A Nostalgic Look At This Year's Calves

As I sit here, preparing this post, I am only a few days away from losing all my calves from this year. They have been sold to three different farms, all in New York state, but will be picked up all at once by one of the buyers. They are going to good homes and will be valued because they are purebred, registered cattle - and because they have good breeding. Nonetheless, I have made such pets of them that I will miss them and worry about their welfare. So here are some photos from their final days at Windswept farm. The first is of Gladys and Annie, cheek to cheek, with  Rosella (last year's calf), standing behind them:

Merlin, the only bull calf, will become a breeding bull and not hamburger:

 Loretta, with her face still wet from nursing:

Pearl, the youngest of the bunch:

 Loretta, looking winsome:

Rosella, on the left, is nine months older than Annie but from a mother of shorter stature. That's why they're so close in size now:

Merlin, living the good life:

Gladys, nuzzling her mother, Gracie. This is why I dread separating them from their mothers. Yet it has to be done and, I think, will be kinder if done all at once:

Merlin at play:

Merlin ran in circles around the field, almost as if he was showing off for me:

Little Pearl:

Pearl, the last born this year, will always be the baby of the bunch. As you can tell, I'm already feeling nostalgic - and they aren't even gone yet: