Jim had Monday off because of last weeks snow day. This appears confusing and it is. He is a senior and had an exam scheduled on the snow day. It was pushed back a day. The under class folks still had tests to take and that caused a holiday on Monday for seniors. Whatever the reason, it is always good when he is home. He really knows his way around the animals and equipment.

We moved some hay in the barn to make room to create some additional calving pens. We are expecting about 25 calves later this spring so it is time to start getting ready. I much prefer that they calve in the barn.

We stopped at our local farm supply /welding shop to have some pins made that hold our pen panels together. Then we dropped off our fencer at a friends to be checked out. He and his family have been on the same farm for over one hundred years. That is quite an accomplishment. He still has a dairy herd of mostly Jersey cows just like you'd see in a Norman Rockwell painting.

When we got home, we finished chores and mailed out the tail hair samples. The farm equipment dealer brought out a replacement manure spreader for us to try. Jim hooked it up and I put in a test load. It worked quite well but we decided to see what other options we might have. The dealer agreed to bring a different brand later in the week for us to try.

Tuesday, we got right into pen cleaning. It was a bright sunny day but quite cold. We took out seven loads of manure and spread it on soy bean fields. By the end of the afternoon quite cold had become very cold and we were glad to be done. As usual, the cattle didn't seem to mind.

A few weeks ago, a family had brought their three young sons down and were talking about buying some cattle. They called and asked to come down again. So while we spread, they all walked around and looked at the cattle. The man's brother is an Operating Engineer as I was until I retired. I was in for 27 years and he is just 8 years now so our paths hadn't crossed on the job. He raises hogs and we got into a discussion about them and learned quite a bit.

I talked more with his brother about cattle but they are not quite ready yet. I gave him a beltie steak to try.

Tuesday night was our monthly fire department meeting. Everything is going well so it was a short meeting.

Wednesday, I went up to the diner first thing. Mid winter doldrums there and no big topics to resolve. One of the guys is getting his new teeth fitted so that's about the biggest news there. It was the coldest morning so far this year, minus 3 at 7AM.

After chores, I called up a friend and asked him if he wanted to ride over to the next county to pick up some feed supplies. He said he was going to take a nap but my invitation sounded pretty good. So off we went to the feed mill. He has never met a person yet that he doesn't like to engage in conversation. So it took quite a while to get the feed. We were quite chilly by then and I told him about a winery just down the road from the mill.

They offer samples so we were able to warm up. Then he started chatting up the owner about all the ins and outs of wine. By the time we were on the way, we had each bought a few bottles to bring home. When I got back, Jim had just come home and we put out the minerals for the young stock.

On the way back, the hog owning brother from yesterday called to say he'd left some pork on the tractor seat for us to try. There was no danger of it thawing any time soon as it was about 5 degrees when we picked it up and brought it down to the house. We have managed to meet and speak with some exceptionally nice people since we started our farm. That's a real dividend as far as I am concerned.

In the evening, I had a lengthy chat with a woman from a couple of hours west. She has no cattle and is interested in getting some. I was able to put her in touch with a customer from last year who lives about a half hour from her. I also suggested that she come down here and I'd show her what we have to offer. A lot of people have been calling and emailing, I guess that's another sign of Spring.