March is usually my least favorite month of the year. The combination of (usually) horrible Montana weather, losing an hour to Daylight Saving Time, and my husband’s night-calving shift is exhausting. This is a month where it’s very important to look for and focus on happy things.
Here are some happy things that happened during March.
The weather was not an issue this year; it was AMAZING! I’ve never seen a March like this one. Having such nice weather made a huge difference in our moods and fatigue levels. Days were 40 to 50 degrees, and many nights were above freezing. We hardly had any snow or rain. It felt surreal!
We watched all three seasons of Ted Lasso – what a fun show! (With a language alert.) It was so funny, positive, and uplifting – it brightened my mood all month long.
The Tiny Gnome also brightened my mood every time I walked by my dollhouse.
I enjoyed playing Word Chums with my mom. We’ve been playing for several years, and she’s really good at it.
(It’s like Scrabble, but with characters we can dress up.)
I started playing New York Times Games, and they’re quite fun. Spelling Bee is my favorite.
Of course, the calves are adorable and sweet, and there’s nothing like new life coming into the world. It’s an incredible amount of work for the calving crew. (I am not one of the calving crew for various reasons, but I do lots of other things, including taking care of my husband, who has the night shift.)
I have to say that this was probably the best March I’ve ever experienced! We’re still exhausted, and my husband is coming down with a cold, but for March, it was amazing!
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I’m so jealous of your weather!! I hope you’re out there soaking up all the lovely weather you can.
Engie, I enjoyed every minute of the nice weather! I hope April will be nice too, but I know better than to expect it.
The calves! Oh, so sweet. Do they have names? I love them so much.
I remember March as being an absolutely dreadful month, weather-wise, in Calgary, and I feel like Montana is very similar to Alberta in that respect. And indeed, they have had snowfall after snowfall, interspersed with just enough melting and warm windy days to make everything treacherous when it refreezes. But we have had a beautiful March (or maybe I just think we have, since I have had a lifetime of Calgary Marches!).
Ted Lasso is such a nice show – I still think tearfully of the Christmas episode where (I have forgotten EVERY NAME) all the players go to eat dinner at the one (manager? I can’t remember)’s house. It’s just such a lovely show! BELIEVE, MICHELLE, BELIEVE!!!!
Nicole, it was so weird that towns all around us were getting hit with snow, and we were in a magical little warm pocket. It’s never happened before! I enjoyed every minute of it. But, also similar to Calgary, April can be a beastly, treacherous month! Some of the calves get names, usually because they stand out in some way – like a strangely-shaped spot, or a funny attitude, but I think there are about 150 of them, so we don’t name all of them. My sister-in-law and niece know each cow and calf like they’re people, and can tell you which calf belongs with which cow just by looking at them. It always amazes me! I loved the Ted Lasso Christmas episode. And yes, I BELIEVE! You believe too!!
ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY BABY COWS. Wow, your husband must be exhausted. Please tell me he has some help with that! That sounds like an ENORMOUS job, omg. Well, no wonder they don’t all have names. You’d have to go through the alphabet like six times. I don’t know why I just typed that, like you are actually going A-Z for calf names. Do we even know six X names? Considering deleting, but no, I am going to keep you here for this weird ride.
I read a book a long while ago and it said “Get curious, not furious” and I think about that all the time. I mean, sometimes I am furious. But mostly I try to think “why would that person react that way” and it really helps me be calm in weird situations.
Nicole, my husband, his sister, and his niece do all the calving. It is an enormous job, and they wouldn’t trade it for anything. Small family ranches are truly special. I’m grateful to be part of it. I’m glad you didn’t delete this – I love these kind of comments!
I bet that calving is a lot of work! I would love to be a fly on the wall for one season; I have never seen it! I saw a lot of calves in MT when I was riding my bike! I had one that would not move from in front of me, but he kept running (right in front of me) and I felt like I was herding him, but he would not move off to the side! I was afraid he was going to lose his family, as he had come pretty far from where he started! I am sure they are smarter (?) than I expect though.
K@TS, it is a lot of work. It’s beautiful, messy, sometimes heartbreaking, but usually uplifting. Your calf story is cute! They are so curious. I’m sure he found his mama, or she found him. It’s quite a strong bond.
Go March!!! It’s about time for an upgrade.
I love the NYT games. I do the crossword (with assistance from a crossword solver if necessary), Wordle, and Connections. I also play a mini scrabble game called q less and a word game called Waffle.
Welcome baby calves!
Birchie – yes! An upgrade!! I love that! I’m not good at the crosswords. I have noticed that so many of them have the words Ore and Oreo. Have you ever noticed that? I’d say I’m about 50/50 with Connections. Some of them make no sense!
I’m so glad you had an unexpectedly nice March. It can be a TOUGH month.
Those calves are so precious. I blogged about this once, but I got to name a baby calf one year as a kid. I named her Cherry <3
Elisabeth, it was amazing to have such a nice March. I’m guessing it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. 🤣 Awww, Cherry is such a cute name for a calf!
I don’t know why but although I love the Spring, it’s always an odd season for me too. One of many changes! Your weather sounds amazing, I envy you hahah (it’s currently 85 degrees of humid weather in Puerto Rico as I type this).
That word chums game looks fun! I like to play these kinds of games with my boyfriend and I might add this one to the list. We’re so competitive 😂, lately we’ve been doing sudoku.
Those calves are so adorable; little grass pups! I unfortunately live in PR’s urban area, but whenever I visit rural areas, all I want is to lay on the grass with the cows. They’re so beautiful!
Alondra, 85 degrees would melt me! 🤣 I’d say 50 degrees is my perfect temperature. Ha! Ha! I love the thought of you laying in the grass, watching the cows. I love to watch them too.
Yes, March was crazy nice weather-wise here too. We did get snow Tuesday though. Woke up to a decent 2-3 inches of wet snow, but it was mostly gone by the end of the day. I’ve been loving seeing all the calves around here too. I love the white faced calf in your picture! My husband and I do NYT Connections every day – we compete with each other! Then he does the Spelling Bee and I do Wordle and the crossword puzzle. And how fun to see Tiny Gnome in the dollhouse!
Dulcie, we had about an inch of snow this morning, but it’s gone now. The moisture was VERY welcome. I love Connections, but I only get it solved about half the time. Some of them are so difficult!
I agree, some of those Connections ARE so difficult, but isn’t it satisfying when you get them? 😊
Dulcie, it is SO satisfying to solve Connections! I got yesterday’s right away, but failed today’s.
Hooray for such a pleasant March! And those VIEWS. There is nothing like the prairie. <3
Thank you, Suzanne! I’m grateful for the views every day!
I’m so glad you had such a good March, especially in terms of the weather. Isn’t it so nice when the weather cooperates like that?!
Those calves!! <3 <3 <3
Thank you, Stephany! It’s so nice when the weather cooperates!
When I was around 14 I was able to see a calf being born. I was in Sweden with a friend for summer vacation and the local farmer called us on the landline. We hopped on the bike and paddled as quickly as we could to not miss it. I guess it gets old if you have 150 a season. Still it was magical to witness. And I love baby cows. They look so cute and stupid.
The wide open sky is a mazing in Montana. I miss that view as it was similar in Idaho.
Tobia, how great that you had the experience of seeing a calf being born. Idaho and western Montana have a lot in common with wide open skies, mountains, and fields.
Dang, I’m jealous of all that good weather, we had some really cold spells, and while not a lot of snow, it felt like it snowed a lot. I find I play a lot of word/spelling games throughout winter amongst other things to keep my mind chugging over. And how wonderful about the calving. That must be such an intense period but how rewarding too.
Alexandra, it was amazing how we stayed warm and dry while every place around us was getting hit. We have plenty of time for some weather though.
Hi Michelle! I am glad you had a good mood March! It can be pretty horrible here too! Just when you think Spring has sprung… you get the ten inches of snow and sleet. And when that is done, endless cloudy days (even if you saw the sun rise, it clouds right up!) and rain at 35 degrees…. but Spring is fickle like that. I treasure that the birds return and start singing their courting songs every morning at dawn…. and the longer days are longer even if the hours move around, so that always helps me through the tough spots. Your calves are adorable (as are all babies) and I remember feeding calves when we were farming…. (the bucket with the nipple attachment and they “bump” it to get the milk!) but those were eons ago in my life. Still, when you tend the animals you do get to know them all and they can be “characters”!
As for the puzzles… I do my local paper’s crossword, jumble and sudoku…. and then for a treat I get the NYT sudoku where I can select the level I want! I don’t want to spend too long at it so I usually go for the medium… it can be addictive! I hope your April is every bit as much fun as March was! Oh, and of course, TG has to have his moment in the lime-light! Tiny cute is hard to improve on… but as you know, I am biased!!!
Hi Betsy! In the past, I’ve had a calf knock the bottle or bucket right out of my hands! It’s funny how they have that instinct. You’re right – tiny cute is so wonderful!
This is so great. Good weather makes such a difference, right? I love how blogging introduces me to people with different backgrounds and to know someone who lives with people on a ‘calving crew’ is so cool. We saw the first episode of Ted Lasso a few years ago, but haven’t watched any more of it. I don’t know why? We liked the first episode, so I really should look to see where it’s streaming. So glad that your March had so many good bits.
Thank you, Ernie! We watched Ted Lasso on Apple TV. If you’re very opposed to swearing, it won’t be for you. I would call it funny swearing, not angry swearing. If that’s a thing! I’m usually not a fan of swearing, but this show was one exception.
I grew up around cattle farmers when I was growing up so I know how much work it is, or I at least have somewhat of an understanding! Cattle are a year-round job but some seasons are so intense, like calving. The baby calves are so darn cute. I hope your husband’s cold isn’t a bad one and that he recovers quickly!
I’m glad you had great weather in March! I can’t say the same for Minneapolis. We had some nice days but also some really heavy snowfalls and bitterly cold days. I’m so ready for warm, mild weather!
Lisa, you’re right about cattle work having intense seasons. I suppose that’s another reason I love September through February. The other six months involve calving, branding, irrigation, haying,and weaning! You did get hit with some cold weather. I hope you get some gorgeous spring weather soon!
March’s weather was strangely kind/warm for us too! We even had to run the AC some (at night mostly). Although we’ve got frost watches tonight and tomorrow night, so … yeah. Carolina Spring, LOL!
Baby cows!!! I love when the new babies join the herd. This year, Mr’s cousin arranged things so that the cows will calve in May (versus January like they used to), so I’ve got a handful of very round mommas outside my house right now: they’ve started spring/summer pasture rotation! 😀
Rebecca, May calving sounds nice! A lot of people around here calve in January, and that can be brutal.
LOOK AT ALL THOSE COWS! I get how much work they are, but seeing cows all the time and being there for baby cows has to be wonderful. (Easy for me to say; I’m just a Cow Appreciator!)
I’m sorry I haven’t been here in a while, but I thought you were ending this blog and moving to another platform. I’m glad you’re still here.
Nance, I am always happy to meet a fellow Cow Appreciator! ♥️ I had thought about using Substack, but I changed my mind.
I”ve never heard of Ted Lasso.. . . I love the photos of Montana, mountains, snow, greenery, calves!
Thank you, Jana! ♥️