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Farmin’ Friday: Replacement heifers, Roxie’s new dog house

It’s been a little bit slower here on the farm lately.

We sold our feeder cattle on January 19th and since then it’s been sort of our downtime for the year.

There are still daily chores on the farm for feeding and watering the cows, bulls, and replacement heifers — but not nearly as many now that the feeder calves are sold.

Between selling the calves and March we have a pause between calf crops.

In March, we’ll start all over again with calving and another year begins.

Last week, John and Ron worked the heifers that they didn’t sell. These “replacement heifers” will become part of the permanent cowherd.IMG_1250

It was a nice day, so Joslyn and I ventured outside so she could supervise the menfolk.

It was so fun to be outside with her!

First, we spent twenty minutes figuring how to get into the baby belly pack thing. I was in a full body sweat before I even had her in the pack. There are A LOT of straps.

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But, we got her figured out! It was worth it — hands free mama!

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In terms of the winter months, I like January and February. Besides tolerating the cold and being stuck indoors, it’s sort of nice to have a little break in the year.

After all, margin is my word for the year. We are having a little margin time. Slow time.

Here’s an example: January and February are the perfect time of the year for building beautiful dog houses.

(Or, doing taxes and bookkeeping. But let’s not talk about that!)

Ron recently finished this little fancy house for Roxie. I love that it matches Ron’s bunkhouse that they fixed up almost two years ago. (Holy Cow! Two years! Time flies!)

In his typical resourceful fashion, Ron build this house entirely from scraps! Farmer’s don’t waste anything, ya?

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Wishing you some margin time before winter runs out and busy calving season starts and spring arrives!

3 Comments

  1. Andrea M.

    I love her little hat! Did you make it? My little girl has a head of hair (she’s days younger than Joslyn) and gets mad when I put hats on her because she gets too hot!

    Reply
    • Sierra Shea

      I love babies with a full head of hair. I’m not counting on that for a long time with Joslyn. John and I were both bald for years as babies! Ha! My sister’s friend made that hat & we just love it, too. Thank you! How’s your little one doing?

      Reply
      • Andrea M.

        She was my only baby born with lots of hair; my two sons had very little. She’s doing very well, thank you! She’s extra chubby, fitting in 9 month clothes. And she usually lets me sleep at night, haha! I hope all is well with you!

        Reply

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Hey, I’m Sierra Shea! I am so glad you are here. 

Where do I start with writing to introduce this blog? At the beginning, I suppose: I’ve been writing on various platforms online since 2013. I started blogging shortly after moving to South Dakota.

I am a mother and a maker at heart. I’m so grateful to be married to John and mother of three: Joslyn, J.D. and Jesse.

I am a self-taught decorator and designer. I am a brand new shepherdess and a Spiritual Director.

I love living in South Dakota, even though the winters & the wind can be a near-daily struggle.

Blogging is a grounding force in my life and it helps get me out of my head, unstuck and moving in the directions I always hoped I’d be going!