Wonderland?

I guess I mean "wonder" in the sense of the word that means that I don't really comprehend something. While I was doing chores in the below zero temperature this morning, I WONDERED. Do we forget how bad these temperatures are like we forget the pain of childbirth and just say "I don't mind winter so much?" Maybe so, because it is big time bad out there this morning. I WONDERED if someone could invent something that would just swipe by my nose about every minute or so to get that drip that always seems to form there in this firgid weather. I have seen those glasses with little wiper blades to keep glasses clean in the rain. Why not something to keep my nose from dripping when my hands are frozen inside of bulky mittens or gloves, and I don't want to get out my Kleenex which is buried under the bulky layers of clothing that I am forced to wear to keep from freezing to death? It is just a thought that would make doing chores easier.

I know for certain the the sheep have the right idea. That wool coat is tooooooo great in this weather. I love sticking my fingers, without gloves, down deep to feel the warmth they have down by their skin. Someone was planning that for them.

BUT, all is well inside. Outside, I did not get out to see if all the cows are up, but I will do that the next time I go out. I will have to go out again to check the wood stove since we are using some little junk for heat right now. I am waiting for the semi load of logs to show up sometime around noon. Most of the outside cats are in the little schoolhouse. Only the kittens and their mother even thought about going outside today. I told the kittens to stay where they were and only their mother went out. I know she can find a place to hunker down until I come out again and let her in. What a pushover I am. Guess I can be if I want to.....

Sugarplum Snowflake

The young lady in the pictures is Sheltering Pines Sugarplum Snowflake. I gave her the silly name, but it is timely right now. She has been untouchable since I brought her home from Stephen in Michigan. Lately, she would take a cookie from my hand, but that was her limit and that has only been lately. Yesterday we had a breakthrough. I went out to sit with my three ewe lambs, who are in the barn, late in the afternoon. I took along the usual cookies. I sat down and started holding out the cookies. Snow would come and get a cookie, but she would back up if I put both my hands out towards her. This went on for a little while and then all of a sudden she did not back away from two hands when I scratched her under her chin. THEN......we were friends. No being tentative. Friends!!! She would let me touch her anywhere. Now, why???? Don't get me wrong, I love it, but why does it happen all of a sudden and completely like that? It really puzzles me.

Today, she was on my knee like she is in the one picture. She just stood there, no pawing, just standing calmly and eating cookies. The other two girls will eat cookies, but they will not let me touch them. There time will come. They are progressing, and I am sure they will become my friends, also. It is just so darn interesting to see them go from totally afraid of me to being my good friends in a matter of seconds. Ah, to understand the mind of a sheep.

A hunting we will go, a hunting we will go......

Hi, ho, the dairy-0, A hunting we will go.

Well, not really. We don't hunt, but we dress up when we go walking this week. In Wisconsin it is the only safe thing to do. With a little help from Jake's old highway department vest and a "dog safety outfit" from Farm & Fleet and a little sewing ingenuity, Scooter has a hunting suit. Luckily he doesn't object.

In the picture, you can see the cows out in their newest pasture. It is really just a smallish area where Jake plans to put out the hay that he feeds them in the winter. It is off to one side at the back of the barn where the hay is stored and should be an easy trip for the bobcat. A new gate and a new place to feed the cows should make feeding much easier this winter.

All Grown Up..........Nearly

Here are the five little faces that were four kittens and their mom last summer. They are all fixed and grown up......mom, three daughters, and their brother. He is the striped gray one in the middle. They mostly live on the outside porch on our house. It was pretty late to put them outside, but they will be able to keep warm when the weather gets real nasty because I will let them into the guest house. They will just have to share it with anyone else who wants to get warm at some particular time.

They aren't the most tame and affectionate of all the cats, but Toonces, the boy, and the grey girl are getting pretty good.

Weather here is raw. Scooter and I will have to go out for a walk, but I am putting it off hoping that it will be a little warmer this afternoon. It takes much longer to get ready to go out for a walk since we have to wear out hunting outfits. Scooter has an old highway department vest that I altered. After the alteration, I added a dog vest on top. He looks pretty cool and doesn't object to the whole thing. I just wear a highway vest that is a bit newer than his was. We can be seen, and it is necessary. Up here the whole world stops when deer season starts. Stores are closed that are usually open on Saturday and stuff like that. We are really out of it, so I feel more included when I wear my blaze orange.

Soooooo.....Now, Who is This?

Who is this kitty sitting on my "deck"? He/she has been around here all summer. I think she must be nearly feral since we have never gotten near her. However, she is getting closer to us as time goes on. This morning I happened to look out my big kitchen window to see her sitting under that chair. I jumped at the opportunity to get a picture of her. (Hopefully, she is not a she. The last she turned into five this summer.) But.......this kitty sure looks like the one in my previous post. That cat acted wild until caught. Could this kitty be the same? Will we ever know? My life is just one big question.

Sooooooo Big

Now, who would give up a kitten as cute at the one sitting in Jake's hand in the picture? It sure was a mystery to us. He was caught in our barn after several attempts, couldn't get a trap small enough. When we took him out of the trap, we expected WILD.......what we got was totally socialized kitten. I just couldn't leave him outside, and he became cat number four in our house. He kept his claws and is often threatened with being tossed out of the house to fend for himself. He is a bit of a terror, but last night he paid for some of his keep by catching a mouse. It is only the second mouse we have seen in this house which is quite a surprise considering the condition of the house.

As can be seen by the picture, Junior Minty Fresh, grew up to be a very big boy. He is overweight, but it is hard to control his weight with three other cats in the house. He plays with Scooter which is good. When Scooter came to our house, Junior was afraid of him, and I was disappointed. I thought they would be good playmates since both of them were young. It just took a while for Junior to understand what this other creature was all about. Now they chase and play fight whenever the mood strikes them.

The other two pictures show how Scooter has grown from March to now. Within a few days he had adopted Suni and become her greatest friend. He sleeps touching her all the time. Suni does not have a problem with it except when he happens to lay on top of her. Right now they are right behind me back to back, head to butt. I don't know what he will do when she is no longer with us. That could happen any time since she is 13 years old with several medical problems. I am sure that he will show obvious signs of missing her. Right now, they are good buddies until he wants her to play. She does't play. It is either age or temperment, but she doesn't play. He needs to run off his energy. Walking with me doesn't quite do it, but it helps. He is a great companion with only one bad habit. He keeps eating the books that I am reading. Today was number three. Luckily, he only chewed the binding. The first one, he ate the last pages, the second it was the first pages, and now the binding. There are books all over the living room, but he only eats my novels. Go figure. I have been trying to be careful, but I messed up today. Oh, well, I will have to try harder

What are you going to be for Halloween?

When they say "It's a dog's life", they could be talking about these three English bulldogs. Aren't they a hoot? They live in Florida with my son, and he sometimes wonders who is leading whom. They are hopefully coming up to see me where they will get a chance to run free. They will not know what to do, and neither will Scooter. I don't even know if Suni will want to meet them.

It sure would be fun to see them running around in our dog yard without any thought of being on a leash. They don't get to do that very often.

Maybe you could be a bulldog for Halloween. It looks like a pretty good life to me.

What do we call him now?

What do you call someone who is a doctor twice? I sure don't know, but Dr. Dr. Peter has informed me that he successfully defended his doctoral thesis. Like I thought he wouldn't? NO!!! That makes him a doctor twice. That is kind of awkward, isn't it?

Oh, well, I intended to send these two gifts anyway. Firetrucks for Peti and something to remember his time near Sparta, Wisconsin for Dr. Dr. and wife, Dr. The quilt still needs to be bound, but I got the material today in Onalaska. Now, we just need some impetus to get me going to finish it. It shouldn't be too troublesome since the weather is going to be good, and I work better when the sun shines.

Happy Halloween!! Dr. Peter Dr. and everyone else!!!!

And He Thought This Was Junk.....

There is a farmer somewhere who thought this old grain elevator was junk. He left it for us.........perhaps as a gift? BUT....leave it to my fabricator. He is a "wunder kindt" I love him!!! The other day, he said that he could probably use that old elevator down in the field and create feeders for my sheep. Well, I agreed it would be a fine thing to do. Little did I know that it would happen so soon. It probably took him a half hour when he got the elevator up here. Getting it out of the field probably took longer, but I didn't even know he was doing it. He said he planned to to it yesterday....that was in the late morning after church and breakfast. Well.....he did many other things, and I just figured he would not get that task done. Lo and behold, after all the other things were finished, he started on the feeder. Before you could believe it, it was done. He got rid of the junk and put the new feeders into the pastures with the bobcat.

They look like they will be fantastic. The only question was......how will the sheep use them? That had to wait until morning to be decided

In the picture of the feeder in the boys' pasture is the High Ridge version of "Dancing with the Stars" After I took the picture and then came back and put the hay in the feeder, I realized that the lovely example of togetherness that Tommy and Linus were demonstrating was really "Hey, we're hooked together!" Because of the teacup horns that Tommy has, they were really HOOKED together. Luckily, they are wonderful boys and let me pull and tug on them until they were separate. During that exercise, I was wondering what I was going to do if I was unsuccessful. I sure breathed a sigh of relief when they because un-siamese twins. I will have to keep an eye on them especially during this time of the year. I think there may be some issues between dad and son right now.

Aren't we well behaved?

The girls, after looking at this strange contraption carefully, decided that they could eat from it without any trouble. However, they did have to look at it carefully and decide whether or not it was a reasonable way to eat their hay. Thankfully, they decided that they like the new arrangement. I like it, too.

Boys Will Be Boys

And just like the boys we have known............they had to show off their lack of table manners. I cleaned out the feeder because they had been doing their thing in it last night and put the hay in it. After I disconnected Tommy and Linus, I got back in my cart and took off. When I looked back, Linus was walking in the feeder. Go figure! When Scooter and I came back from our walk, the three black boys were all up in the feeder. Walking on the table is going just a little bit tooooooo far for me.

Birds in the Wilderness

Here we sit, like birds in the wilderness, birds in the wilderness, birds in the wilderness. Here we sit, like birds in the wilderness. Waiting for our dessert.

This is the first few lines of a ditty that we used to sing at the table while my mom was bringing dessert. My dad was behind it all. He liked to sing. So, the three of us would sing it for my mom. That included my brother, Ken.

It just came to mind this morning when I saw the four kittens sitting in the door of the guest house. I believe that they were wondering where their mother was because they spent the night without her. They are getting used to the outside since Tuesday, and last night, their mom did not return when I went to shut them in the house. I am happy to report that she is there now and can resume their education about the big backyard. Also the grey kittie is right in front of the propane tank. He is kind of hidden. They ran off when I got closer the first time, so the picture is kind of far back.

Now I Know

Puff now knows why those sheep keep that long wooly coat on them during the winter. He was my helper on Sunday when I was washing fleeces. I couldn't resist pictures of his afternoon nap because he looked so comfortable. I guess that could be why I have those same wool comforters on my bed. He will be unhappy to find that his afternoon nap place has disappeared today.

Milestone

Sunday, yesterday, was a real milestone here. Jake finished fencing the pasture for the cattle. We have been needing it for about four years. The pictures show the scene out my postage stamp sized kitchen sink window. Now I can see those black dots out in the pasture that are our cattle. Sometimes I can even tell which ones I am looking at by the patterns. It is so nice to come over the hill and see cows roaming in the pasture. They are a mess right now, but I think they will be clean before the winter comes. At least, I hope so. Now, a few more posts and some more wire and we will have the fencing done in that part of the farm. There are still many more acres to fence in order to have rotational grazing happen, but this is a real start. Since all of the rain, we still have plenty of grass for the cows to graze on for a while.

work in progress

This is the picture that Dr. Peter took when he was here that I want to include in my profile. BUT.....I can't seem to figure out how to do it. But I guess I will just leave it there for now. It is Jake and I in the ravine on the day in early June that we all went down there. Now it looks much different.

Ravine?

Well, Blogger would not publish the picture I had chosen. Instead you get Dr. Peter the farmer. I hope the other picture will be "publishable" soon.

Mystery man

If you were in a position of power, would you award a PhD to a man who looks like the guy in the picture? I sure would. Remember Dr. Peter, "PhD to be" in your thoughts and prayers, if you would, as he takes his big test next week. I thought that he had disappeared from the face of the earth, but NO.........it was just another milestone in his life keeping him from letting me know what was happening in Hungary. Best of luck to you Doc! You won't need luck; you are too bright for that.

The picture was taken down in the ravine in June. The cart is now disignated as the "sheep feeding cart". It works wonderfully, and the noise starts in each pasture when they hear the cart moving. Lots of bells and baas. Music to my ears.

October in Wisconsin - this year

While my oatmeal sat cooling on the table this morning, the sun came out. While that is not so noteworthy in itself, it sure is right now. I had checked on the computer while the oatmeal was cooking to see if the rain was going to stop any time soon, and it showed that there was going to be a break. Well, the break came and the sun came out. The color was fabulous. The sun made everything seem so vivid. Sooooooo I rushed out with my camera to see if I could capture it. Of course, the sheep got in the way. So did that lousy barnyard which makes it look like we live in a dump. In the girls' picture, you can see the color of the sky in the north. In the boys' picture you can see the color of the sky in the west. In fact it was only in the east that there was any hint of a break in the weather.

We were already 21st on the list of rainiest years a few days ago. I am sure the inch plus that we have had in the last few days has pushed us up a few notches. I am sure happy that we are on top of the ridge this year. It has surely done away with that August, September, October brown in the lawns and pastures. Everything is bright green just like spring. It sure works for the animals, and there would be much hay to make is the farmers could ever get a break in the rain. It is supposed to be nice on Saturday. Jake will work on the fence again. I will post pictures of that puppy when it gets finished, for sure.

As you can see from the pictures, even the sheep did not want to come out of their sheds. However, they did tell me that this break in the rain would be a good time to feed them. I guess I will because it will be raining again soon.

What a day!!

What a day it was. I can't remember having such a wonderful day at home in a long time. I was able to do so many things. 1. I planted two bushes and one tree. They had sat around here just waiting for me to do it. I guess I needed the right motivation. 2. With a little help from some friends, Jake's son and nephew, we got all the sheep outside. It is just easier with some help. 3. I washed a fleece. I just can't get going on that when it is hot and/or cloudy ie. dismal. Yesterday was glorious -- cool temperatures and little wind and some sun every now and then. 4. I finished mowing the lawn. In between times I prepared three meals for three men. That was not the fun part, but it had to be done. All in all it was wonderful. I even managed to take some pictures of the whole gang outside.

When I was out trying to get some pictures, something happened that I had never seen before. I was on the far side of the boy's pasture when what looked like some huge insects came swarming into the pasture. They were about two stories high in sort of a tube shape. I thought insects because they were moving. As I continued to observe this shape, I realized it was leaves and that what I was seeing was a small whirlwind for want of a better word. It was rotating and moving eastward across the area. It continued across the pasture only falling apart when it hit the trees at the east end. That was very interesing, indeed. The sheep also had a look at it when it first entered their domain.

Now, today, the weather is as dismal as it was glorious yesterday. No work will get done on the fence which is very much needed. It will still be a long time before Jake gets all of that done. Today, I may not get anything done, but who knows?

New kids on the block

Well, here they are, the new kids on the block. They are inside yet, getting used to being in Wisconsin. So far they think it is much like Michigan. They are joined by a small Wisconsin ram in the pen in the middle. This weekend they get to experience the real outside. Right now they are Sugarplum Snowflake and Luscious Lolllipop, the girls, and (who knows yet) the ram. So far no name has popped into my head for this young man. I don't know about his temperment, but he sure has it in looks department. The girls are coming up greet me and will touch my hand, but he is real stand-offish yet. Right now, they all look wonderful, and I can hardly wait to get them outside with everyone else. I have to buy collars and bells for all of them. I wanted to have them before they went out, but I guess it can wait until I separate them at breeding time.

The other picture is the second Hungarian visitors that have been here at the farm this summer. They were here about three weeks ago for a week. Kati was a student of mine a long time ago and a guest in my home for about six months in the late 80's. Jake and I have met her husband when they visited about 10 years ago when Kati was doing a master's degree at Emory in Atlanta. The family came to the US to attend her reunion and came up to visit us while they were here. It was wonderful seeing her again, and her children were an added benefit. The little girl, Juli, was a hoot. Since both children are learning English from this mother, Juli was able to communicate somewhat. She learned quickly to say "No, Scooter" to the dog and started saying it the minute she walked into the house. It was very interesting to hear the children repeat anything their mother asked them to in English with very little accent. What they say about children learning another language at a young age was easy to understand when listening to them. I hope that Kati keeps working with them because they have a real good start in the language learning area.