Easter Blessings

I do believe Spring is finally here to stay! 

Our favorite little guy is excited to be outside again.

He loves to "Hap."

You know...... Help. Said in a sweet little 2 year old voice.

He thought he was pretty big stuff calling in the cows.

And gettting the flower gardens ready.

I tried giving him a child sized hoe.

No dice.

He wants to use what we use.

"Tool." he says. Our big ones, not his little ones.

I've had a very productive Easter weekend. The flower beds are now mostly clean, and I've been helping George get poles set for a new barn we are building. We had great weather for most of it, though Easter Sunday did end with storms. 

We heard a great sermon at church, then had lunch with friends. An Easter buffet, chock full of delicious food. Our friends said they were going to go home and take a nap.

What did George and I do? We went home and chased cows. 

Three of the new calves decided the grass was greener on the other side of the fence while we were gone. We pulled onto our lane, and saw them, happily grazing in the hayfield.

Fortunately, it wasn't too much trouble getting them back where they belonged.

It's become a joke around here. When our son and daughter-in-law are away, one or another of the livestock will get out. Happens every time. 

Life on the farm.

Cute decor farming vs. Real farming

This is a new farm display in the shop. I painted the barn wood signs, and the sheep shears. A friend made the stuffed pig and chicken.

Farming looks so easy in decorations. Fun and charming and cute.

While farming can be all those things, in reality it is a LOT of hard work. And ingenuity.

George and I were watching out of our kitchen window as our son Kevin was trying to lure these 2 longhorn cattle into the trailer.

He had bought them a few months earlier as feeder cattle. The time had come to take them to the butcher, but they didn't want anything to do with that idea. Actually, they didn't want anything to do with people. Period. They were very skittish, especially the red one, AKA Red.

An attempt to load them into the trailer went badly a couple months ago. Instead of going in the trailer, they jumped a fence, and luckily, no one was hurt in the process.

After giving them a few weeks to forget that experience, Kevin parked the trailer in the field, and started putting grain in the front of it every day, and then would walk away. Most of Kevin's cattle are grass fed, but desperate times call for desperate measures. The 2 longhorns would cautiously look around to make sure no one was near, then they would mosey up into the trailer to get the grain. Kevin let them do that for a couple weeks, until they were somewhat comfortable.

Then he started putting the grain in, and sticking around. The photo shows the first night he tried to stand at the back of the trailer and quietly wait. That showdown lasted for several minutes.

We had a better view from the kitchen window of what was happening than Kevin did, so George sent him a text message to move away from the door a few feet. Look closely at the photo, and you will see Kevin behind the bush, still watching and waiting. The black cow wanted that grain, so he slowly moseyed forward.

Red wouldn't come any closer.

After a few nights of this, Kevin was finally able to close the door behind the black one. Red watched from his post safely out of reach.

Farming is patience, and we have another plan for Red.

And Kevin announced he will never buy another longhorn again. Those long horns are too long reaching. No need to add that element of danger to the farm!

Farming decor may be cute, but real life farming is a whole 'nother ballgame!

Our Kids are the Town Mouse and the Country Mouse

George & I went to VA over the weekend to visit our daughter Jessica. On Friday evening, we had dinner reservations at Zaytinya, a Mediterranean restaurant in DC. The food is served mezze style, which means it's served on small plates that are meant to be shared. We couldn't pronounce anything on the menu, but we sure had fun sampling all the (expensive!) food!

As we rode the Metro, and walked the streets of DC, I was reminded once again of the very different lives our children lead. While we were dining on lamb in a fine restaurant with Jessica, her brother Kevin was back home on the farm, feeding goats. And chickens. And cattle.

Full disclosure: this photo of Kevin is a month or so old, before spring (and leaves!) came.

But obviously, I couldn't take a photo of Kevin feeding the livestock at the same time I was in DC with Jessica.

I have a zoom lens, but it doesn't zoom that far!

On Saturday, we drove out to Luckett VA, where we hit the antique shops. Jessica found these 3 chairs at a fun shop called On A Whim.

It wasn't too difficult to get them in the back of our Kia Sorrento, but it did get a little trickier when we added a couple more things at Luckett's Store, another great antique shop right down the road.

Meanwhile, back home, Kevin and his wife Katie were making their own purchases......



Three little pigs!

And their buddy!

When we were done shopping, Jessica took us to the quaint little village of Waterford, VA, which is a National Historic Landmark.

We spent some time at the old Waterford Mill. It was a gorgeous day. Sunny. Comfortable.

And rather breezy, as you can tell by my wind-blown hair.

Meanwhile, back home, Kevin and Katie were not having as lovely of a day. Their new pigs were not feeling the love. Nor the cooperative spirit. Katie dove headfirst after an escapee pig. Kevin dove into the ground when he tried to jump over the trailer hitch after an escapee goat.

I have no idea why they didn't take pictures of the chaos they found themselves in the middle of - I'm sure they would have been quite entertaining. heehee. Katie has a blog post planned on their adventure - watch for that on her blog about their farm life.

Saturday evening, Jessica showed us her office at Marymount University in Arlington, then we went to Dancing With the MU Stars, a fun dance competition featuring students and staff at Marymount.

Katie sent George a text about the baby pigs that said, "Kevin says that behind cuteness lies the devil's soul".

On Sunday, while we leisurely attended church in VA, Kevin & Katie tried to attend church back home. But the experiences of the day before had left them so tired and sore, that they didn't quite make it.

George and I started the long drive home. Jessica arranged her new chairs in her condo while she waited for her husband Brian to get back home after his weekend away.

Kevin & Katie - who are bound and determined - added 2 more animals to their growing farm:

Two very friendly dairy goats named Calypso and Willow. What beauties!

From the time Jessica visited New York City as a young teen, she was intrigued with the city life. She and Brian have lived in the city for a few years now. It's been quite an experience for her, and we're glad they had that opportunity. They don't plan to live their whole lives there though, and will probably find a spot in Suburbia one day, with a yard to garden and tinker in.

Kevin has known since he was a little boy that he wanted to be a farmer, and he has absolutely no interest in the rat race his sister lives in. He looks forward to the day when she leaves that life behind, so he can visit her without having to face the traffic nightmare that accompanies city life.

The Town Mouse and The Country Mouse.

Brother and Sister. The Best of Friends.

We're blessed.



Oreo Cows

Oh, how cool are these cows? Not just any cows...

 

OREO COWS!

 

Well, technically they are Belted Galloways. But look at them! Black on both ends with a white belt down the middle.

 

OREO COWS!

 

 

They belong to Kevin & Katie who traveled most of the way across PA yesterday to buy them and bring them home. They will be going back in a couple months to pick up the heifers they also bought who are getting bred soon.

 

The 4 they brought home yesterday had never been off their farm before. They were just leading a peaceful life of eating grass and hay. Then Kevin & Katie showed up with a trailer, and the cows went from going about their daily business to riding on the highway for several hours.

 

They were not impressed.

 

So, understandably, they are also not impressed with Kevin & Katie right now. Or me & George. How did I get close to them to take their picture? I didn't. Camera zooms are lovely little devices are they not?

 

Most of the day, this is what we saw if we got remotely close to the beautiful Belties:

 

 

There were lots of opportunities to get shots of their backsides. With the zoom.

 

But by the end of the day, they were getting somewhat used to us. Somewhat being the operative word. But there was progress.

 

And that's a good thing.



 

January thus far

Time has flown by! What have we been up to lately? Well, at home, there's new baby goats....

  

How sweet is that?

Last years babies are very curious about this years babies.

Mama is not impressed.

 

This little one got away from Mama just long enough to extend 

a friendly foot greeting. But don't let this cute scene fool you!

Her foot pulled back very quickly when the bigger goat tried to 

butt her through the fence! There's a reason Mama is so protective!

The cows  have had to be moved a couple times, 

and this past Sunday, we had to separate them, and take 3 to market. 

That turned out to be quite a challenge!

We'll be making some changes before the next ones go.

Lessons learned.

The chickens are not impressed with snow.

They were very glad on this particular day to get out of the coop. 

They made their way to the goat barn, where they love to look

for any bits of grain the goats overlooked.

We had a break in the weather and spent a couple days splitting firewood. I overdid it, and that resulted in several days of an aching back. Several orders for the store came in during that time, so I spent a few days on the couch, unpacking boxes and pricing new inventory. Our living room was total chaos! But it's all in the store now, neatly on display, and I can walk through my living room again. Yay!

My absolute favorite thing to do in January is the end of the year paperwork in preparation for taxes. NOT! A necessary, time-consuming evil.

Another evil that popped up was this:

 

On of our front display windows at the store. We can't prove it, but we and the police feel sure it was a drunk who was mad about who knows what. The whole window was shattered. The cost to us? $1000 that I had set aside for new inventory. Sigh.

On a happier note, I've been doing some crafting, but last night I decided to take a break from that and do some organizing. I'll finish that up today - not a bad job right now. It's nice and toasty in my studio by the woodstove, and it's single digits and teens outside!

I hope you all have avoided the flu! So far, so good here. We all had flu shots, so we have our fingers and toes crossed that we're protected. 

Keep warm!

That Calf was Tough from the Start

Coming home a couple nights ago, we saw this little calf in the field beside our house:

This little guy couldn't have been more than a day or two old.

Look at him marching bravely through the fresh fallen snow!

He's smart - he's staying on the hay that the big cows left behind after they ate.

That's probably a little warmer on the hooves!

Oh, and don't worry, mama is just out of camera range.