This morning, the very first thing I did was go out to look at the baby. She was curled up in the grass sound asleep, but eventually mama convinced her to wake up and come over to the fence where I could get a better look at her.

She's still a bit wobbly on her feet, but she gets around pretty well. In this video, you can see her walking and talking. Oh, my goodness! Such funny little noises. Turn your volume up and listen for the little frog like sounds between mama's grunting. That's her! 

And you're going to have to forgive me for this one, but did you know that Star Wars apparently modeled the AT-AT on baby yak? Don't believe me? Well, see for yourself!

All joking aside, though, she has to be one of the cutest things I've ever seen. 

She looks so soft and fuzzy, it's all I can do not to go in there and snuggle with the little thing, but I'm pretty sure mama would have something to say about that. 

She's a good mama. Even when she walks away a bit to graze, she's keeping a close eye on her little.

Pretty sure I'm not going to get much work done today. I think there may be a fair amount of baby watching in my schedule. Oh, darn. ;-)

If the poor girl hadn't been waddling around for weeks now looking like she had a beach ball between her legs, I'd have about given up on her ever calving! Her udder was all over the place... one day I'd go out and it'd be pretty swollen up and the next it would be a wrinkly old deflated bag. But lo and behold! Apparently, she calved this late afternoon. I'd looked out and seen her all day long and had not seen anything unusual until I went out to check the water around dusk and there she was, a cute little black and white speckled fuzz ball.

She must have been fairly new as she was wobbly and unsure of her feet, but she was dry and fluffy and mom was fussing all about her. Interestingly, Mr. Bull was a bit more assertive than usual as I approached the fence to get a peek. I think he might have been feeling a bit like a proud papa. ;-) 

Baby was up and sucking for all she was worth. She was hungry; that being born is hard work! 

She nursed and nursed! 

As I walked down to fill the trough, they thought I was bringing them some grain, so they started coming across the pasture. That little baby was all wobbly but, just like the grown ups when they get excited, she was working her tail as she moved along. And her little hump. And her fuzz. My husband was right, at first glance, she looks like a little lamb, she's so fuzzy. Have I mentioned lately how much I love these guys?

While they were hanging around waiting for me to decide to get them some grain (clearly they never doubted that I would), mama and the young bull had a few "words." He's been a bit full of himself lately and she has not been bashful about telling him to stuff it. You go, girl! 

Being dusk, getting good photos was a bit tricky and as soon as I turned around, baby was curled up sound asleep, so I'm really excited to go out tomorrow morning and say hello and get some new pictures of her. Rest up, little one! Welcome to the world!

I just love these guys. They are such funny little creatures and so fun to watch. Most of the time they are just so stinking lazy that I can't hardly get them to move twenty feet from where I left them, but when they get the bug to move, they are really exuberant!!

A few days ago, I moved them out to one of the "back forty" pastures to work on some grass that has grown with the little bit of rain we've gotten lately. It took me almost an hour of pied pipering to get them out there, leading them along with a bucket of grain. We got about two thirds of the way and they had to have a little rest. Sheesh!

​Of course, the day after I moved them out there, #100 started to show a bag finally (meaning her udder is filling and she's finally getting close to calving)! Well, especially after my recent experience with yak calving, I wanted her close to the barn in case I need to assist, so I brought them home.

That, of course, meant that I had to pied piper them all the way back! Good grief! Well, I forgot to close the gate to keep them up by the barn  and to my surprise, those yak decided to walk all the way back out to the other end of the pasture on their own! I was shocked!! So, I had to do it all over again today. They were pretty excited about their grain and when they got close, their excitement kind of got the best of them.

#93 is the younger cow that lost her calf a few months ago. She was looking a little rough for a while, but she is really looking healthy now. She's kind of on the low end of the totem pole, so she wanted to get to the feed trough first so she could get a few bites in before everyone else got there. She's so cute!! 

Toward the end of the video, you can see #100 coming in to eat. She's trying her best to keep up with everyone, but she's tired and her tongue is sticking out! These guys do that all the time when they move too much too long (which is like anything more than 20 seconds of activity - honest - they are clearly not the most athletic of beasts). But she wasn't gonna let a little fatigue keep her from her grain!!

I have been watching this video non-stop today. I just love these guys. They're so much fun, and I'm so glad I took the plunge into yak! I'm looking forward to getting those four new ones here soon! I hope you enjoy this video as much as I have!

It's kind of taken me by surprise just how much fun I've been having making these simple syrups lately. What started as a plan to get ginger syrup reviewed (the state requires certain shelf stable foods to undergo scientific review to be sure they are safe) so that I can use it in some of my jams, has exploded into a rainbow of deliciousness! 

When my lavender was blooming last month, I decided on a whim to try and make some lavender syrup. It turned out so well, that I started looking around to see what else I had to try. I planted five different types of basil this year with the intent of crystallizing the leaves. This is something I fiddled with a little last year, but I only had sweet and cinnamon basil. I wanted to broaden the flavor options this year. I haven't gotten around to making any of those crystallized leaves, but every time I'm in the garden, one of those types of basil I planted stands out from all the others in the aroma category - lime basil. I expected the lemon basil to be the best, but the lime basil blows them all away. 

I decided to try making a batch of lime basil syrup. Now, note - there is no citrus in there; it is simply flavored with one herb, lime basil. Wow! It was amazing! Since then, I have been going crazy. In the picture above, from left to right is ginger syrup, lavender syrup, lime basil syrup, chocolate mint syrup, and French tarragon syrup. The colors are so pretty and they taste really quite good. I can imagine using them for all kinds of accent flavors in the kitchen and bar.

Now, the trick is to see if the state will let me make them to sell! In the meantime, if you want to try making your own, it's really simple. Make sure you use an edible herb or flower that has not been sprayed with any herbicides or pesticides. Make a strong tea out of the herb using hot but not boiling water. Strain out the herb and reheat adding twice the amount of sugar as liquid you have (i.e. if you have one cup of syrup, add 2 cups of sugar). This ratio will get you in the shelf stable zone. If you don't want it so sweet, add less sugar and simply refrigerate it instead. 

And if you don't feel like making your own, well, hopefully I can make them for you very soon!