Prize Picture!

Art by nature, photo by Marcy.

Dog Day Afternoon

Cooling off after a little run

Bev and Zander, Lil and TP

Lil chasing water skaters


Bambie and her reflection in the water garden

I Ain't No Cow Girl!

Bull or Cow???

The twins, not yet aware of the horrors that await them.

I have been a farmer's daughter and now I am a farmer's wife. When I was a child, calves were born, sold or added to the herd...no shots, no tags, no tatoos, no registration. When my hubby decided to add cattle to his farm adventure, I informed him they were his babies not mine. He would ask a cow question and I would answer, don't know, not my babies.

I am, however, lucky to be the paperworker. I get to figure what number goes on tags, what number on tatoos, what number on paper after I am told what calf belongs to who. I have all the tags bagged with their numbers sacked up neatly for the the cowboys to take with them.

Did I get to stay in? NO!!!

First, let me say, we do have a head gate and have had one for a year. It is still laying in the grass. If these were my babies, I would have had a catcher pen with a chute so you could run the calves through one at a time, do what you do and let them go. But these are not my babies!!! So we round all the cattle into a acre area with a triangle pen for working, no chute, no head gate, these are babies, no problem. HA!!!!

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Piece of cake,We pick out the four calves and start the pursuit. Now none of us are ropers, none of us know really what we are doing. The poor calves were smart to run and run and run. Two lariats, two non ropers and two herders, four people, this should be done quickly, smoothly.

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I am in my muck boots and no bra and I am running, this is not a safe way to run! Cut this way, cut that way, bring 'em this way...I was ready to tattoo the hubby. I came out here to hand the correct numbers and tags to the Cowboys and take pictures, not gallop after cows with my chest swinging!

One calf is roped, after thirty-seven, at least, attempts.

Throw him down, Andrew!

Could have lost some teeth here!

Now hold her down!

They finally gave up. Four calves done and we are done in!

Let me repeat...I AIN'T NO COW GIRL!

Sky Watch

Through the rain covered window.

Many Of You...

have wondered how I received my flowers celebrating our long lived marriage. My sister got a picture just at the right time!

The rest of the night was spent paying for said flowers.

PawPaws and Flowers

The person with the correct answer was Granny. It is a PawPaw Tree. All the guesses were good, now wasn't that fun? Granny had a little advantage because they grow in her area.

I did not mention the date on purpose but he remembered anyway.

Trying to show all sides here.

Guess I will have to keep him around for the next thirty-seven years!

Guessing Game, ETC

I am glad I have a job, I am glad I have a job, I am glad I have a job. Do you think I may be suffering from burn out??

Can you guess what this wonderful native tree is? These are the young fruit.

Tomorrow my hubby and I will have been married for thirty-seven years!!!! Seems like just yesterday but on the other hand, it seems like centuries...we are just like this clematis, all wrapped around each other...right!

Seriously, I made a good choice and even if he forgets tomorrow, I will still love him anyway. It would take too long to get this comfortable with some one else!

Message Of The Day

I don't care if you lick windows, take the special bus or occasionally pee on yourself.

You hang in there, sunshine - you're special.

Every sixty seconds you spend angry, upset or mad, is a full minute of happiness you'll never get back.

Today's Message of the Day is: Life is short , Forgive quickly, Kiss slowly, Love truly, Laugh uncontrollably, And never regret anything that made you smile.

Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we're here, we should dance.

This N That

First day back to work after nine days off. I discovered I can not spell, think, add, or read any more! My foot gave me fits and developed quite a knot on top of it but much better than before medicine.

Came home to Marcy's Magic...potato cakes, caramel rolls and ham in a blanket. She fixes some things and I add to it for dinner. Last night it was freshly caught Bass from the pond.

Bev was almost in tears because she hit a root and bent the blade on the riding mower. I said Bev you use stuff, things happen, not your fault. I called her at home after Den had fixed it to make her feel better. She had just bent a piece of metal rather than the blade and Den knocked that right back into place. Bev sure was happy cause she thinks she tears up lots of equipment, heck, she is the only one that has been using the lawn care equipment...none of us have the time.

My bestest friend, Belinda, from Georgia sent me probably a bushel of fresh Vidalia onions. I think they cull them in the fields and if there is a small blemish or they are not shaped right, they give them away to who ever wants to pick them up. One place just feeds them to their cows. Not a thing wrong with them that I can see, except they are fresher than the ones in the store.

One bathroom is finished. Miracle working Bev has painted my whole bathroom, changed the color scheme, added shelves and it looks so good! I can't decide whether to sit on the screen porch or just take a book and sit in the bathtub. She had redone it when she was living here and caring for Dad. Bev said it was time for a makeover and who am I to argue with my decorator???

Awards day tomorrow at school and Andrew will be out of school til the middle of August. He is so glad! Not exactly a school lover, but he endures.

We have four calves now. Den loaded up last years and took them to the sale barn. I kinda hated it but he has to build fence so we can feed more but gotta sell some to get money for more fence. You farmers out there know what I'm talking about. We do have one up to fatten for this year's beef. TBone was so delicious and tender last year, I can not wait til this one is ready. Gelbvieh meat is so much better then any I have had, more marbling, more tender, more flavorful...now I'm getting hungry! Den has not named this one yet, maybe he will be Sirloin.

I have blabbered enough.

Here's the tip of the day: NEVER MAKE ANYONE MAD THAT OWNS A BACKHOE!