Time to gather...

Time to call all the cattle home and batten down the buildings...
Fresh straw is piled and loads of hay brought in...
The news mentioned "El Nino" this morning and even they sounded worried...

I've been missing two of my cattle for a couple of weeks. I got lucky last evening and spotted one on a ridge a couple miles away. I hurried down with a bucket of grain and the trusty mule and found her in a neighbors pasture. She saw me...the bucket of grain and was quick to follow me all the way home. As long as I stopped to let her catch her breath and shake a little more grain in the back of the mule. As I was coming in the home gate, she saw her buddies she's been missing for these last weeks and started bawling her greeting. Then she forgot about the grain and ran ahead of me heading down the lane to the gate that leads her to her own back pasture. So I went to bed...worrying about the last lost cow with her calf at her side.

I said a little prayer to my buddy upstairs to please make this last cow easy to find. Went to bed and worried about it most the night.

As I was leaving for work driving out my gate...I see a calf standing on the road west of my place. I could see a number of black cattle in the ditch and some calves crossing on and off the highway. I went to chase them back in.

As I approached, I can see the calf standing in the middle of the road is my lost calf with the yellow tag and looking at me along with several other big cattle was my last lost cow. Hallelujah! I hurried around back to my house and jumped on the mule. Grain in the bucket and out I went. She was only a short distance in a near pasture away and this would be a piece of cake.... if she remembered how nice grain tastes.

While all the other cattle started bolting from the looks and sound of the mule heading toward them..she just stood and blinked. I raised the bucket and shook a little in the back of the mule.
Yup.. She remembered and she was on a dead run...calf in tow. I took it slow into my yard and down the run to the other cattle. She did the same beller at her buddies and forgot the grain, just happy to be home!

Its happening fast and I can feel it in my bones...

How Jack-0-Lanterns began...

losing spots...

So very tiny and fragile and what could be a better place for an orphan, but a place that serves fresh goats milk...


Changes and growing up, her first few weeks were very pampered....she even went to work with me. She was 1 day old when the unfortunate event happened....and we don't speak of it.
She has decided long ago that the dogs were harmless and she actually likes getting in on the action on occasion. The dogs on the other hand are very gentle with her, which really surprises me. She can't weigh 25lbs and yet Atticus is closing in on 200 pretty quickly. He's the one who takes more abuse from the little girl, as she likes hopping on his back and chasing him around...Tess isn't quite sure if its all that cool, but is very calm with her.
Now to see how long she stays around...as I have no intent that she will be a family pet, but if she's a smart girl she can sure come home anytime the weather is raging or hunting season is upon us. Nature will call someday and off she'll go, but in the meantime, she's always standing by at milking time and waiting for her nice fresh bottle of goats milk. She follows me every night doing chores and I take her out in the field for walkabouts....just so she knows how to crawl under fences and watch out for traffic. I've noticed every evening now a nice bunch of deer coming closer and closer to my house and smelling and listening. For now, she thinks she might be a dog, but soon I imagine she'll decide for herself.

Thank You!!

LOVE IT! (yes, I had a spoon into it immediately)
The creamiest, smoothest, sweetest golden nectar ever...and shipped so quick...very cool!
Thank You to Jayme!!

a river run....

Atticus is easier to get to the River in the back of the mule..when he has to run...it takes him a half hour longer to get there...much faster to simply load him up. Course he just might be smarter than we give him credit though...
windy day....


.......gate opener??
uh...oh.....
..........................help......snake...oh wait..thats justa chunk of rope!!
windless side of the river.....and releasing a pet baby bass.
the windy side of the River!!

the getting wet first before the wave crashing side.....




heading home and the lazy dogs...


loading up to go home...
and the video is the windy side of the River on a cool September evening....funnest times are had when the waves are whitecaps and washing you ashore. Good memories for a wonderful reason we live so close to the river!

Birthday fun!

I celebrated my Birthday for the entire weekend leading up to Labor Day! My day is the 6th but why not? So we loaded up and went to the State Fair. Gorgeous day and I had plans of trying every indulgent food there. I almost did too...but while we enjoyed all the barns and buildings and animals of all colors and breeds, I had my eye set on seeing who in our state raised Guernseys. I have Jerseys and one Jersey/Guernsey bull and really would like a splashy Guernsey to add to my herd.

I had called ahead to a rental place that supplied the electric scooters and reserved one for my Father who just had some surgery. At 80 yrs old...why not get to use a scooter anyway!!

So all over the fair grounds we tromped and through every barn and food court we could find.

I finally found a whole barn full of Guernseys and introduced myself.....to the gent who owned them anyway. He was a fella you could talk to all day on cows and I was having quite a chat...when I heard my Father exhale quite loudly and cross his arms like...(gad this is going to be all day)...so I said..oops...sometimes I can talk all day about animals and I better entertain my Pop for a bit. About then Dad asks what he wants for that little calf over in the corner. One of his helpers hollers over..$500. I perked up and thought, boy if its a girl, I'm taking her home. So I was quick to ask more questions. He is smiling pretty hard so I go along with his prank and say" So how old is SHE!" He laughs and says...about 3 days..born right here. So I walk over and check for boy parts about then and know all the while...its a bull calf. Pretty hard to come by a female dairy calf born on a Dairy Farm and they are willing to part with them. I said..OK now..whats he worth. Thats when the owner piped up and says, about $100.00. My Dad grabs for his wallet and is ready to pay right now....while me...I have 7 bottle calves at home already. Seriously...mine at home are about ready to wean. Do I want another steer calf to feed out? I told Dad to put away his money. I wouldn't let him pay anyway..I would buy my own stuff. That way if it dies I won't feel like I let him down. You just never know about babies and such.

But I needed to decide.

So...we walk around lots more and eat and enjoy the Fair. But just before we leave Dad says..."SO?" He really really wanted me to go get him...and I did happen to put my cage carrier in the back of the explorer. So I waivered just long enough to say OK!

Here's the picture of the calf after he stretched his legs in the carrier. Lets just say, he was happy to be home and stretching out proper after his 2 hr ride to my house. He's a big boy!

Doing very well on fresh goats milk ...now if only miraculously he would change his gender. I really would like a Guernsey! I just need a girl of a different color!

My cage did suffer a little after that ride though...it isn't quite as square as it used to be and some seriously rounded walls now. Oh well, at least he wasn't riding on someones lap!

missing in action..

haven't blogged in a while and need too....it seems to help with maintaining life. And it has been a fiasco lately, so I'll get busy. First though, I have reading to do to catch up on everyone!

We've had babies and building and fixing and selling going on all summer. Farmers Market is going well but it takes up too much valuable time in repairing and making ready for Winter. Seems its approaching faster and faster these days. Too little daylight already, but I think blogging and organizing will help make sense of it all. Stay tuned....