Our first calf of the 2014 fall calving season was born on August 22nd to first-calf heifer #17-1. You'll notice Bill has expanded his numbering system because we have two or three generations calving each year. Keeping track of the family lineage became confusing!

The labor and delivery process was quick and uneventful. Bill checked the first-calf heifers late in the afternoon, didn't see any pending birth activity, then had to leave. When Cricket and I went out for our walk around 7:30 that evening, I found our new mother cleaning her new calf. 

Baby Heifer #17-1 is a lively little bundle of bovine joy and loves to eat. Her birth weight was a little below average but she is gaining quickly.

What does the well-dressed farm wife wear? Heck, I wouldn't know! My book chapter titled “Farm Fashion” followed the evolution—or degeneration—of my wardrobe in the transition from City Girl to Farm Wife. The title of my book, From High Heels to Gumboots, says it all. Now that I’m retired from the City Girl job and am a full-time Farm Wife, my wardrobe has evolved—or degenerated—further toward the casual end. Most days on the farm I look downright tacky; but, I’ve been told that I clean up well!

Here are my “good” and “farm” jeans.

The “good” jeans are laundered in cool water, put in the dryer for only a few minutes, then hung on a slacks hanger to finish drying indoors. My “farm” jeans are laundered with Bill’s farm clothes, then either hung on the clothesline in good weather, or tossed in the dryer for a full drying cycle. If you overheard Bill and me talking about our “dirty” load of laundry, you might wonder, “If all the clothes being washed are dirty, why do you call this one a ‘dirty’ load?” The answer: A load of farm clothes is the dirtiest of the dirty clothes! Dirt, mud, manure, afterbirth, blood—both bovine and human, gasoline, diesel fuel, grease, oil, hydraulic fluid...sometimes all on one pair of jeans. It doesn’t get any dirtier than this!

In a post from last winter, “Winter Farm Chore Fashion Chic” (posted 2/14/2014), I characterized my winter chore and walk outfits as “Farm Wife Barbie meets Army Surplus Refugee.”  My summer chore ensembles aren't much better:
·   farm jeans, or shorts for indoors;
·   old t-shirts with sleeves cut out;
·   socks, preferably with less cotton and more synthetic fibers to wick moisture away and prevent blisters; and,

·  sturdy running shoes for walking, or gum boots when working cattle in the corral or when the evening walks may be muddy.

I recently conducted a t-shirt audit to weed out those that were thin to the point of indecency or had holes in them. Most of these are from my competitive running days of some 20 to 30 years ago. I ran a lot of races and the pre-race packets usually contained commemorative t-shirts. Most were of a quality 50/50 cotton/polyester blend. Now, most of the cotton has worn away and only a thin layer of polyester remains. The holes started as small snags inflicted while being taken prisoner by torturous barbed wire fences, and increased in size with wearing and washing.

My t-shirt qualitative analysis criteria was simple: Would I be embarrassed to be caught wearing this shirt if a neighbor dropped by unannounced? A score of “Heck, yeah!” meant the shirt was far beyond repurposing as a rag. This shirt received a unanimous “Heck, yeah!” and was retired after that evening’s walk.

Our zinnias bloom about the same time as the daylilies. Here are some of our showier blooms.

A couple of friends stopped by to check out the zinnias!

Here are a couple of my favorite "vases" for zinnias.