Today is the first day of Spring. We have had a busy week since the last time I had a chance to write.

On Friday the 13th, one of our Minnesota cows freshened and gave us a nice heifer calf. The entire process only took a half hour which was terrific. She is an excellent calf.

Saturday was another busy day getting chores done.

Sunday was a very busy day. We had sold two bred heifers to a friend's sons. The cattle were at Verne's so we all trooped over to load them. The cattle seemed to have formed an unbreakable bond with Verne's farm. To say they were reluctant to leave would be quite an understatement.

When we got them to their new home which is a brand new barn with very nice accommodations, they did their best to leave. We finally got them settled in. Now a few days later they are eating out of their new owner's hand and allowing him to comb them.

Tuesday was a long day. We have a cow in the maternity pen due to freshen. About 3PM she started to show signs of labor. I had great expectation that she would freshen quickly like the cow last week. Being Irish, I was looking forward to a St. Patrick's day calf and then going out with Mary for corned beef and cabbage. By 6, it was obvious there would be no calf or corned beef. The cow was still showing signs of early labor so Jim and I started to watch her every two hours all through the night.

By morning, nothing had happened so I called the vet. He came over and examined her and said that it was a false labor. We were relieved that the cow was fine but now we will have to keep watch for her real labor.

This past week had some amazing Spring like weather including a blue sky day at seventy degrees. A little rain on Wednesday didn't do much to dampen things. The ground is actually quite dry and firm particularly for this early in the season.

Thursday we got an email from the man in the eastern part of the state we visited last week. He wants to buy four animals. We are delighted and look forward to delivering them. Then a man in the western part of the state contacted us about coming Saturday to look at some cattle.

Friday morning was quite cold and the ground was frozen. Jim had a day off from school. After some early chores, he and I and a friend went to a farm auction. There was a good turnout and things seem to go high. We bid on a few items but didn't have to write any checks or bring anything home.

In the afternoon, we went over to Verne's to move two of the cattle going to the east back to our farm to get them ready to move.

So we had a busy week. The outlook for next week is mild and dry. We are all starting to get excited about spring work. We moved our grain drill out of the machinery shed to the shop to get her greased and ready for work.