Happy calf, swarm traps, office work

If Mama was worried about the curious goats bothering the calf, her worries were abated when she, Grandma and Grandpa saw the calf chasing the goats around the paddock. The scene unfolded as they were getting back from their doctor visit/shopping trip in Denton. I was just signing off from work as they pulled into the drive. The calf seems quite content to be in the larger area. Spending her day grazing, eating from the remnants of the bale of coastal hay that has been in the paddock for months, and resting in one of the many sunny places offered. It was good to see her enjoying the freedom to run and jump and chase the goats.

Feeding the calf her bottle yesterday evening was no issue. She knew it was about time to get fed and was looking for me when I entered the paddock. She was on the very far side of the lot, but she saw the bottle in my hands and came running. The only issue was the goats were very curious about the bottle-feeding process and kept crowding in to see what was going on. As they got closer and closer, the calf twisted herself around so she could watch them as she sucked out the contents of the bottle. That made for some interesting maneuvering during the three or four minutes it took her to empty the bottle. I will clean her stall this evening, put in fresh straw and put her in the stall overnight. we are expecting rain over the next couple days and I do not know if the calf will go into the goat barn to get out of the rain. Even though if she were in the field with her mama, she would not have that option. It matters to Mama.

Through the day yesterday, as I took my breaks from work, I worked on the beehives as well as completing the swarm traps. I even got to the point yesterday that I was able to hang one of the traps in a tree I hope is a likely spot to attract a swarm. The tree is at the edge of our property. Adjacent to the road. It took some time to figure out how to safely get the trap into the tree, but I eventually got it in place and baited. I do not know if it will work or not but based on what we have learned in our studies, it should work. It will be nice to test the theories we have been reading and see just how effective they are in practice.

While I was in the process of completing the hanging process, the owner of the property and his wife drove by on their way back from checking their cattle. They stopped to be polite and to ask what I was doing. As I explained what was going on, I asked permission to hang one of the traps (I built three) on his property. He quickly agreed. In fact, he offered to allow me to set up some hives on his property as well. They were excited about the prospect of having active hives in the area. Ricky remarked that it has been more than thirty years since he has seen any active hives. His wife asked if they could get some honey once we began to harvest from the hives? Of course.

I will hang one more trap tomorrow, but I will do it differently. I had trouble balancing everything as I set the trap in place and got the strap around the tree. Obviously, I got it done, but it was not without difficulty. For the next trap I will hang a platform in the tree that will be strapped to the tree. That will allow me to simply set the trap in the shelf of the secured platform. I can then strap the trap to the platform. It should be much easier. Especially if I try to place the trap as high as I did the first one. It is about twelve feet off the ground.

I am in the office this morning. I will work half the day from here and finish out the day at home. One day soon, I will be working for myself from home. I look forward to that day, but for now, I am quite content to work for this company. Whether from the office or from home. They seem content with the work I am doing, and I am content to receive a full paycheck every payday.

God is good.