Spring has arrived, wet and wobbly!

We were feeding big round bales to the cows. I have the job of pulling the plastic netting off these bales before my husband, Mike, uses the tractor-loader to plop them into the feed wagons. It doesn't seem like it would be a difficult job: just use your utility knife to cut the netting from top to bottom and then unwind it from around the upright bale, wad it up and put it in the incinerator. At least it works that way on a crisp autumn day in November - or even on a clear cold day in January, when the bales are still round and clean and dry.
But come the damp, muddy days of early March, the bales have been rained on, and snowed on, and iced on, and thawed and frozen several times. So, the bales are a mess, with this impenetrable layer of ick enmeshed in the hay and netting. I can make the initial slice, but pulling the netting off is a hard and messy (and frustrating) job with dirty ice shards flying in your face - which means it falls to a woman to do it!
Anyway, while I was being distracted by my job, Mike spotted something in the cow lot. He started to point and tried to make it clear what I should be seeing, but I was in no mood for a game of "do you see what I see"; the netting was winning the battle! Finally I saw the object of interest - a newborn calf! This little fella was still wet and just barely able to stand. He was valiantly trying to follow his mama around the lot, but he was having a lot of trouble. His main problem came from the two fall calves who had wintered with their mothers. For some reason, they took a great interest in this new arrival. Unfortunately, their interest manifested itself in a game of knocking the newbie to the ground at every opportunity. So, we decided that the cow and calf would need to be moved to the barn. We loaded the calf into the loader bucket and chased the cow out of the lot, hoping she would have the maternal instinct to follow her newborn - she did!
Our next hurdle was finding a way for a cow to enter the barn. Snow from previous accumulations had been piled in front of the small barn door, and the big door was still frozen in place. Finally, we realized the south side of the barn had an operating door (where the goats spend the hot summer days out of the sun). We drove the loader up to the door to get the calf into the corner stall - by now, he is standing up, ready to leap off the edge of the bucket. We do manage to direct his forward motion into the barn, and mama obligingly follows. So, both are now comfortably settled in the barn, a private suite with access to the sun (new calves need their vitamin D) .
I don't expect any more calves until May, but I guess I could be surprised again. I thought my goat kids would be the harbingers of spring, but again, few things happen as expected around here! And the kids are STILL not here - I don't see how my does could get much rounder.
I better pay attention - order seeds and plants and chicks - spring is on its way!