Things Growing...

At The Farm

 



That Time of Year...

The calves are hitting the ground.

and the Father watches over all.

Ki's Herding Adventure

The cows hear the tractor and think, food!

Hubby was going to remove a tree from the fence.

I called Ki to when the herd began to gather.

Hubby asked her to work.

 Ki took that to mean put in them a circle,

 so she began to work, circling,

No cow too big,

no bovine fast enough to catch her.

She worked and she was too fast for the cows.

Oops, one's trying to get away.

Ki kept the pulling the circle tighter and tighter.

Not bad for an untrained mutt!

Good girl!

Ramblin' Rose...

can't find her way out of a paper bag!!!  It's been almost two weeks since I have rearranged my bedroom/sitting area and I continue to get lost every time I get out of bed.  I am writing this early because after finally finding my way to a door, I was wide awake and decided, what the heck, I'm up so I'll stay up.

Something's wrong with my bat sonar/radar, whatever they use to maneuver in the dark, it's gone.  I have blood blisters on the ends of my big toes, I have bruises on my shins and even my hips!  I haven't fallen yet, but I could very soon if I keep up this crap.

Our bed is the same place, I step out, walk a few steps, turn right and then every thing just leaves my mind.  I wander around feeling things and think okay, this is the glass cat so I am by the radio, turn and head forward to my sitting chair...not working.  Somehow I always end up somewhere entirely different than where I had planned.

We may not be a one or two on that dark scale the scientists have now but it feels like a minus one is the middle of the night.  There's not supposed to be a one (being the darkest) in the US according to this scale but in my bedroom, it is darker than the center of the ocean and the middle of Australia! 

I finally find a lamp, I thought, nope, that is the statue at the end of the couch, okay!  I know where I am!!!!  I creep along the front of the couch, go straight as I can to the door...what door?  Anyway, to make a long story short, I found a lamp, believe it or not right, beside the bed...how did I get back there?  I turn it on and I CAN SEE AGAIN!

Let's just say, it's a good thing I didn't need to pee very bad or I would have been in trouble!  Tonight, I'm playing Motel Six and leaving a light on for me.

My Weekend Off and Catch Up...

My camera revived.  I had laid it in the morning sun in the kitchen window with all compartments open and everything removed.  I replaced the battery long enough to extend the lens and left it there.  God's light and the devil's heat did what I could not...it repaired it.  I did not get to try the dry rice method but do have it in my head, just in case, I need that information.

This was one of my test shots...my graduation photo from '72, one iron elephant bookend that I've owned forever,  and one Corning glass hen candy dish I found at a yard sale about fifteen years ago.  I wonder why I chose these two things to sit in the shelf beside me?

I had a wild hair, as some people say, this weekend.  I decided the tv room furniture needed to be in my sitting area and vice-versa.  I have had help moving one chair.  I still have one huge couch and one loveseat to move.  I am waiting on inspiration as to how to accomplish that.  When I get the furniture in the correct room, then I'll arrange it, I'm sure or I'm hoping with Bev's help because she is a true artist with furniture arranging (and many other things).

Bev came to help with my computer/craft/art/sewing room.  One chair came in here and two went out.  One chair went to Andrew's room from my sitting area.  One chair in the dining room and one from the den went to my room.  Are you confused yet?  I am!

Bev helped clean my floors...what a wonderful, sweet sister...moved some paintings and rugs around, dusted and washed dishes.  She was a life saver!  She has one big box of stuff packed for the shop.

Since my computer drama, I had not restraightened all the wires, etc...done.  My printer was returned and in now back by my computer. I have mended hubby's t-shirt pockets and altered some jeans.

Bev gave me homework, too.  I had one big box of toy parts to go through...broken ones, gone...collectibles in one box...just toys that someone else will enjoy in another. Working on another box to leave this house FOREVER.

Next on my list is sewing a tear in a chair arm and sewing a pillow seam that is partially undone.  Sadly, these will be by hand and I DETEST hand sewing.

Hey, I thought I was supposed to take it easy on a day off!  It has been a pure pleasure to see things go into a new spot and be cleaned, too.  It is very uplifting when you know a job is well done.

Now, a sample of outside photography, from my camera and my hot pepper, Ki-Anne.

No!!

This little bull is not running!

Ki's brakes are good.

They attempt to stare each other down.

Casually moving closer to each other,

The little bull is the winner,

and Ki, the chicken, runs out.

My Evening Stroll...

Too hot to walk in the middle of Saturday, I waited til it was less hot. A few dogs joined me and we made a circle through woods and fields and back home again.

Ki-Anne insisted on bringing her football.

Being dusk, the calves eyes reflected the flash.

Please note the very present yellow canine blur on the right.

She left her foot ball on the terrace as she ran to the cattle.

We found wild berries ripening.

Dark almost caught me.

Once again the land renewed my spirit,

reminding me why I am here.

This N That

First, I would like to declare this, Marcy's photo of the week.  I love this!  It is a sunrise but the sky was so hazy, it looks almost like the moon.

Marcy is celebrating the hatch of new babies.  A mixture of all kinds.  She sees laying hens, I see dumplings.

Andrew had company for a few days with an extra Thursday evening.  They were ghost hunting late into the night.  I was quietly watching them from the unlighted open kitchen window and welcomed the opportunity to scare the pea soup outta them.  I always try to have some fun where ever I can.

As I drove out to work one morning, our cows greeted me by the neighbors' field.   I sat for a moment in the car, thinking how I would herd them to the valley.  They began to run...away from the farm.  I remembered how hubby calls them and I tried my best hubby holler.  My favorite yellow cow threw up her head, turned the herd and almost beat me back down to the farm.

We have good neighbors.  I got a call at work Friday (remember how our old house was robbed?) that a strange truck was parked in the yard of the old house.  The neighbor described it as a beige step side truck and no one could be seen.  She asked if I wanted her to run them off.  I said, no, I'll call hubby.  Couldn't reach hubby, called Bev, she said, If I try to run someone off, they'll whip my butt. SOOOOOO, finally got ahold of hubby and it was him sitting at the old house in a SILVER Step Side Chevy!!!  Brave Bev came to get whipped and every one had a good laugh!  Except me.

The white deer has been spotted with a fawn this year but she is moving closer to the highway.  Hope she comes back to the protection of the hills and valleys.

Just a few snapshots of our week At The Farm...never a boring moment!

Moving Cattle...

 Since the older babies (around seven hundred pounds) went to sale Friday, we moved the rest of the herd to another pasture. With a sack of feed in the tractor bucket, I think hubby could lead these through town. Notice belly-butting bottle baby, Lovely, (front and center) is a strong member of the herd now.



This is my favorite cow. She is huge and built perfectly in my book. Gelbvieh cattle come in three colors...yellow, red and black. I prefer the yellow, which is a "so last year" color. Hubby dreams of black. Now, tell me this...what difference does it make when all the meat is red after they are skinned? The funny thing is black brings more money at the sale barn...the least favorite is spotted cattle.

These are the early babies with Lovely in the middle, just like she was never a bottle baby. Lovely is about three months younger than her side mates. This was another miracle...Mom took Lovely back after she had been gone almost a month!!! Another reason Gelbveih are a wonderful choice of cattle. One mama will sit all the calves while the other mamas graze. If a babe becomes hungry, the nanny will feed it until the mother returns. Simply amazing to me!

I seem to have a thing with yellow...my favorite horse,
my favorite cow, my favorite rose...

 my favorite kittens and my favorite dog are all yellow!

I never buy yellow clothes, go figure.  I never said I wasn't

strange.



Quiet Today in Blogdom...

I can only assume everyone was raptured and I and my farmily were left behind because of our unworthiness.  Oh, well, got plenty of work to keep us busy.

tending gardens,

counting cattle,

and stopping to smell the roses.

Growing At The Farm

Gelbvieh cattle

snow peas

wild lettuce

garden lettuce

sweet peas

Ki-Anne

wild strawberry eaters

and roses...

just to mention a few.