Saturday, May 26, 2007

Boys and their toys



Or maybe it would be a good idea for the good Hungarian doctor to learn about 4-wheelers. It is a great farm implement. We use it for everything you can imagine. Of course, sometimes Dave comes up and uses it for recreation. It is great fun

OR........maybe he would like to try out a bigger tractor than the one I mentioned yesterday. I drive the one in the picture when we use the chopper to fill the feeder wagon for the cattle. There is also the 4010, 5010 and the 3010. Jake has a thing about John Deere tractors. We are tractor poor.

I suppose he could try them all out and decide for himself which one suits him best. But then again there is always the bulldozer........

We really do have a lot more equipment than we did down in Salem. The best one is the combine. It is really cool, and I enjoy just riding along in that big machine.

Friday, May 25, 2007

High Ridge Highlight for June!!!


Yes, we have having a highlight that is actually planned. We are having a visitor, and not just any visitor. He is Dr. Peter Batar from Hungary. He is attending a medical conference in Chicago and is coming up here for a short, toooooo short, visit before he returns to Europe. It will certainly be a highlight for us. We haven't seen him since he did research in Oklahoma City years ago. It will be wonderful for us.

Now, what will he do while he is here. I certainly hope that he plans to take over my job as hired hand. I am quite willing to let him use my tractor as seen in the picture to do whatever the farm boss, Jake, wants done on that day. I will be glad to sit in the house or on the deck with my feet up. OR........he could use the new Dixon lawn mower. There is more than enough lawn to be mowed. OR........he could just sit around and enjoy "God's Country" with me and the critters. OR........he could do all of the above. It is his choice because I will just enjoy seeing him again.

Thursday, May 24, 2007

Three on a match



I have been lax in posting to this blog. It is because the appraiser
came here today to have a look for our refinancing. I have been more
than busy getting all my "stuff" moved from the upstairs here to the
upstairs at the guest house. (sounds like a fancy place) Yesterday I
spent the whole day carrying boxes upstairs and getting them put in the
right places.

The real story is the three lambs that Mellow presented on Saturday afternoon last week. The sad part is that they are all ram lambs. Two of them have real crimpy fleece with the best one being the white one. Now, what do I do with three ram lambs? That is really something to think about. They can't be father to any of my ewes but Millie. Their father is my ram lamb from last year, Linus. He did quite a job on everything but the gender.

It is good to have something to think about.

The other picture is an example of the humor of my dear husband. He missed this shot with Ami's twins. Last year he got a great shot from behind of me picking up the twins for my picture with them. This year he got me again with the triplets. Maybe he is taking them to compare the size.......me or the lambs?????? This year I come out on the up-side compared to last year.

Now, if anyone who reads this has an idea of what to do with four ram lambs, just let me know. The freezer is really not an option at this time.

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Stanley Steamer



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Well, the rugs got cleaned. I wish that Stanley
Steamer had come to do it, but I did it on the driveway the old
fashioned way with the hose and a long handled brush. They may not be
the cleanest they have ever been, but they are cleaner than they were.
All the plaster dust left the whole house a "pig stye ". Today I am
being a "spring cleaner". It is a nice calm day up here without too
much heat, so doing the rugs was a possibility. Now I wonder how long
it will take them to dry.

The other picture is Ami and Sugar
and Cinder. They are doing well. Ami is such a good mom. Each day the
lambs venture farther from their mom, but when she calls they scamper
back. If she happens to move away while they are distracted, you hear
the little call of the lamb who has lost his mom. She nickers right
back, and they are soon reunited...........and it feels so good.

Sunday, May 13, 2007

Happy Ewe's Day



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I am sure that Ami is a happy ewe. Her lambs have arrived. On lamb check last night at 2:30, they were up and dry and outside. I knew that Ami was in labor when I went to bed, and I wasn't surprised to see them. Since it was beginning to rain, I
gathered them up and took them into their shed. All three of them are still there today.

Simply Sugar is the ewe lamb on the right with the sugar sprinkled on her head. Snazzy Cinder is the ram lamb on the left, black as a cinder. He is much bigger than Sugar who is quite small. Mom and lambs appear to be feeling fine.

That really made for a special 24 hours. First I-43 let me watch her give birth to Ziva. In the afternoon I saw a Baltimore Oriole. At night Ami gave birth without incident to twins. That makes for a memorable Mother's Day for me.

This morning we had a little excitement before church. After I checked the lambs, I checked to see if any cows were outside. Everyone was in the lean to keep out of the rain. Well........out----way out-----laid one little calf. I went out and made it stand up. It ran a ways off from me and immediately laid down again. I went into the house with the news. Jake came out and carried her into the lean. Of course, it was Ziva, not quite 24 hours old. After being only slightly late for church, we returned to find Ziva bounding around the shed. I guess she is feeling better now that the is with her mother and dry. It is always something around here.

Saturday, May 12, 2007

Apology

Sorry about the mess on the last entry. I don't know why it does that sometimes. Where I wrote it, it was just fine; then when it was published, it was a mess.
I never know what will be there when I push the "publish" button.

Third time's a charm..........




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Well, it is Saturday, and we slept in. When I
got up, I went out to feed my sheep and check on the cows. I loaded my
wheel barrow and then decided to go out the field to check on the one
cow that I thought was ready to calve any minute. Of course, I have
thought that since Thursday, but I knew it was close. Scooter is my
morning helper, and we walked out to the field. As we got closer to her
she was mooing like the other cow had done when her calf was on the
other side of the fence. So......I continued walking now looking in the
tall grass for a sleeping calf. I passed the cow, and she looked the
same to me. I went to the end of the fence and then continued back
looking on the other side. As I got up to where the cow was standing
about 10 feet into the field, she pushed, and the calf began to emerge.
I high tailed it into the house to get Jake thinking I would have
enough time. Seeing me hurry is a real hoot. I can't run, but I can
still try. I ran into the house and told him the news and headed back
to the field. I needn't have worried. It took her about 15 minutes to
deliver the calf. On the last push she stood up, and the calf
dropped to the ground. Thank heaven it didn't break it neck.

The pictures show the calf's first attempts at standing up. Again, three times and it was up. We did not know at this point if it was a boy or girl.

I finally did it. I saw a calf born. I will admit it got me worried for a
while there when she was pushing and not much was happening, but we got
through it. Of course, the calf was born in the dirt, and the more the
mother licked, the more dirtier the calf got. After the calf was up for a
short time, it began looking for its first meal and was successful
after a few tries. What a miracle, both the birth and the instinct that
both mom and calf have for this blessed event. Nice Mother's Day
weekend present from both of them.

Tuesday, May 08, 2007

Yuh Think, McGee!?




Here we go again. We spent two hours last night from 7-9 waiting and watching for Spike to have her calf. We knew it was going to happen; we saw her water break; we could tell that she was having contractions. But would she have the calf before it got dark, and we went into the house? NO!!!!!!!!! I went back out at 10:30, and the calf was on the ground, wet, but licked off. We missed it again. Last year, Poppy did the same thing to us, only worse. We had her in the barn, and when we went in to grab a quick supper, she had her calf.

Oh, well, I guess I am happy that he is here and doing well. Unfortunately, he is a boy. His name is McGee. He is the brown one in the picture with his Hereford mom.

The other picture is Ducky, the calf that was born on Sunday morning while we were at church.

That brings out total to five, three boys and two girls. We need more girls!!!!