks later. She's so friendly, it's hard to see her backend: she wants loving on her face. I throw her a banana peel, and then she turns around.

And in other farm news, I spent about five hours yesterday planning the planting, harvesting, and seed starting dates for the next year, for the crops I have. It was helpful, and I'm excited to keep going with this coming year's growth.