Holiday Rant

I have been continually married to the same man since 1972. I am pretty easy to get along with, in my opinion. I am not afraid to work and do so, outside the home and on the farm. I am not lazy, nor am I stupid nor do I yell without necessity...I thought.

Soup Bone got out of his corral and there was an immediate need to make him a new, more enforced corral. We enclosed him in a smaller one and began to put together another corral with new panels. I am helping and carrying twelve foot panels to line up the new pen. I suggested we double it by placing the second set upside down around the first set, thus double walls.

Things are going fine but H is a little ticked because it had to be done at all. We get the small pen erected except for two panels. H goes on the tractor to get two more panels and is backing in with the tractor, the panels hang on the existing pen. I holler Whoa, he doesn't acknowledge my yell, I holler Whoa louder, and am going toward the panels to unhook them so he can continue to back. Here's the ball breaker; I holler Whoa a third time with more intensity, because I am thinking since he cannot hear himself fart, he is not hearing my whoa and does not know I am coming to the rescue.

The face of H totally transformed into a hideous demon and bellowed at me, don't yell at me I know what I am doing...well, obviously, he did not or he would not be hung on the panels. While he is yelling I unhook the panels, because he had stopped the tractor to yell at me.

Nothing else was said and we continued to finish the pen. I thought I had given sufficient time for him to cool. I knew he was angry at himself, not at me, but I am not the punching bag around here! I calmly stated I was more than willing to help but I did not like to be yelled at. Here's his reply; You yelled at me first!!

Now how juvenile is that???? I was trying to help, okay, baby, you are on your own. If you can not see what is wrong with this statement, you need to get glasses and counseling. Nothing in my marriage contract says I should tip toe and pet my husband. I didn't break the damn bull out, I didn't hang the panels, I was there to help.

Now I do believe fights are a waste of time and energy. I usually make a statement and if there is chance of a fight, I just remove myself from the situation.

We have worked together a lot through the years and I have stated, just in the last year or two, when you start yelling at me, I will not work. He knew this but instead of saying sorry, I was mad at myself, I know you were helping, he said you yelled first, yes, I did. I yelled whoa to keep you from tearing down the work we had already done. I did not say, stop, you dumb ass, you're hung on the fence. I said Whoa.

Can I ask you, was this justified? Well, right now, I don't think so.

And the saga continues.

After H and A finished the bull pen, he slept in his recliner. I went outside to walk Gypsy and the calves were in the garden. I was taking care of it. Gypsy and Lil, (yes, Gypsy, the foster hound) ran the calves back into the pasture and I started working on the fence. I am not messing with my karma by inviting the Demon to join me.

I grabbed one wire and it was still hot so I told myself go find the other end, restring it and then turn the box off and rewire...which I was working on.

My sister ran and told H the calves were in the garden and he comes rushing over on the mule, turns the power box off, and comes to where I am now wiring the fence together. I said you did not have to come, I had it handled. He said, did you turn the box off? I said you already did.

The demon was still lurking just under the surface of the lovely young man I married thirty-seven years ago. He said I will do it, I said you can't see the wires and he said give it here so once again, I departed for the house.

Now he just got through with shoulder surgery and is carrying his arm. His bull-headedness got him into this! Why are men so damned stubborn?

Marcy's Fishing Morning

Marcy is always saying she wants to fish. Bev and I said go, but Marcy said there was too much work to do. Bev said if you wait until the work is done, you will never go.

So Marcy went fishing and the fish were biting. Her view from behind the fishing pole.

Bringing one in, he has finally quit fighting. She reels in three and looses three and of course the biggest ones got away.

Channel catfish, farm raised. Fresh from the pond and ready to prepare for the skillet.
The three Marcy did get to shore were all twenty-two inches long. Do not know the weight but it doesn't matter. Marcy fried them and brought a huge plate over warm for supper. I was not thinking about how much they weighed, only that they were delicious. Can't get any fresher fish than these.

Thanks, Marcy!

Wordless Reflections

Faces From The Farm

Maggie Mae, head Border Collie
Zander, youngest grandson

Broken Arrow, youngest horse

Andrew, oldest grandson

Gypsy, foster dog to adopt

What Is It?

A frog and a flower
A large garden spider

figs

dried cattails

Marcy's arrowhead she found in the garden

Gypsy Galoot..Uh, Rose Lee Update

Armed with Dr Pepper to save me if we get lost, we begin a walk. There is so much to see for Gypsy, a new smell every half inch. Gypsy doesn't have heeling down quite yet but is doing much better. She knows I go out the door first and I come in first. We begin our walk with some training and I let her off leash to get some running done.

It is sad to say this is my "big" sister, Beverly, on the right and me with Gypsy. I used this to show how big the dog is and I have just proven how big I am. I shall have to pose next time with larger items so I will look small.

Gypsy has discovered a terripin and does not know what it is and tried to open the container. No luck and we move on to something else. Doesn't she look sporty in her bright red collar?

If I could hook Gypsy up to our power supply, we would have no electric bill. This girl is full of energy. Here she is checking out the old hog pond on the hill. If there is water, she is in it. I have heard hounds can track under water. I wonder if that is what she is doing when she submerses her head and blows bubbles.

Gypsy by the old model T

Faces

The faces at the farm are varied
Some show their pride

Some show their innocence

and some are just goofy!

Some are angelically handsome.

Pretty Skies and Progress

Sunrise this morning
The sun is hiding

A door to where?

Is it looking more like a market?

We still have a door to nowhere.

Is Orange A Cat?

We haven't decided
I don't think he has either

He takes good pictures

He hangs with the dogs as much as the cats.

TP, Dad's dog, is his personal protector and friend.

What I Learned Today

The guys aren't doing laundry! Of course I already knew that but I can dream.

There is a snake in the spring and an armadillo in the garden.

Gypsy likes to retrieve. She also licks my legs when I sit at the computer...I am working on stopping that. She has a hole in her mouth, otherwise, where does all the water come from around her water bowl?

I learned eight and a half hours at work is longer than it was yesterday.

Spaghetti in a can is a fine meal to feed a young foot ball player after practise.

I also know the horses loved the watermelon and pears I took them and the dog loved breakfast milk and chicken scraps better than their dog food.

The best revelation of all; Your comments are like chocolate, they taste wonderful and I cannot get enough!

Vacation Visitors

Beverly's daughter and her family came to visit from Delaware. There is always something to do at the farm.

Like horse back riding

Playing with the baby in the garden

Driving and riding the tractor

Looking for arrow heads and fish bait

Driving the mule

What is work to us is fascinating to many. We forget the beauty sometimes because we are so close to it.

The whole crew got to go fishing, dig their own fish bait, clean their fish and eat them. They went for rides on the farm equipment and the animals. Ate fresh eggs and lots of garden produce. There were plenty of animals to pet and feed. I do not think they were bored.

Our collective dream one day is to have cabins so we may share the wonderful experience of our farm life.

More I Should Not Show

Here is the beautiful sunrise going to work. Of course I missed it because the thoughtless people on the highway were trying to get to work and would not let me slow down to take a picture. They were on my bumper and whizzing by in the opposite lane just like they did not want me to take a picture of the glorious sunrise.

This is an awesome picture of a buzzard standing on a hay bale with his wings outstretched. It is also a picture of him taking flight showing his magnificent wing span as he took off, hovering low and then climbing with the sun reflecting off his midnight black wings and his bald head. Heck, I missed the whole hay bale, it was close to the road and I even turned around to take the picture and he waited on me.

My epiphany for the day is; Even if you are a big brown rock, when the light is right, you can sparkle!

Equipment On The Move Again

The shoulder has improved and you can't keep a good man down.
All the equipment was moving.

Doing some work near the garden

The Deutz no longer stands idle.

Den cuts grass along the creek.