I enjoy a clean home. Truly, I do. Every day I sweep, scrub, vacuum, and tidy. But here’s the thing about ranch life: it is dirty. Not only do I fight a constant battle against the dirt and manure that we all track into the house on a daily basis, but, well, there are a lot of animals around here. And sometimes they end up inside my house.

This calf’s mama had a tough time calving; he was cold and tired when he entered the world. It was also about 2 o’clock in the morning and fairly cold. Fortunately, our home is only steps away from the barn and corral. This calf spent a few hours on the floor in our utility bathroom.

We plug in either a heat lamp or a space heater to raise the calf’s core temperature. After a few hours they realize they are hungry and start calling for their mama. This is a great sign! We haul them back outside and make sure the mama cow understands her role in getting milk into the calf’s belly and soon this little calf starts thriving.

It really is only a few steps from the back door of our house to the calving pen, but when you are carrying a 90 pound calf who is warm and hungry and kicking around, it can be a LONG walk across the driveway. To make this task a little easier, we have re-purposed one of the kids’ toy wagons. It works perfectly.

Now if only I could re-purpose one of the cowboys around here to clean the utility bathroom I’d be a happy woman!