Breeding season has begun

We spent the day sorting cows and prepping for breeding season.  Henry, our herd bull, got moved with the majority of the ladies and our young bull Junior got his first few cows.  

Happenings on the farm in 2020

As usual, life speeds on too quickly.  There is never a shortage of things to do, and it's hard to find the time to actually sit and relax.  As much as we don't like the shorter days of Winter, we do find ourselves sitting around the dinner table eating together and playing card games.  

Looking back through pictures we can remember just how crazy of a year 2020 was... Covid, online school, nearby forrest fires and days of horrible smoke.  

No photoshop here, this was taken mid-morning when the fires were close to our farm.  

Our farm also welcomed several new animals in 2020.  We have been wanting to expand our breeding herd for awhile to include more registered cows with broader genetics, and this was definitely the year for that.  We ended up making trips to Eastern Washington, the San Juan Islands of Northwest Washington, and having a shipper bring in two heifers from Kansas.  The trips themselves were definitely exciting... from snow and ice to hauling cattle on a ferry.  Now that quarantine has been completed for all of our newcomers, we can try to relax before calving season starts, and we're already making breeding plans for later this year.  

Spending her quarantine with the goats.

Got quite a few looky-lou's waiting in line for the ferry and when we would stop for fuel.  Great time to educate others about the breed.

Waiting on the ferry with a trailer load of cows.

Beautiful sunrise headed to pick up a heifer in E. Washington... not so fun to drive a stock trailer in.

And yes, the trip through Yakima, Washington wouldn't be complete without having to stop and pick up a new goat for our daughter!  When she found out there would be trailer space available, she didn't waste any time finding a goat to fill that spot.