The "pretty soon" heifer delivered this morning. Phil was surprised. Apparently we have become quite the lackadaisical farmers—we separated mother and calf, but didn't check the calf to find out gender. I have been trying to follow Phil's lead, too, in trusting the cows to know what to do. The baby, born sometime before dawn on this cold, cold day, was shivering, though mostly dried off. I don't want a baby of any type to be shivering. And yet, if the mothers purposefully deliver in snow to avoid predation, on some level, the mothers must know what to do.
It's always a relief, though, to see the baby nurse.
Phil again spent the day in the barn, building a mezzanine. Snow had been predicted for the last three days, and although we haven't seen any snow here (other than a paper-thin dusting), the snow started falling heavily by 4pm, and, with the cold weather, started sticking immediately. Phil drove the van to the top of the driveway. He brought down firewood. I filled water jars. I made bread enough for a few days. Phil filled the tub. We got the humanure buckets ready. And we brought up the heifer that is set to deliver "immimently." If she delivers tonight, I don't want to be wandering around in the snow looking for her.
The forecasters say the snow will be heavy, and we should expect to lose power. We are happy to be so well-provided for: wood-burning stove in place, water ready, propane stove in the RV if needed. Piano, books, art, school work ... plenty to do.
After the first art lesson with Abraham felt a bit like a bust (since he was used to drawing whatever he wanted, to draw something on command was a bit of a shock), he must have been bored enough today to be willing to try again. The second lesson involved watercolor paper and watercolor crayons. These are a cool art medium, in which the artist colors a picture with special crayons, and goes back over with a paintbrush, which makes the crayons bleed into watercolor. Very cool.
The first attempt ended almost in tears. The instructions said to draw something first with pencil, then color it with these crayons. So Abraham did a typical intricate picture, but felt confounded in the coloring part.
How to instruct in a different medium, when I am not an artist myself? Eek! I ended up having him start over, and suggested he think large patches of color. Confidence restored, he liked the second picture, and did numerous others. (I was glad I started him off with half sheets of watercolor paper. Easier to fill, and easier to put into an album, if need be.) For those not as intimately connected with our life, this is his Beanie Baby Rocky the dog, on his sleeping bag, on his bunk bed in the dark paneled storage trailer. Out the window he could see the blue barn, the sky, and the late afternoon sun.
The third lesson was on how artists observe carefully. The instructions were to find some natural items and draw them. Abraham found a couple of twigs, a leaf, and a shell. He liked the way the shell looked when partially covered by the leaf, so he did some composition.
And then he drew!
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