(Above: Blue #775.)
3/21/2021: Today began at 50 F and reached a high of 60F. The skies remained cloudy.
Today’s morning activity: The production of two quiches. They are both the same type, but I reserved the more photogenic one (the left) for my brother. Lunch today: A bacon, zucchini, summer squash, and onion quiche accompanied by a fresh garden salad topped with homemade sourdough croutons. The fully fastened Bovibench frame. A potential ‘showvine’ candidate.
3/21/2021: This day began in the mid 50s and proceeded to warm into the high 60s. The skies were mostly overcast with a few sprinklings of rain in the early day and of sunshine in the late day.
Dawn of 3/22/2021: Bolting collards & Jacobhouse on a misty morning. Today’s lunch occurred at Lorito’s Italian Restaurant. Padre, Madre, and I all ordered the side-salad with its delicious homemade vinaigrette and followed it up with sharing a medium cheese pizza. The cheese pizza was splendid, especially when dunked in the leftover Italian vinaigrette. This young blue out of #335 appeared especially pristine today. Cleaning up the cow-wood posts: My next step in the Bovibench project is to apply polyurethane to these posts and then fasten them to the recently assembled frame. That way, I will know how much cow-wood will be needed to line the sides. Remains of cleaning the cow-wood posts. Authentic cow-wood posts with nails, chew-marks, and all. An arugula leaf adorned with plenty of lady bug larvae. Dusk of 3/22/2021. The sun peaked out from the clouds for a brief moment. Dinner: A Master Blend Wagyner Blue chuck steak accompanied by a hefty pile of garden-fresh greens.
3/23/2021: This day began in the high 50s and proceeded to warm into the low 80s. It was partly cloudy for the entire duration.
Dawn of 3/23/2021. The post-polyurethane’ing station. 4 screws hold each post ever-so-slightly aloft. The first coat is applied. At about 9 AM, a power crew arrived to replace the post in front of Jacobhouse. It took them 4 hours from start to finish to complete the task. That’s a pretty swift job. On account of the brief power-outage, Madre and I decided it was a fine day for procuring a delectable lunch from Sushi Bistro. #268. Mother of #775 who will likely be showcased in tomorrow’s entry. #269 – a good mother. Not only did she shade her calf from the day’s warm sun, she also kicked dirt onto her offspring presumably in an attempt to keep off the flies. Dusk of 3/23/2021.
3/24/2021: This day began in the high 50s and proceeded to warm into the low 80s. The skies were mostly cloudy with intermittent patches of very-warm sunlight.
Dawn of 3/24/2021. Amongst this morning’s multitude of activities, I sanded, wiped down, and then added a third coat of polyurethane to these posts. Mid-afternoon of 3/24/2021: The herd migrates toward their daily meal. Siblings. While searching for a missing calf (still not found as of this moment – 8:51 PM), I was impressed by the sheer growth and number of these sunflower plants. A gnarly-tree found at the end of the 40 minute calf-search.
As mentioned in yesterday’s images, here is the beginning of Blue’s halter-breaking and show-training.
3/25/2021: This day began in the low 50s and proceeded to warm to the low 90s late in the afternoon. There was some fogginess in the early morning and clouds remained spotty throughout.
Dawn of 3/25/2021. A foggy morning in the central beef pasture. Ritsabittle #14: Revisiting Silver Glen Springs with Padre. The day was quite warm in the sun and comfortably cool in the shade – perfect for our couple miles’ hike along the Lake George Trail. Silver-Glen Springs with Padre for scale. Padre enjoying the springs. (Padre taken picture): Jacob standing on the soft sandy spring-bottom. A close-up image of all the snail shells to be found at the bottom of Silver-Glen Springs. Lunch today occurred at a food truck called Odd Todd’s and consisted of: chips & fresh salsa, marinated cucumber salad, and a splendid roast-chicken sandwich topped with cheddar cheese, tomatoes, pickled jalapenos, and onion. Neither Padre nor I had ever eaten at Odd Todd’s before, and both of us were impressed by the quality of food. #273 exhibiting her ample Belgian Blue buttocks. Master Blend Blue New York Strips ready for searing. Dinner: A pan-seared Master Blend New York Strip accompanied by a plenitude of local hydroponically grown greens. Inside the strip.
The prior halter fit a tad too loosely and fell off. This video was taken after the new one was fitted in place.
3/26/2021: Today began with a low of 58 F and proceeded to warm to 92 F. The sky was partly cloudy with quite prevalent portions of ‘roasty’ sun.
Dawn of 3/26/2021. A Master Blend Blue-Taco salad. This consists of topping garden-fresh kale & arugula with onion, sour cream, fresh ‘Odd Todd’ salsa, just-out-of-the-oven tortilla crumbles, and Master Blend Blue ground beef. It was a tremendous meal. A flowering chinaberry tree. Lasagna-top pizza: Puff-pastry topped with homemade tomato sauce and four cheese (mozzarella, goat, pecorino, and Parmesan Reggiano). Absolutely delectable. Bovibench progress. By placing a furring-strip spacer where it is positioned in this image, I was able to move the post frontward ever so slightly to make the side and front more equal. I know this is a hard description to follow, so the ensuing pictures will show how my slant-edged 2×4 now rests directly against the corner post. Short side (lack-of) gap. Long side. After feeding this bovine a plenitude of verdurous hackberry leaves and giving her a few shoulder & rump massages throughout the day, she allowed me to walk her from the corner of the close-up lot (field just outside of my residence) all the way to Jacobhouse’s front doorstep.
3/27/2021: This day began in the low 60s and proceeded to warm to the low 90s. Spring is here, and summer is already on the way.
Dawn of 3/27/2021. Bovines grazing in a foggy pasture. (Front to back) Mother cow #449, her adopted Belgian Blue son, and her embryo transfer daughter. They make for an interesting family. A closer-up image of chinaberry tree flowers (and these ones are open). Bovi-bench progress: Today I fastened on some spacers and drilled holes in preparation for attaching the cow-wood posts. Master Blend Wagyner-Blue tri-tip roast (bottom sirloin). The bottom sirloin at a closer glance. Dinner: Wagyner Blue bottom sirloin, kale & arugula salad, and a glass of Nero D’Avola wine.
Final Note: As has likely been noted by this post’s images and videos, I have begun the process of halter-breaking Belgian “Blue” #775. It is an exercise brought about by my own curiosity and some convincing from my previously mentioned comrade-arms-in (bottom of post), Hannah. It has been a very unique experience thus far, and despite having lived on a farm for over 28 years, I believe I can safely say that I have interacted more with Blue than any other single animal. Blue – an imaginative name, I know – has already become partially acclimated to her new state of affairs, and I am quite pleased with the progress that has been made thus far.
Me and ‘bovine-companion’ Belgian Blue #775.