Calving Time on Cedarbrook Steading

Our days and nights are filled with chores and caring for the animals. We have 5 calves born so far...and about 38 to go. The weather has turned cold and blustery, so three calves and their moms are still in the barn. We hope the weather turns and we can put them out to the cow yard to get the precious sunshine they need for health and vitality.
We have our routine pretty well established and all is running smoothly. Winchester, my oldest deals with the night shift well. He checks on cows at 11:30 pm.-1:30-3:30 am and then Jeff checks around 5:30 am before getting ready for work. Remington and myself take the morning shifts after Jeff goes to work and we check cows at 7:30-9:30-11:30 am. Me and Rem do the morning chores as well as Winchester sleeps in till about noon.
We have a few hours before afternoon chores to get a few other things done around the house. By the end of the 6 weeks of calving season we are pretty tired of the day in and day out routine!
We don't venture far from home for more than an hour. In this weather, we can loose a calf very easily if the mom chooses to have it in a snow bank. So, I've been asked why do we choose to calve out this time of year with the cold and snow? Because we live on Cedarbrook. Chances are high that we can experience flooding. This usually happens right after the first of April. We want to be done with calving, in case we have to move the herd to higher ground, down on the County Line pasture. We do not have the facilities there to be calving. No buildings, no corrals, just a pasture.
Pictured is our second calf, laying along the shed wall. He looks pretty content in the sun and taking a snooze.
I'm going to look for some pics of the last spring when we last flooded. I don't even remember how many springs ago it was. It's hard to imagine that it looks like we live on an island. That's the only way, I can describe it. Living on Cedarbrook is full of wonders, but when it chooses to accept the water from the Mississippi and it spills onto our land, we have learned to endure what nature hands us.