This post is extremely late. I’ve been putting it off for a few reasons.
Two of those reasons have passed away. Dexter, my first surviving calf, died of unknown causes. One day he was fine and then next he was dehydrated. No matter how much I tried to correct it (litres of electrolytes, numerous injections suggested by a vet), more symptoms kept coming. He died in my arms two days later.
The calf second from the front in the attached picture came along on the 11th of November. ‘George’ was very sick from the beginning. We battled scours and pneumonia, and since he never wanted to drink from a bottle (I spent 2hrs trying to convince him one night), we had to tube-feed him for over a month before we weaned him. At one point we called the vet out to make sure her didn’t have BVD (he didn’t), but we were told George had numerous genetic abnormalities. He perked up after he stopped drinking milk. He ate plenty of hay and grain, and loved eating mangoes. When it rained he ran around and played with the others, even though he had deformities in his legs. I thought he would beat the odds. But a month later, at two months old, I found him lying on his side unable to stand. I helped him to his feet and he walked around like nothing was wrong. He ate more than I’d ever seen before, but once he sat down he couldn’t rise. The second day he couldn’t walk far, but his appetite wasn’t affected. The vet prescribed an anti-inflamitory to treat possible nerve/spinal damage. The following day he could stand but couldn’t walk without falling. At lunch he couldn’t stand at all but continued to eat. I stayed with him until the end. We still don’t know what really happened.
On the 15th of December I found another calf in the paddock. ‘Heidi’ is the calf at the front of the photo. She had a rough few days, but she’s doing fine now.
We branded Elmo, Fred, and Heidi about two weeks ago. Elmo has been separated from the younger two and put out with the weaners (the calves that were raised by their mothers and have been taken off them now they’re about seven months). They weren’t happy with me for a few days (I wasn’t happy with myself tbh), but they’re back to wanting pats and eating my clothes.
What else…?
Oh. With the same finger, I skewered it with barbed wire (had to pull the wire out myself), was bitten by George, and cut it with a knife while bangtailing (trimming a cow’s tail hair). The third will definitely scar.
I went to Supanova (kind of like ComicCon for Australia) dressed as Celaena Sardothien and met SARAH J. MAAS! I even had a photo taken with her and a few fans also dressed as her characters. She’s amazing. I also met Summer Glau and Matthew Lewis. The best weekend so far.
I helped my Dad put the roof on his 6m high shed. A storm hit while we were up there and a stray sheet of iron hit the kill switch on the boom lift. We were stuck up there. I had to jump off the roof and land on a truck to switch it back on. Probably one of the scariest things I’ve ever done.
I’ll be heading to university next Saturday. I’m excited and terrified at the same time. For the first time in my life I’ll be living away from home. I know. As someone who just turned 20, that sounds childish to me too. But I was one of those luck kids who grew up in a close-knit family. We fight but we’re quick to forgive. I’m also my Mum’s support person and vise-versa. I think I’ll have a few homesick moments.
And finally, I finished HFI. It still doesn’t have a title, but I’m pretty proud of it. It still needs heaps of work and I have to add more subplots and conflict, but I’m excited to revise it.
I think that’s it. Wow, I wasn’t expecting to write that much.
I’m not going to promise to update in the next week or so since it’s about to get crazy for a while, but I’ll try to post something after O’Week.
Writing in the Dark 