Cows and sunflowers

Well, I guess you really can't see Jake pulling two wagons of hay back to the barn, but he is just starting up the driveway taking some grass hay from the neighbor's field up to the barn.  Needed to know how to use the zoom.

This is all of our cows, but it is too far away.    Maybe now I will learn to use the zoom on my phone camera.   There is only one calf in the picture, and he looks like a white spot.  So far we have six calves this year.   They were born my favorite way.............you go out to the field and there they are.
Girls   -    5,   boys   -    1.     It is the first time we have had a ratio like that.   They are all cute, red and white Hereford babies.

This is one of the volunteer, bird feeder sunflowers.    The big leaves are courtesy of the cows.   They lent their manure to growing that beauty.   As you can see, the flower in the background doesn't have leaves like the one in the foreground, nor is the flower as big.   Ahhhhhh.......the benefits of some good fertilizer.

Beautiful days of July

July is being nice to us right now.    I love these warm summer days when you can have the windows open and hear the birds singing and feel a gentle breeze and hear an occasional hum of an airplane or helicopter and the continual hum of the tractor out in the field making hay.  The best thing about it is that I can work outside without getting wringing wet from the heat and humidity.

This year's cherry crop was much smaller than last year's.   I am happy as long as the tree doesn't die or stop producing.

This is my rose garden before I replaced the old fencing that was primarily intended to keep the dogs out of the luscious (to them) soil.   The soil comes straight from the cow pasture.   Go figure!

This is my rose garden today after the new fence.   I hope it was worth the money.   I sure do like the looks of it.  It is not as tall as the former fence, and I sure hope that that "jumping dog", Lady, does not decide she needs to jump into the roses.

This is "New Day" a beautiful yellow rose and a few weeds on the left side that will be gone by evening and one orange moss rose.   I love moss roses, too.  My grandma always had them by her back door.

This is the well known "Peace" rose.   It is yellow with a pink tinge around the outside with the vinca vine hanging down behind it.   Mom always had those in her window boxes.

I know--- nostalgia city.    Oh, well, it makes me happy.   Hope you are enjoying your day as much as I am enjoying mine.

Meet Lolly and Lily

                              This is Lolly.   She was born late Saturday or early Sunday.  

 

                                This is Lily.   She was born late Monday or early Tuesday.  

Yes, I know it is late to be having calves.    We are just having to "deal with it".    So far, all is going well.   These two were born my favorite way.    We did not know it was happening.    We weren't even sure which cow was Lily's mom.   We found that out yesterday in the late afternoon.   We moved the calf up by all the cows, and her mom came to claim her.    When we had found her earlier in the day, she was outside of the fence, and none of the cows were nearby.    Both calves seem to be doing well.

The calf names this year will all be starting with the letter "L".    In another of my senior moments, I thought that the year "14" brought to mind Louis the fourteenth.    Hence the letter "L".  I know, dopey, but I think it will work for me.

I don't know if you can notice, but there is a low spot that runs through the cow pasture.    It is washed out in several places, and the hills around it are steep.    The calves love to sleep in the bottom when they are young.    Both of these girls were found sleeping curled up in the grass.   We had to wake them up to take their pictures.    They are even cuter when they get up with their spindly little legs.   They will be hard to tell apart except that Lily has just a little brown around each of her eyes.

Now if we can just get through this whole calving process with no unpleasant events.  My fingers are crossed!