Welcome to Wilmoth Farms

Coming Back...

2011-08-04T17:50:00.003-04:00

I have made these half hearted attempts to blog again, remember when I used to write so diligently?
But I keep loosing focus, get caught up in every day life, that I don't seem to find time to fit in Bloggerland. But I'm gonna try to make more of an effort to write at least a few lines more regularly! Talk soon! A farm update is MUCH needed!
~Rae

Springtime Goings On....

2010-05-20T10:36:00.018-04:00

Spring here in Kentucky can be summed up in one word and I could end my post easily....RAIN. But if you dig a little deeper you could add STORM to that list, then FOG, and when you probe more you would begin to peel back layers of unwanted overabundance weather and find the beauty of the season still. Baby's are still being born and with that said, Patty should be about 3 weeks due to deliver. BUT this is our first time with a little Jersey and we are so used to our Angus that we just cant tell if she is bred or not. We could call in the Vet but hate to spend the money for one little cow. I mean, she shows all the signs, but she is so tiny, and her baby will be almost half the size of our Angus calves so her signs of being pregnant are so much more subtle. SO to be on the safe side, we brought over the little bull that she was supposed to have been bred with when we got her for a few weeks. So far, she hasnt gone in heat (or whatever you call it for a cow) so this is a good sign that she is gonna calve soon! I keep watching and they are more buddies than lovers at this point! He is tiny compared to our Angus bulls!

And being tiny didnt serve him well last night, tiny with a big bull attitude doesnt mix well. Little Bull (thats what we'll call him since he isnt ours and has no name) was a bottle fed calf, and just realized he is a bull and has something to prove. Very friendly fella to us "Hoo-mans", but gotta watch him when another bull is near, he starts thinking he has to show he is big stuff! For a week now him and the Angus bull have been showing themselves through the fence at each other, throwing dirt and heads around, bellerin' like none other. You can see where they have been pacing back and forth. Last night when Doug came back from the barn feeding, T-Bone (our Angus) finally decided he'd had it with Little Bulls taunting, and lifted the gate separating them off its hinges and he and the cows came on into the lot with Little Bull and Patty. Well the 2 bulls immediately began to fight and in less than a minute T-Bone had Little Bull t-boned into a corner with his rump in the air and had Doug not seen them and asked if the cows were supposed to be in there with Little Bull and Patty, and Norm not run out there as fast as he did to break up the fight....T-Bone would have surely killed Little Bull in no time flat. Little Bull is LITTLE....you can see in the pictures that he is barely taller than Patty and she is smaller than a heifer even.....and much thinner boned. Little Bull wouldn't have stood a chance. Now what I would like to know is why T-Bone, the big bull he is, would stop trying (and almost succeeding) to kill Little Bull, when Norm runs up and hits him with a stick???? Okay yeah the stick breaks over top of him, but really it wasnt much bigger than a tobacco stick....and T-Bone stops fighting and runs to the opposite side of the lot....tell me what is the reasoning there in a bulls mind? He will fight another animal much bigger than Norm with a stick???? Go figure? Funny really.
I've been back to taking pictures more regularly than I had been the last 8 months and it feels so good to do something I love. I love the camera Norm got me for Christmas, a Sony H20. But I'm still coveting a digital SLR to take more professional pictures. What I would give to make a profession out of photography and take classes to learn how. Here are a few I've taken of Spring around the farm and some comments about the Goings on...
Sunset On The Neighboring Farm

What A Dandy Day It Was!

Turkey everywhere this spring! We saw 7 on this morning we were checking on the cattle!

Little Timothy has become quite the hunter! His sister Clover - hmmmm - not sure if she is hunting or not, she shows NO prey drive at all! She does love to sit and watch the chickens and finds them fascinating, more like she is wondering why she cant be friends with them rather than why mom wont let her get in and eat them.

Patty - several weeks ago, thinking as usual the grass is greener on the other side of the fence.

The 3 amigos! King has been doing well, but the last few days has begun to feel poorly again. All four hooves suddenly became bruised ???? Cannot figure out how or why that happened? It was just there one day??? Any takers on that? He is eating good still, was defending his food like he used to, but then when he started to feel bad again, he began to let them push him off his hay. I have had to give him pain meds because of his hooves and he is limping, and I'm worried that it will aggravate his ulcer once again, so keeping a very close eye on him. His eyes once again so pain and he seeks comfort. Its been raining cats and dogs and hippos from the heavens every day for almost 3 weeks, if its not pouring, its drizzling, so spending any time working with and spending time with the horses is rare right now. His health is a seesaw that is teetering constantly and I never know when that balance is gonna be upset. Some days I'm optimistic and I guess, pretend, he is My Boy once again, then there are those days I dread to go outside, and he becomes the polar opposite - My Old Man, and I'm afraid to look and see if he is standing or not or what I could find that morning. Its become habit when I walk out the door, pull into the drive, going down the road past the house - too look into the field and make sure I can see him, know where he is, and make sure he is up, standing, and alive. What a relationship it has become. Having an elderly horse, with special needs, when sick, can be emotionally consuming.

Here is Patty again...apparently I loaded my pics out of order, see she looks like her belly is hanging low, anyone with Jerseys think she looks about 4 weeks from calving in this picture? I should take one from behind her, it looks like there is a calf resting on once side of her belly. But now that Little Bull is in with her I'm not going in, you have to watch him too close and I was warned against getting in with him, so no go.

Here is Lilly....we decided against keeping Lilly, Patty's first calf, she was not the temperament we wanted, and she just wouldnt gentle down. She was on a high horse constantly and was always confronting me. Bye Bye Lilly Pad! My heart wasnt broken...so good decision made. She was a cute little bugger....and funny to watch with her little attitude!

Here is little Levi and Massey. Massey was a lot like Oliver, I almost kept Massey, but we decided to send him on to the stock yards this week as well. This picture was taken a few months ago but I love it!

Beautiful Jack! The Terrible Two's have eluded our toddler! What a great horse he is becoming! Smarter than anyone would have ever expected that day Norm called and told me "You may hate me or you may love me for this, but I got you something..." Yeah I loved him for it!

Some more Photography practice...

This is the pond down the road in the little town of Stephensburg. It consist of about 3/4 a mile and most people dont even know they have even entered or left a town when they drive through! Basically consist of a gas station, church, and homes. The church boast these two ponds, the smaller (the one in the picture here) was the old car wash long before the modern day car wash was born.

The day I took the picture of the railroad tracks on the way to take Doug to school, I took the picture of our heifers across the street. The fog was finally beginning to lift and the sun was just beginning to shine through. You can KINDA see the sun on the heifer to the left on her hip...it really was a pretty scene, I took this standing at the end of the drive way with just the road between us, thats how thick the fog was...

AHHHHH! First fishing of the year! Doug, Leah, and Neil went fishing. Doug caught one, Leah none, and Neil found the hole all the fish were in and didnt share the spot with anyone! So Leah spent her time with my camera and got some great pictures, and got a picture of Doug with his lone fish he caught. Both the kids are getting so good at their own photography skills and really enjoy it.

This is the "Milt Cabin"...named for the people who lived there, relatives of Norms, long ago. I wish I knew more history, something I'll have to look into. I love this cabin.

A new baby and its momma

FOOD! Being let into another pasture of greener grass! Well not really greener but anything on the other side of another fence to a cow is greener to them. Right now everything is green...silly cows. I love the white cow in the front, her body language and facial expression says it all! Pure bliss!

Found while a walk in the woods! I took many pictures of butterfly's this morning, but this seems to be everyones favorite....

I just like this next one...

Buck

Working on gaining Buck's trust. I'm hoping to ride Buck one day. He is our Rocky Mountain, 6 yr old, and very un-trusting horse. Why? NO REASON! Not a day in his life has he ever been treated badly. He just was never worked with, so its lack of confidence. He has always been in Molly's shadow, and needs to come to his own. I gain ground and then I do something wrong (who knows what I do) and I loose it....Its learn as I go. Its never the horse thats wrong, its the human, so I have to figure out how he learns, speaks, and loves. I'm trying to gain Gyspy's love and trust too. Gypsy has been a rock in my life when I needed her, BUT, she is reserved and doesnt want human interaction unless she is being fed. Just like King was when I got him. She is not as closed off and what I call "dead" in the eyes, there is still life there and an interest that peers at you from behind that wall, its not sealed off, but that wall is there that I must tear down. Buck has no walls, just fear and lack of control and confidence he must overcome. Trust issues. I have the same issues I must overcome with him. He cant over come his until I get a handle on mine first. Then I can learn to speak his language and we can get it together as one. Same with Gypsy..two totally different individual's here, wow what a challenge! I'm eager to take this on!!!! RAIN GO AWAY PLEASE!!!!!

Do you see those eyes!!!! Aren't they beautiful!!!!???? He wants to love me, he is so interested in this little me standing there before him, he just doesnt know what I want, or what to do!
Mothers Day 2010
What a great Mothers Day this year...the best I think I've ever had!
Leah hit the nail on the head this year! I love to play in the dirt and get my hands and feet dirty! The kids are the same! I dont think Leah wears shoes 90% of the time in the warm summer months, myself included! This year, knowing how badly I've been wanting new flower beds out front for 3 years, I got my wish! Norm and the kids got me a bunch of perennials and Norm tilled the yard in front of the porch! The kids and I spent the day planning the landscape and planting the flowers! Here are some pictures....dont get too bored...more stories after the pictures!

(Salvia)

Norm got me a Rose Tree and a Rose bush

(Salvia shot from above)

Foxglove - probably my FAVORITE of them all!!!!

Here is the finished flowerbed! I LOVE IT! (minus the black mulch...its been raining so as soon as it quits I'll add that, and where the 2 lawn chairs are sitting there will be another flowerbed)

This next one is an ornamental grass...it has a 2' wide spread and is Leahs favorite..one of mine too, its totally cool!

My herbs got out of control early this year, I dont know what happened to them, I think I should have cut them back last Fall because I looked out and one day they were just there with flowers! This is my Cilantro...pretty flowers, but no good now to me!

And back to herbs (it wouldnt let me move my pictures?) here is my Basil. Very disappointed in myself for doing something wrong. I have had them planted for 2 years and this didnt happen to me last year!

Here are a couple of my favorite pictures I've taken in a long time! (if ever!)

CHICKEN/DUCK UPDATE! Growing like weeds! I swear to you, every morning when I go out to feed and water the birds, they have grown! Almost all of them, except for the 6 little bantams, are all now bigger than Pepper was. They are 8 and 7 weeks old. (when are the ones I'm putting in the freezer ready to get plucked????) Most of them have the funniest personalities! Some have no personality....and I have my favorites. They all know when I walk out of my house...I swear they take turns watching for me! They know when I have treats in my hand and you should see the look of disappointment on their beaky faces when they see I dont. There are those that refuse to believe when I dont and have to double check me to make sure I'm not hiding any (sometimes I do for my favorite birds shhhh dont tell the others)
The funniest of ALL the birds are my ducks, I LOVE to watch the Ducks...they hear me before they see me and immediately yell for their breakfast, lunch and dinner (doesnt matter if they have food already, they just quack at me out of habit I think) Maybe they are just gripping at something I did who knows. Its fun to catch them and hold them...they look at you with this puzzling look on their face...and I think they secretly like it, maybe not, but they seek attention each time they see us so they must like it. We have had storms and lots of rain and the birds dont mind the rain at all, even when it stormed severely I couldnt get them in the coop. I'm sure by the time the hail came they finally went in tho, I felt bad for the ducks, they have a couple dog houses to go into and under the ramp to the coop and a lean-too, but I cant make them go in or stay there and I wasnt staying out there to see. Afterwards, taking pictures (I love to take pictures after a rain, the lighting is perfect and the rain drops make for awesome pictures too!) This is what I found in the coop! The ladies having a heated discussion!

They're are a few chick's that have become favorites. One is Salt. Salt? Yep, see Pepper who recently died, was my first chicken. My favorite, who would nestle in my arms and "sing" and "talk" to me. So when the little Barred Plymouth Rock (same as Pepper) started doing the same Doug decided her name needed to be like Peppers, so Salt it is! Its not majestic, classy, etc. But knowing the origin of her name, even those words pale to describe its worth in our eyes! Here she is after I sat down and she promptly hopped in my lap, nestled down and took a nap for 30 minutes! Just like my Pepper used to do.

Now Rosemary...Oh Rosemary...a Cornish Cross that we weren't planning on keeping any of, but Miss Bossy full of curious personality won us over. This is Leah's chicken, who by the way, fits Leah most perfectly. I remember when my daughter was in preschool and I'd go pick her up and watch her before I'd let her know I was there, playing and she would be bossing those other kids and manipulating them with such finesse and skill that a 3 year old should not possess! She was always the teachers favorite, well beyond her years, and still to this day relates better to adults than she does to those her own age. Once the teacher told me (with as much pride and joy that I had to laugh at the teacher just as much as I did at Leah) that Leah wanted a tricycle that a little boy was riding, no matter the boy was riding it. But he wouldnt give it up, even with her reasoning that he already rode it around the playground once, it was HER turn. She tried to take it from him and even stood in front of him holding the handle bars and he would not get off no matter what, words were exchanged and to no avail, for once Leah did not win. The teacher told me she sulked off, wheels turning in her mind, hands on her hips, and eyes squinted as she stared at that boy riding around on that tricycle that SHE should be riding trying to plan just how she was going to get it from him, when the plan finally popped in her head. She confidently stomped over to a big ball with her head high, smile on her face and shoulders straight and began to bounce the ball high and hard right in his path. When he got to her she said this: "I love this ball!" "Look how high this ball bounces" "This is the best ball" "You cant have my ball" - and holds it and starts to walk away. The little boy immediately wanted the ball she said he cant have, and she said NO! He whined, and got mad said it was HIS turn. She told him this. "I'll give you my ball if you let me have the tricycle"...so the trade happened, she threw the ball down and happily rode off around the playground! Rosemary is very much like Leah at age 3....bossy! Rosemary has a love/hate relationship with Levi, she would love to peck his eyes out I think and hates it that the fence is between him and that he wont stick his nose closer!

This is either Lucy, Leonard, or Leroy...I dont know which because I dont have them banded yet to tell the difference. I have 2 males and one female Pekin. And the Mallard, well we know we have 3 Drakes and we are thinking one female because it is more drab, however the feathers are just too colorful for me to be sure its female, but not enough to show its a Drake....identity crisis?

We had named the Mallards but I hated the names, here is one of the Drakes. The names were Esther, Abraham, and something else, I couldnt remember them at all, and they just didnt fit and not knowing for sure what they are just makes it not working for me! They got big so fast, the Mallards are almost full size now, and the Pekins too!

Ahhh my favorite bird! Miss Henny Penny! A Black Sexlink! She is like Salt, in fact I had her, Salt, and a little Orpinton sleeping in my lap the other day! Usually its just Penny and Salt tho. She is gonna be such a pretty bird!

They LOVE treats! Doug loves to feed treats! They love to steal treats too! LOVE the look on Dougs face when this Rhode Island Red stole a bite last week!!! The birds are 8 weeks old now!

Here is Douglas and his bird Salt...no she isnt sleeping, she is looking for something to eat, she is constantly pecking things she thinks might be food until she is satisfied its not food then and only then will she go to sleep
on your arm, lap, shoulder, where ever she lands or you put her.

The coop is finished, the yard is cleaned up yet tho so ignore all the wood. Its done nothing but rain, and on days its not rained, picking up the scrap lumber has been low on the list of things that needs to be done. But the coop is great, and the birds are some very happy chicks! We also finished the yard, got fly netting on the top so no hawks can get in and birds or ducks can fly out. I can rest now with ease. I leave the chicken door open so they come and go as they please and they have their routine now. Its funny to see the different personalities in each of them! HOWEVER....I am SO ready for the ones that are going in the freezer to be in the freezer. And to add to the flock diff breeds of birds that I'll be keeping as full time flock members! I am anxious to get more and different birds!

I had really hoped to get more hens from the bantams that I got but when you get straight run, you just dont know what your getting and I only got 2 hens out of 8 of the birds. Mari took one of the hens and one of the roos. I do have one bird that has a comb like the other roosters, however its not like the other roosters, its comb is MUCH smaller and not as red, so maybe it is a hen, I just cant tell at this age. Sometimes the comb grows faster in some hens and since it was a mixed lot of bantams it could be that its a diff breed so I have to wait and see. But here is one my favorite Roo's..he has started crowing, and is hilarious to watch! I dont know if he is one that I'll keep or not, but he is one of the 2 that I like so far! As he matures his cheeks will become even more puffy. I wish this picture showed his feet, they are so feathery!

So thats the goings on here at the farm.....

Zeus....Marchigiana Bull...trip to the Vet..ummm he really didnt like it

2010-04-27T18:15:00.007-04:00

This is Zeus...2200 pounds of pure muscle...as you can see in the cattle chute (that really wouldnt hold him if he put up a big enough fight) he is ONE BIG BULL! he is a Marchigiana Bull...when he was born Norm carried him tot he barn with his momma at his elbow, I think he had gotten chilled out or something or another. Hard to believe that now looking at him that a little calf would one day become THIS big isnt it? To show just how big he is I posted some pictures here a little later in this post...
Well today was the big day for the 3 bulls we have...we had 5 last year and sold 2 because of the annual "Spring" trip to the Vet. One we sold because he was throwing too many white calves (the feeder lots want black steers) and the other...well lets just say "Frank" (named after Frank Sinatra for the way he *sang* to me un-relentlessly* when he saw me) had too few weak swimmers. Yep...time to semen test the boys! Sir Loin and T-Bone went first thing this morning and I took Norms mom to her doctor appointment so he saved my favorite bull - Zeus for last so I could go. I love to go cause I LOVE to see him in the chute! HE IS HUGE! You just dont realize how big he is until you see him in there, you know how big a cow is and you see them in there and then you see him and the chute looks like its a miniature sized one!
First stop was Zeus' favorite place! I needed some Sweet Tea and something in my belly since it was after noon and it was the closest thing and the easiest to park a big long cattle trailer...I think tho, Zeus knew where we were, and while Norm was in getting our food, he was shaking his head and rocking the trailer....this was the first sign of how it was to go!

Yep! Notice the Angus burger sign! HA! Okay I had to take a picture!

Zeus didnt find my humor funny as we were waiting for Doctor Mike and I sipped my Sweet Tea from my MC DONALD'S cup...look at those eyes staring me down...maybe he was just thirsty? He is handsome tho' isnt he? Okay so when Norm swung the trailer door opened Zeus was shaking his head up and down...hmmm...sign of aggravation..not so good ya know!..I saw that and wondered about it, I've never seen him do that nor any of our bulls, so I was kinda thinking it might not be a good thing. I was locked in the little stall I go in tho when we work the cattle with my camera, but with a 2200 pound animal you just dont feel safe. I have my wall already planned out that I'll climb if needed..yes there is rafters I'll hang from if I need too!!!! I can be a monkey for as long as it takes! I've seen Zeus jump a 6 foot high guard rail fence before so I know what he can do. I never knew how agile they were! He sniffed a bit unsure of coming off that trailer, but he did and walked right into the chute. Norm said it took several minutes to get the other two off the trailer. They had some poorly horses in there before them and the bulls just didnt like the smell of it all. Maybe sickness, medicines, blood? Who knows. Blood for cattle to smell is a BAD thing....it will put them immediately into fight or flight mode....

So Zeus walks on into the chute like a good boy tho and they put the butt bar in and a halter on with no trouble so looks like all is gonna be okie dokie from here! Never thrashed his head, just laid down! I do believe that he remembers this part of the visit! NOT so pleasant shall I say!!! So what happens when a bull is semen tested is this device that looks like a torpedo about the size of your forearm is inserted into him (I'm not naming the body part so as not to get perverts searching up stuff and bringing up my site!). its connected to a device that sends an electrical current into the "torpedo" (I forgot the name of it actually) that makes his muscles go ridged. The strength of the electricity is slowly increased until he releases enough specimen for the doc to test. Ours usually stand good for this procedure...I'm curious if any of you with cattle that have this done have the opposite reaction and have a fight with your animals?

So this is the device that is inserted that carries the electrical current into the bull. Nope it doesnt hurt them AT ALL. It just makes all the muscles in their body contract.

So to show you JUST how big Zeus is... how about a couple pictures of him beside Norm! Norm wanted to take some pictures of me with Zeus, but I was wearing Capri's with my boots, and a ball cap, no make up and looked horrendous...so..nope maybe next time I'll dress up for the occasion!

Notice that Zeus' head takes up half the length of the chute as it is!

Here Norm is checking out his ears....this picture gives you a much better appreciation for his size!

Well here he is right before the trouble "almost" happened! Doctor Mike lets him out of the chute and Zeus casually walks out into this little bitty lot and Mike goes to turn him around and bring him back through to Norm to get onto the trailer, when as Mike comes up to his side, Zeus in the small lot is crowded (uhhhhh.....)and Zeus turns puts his head down at Mike...but before he could charge him Mike has hopped over the 9 foot (+ or so) guard rail fence leaving Zeus looking confused - as if thinking "hey wait! Where did that guy go that I was gonna turn to mush!". Let me say this, Zeus has NEVER, repeat NEVER EVER EVER done anything like that ever before. Not once. Not there and he's been there done that before same situation. But something was different this time and something bothered him....all I heard from my vantage point was shuffling....Norm yell Are you Ok Mike...and saw Zeus saunter back in the barn and walk through the walk way and Norm get him onto the trailer....Doc Mike acted like it was no big deal, has told Norm in his younger days he LOVED those crazy cows that would put you over a fence just for the fun of it. Well I guess all that jumping over that fence paid off cause he did it in lightening speed today!I was concerned the whole way home about what Zeus would do when we got home...I told Norm if he did anything to him, he was just mud or grass cause I wasnt able to help him out besides calling 9-1-1! He said once he got him home and he saw where he was Zeus wouldnt care about anything anyway and would be fine, that he really wasnt agitated, it was just conditions that contributed to it that added up. He said if Zeus was going to be a problem the trailer would be rocking...and even so once he saw the girls he mind would immediately go into love mode and forget he was angry. I did however ask TONS of questions about how to tell if a bull was mad, angry, bluffing, gonna kill ya, etc. I'll do a post on that another day, and those things are good to know and I should have asked it before I guess! And Norm was right, as usual, he does know his cows, each one of them and how each one of his cows will act. Norm walked Zeus the length of the field into the pasture with the ladies and Zeus never once cared or looked back in any way other than to say "am I going the right way Norm?, is this the way to my girls?" "Which way are they at? Which way are they at?"

And finally...surrounded by all his "ladies" he is one happy fella at last!

We are doing pasture rotation this year, and have split the cows up as well into 4 bunches. The 1st time heifers are always separate with a small young bull for their first time. The heifers that have been bred for the first time to calve go behind the house into the lake pasture for us to keep an eye on for trouble if it occurs since it is usually the first time that a cow has problems. After the first year of two of calving we move them to one of two pastures...we used to have the older cows all together with 2 bulls on them, but not this year. We will switch out bulls off and on and trade them between the cows. After awhile the bull sometimes becomes complacent and doesnt breed as eagerly and we want to make sure that doesnt happen. So after testing all three bulls - the census is...all three get to stick around another year! Even Zeus with his bad attitude today. I'm concerned about him now, he's NEVER shown anything like that before, but those with bulls KNOW NEVER trust a bull, even one as laid back as Zeus is. lots of factors were involved...a Vet with so many smells on him, medicines, probably had surgeries that day and possible blood on his hands that didnt get washed off (THAT will put fear in a cow and even set them fight or flight faster than ANYTHING), They had some sick horses in their earlier, and I dont know what they did to them, possible bood involved, the other bulls didnt want to get off the trailer either and they had a hard time coaxing them off - Zeus didnt like the smell of it all from the get-go and was shaking his head before the trailer door was opened, a sign of agitation something I've not seen him do AT ALL, he didnt know Doc like he knows us, small confined area, a ride in traffic and stop at the burger joint (*gasp!!!*) and of course he had a torpedo put where the sun dont shine!!!!! - Its all never bothered him before, but we dont know what an animals knows, smells, sees, or hears that scares him. And when we got him home, he sauntered off the trailer like the gentle bull he always is without a care in the world...but I'll assure you, extra eyes will be on him now and extra care will be taken when we are around him and myself or the kids WONT be anywhere near him when he is in a small lot, not that we have been before, but in the future we definitely wont be now!
Well I have to feed the barn critters...I probably should proof read this post I usually end up repeating myself when I dont so forgive me if I did or if I rambled on!
It was an interesting day to say the least! I hope this was a once in a lifetime occasion for Zeus to show his butt like that to anyone, and luckily it ended good. I know I'll be keeping MY distance from now on! JUST IN CASE!

~ Update on King~No hour of life is wasted that is spent in the saddle. ~Winston Churchill

2010-04-21T21:58:00.011-04:00

~*~What a Ride...~*~

The last month and half feels like a lifetime journey of emotions. The ups and downs we have experienced with King have had my emotions on a roller coaster of sorts that I've become numb and melancholy lately. Feeling mixed emotions that can range from extreme happiness to extreme sadness all at once is such a weird feeling, yet thats how its been since last Friday when we notice that King's gut was bloated. It had happened in a matter of hours, yet he was eating and drinking. His hair had begun to fall out within the last 12 hours that day, in clumps down to bare skin. For the last month when he relieved himself his stance was more like of a female dog would pee rather than a horse. He would squat down low and his urine was a dark yellow, and he was peeing often. I discussed this all with the Vet, a horseman himself Friday when I called as soon as I saw his gut was bloated and how his hair was coming out like it was - he was afraid he was having organ failure, but since there was no outward signs of pain right now, it was after hours, and he was still eating and calling to the others and wanting to be with them, not listless, we made an appointment for him to come the following Wednesday (today) to assess him, more than likely to put him down, and say our good byes, letting him go peacefully. This did give me some time to prepare for what lay ahead. I was instructed to watch him closely and if I saw any changes at all to call them and they would come right out before if needed. By the next morning the swelling had gone down and King was more active....
Waiting until today has been miserable, and I've prepared myself to let him go. I dont know if you ever prepare yourself fully to say goodbye to one of your best friends, as those of you who have an animal you love know they become. Horses for some reason, for me, seem to touch my heart in a way that no other animal has before, maybe its just King that has done that....I've done really well waiting for today to come, slept great last night, until this morning, as soon as my eyes opened I thought I was going to have an anxiety attack. I couldnt breathe...it was the first thought I had - today could be the last day with King! But I couldnt cry...and then I wondered why I havent cried all week and what was wrong with me, my heart has been broken and yet I havent shed a tear. But I realized tonight I havent LET myself cry. I think I'm afraid if I do...I'll have a hard time stopping. So I'll save it for now.
I did my feeding this morning....more like a robot going about their business...back into the house and sat down on the computer by 9am waiting for the clock to tick by to 1:00 for our apt. when Norm calls to tell me Chad (our Vet) will be here within 30 min!!!! Talk about NOT the way its supposed to go. I'm okay when its going as I prepared myself and already the apple cart is getting upset and turning over! Getting King out of the pasture was even robotic...I think I was so numb today and scared of what I would feel and what it would be like if I had to say good bye that I didnt let myself feel anything, in fact I didnt really even look at King as I led him into the fenced in area we made for him....so surreal. So not like me...
Chad arrived and the first thing he wanted to do was to take blood. He wanted to watch him pee as well, so he gave him a shot to induce him. While he waited he cleaned his sheath, which in all honesty, I dont know when or if its every been cleaned. Yeah I'm a terrible horse owner, go on and tell me. I dont know how, and never have cleaned one before. But I did learn today and found it quite interesting and I think that I'll have someone else do that for me when its time to have that done for Jack or Buck. In fact, guess Buck needs a good cleaning since he hasnt had it done, but I dont care to get kicked. King however stood like a gentleman, as usual. My good boy! For a horse that has never had his cleaned he was surprisingly in great shape. He had 3 small little beans, but nothing that would cause any discomfort at all. And Chad said "He was proud of his new shiny penny" when he was all done right before he was ready to pee....gave us a good laugh. I think he was trying to lighten the mood. Luckily Chad got to see what I was talking about, and he said it definitely was NOT normal the way he stood and the color. He pointed out also something I'd missed...the dead areas of grass and asked if that was where King had peed maybe? Well it couldnt have been anything else! He said he had to have a high amount of nitrogen in his urine for it to do that....
He wanted to take blood and didnt feel comfortable doing anything until he got some test back on his blood and urine first and told me it would take about an hour to get the results back and hed call me right away. LONGEST HOUR AND HALF (drive time) I've had to wait in a long time.
SO -what he found: No organ failure! Good news....The kidneys and liver are functioning...what we feared are in the clear......Bad News....King is severely Anemic. His body is making enough blood but he is loosing it faster than he can make it. Its pooling into his stomach and his kidneys. The cause? Well...He most definitely has a large ulcer...for his gut to be swollen like it is...(blood pooling) would cause major stomach problems and cause an ulcer. More bad news...an ulcer could just be symptomatic of something worse - cancer. Chad said he wasnt even going to send off for any tests, and I totally agree. Its as he put it "6 of 1 half dozen of the other". At his age, his health....the cost of the test for me to do what? To treat what and how? I cant cure him...There is no way of knowing if he does have cancer with out running any tests for sure, Chads suggestion for the next two weeks, is to treat him with some meds for the ulcer to see if it clears up his problems. IF he improves, and I should notice improvement right away, then I'll know that I should keep on that path. If there is no improvement, then in 7 - 10 days we will re-assess him again....and be back at ground zero.
I'm determined to not let My Boy suffer....I'm also Hell Bent on not giving up on him if he only has an ulcer....am I comfortable putting him down right now not knowing for sure? No....not yet. But what is my gut telling me? Today it is telling me its time to let him go, but I'm not sure if thats because of all the preparation I've made for this day or if its really because its time to let him go. I know when I look into his eyes he is so tired...he is so distant from himself this last month and seems gone already. Then I wonder, is that only because he feels bad, I know when I'm sick I only want to be left alone. Yesterday Mari, a special friend of ours (and Kings) and Douglas and I groomed King and they said they're goodbyes in case we let him go today. We took pictures and spent some time with him. He was distant at first, but then when we were nearing the end before I put him back with the others and I was laying on my back in the grass trying to get some funny pictures I saw the "old King" again....so I just dont know....right now I dont know what to do as far as this decision to make. When you have a life in your hands you want to do whats best. You want them to have quality and happiness...I watched him today and he was happy....so what do I do? A question I just cant answer right now....So here are some pictures of yesterday......I hope you enjoy them as much as we enjoyed the time we spent with My Boy King....You will be able to see all the hair he is loosing (remind you he doesnt get woolly during the winter months and doesnt shed in the summer so its shocking to see the amount of hair in these pictures, even his mane is falling out, his skin is dry and flaky and you can see that in his brand) - Levi seemed to feel the somber mood too and he loves the horses anyway- and visa versa - and had to join in for some King-time....By the way...its been so crazy busy I've not had time to visit anyones blog, please dont think I dont want to catch up, and that I'm not grateful for your prayers for My Boy...rest assured I am!!!! I thank you deeply and I'll stop on over as soon as I can!

Goings on....Some sad days...

2010-04-21T11:51:00.008-04:00

I've had some sad days the last week. Last Thursday I found my lovely Peppers body in the barn. I hadn't seen her the day before when I was down in the barn feeding, which wasnt unusual since she was laying and was good at hiding her nest from me. She didnt like when I took her eggs from her. So I assumed she had hidden her nest again and didnt worry about finding her until I didn't see her again the next day and didnt come when I called for her like she usually did. She was probably alive the day before when I didnt see her and sitting on a nest, her body was fresh, and the signs all point to a coon. I've set traps each night but so far nothing has been caught. Over the years her eggs have gone missing, but she roosts so high and has even escaped the Red Tail Hawk that has visited, the occasional stray cat, skunks and previous coons. The cows, horses, cats and dog have kept predators from the barn. Needless to say I was heartbroken. Being that she was the only bird for so long, and she didnt even know she was a chicken...she bonded with all of us. Came running when she saw us, perched on my shoulder, and nestled in my arms to go to sleep when I'd sit with a sick calf, or just relax to the smells and sounds of the horses eating their hay. Things havent been the same without her running things around the barn...our Barn Manager/Diva will be sorely missed. I've included some pictures of some goings on since I last posted and later today I'll update on King...waiting on a call that will determine my post....

The purple chicken is Rosemary - she has Blue Kote on her to mark who she is, not that you cant tell by her personality, she is just like Pepper was, but we want to make sure we know who she is. She is Leahs chicken. Leah went a little over board with the Blue Kote...

The coop...oh the coop...let me explain...

Now dont think for ONE minute I'm not appreciative when I talk of my chicken "mansion". The gentleman we have building framed homes by trade...over the years something happened to where he cant seem to understand that chickens DONT NEED the luxury of such a well built, air tight, indestructible, human livable building! I mean seriously - when Douglas is old enough to live on his own I'm kicking the chickens out of this 8x12 building, putting in a twin bed, tv microwave, small fridge and window unit air conditioner and that be it! When tornado warnings go off - forget the basement, we are heading to the chicken coop! Its going NO WHERE! Think I'm kidding???? Oh - trust me I'm not! There are no mistakes, no unlevel lines, no air spaces in the frame, it fits together so tightly a piece of paper cant slide between the boards! He cant understand ITS A CHICKEN COOP! They dont care for detail and perfection! What should have been built in a week will take 3....sigh...if only it had been, Pepper would have been able to see her Bed and Breakfast, her Mansion, her Taj Mahal of all Chicken Coops. Its no ones fault of course. He hasnt worked in almost 5 yrs, and I think he is trying to prove to himself that he is still as good as he was before, and he IS...wow he is really good! I expected much less. (-: I guess if anyone needs to be in the dog house, we'll just say they need to be in the chicken house instead! Its really great and I cant wait to fix it up with little gingham curtains and window flower boxes. Not that chickens care about all that! Norm's done the light switch and ran the electrical cords for me yesterday, and they set the windows and Norm put the roof on yesterday as well. Only to find out that the metal he ordered didnt come complete...wouldnt that figure! It should be here tomorrow, then by Friday it should be done...YAY! I think they are putting the door on today! It is really looking so good, maybe they will get the metal on the sides today too? WOW then it will look finished! It will match the barn! Norm drove the posts for the yard Sunday and I got to help. It was the first time I used the post hold driver on the tractor....very cool, very easy! So here is the coop as it was last night! Day who knows what...but 2 weeks into it.....Best coop in Hardin County as far as I'm concerned! One to be quite proud of! Thanks so much Norm for all the work you have done, patience and time you took out of your work to help get this finished for me to house these silly birds. But look at it this way...they sure will taste yummy and sit good in your belly!!!!!! You ARE the best and waaaaaay too good to me!

My windows were what they thought were put in backwards..however, its NOT a mistake, they open and close from the outside..this is GOOD! That way the screen is on the inside and I will put the hardwire mesh on the inside over the screen to keep critters out and the birds from pecking at the screen.

So thats it for today....will post later today about King...I hope you'll come back...

There's a fine line between fishing and just standing on the shore like an idiot. Steven Wright

2010-04-12T10:58:00.011-04:00

The farm has become BUSY! Norm is working again until after dark...his usual summer time work hours. He hasnt begun yet leaving the house before sunrise, but that will happen soon when planting begins, which will be before we know it! I cant believe how fast time is flying these days. I never dreamed when I was a kid that the years would just pass by me like this. I remember how the days would just drag on, winter used to last FOREVER, and those summer days playing barefoot in the yard until my mother used to drag me in well after dark seemed like a month in its self! Now Summer is gone in a blink of an eye.
King has been doing very well the last 2 weeks.

The antibiotics cleared up the infection in his hoof and it had apparently entered his blood stream which was what I had feared. He is still limping constantly from hip pain, riding him is out of the question and he is retired that is definite. And he is on borrowed time. How much time that will be I dont know. We caught the infection quickly that got him down so fast, and I am thanking God that I do spend so much time with my horses. At first I was beating myself up thinking that I should have been more diligent but looking back, I was apparently being diligent, or I would have lost him. After removing him immediately from the hard ground he was on for all this time since he first went down. After having 3 weeks of minor limping and 2 weeks of being able to have only a small dose of pain medication on bad weather days for his arthritis I decided to join him with Jack and Gypsy for a few days and see how he was doing. He was beginning to call for them, and his spirit had improved and greet us daily and I knew if I didnt join him back with the herd soon he would become depressed. And I'm so glad that I did. I've never seen such a happy reunion! He and Jack ran and jumped and ran and ran and ran some more. They played until they couldnt play some more and I worried so much all day that it was a mistake and King wouldnt be able to walk for a week, and he was pretty sore. But I had dosed him up pretty good with some pain medication before I put him in, knowing that there would be a good amount of running, and he actually did well considering. The hard ground has caused some noticeable limping BUT I have noticed an improvement in his spirit, it is about quality as far as I'm concerned and I cannot continue to keep him sequestered all the time. I'll removed him every so often onto softer ground and now that the chicken coop is being moved to where we had him we are moving his little area right next to the pig paddock the other horses are in so he is able to see them and rub noses. That will help when I separate them. I'm pleased with his progress so far. And watching him closely. Its really all I can do at this point, make him comfortable when he gets down and happy as I can. So good news to report at this time! Thanks for your kind words, good wishes and prayers for my boy! You dont know how much your encouragement means!
On to some cow business!
Soon the big boys will be back in with the cows! Bummer, well I just dont like being on the 4-wheeler with bulls in the pasture....I just dont like those big animals looking at me! But they make some pretty baby's! They are just so big, even if they care nothing about me at all and probably find me entertaining riding on my get-away vehicle!
Little Lilly I found out has recently found a way to get milk from her momma through the fence we had separating them. She hadnt been doing this the whole time, because already Patti's bag is about dried up again...the little fart. So we kicked her out with the heifers behind the house that are calving. Just 7 or 8 more to calve and they have yet to accept her into the group and I kinda feel sorry for her. BUT she needed more room to run thats for sure and to make friends. I feel bad for Patti now by herself. Wondering if I should put her with the young girls for a time that havent calved yet to get out of that small lot? Lilly had gotten full of spit and fire for a little Jersey...wanting to challenge me...actually just play..so she needed the knocking around the big girls are giving her...much good it will do her!

Massey (named after the tractor Massey Ferguson) is getting big! He keeps getting scours on me tho'! He cleared up but last night had to put him on his second round of antibiotics! I think I started him on his third bottle too soon and should have given him 2 bottles of milk and 1 bottle of water to begin with....I caught it right away so he should be better fast, but I'm aggravated I did that. I guess his tummy just is a little sensitive still. He and Levi are the biggest buddies! I didnt realize how much so until last night they were in the barn playing. Levi LOVES to play with the calves but they usually dont play back as much or start the playing, but Massey actually charged Levi and started the games!!! It was just too cute!!!! Levi loved it!

Patti got her own round bale of hay and as you can see was feeling quite proud of herself! This was the first time she got her own bale like the other cows rather than just a square bale, now she could just eat all day! One happy cow! She just didnt know what to do with herself!

On to other things over the last couple weeks: Just included this next photo from when I took Douglas to school on a terribly foggy day....glad I took my camera I got some lovely shots!!!!
I got to spend some time with one of my best friends I grew up with, Eileen and her lovely daughter Courtney, that I havent seen since I was 13 or 14!!!! We met for lunch when she was home from Michigan visiting family. I was so excited to see her and had such a wonderful time catching up! I love you girl! This time we wont make it so many years! Its so funny how time and miles can pass but it can be just like yesterday that you last saw someone! Some friendships ARE forever!

Spring Break was very nice this year. We didnt go anywhere and just chilled at home.
I would have liked to have gone on a little vacation, but I have some plans for a few places this year I'm taking the kids. We took some pics of the kids with the horses, worked on the chicken coop, and spent a lot of time in the sun! Time with the kids is precious in every way to me, especially since we dont get to see Leah every day. I dont know if she realizes just how much we treasure that. So sometimes just hanging out and doing nothing in particular, rather than running around going here and there is nice. Since I had gotten sick 8 months ago and began that new medication the neurologist gave me which has helped so much I've lost just over 30 pounds! Looking at these pictures and back at ones from a year ago when Leah and I were comparing pictures of Jack when we first started training him we were shocked at what a difference those 30 pounds made! I sure was pleased! :-) (sorry had to brag just a little!) I do wish my neurologist was able to give me an answer to what happened, and its caused migraines that have been debilitating when they hit, but they are getting better now and not as often. Something he tells me are a result of "whatever" happened in my brain and just have to "learn to live with".....??????....hey - this is the way I look at it. God gives me each day..after the day "it" happened that put me in the hospital I appreciate each day and have a deep appreciation for my blessings. Rainy days, days my migraines get me down, when I stumble over words and cant pronounce them correctly, or have little memory, or days that totally zap me...days that I feel great, each day is a wonder - its beautiful and God given and I find joy in something when I wake up. I'm Thankful right now that most days right now are good ones and I'm fitting this into my life. I'm sad I cant do some things I was doing, making soap at this point in time is something I've had to put on hold, 12 hours a day and the smells are something I cant handle, mostly the smells make me so sick....uuuggghhhh....so 8 months of not doing what I enjoy really has bummed me out but its been fun trying other peoples! So hey..another blessing! Hey I'm rambling arent I? One more thing....Since all these health issues....I have really strengthened my prayer life and devotions have become part of my daily routine. I have to admit it was something I didnt include before. Not on a regular basis. It has made my faith even stronger and my convictions so much greater. A strong prayer life is an amazing thing!!!!!
So here are some pics from Spring Break.

Jack has gotten SO big! 2 years old now!!!

Doug and Gypsy have developed a very special relationship that I havent seen from her with anyone! She as well has really brought him out of his shell with horses, he went from being terrified again and hiding on the very top of the stack of hay to suddenly going out into the horse pasture and climbing up on her back with no saddle or reigns and no one being out there with him! She just stands there and lets him "be". Sensing he needs her gentleness. When he rides, she "knows" he doesnt really know how and rides with no efforts and go where he wants with none of the argument or resistance to come back to the barn like she shows Leah or myself...it is truly amazing the relationship they are developing! He is truly "her" human and she is "his" horse, there is no doubt about that! I love this next picture...it shows the sweet tenderness between them!

Leah, Douglas, and Neil went fishing. Neil caught all of them except for Doug he caught one little fish! Poor Leah didnt catch a one, mostly cause Neil is a fish hog! Shame on you Neil for hogging the one spot all the fish were gathered in! :-)
Mari - our neighbor, and good friend - and fellow chicken wrangler, had a cookout that we all attended. The kids had a blast!

My Bestest friend Nita and her beautiful daughter Bethany stopped by on their way home to visit the chickens and knowing how Bethany LOVES horses Leah walked her around on Gypsy for a bit. I think Bethany would have sat up there all day if we let her! She is just a doll! I realized when I looked back at these pics just how fat and mule-like my poor girl Gypsy looks! WOW she is out of shape! Time for Pilate's and Thigh Master Gypsy!

Chicken Stuff!
Day 3 Construction of Peppers Mansion (still lookin' for a good name, not settled on Peppers Mansion)

Looking at the walk in door which will have a window. Using an old front door taken off Norms moms house when hers was replaced a few years ago.

From the inside standing just inside the door looking out where the walk out chicken door will be

Again looking at the front, where the walk in door will be this is the side you will see from the road

This is the side that faces the barn that will have a big window that is also from Norms moms that was taken out last year when her windows were replaced, they can be raised in the summer with a screen for air, and closed in the winter to hold in the warmth. Just like a real house! Another window will be just opposite of this one to allow air flow. Roosts will be placed through the coop, 2 heat lamps in the ceiling. Long nesting boxes will line the walls with dividers for the nests.

This is inside the chicken yard facing the chicken door, this is the chickens view of their home!

^A little Red at about a week old just starting to fly^

No thats not a mutant chicken, you see that correctly...it is a duck, no two ducks, actually there are 6 in all! For 2 weeks they were quacking my name! And am I so glad I got them! They have been so joyful to watch...may not enjoy them later when they are big and end up int he crock pot! They sell like wildfire in the spring (if I can get them to hatch and end up with a momma and daddy) and the eggs are hard to find around here and people love them, so had to try em. I also got some Americaunas and Black Sex Links and I'm glad I did. Americaunas are great meat birds and Black Sex Links are Egg-cellent egg layers, I've been told to take my egg orders now. They lay early and a lot! Very gently birds! The Americaunas can be somewhat aggressive towards others, so I'm curious to hear what other people say about them...again I've got a crock pot!

I must not leave Pepper out...

What is she thinking about all these birds? Ahhh found out she really dont care, I've put her in with the older ones and she is really more curious about their small coop than them, then trying to figure out what they are egg-actly. Remember she doesnt know she is a chicken. I hope she will get over her identity crisis shortly after she is joined with them in the coop.

So meet the ducks! Some Pekin (those big white ducks) 3 to be exact, and 3 mallards. I'll clip their wings to keep them all in the coop, and we'll keep the yard covered, we do have hawks around here thanks to me feeding song birds and the hawks figuring that out at then end of the summer. The now regularly visit the yard to see if there is an easy meal!

Its a gorgeous day outside....and I dont want to waste another minute indoors so I'd best finish my household chores and get my rear in gear! I'll stop by your way tonight and see whats happenin' in your neck of the woods!

Peppers Mansion - The Hen House

2010-04-08T09:44:00.005-04:00

Finally!!!!! Construction has begun on the Chicken Coop! After 3 years of dreaming Peppers mansion is being built! (Brangelina eat your heart out!) She is already talking about red gingham curtains and a chair on the porch (what porch I told her???? Crazy bird!) wind chimes, and she is trying to figure out what to put around her mansion that will attract more bugs. She is driving me nuts with all her plans! I can't blame her tho', I mean really coming from where she has been, a barn to a mansion? Really! She deserves to brag...and feel the chicken-joy she is feeling. She is begging me to help her pack (pack what???!!!!) running around like a chicken - uh never mind....I just let her squawk about and chatter happily telling all of her new friends. I havent yet told her how she is going to have to share the mansion with the new chicks yet...I doubt she'll mind, she'll just think they are her servants and maidens and put them right to work. Train them while they are young!
So this is Day 2 of Construction:

Day One: I nailed in a pole barn nail into the floor joist My Hammer welding-victory lifting-I'm the queen-ceremonial picture was really terrible cause as usual I was talking and wouldnt keep my mouth shut and just smile so - bummer - no good picture of the nail driving ceremony!

The Frame is filled in with rock, they added more rock after they finished nailing all the floor-joist together.

This is Al, he is one of the neighbors, who is a carpenter by trade, who is building Peppers Mansion.

So....to wrap it up...I'm excited as all get out! Even more than Pepper is! I mean really! I've been waiting for this day for over 3 years now.......no...over 30 years! I've ALWAYS wanted chickens! No farm is complete without chickens! There is no greater satisfaction than growing/raising your own food! NOW - there are the birds that will be permanent flock that stay for eggs, entertainment, and lovin' like Pepper gives us! Somewhere between 20 - 30 - less or more...all depends. Right now we have like 40 birds and will cull down to birds that are gentle and sweet and all get along. The others......in my and Mari's the freezer to feed us for the next year, then do start over again in the spring and hatch our own chicks to raise for that purpose. My plan is to sell eggs this spring...we also planted an acre of sweet corn...and hopefully tomatoes at the local farmers market....Really looking forward to it! Next year baby chicks in the spring! So The only thing I need are some Coop Names, none are coming to mind, gonna hang a sign on the door...Oh yeah I didnt even describe it did I? I guess I'll do that as it starts looking more like a building! So if you think of anything...let me know what sounds good to ya!
Peace out!

"Chicken one day, feathers the next” - unknown

2010-03-30T11:41:00.010-04:00

Chickens! Chickens! Chickens!
Everywhere on the farm, we got us some chickens! Mari says we are now chicken wranglers! I like to think of myself as the chicken whisperer! (ha - famous in my own mind!) In all seriousness, I have FINALLY gotten the chicks I've been waiting for for 4 years - no make that my whole life! And I've got PLENTLY! We started out with 32 until Mari called from TSC Monday and told me they had 3 different breeds we'd been wanting - Silver Wyandotte, barred Plymouth Rock, and Buff Orpington.....which means we are up to 44 birds...added to the already Rhode Island Reds, Bantams, and Cornish. 17 birds have been set aside as broilers (Dont pass out! Yes we are eating 17 of these cute fuzzy birds! - Dont worry they are quickly becoming gangly and not as cute, and we have some roosters in the mix that aren't quite as friendly as well and we cant have a bunch of roosters!) We did buy some straight run - meaning they try to give you all pullets (hens) but your not guaranteed that from the hatchery...and we did get some roosters...they are hilariously brave and funny. But when you sit with them for a bit and play with them they tame down quickly. Ummm yeah you knew already I was gonna play with the birds! Mari and I (yep we are co-owners - take that back - co-chicken-farmers) handle the birds daily so they will be friendly and easy to handle. We have been working on the temporary coop(s) that will house them until the yard and big coop is built (which will be started on within the next 2 weeks). The chicks and working on the coops have been a lot of fun, and spending time with Mari has been good, getting us both out and busy has been good for us both. Fun work - is great, gets your mind off of the mundane work you do every day! And now with the awesome sunshine out and your fingers and toes not freezing its been wonderful for the spirit! So here are some chick pics! They are growing soooo fast! And already their personalities are beginning to slowly emerge...you can tell which ones are calm and which ones are more aggressive and curious. BOY! They grow sooo fast! The first ones we bought (and we havent lost a single chick by the way!!!!!!) are already beginning to fly and getting their feathers, a couple are getting feathers all over even! Enjoy the pictures!

^Mari holding a Rhode Island Red Chick^

^This is Leah's little Bantam Chick^ she has named him her "Chicken - Coop" (Come on - get it? Gotta love her animals names!) These little chickens are so cute, they are the feathered leg chickens they have little "feathered boots" and are sooooo adorable, they will be small like Pepper - the chicken I have now.

These are the first 32 chicks we bought at about a week old...Rhode Island Reds, Cornish Rocks, and Bantams. We had to sit in the coop in order to catch them, the walls of the coop are too tall to reach in, Levi couldn't stand it that he couldn't get to "his new chickens and play too" so he had to look over and watch"

This is Doug's Chicken ^ which he has named "Chicken Wing" a little calm Rhode Island Red...Praying it is a hen...Roosters are notoriously mean so we wont keep him if he is a rooster...so far this little chick is very calm and we have him in with the small Bantams and the new chicks and there is no problems even tho' Chicken Wing is bigger.
We have moved the 17 birds that are MUCH bigger and the ones that we are using as broiler chickens into the bigger coop. They immediately seemed to act like big birds, taking dust baths, scratch, fly around....sooo funny. I got in the coop and the little roosters ran up on me and challenged me even! Too funny, but they also calmed right down and made friends right away, feeding them out of your hand works well and handling them I hope helps when the time comes to catch them to send them off to butcher!
Pepper was interested for all of a minute! The chicks however wanted more of her attention...she really could care less...
Here is one of the Bantams, you can see his little feathered legs!
And here are the new chicks! The Buff Orpingtons, Barred Plymouth Rocks, and Silver Wyandottes. They are in with the Bantams and a couple Rhode Island Reds that we think are pullets that are very calm and smaller that we had gotten later...its getting easier to tell the pullets from the roosters now, and we know we have at least one Bantam rooster, we will keep him for sure....and all the new chicks we just got are pullets..hope the little reds here are pullets too.So...what does Pepper think of all these new birds? Not much...she did get all broody, finally found her nest of eggs she had been hiding, and had about a carton of eggs underneath her, which I had to throw out, and now she moved her nest and I once again cant find any eggs....sigh....so now I'm putting her up at night, she is mad at me...but I have an old egg marked in a nesting box hoping she will lay in there. So far not working. She is too smart for her own good.
If they all have Peppers temperament and personality I'll be tickled pink! BUT...not counting my chickens before they hatch!
***King update*** The last two days he has bounced back again...I hate doing any updates on him cause as soon as I do he then takes a turn in the opposite direction and I'm afraid thats how its going to be from here on out. He is in good spirits the last two days, the weather has been warmer and this week its going to progressively get warmer into the 80's Friday and Sat...so that will do wonders for his arthritis. He is almost done with his antibiotic, and I'm still gonna talk to the Vet to come out the end of the week, would like to wait until my daughter is home so she can be here when he comes. I do believe this is how things will be for King, good days and bad days, a roller coaster with highs and lows, until its his time to go.
Thanks for your advice, good wishes and prayers....you all KNOW how much I appreciate your love and support!
Rae

Update On King Sunday 03/28/10

2010-03-28T14:06:00.003-04:00

"Courage is being scared to death - and saddling up anyway." - John Wayne
That is where I stand today. Scared to death. Things once again have declined even more. The abscess has seemed to drain out, but we don't know if the infection had entered his blood stream or his bone. Really I don't know anything at this point. King improved greatly for a few days, the ulcer medicine helped him a lot and he ate so much better. Moving him to soft ground and fresh grass was heaven. And daily wrap changes and soaking of his hoof (tho' sore right after) really got the abscess to drain and helped it quickly - along with the antibiotic. The pain med appeared to begin to help his poor sore body as well. His tense body began to relax. But Friday and Saturday he began to lay around a lot and I became concerned. But he would get up when he saw me, so I was hoping that he was just able to get up and down and that that was a good sign rather than one of dread. But when I went to give him his medical care last night and feed his condition had become worse from what it was just that morning. His walking was labored and I could tell he was in great pain again. Though not from the abscess. We were expected to get heavy rain and high winds so I brought him in the barn where he would stay dry. My poor boy could hardly walk around the corner the few hundred yards it takes. He usually fights me taking any oral medication and last night there was no fight at all. And something was "different". There was a sense of "don't leave me". I got a clingy feeling from him. He wanted attention, so I stayed and rubbed on him and talked to him until he finally turned to eat some hay that I had laid out. But his eyes never left me, as I turned to look back at him he was still watching me.
I really dreaded going to the barn this morning. The Vet told me a few days ago that when the time came, if it did and I couldn't pull him through this, when I had that sense of dread - I would "just know" something was different and that the time was here for him to leave. I think I know what he meant. I think that's what I felt last night and today when I walked to the barn. I was so scared to turn the corner and look in. But he was standing...I really did breathe a loud sigh of relief. But he didn't greet me like usual. I gave him his pain med and again, no fight about it, even less resignation than the night before. The same "don't leave me" feeling. I gave King about 2 hours for the pain medication to kick in good and went back down to walk him out of the barn into his grassy lot, but when I went in the barn he hadn't moved one step from where I left him. In order to get the gate open I had to get him to step aside and when I lightly pushed on his shoulder his ears went back and his eyes widened and the whites of his eyes showed big. Every muscle tensed, so I knew the pain was terrible. So rather than chance him biting me out of extreme pain I tried to use the gate to move him. He was standing at an angle with his hip closest to the gate and I gently and lightly pushed the gate into him, barely giving any pressure, which normally he would side step or walk forward, and it almost knocked him off his feet. I was overwhelmed with dread and sadness. Of course I closed the gate back and let him be, just gave him a treat and rubbed on him and talked to him again, gave him some hay which he totally ignored, and I had to leave the barn. I was not prepared for this today. I'm going back down in a couple hours and giving him another dose of his pain med, its not anything to overdose him...but hopefully it can relieve his discomfort. I've come to realize suddenly that its not the arthritis that's gotten him down. I believe that I'm sharing Kings last days. The sadness I felt a short while ago with him made me leave the barn, I cant be there like that...its not what he needs to feel from me, not when he is projecting that and I feel it from him. I figure I need to be feeling love and support right now. He feels what I'm feeling. And he doesn't need to feel my grief right now. That time will come, soon I'm afraid. I'm not throwing in the towel and I'm praying I'm so completely wrong and tomorrow I'll write a post that tells you what an idiot I am for thinking all these thoughts. But if you could see him, you would just shake your head too at this point. My Boy is 30+ years old, half dead when I rescued him....how much can I really expect at this point besides a miracle. I take pride that we have given him such happy healthy years! I just wish I could make him comfortable right now. So at this point I'm kinda waiting - hour to hour - to see what my next move is...if he lays down on me, Chad or Jeremy,2 of my Vet's - the one's who are the most knowledgeable about horses and quite good with them and know their stuff will come out and promised me they would be here right away.
So right now....looks like I'M the one you need to be praying for - don't know if I can hold it together....my emotions are a wreck today. So I'm off here, and off to the barn with a book and gonna sit and be with King for a bit. Don't know if I'll have that chance again.
Love your horses an extra bit today.
Rae
Picture above was taken last year - King in his prime since he has been here - no more pictures of him except in good times.

King - My Old Cowboy needs some prayers....

2010-03-23T20:46:00.006-04:00

There comes a time when our best friends call on us one time or another for support on the phone and you drop what your doing and it doesnt matter what it is...your there by they're side to help them through whatever crisis it is. We give our hearts to our friends, our friendship and trust and often depend on them to pull us through hard times that come up. Many times we disappoint each other, and sometimes its not by fault of our own, just our of our ignorance that we dont understand the need someone has for us at that moment. I think that those of us who have horses in our lives love them so much for the reason that they never let us down. They are steady and true, they are always the same from sun up to sun down. You can bet your horse is not gonna change - he is who he is - and you can bet he will love you more tomorrow than he did yesterday. If he trust you, he is going to until YOU do something to loose that trust. Its all up to you on how your relationship will go...he wants it to work out and is eager to see it succeed.

A bond with an animal, horse or otherwise, can be stronger than with any human friend we have. Thats how it is sometimes. They get us through those rough patches when we call on them - they never say no. They stand and let us saddle up, or groom away our troubles. Then there is that time they call on you.....My Boy King has had his times he's had to call....you may recall I saved him from the killers at a horse sale, starved and one of THE ugliest horses I've ever seen. We thought then he was about 25 yrs old. Everyone said for years he was a dead head....fattened him up and got him healthy and sold him - he was Mr. No Personality. I really didnt like him, but did feel so sorry for him. The same man who bought Gypsy from me when I had to sell her 4 years ago bought him just 6 months before buying her. So they were together, until I moved here...I was reluctant to buy him back, he is so tall, and again...Mr. No Personality. Dead Head...again that name came up. BUT for a beginner like me, really he was the perfect trail horse. Fate had plans for both of us...fate brought both of my horses back to me and I'm so grateful for that. I made King a challenge, I saw that his eyes were dead...but he had get-up-and go....yeah, he was a dead head...but not in the way they were saying, this horse had been hurt in his life and I was going to reverse that. Tear down those walls and make him happy again. I did that...it took me almost 2 years and I have today a happy horse who loves affection, loves to know whats going on, doesnt hang in the backdrop anymore, and has become the leader of his herd. I was told last year when we got his teeth floated that he was maybe 15 or 18 yrs old, and I was so excited!!! He was fat, muscular, and acted every bit of that! He loves to run and has a proud canter.
Then last Wednesday, My best friend called on me.....I noticed suddenly how thin he was Tuesday..overnight, he was standing funny. LITERALLY overnight. Okay things like this dont happen overnight I know, but when you have a laid back horse its easy to miss some of the signs of what I missed...or so the Vet tells me....doesnt make it any easier on myself...I should have seen...My Boy went down and went down fast....his poor body is sore from arthritis all over. His hips appear to be the worse, but every joint is just popping. Then On Friday He was holding his front right hoof out straight! Oh no what now..already he was on a large dose of bute...and his feet were checked over and they were fine 2 days before. Wed he could barely walk as it was...now it was heartbreaking to watch him struggle to move. One of the other Vets came out after hours, luckily the other horseman and he looked him over good, found an abscess that had come up over night from an OLD abscess that was there a year ago. He explained to me that where that old one was...and all the pressure he was putting on his front legs to relieve the pressure off his rear end, had festered that old abscess back..yes the old one was healed completely...but where it was there was still a hole...and the problem was that the new abscess is growing inward toward his bone rather than outward toward the hoof wall. And the second part of that problem is that it is very near the bone. Instructions are to soak his foot in Epsom salt
daily and change his wrap daily and apply ichthamol (okay the spelling is way wrong on the medicine packing ! LOL) He is on antibiotic shots...and after today (since its taking him over an hour and half to eat just one flake of hay and 2 scoops of grain - yes he is getting more hay thats just what I had laid out for him while I was doing his feet) he is now on ulcer med since the bute is so hard on their stomach. The pain med is not doing anything for him. Well actually the Vet told me today that it is, if he was not on it, he would probably be down or not moving at all.
So..I've never been here this is new territory for me. I found out King is NOT 15..he is 30 or older....the abscess endangering him of complete lameness and poisoning his bloodstream and bones with infection, he can barely walk his body has gone down so fast with arthritis that actually has probably been present for awhile, but being such a laid back horse, the signs just wernt as visible and it was very gradual until this week. It could be that he, well.....I hate to even speak the words but that he is going down and that these are his final days. I'm a realist and I had to ask the Vet his opinion and his thoughts are what I am fearing the most. BUT I'm not giving up. I cant. I didnt give up when everyone else thought My Boy was a dead-head, when all along there was this wonderful horse inside all along just waiting for someone to find him. So we have cornered off a small grassy lot thats soft ground for him to graze...he has already put weight on so fast its crazy...he is eating better since I've been feeding him apart from the others, now that I know they have been pushing him out of the feed.

This is Norm and Neil putting up the hot wire fence in his new lot

He can still see the others and get fresh grass on soft ground, which will help his foot tremendously!

Here he is...eating his hay, which shortly after this picture he gave it up for the grass...of course!

He is not liking all the meds and wrap changes, his foot is SO sore and it hurts to stand on 3 legs so badly, but in all he is a trooper and thankfully he is such a well behaved horse that will do anything I ask...today however after giving him his bute paste and THEN giving him his first dose of ulcer med that is also a paste he was SO not happy with me and was VERY hesitant to take his treat...he thought I was tricking him into more meds!

You can see how he doesnt put any pressure at all on his leg, especially right after a wrap change.

So...I'm praying that King will heal from this and my worse fears wont come true, he's gone down bad and gone down so fast. Its going to be the hardest thing to go through when that time comes to say good bye, I hope I have more years with him- I need that...I'm just not ready, and I'm not ready to give up on My Boy...he needs your prayers!
~*~
This evening after tending to King, Norm brings me a little orphan...probably a twin, starved and took to the bottle right away. If you remember Oliver - the first bottle calf I had....this is the only calf since then that has been like him. I am hoping that I have a little Oliver in this calf. He began following me from the moment he took the bottle, took me as mom! Just like Oliver did! Next to Oliver, this calf has been the 2nd easiest calf to take to the bottle. He is a few days old so I was prepared to have to tube him, but luckily I didnt! I am already in love...just need to think of a great name! More pictures to come for sure!

Yeah I was blabbing...as usual! My mouth is always running, hard to get a good picture like that...and easy to keep a calf still when your fingers act as a pacifier!

This is Mari...she has been helping me with King and our newest venture.....CHICKENS...yes FINALLY..I got my chickens 32 total now! Here is more of the calf (need a name!!!) then some baby chick pics! Here are some cute baby pictures and silly me..I didnt take a picture of the baby-coop we made...DUH ME! We did so good too! Mari, Leah, and myself did so good! I'll have to take those later! So enjoy, I'll write more on these guys later!

This next little guy is Leahs chicken - she calls him her Chicken Coop!

Should we start acting more like cows I wonder?

2010-03-16T10:58:00.006-04:00

~*~Pepper - a.k.a "FARM DIVA"~*~

No, my dear Pepper hasnt changed one bit since I've last talked to you about her. She is as "divaish" as ever if not worse. The world revolves around treats and being anything other than a chicken which has become an unspoken word around her. It is a BAD word. She still thinks she is a cow, prefers cat food and pineapples over *whispering* chicken feed, and her best friend is my horse Gypsy second to only me. She coos to me- yet (excuse the french) B*@^&'s to everyone else who will lend an ear to her squawking. She has to approve of any change, movement, and activity that goes on in and around "her" barn. Man - I LOVE that chicken! For one little "cow" she is one tough bird!
She does however look on the Sunny Side Of Life and the best part of that is tattle telling on everyone she can! Makes me laugh every time...such a Diva!

57 calves left to come!!!! We have entered a stand still..happens every time right about now, seems they take a break before all at once they decide to fill the nursery up again. The "babysitters" have all been chosen and its one of my favorite things to see when I drive out on the farm when we go to check the cattle and do our counts of Cows and Calves to make sure everyone is safe and sound with no calving problems and that calves are all feeding well, and Cows are not having any health problems before calving. How awesome it is, that God has given them seemingly human emotion to "hire" a babysitter to watch over the kiddos when they need a break to graze, or mingle with their buddies for a "mom's day out", just like we do. Isn't it amazing how they also have they have the inherit ability to hide and bed them down when they are first born for the first week, maybe more when they go to eat until the baby's are strong enough to keep up and learn danger, or when its time to calve- to go into the woods away from everyone for labor and quietly give birth hidden away from danger, calves hidden away from everyone and everything. You can tell the weather if you watch your cattle, you'll know a storm or snow or a strong rain is coming - they will be heading for the woods, in flood they will head for high ground. People say cattle are stupid. Are they? Have you ever watched a cow, a herd? Why would someone say this, because they are cautious and can be coaxed into a pen? But lets look at people. How often are humans coaxed into a pen? Followers by nature, not curious enough in fact jumping in with both feet with NO fear of danger. We dont watch that hot wire fence - even when we are told its hot, we have to touch it to see if they are right dont we? No, I disagree, cows are smart, much smarter than we are. They have the sense to stay with they're baby's in quiet, to bond, to get their baby sitters, and often you will see mom run back suddenly to where the baby sitter is laying and check on her baby, giving her calf a lick on the side or head for her own reassurance and walk back to the herd to continue her "Moms day out". Her calf is NEVER forgotten in this important dangerous vulnerable time that is ultimately HER responsibility. She has the smarts to move with the herd when they ALL see the signs that rain or snow is coming, the sky's are darkening with a storm moving in, its time for shelter - move to the woods and protect each other. Letting the trees provide wind break and and umbrella from the rain or snow and cold temperatures. What do we do? We stand at our doors and watch, or go outside and drive to town to the movies with tornado sirens going off, send out kids down the street to play with neighbors we dont know. Keep our weapons in reach of small hands, teach them to be bigots and prejudice, we sit them in front of the TV rather than take them to church, let them out of our sight at ages we should be watching them and holding them closely. We dont say our prayers and often too tired for that kiss - if just to reassure ourselves they are still there, BUT momma cow does - and she is just a stupid cow huh?
I think personally, that we have a lot to learn from a cow when you come to think of it.

Just my thoughts this morning....

Love often comes in a whisper....

2010-03-11T19:29:00.006-05:00

How ironic my post today was about the horses, when it dawned on me that tonight, March 11th, 2010, at 2:52am it will be a year since Radish has passed. Some of you may remember my little foal who graced my life for a mere 67 hours, just a whisper in time. But the impact he made on my heart is forever engraved with love and lessons that can never be erased.

Radish was born March 9th at 8:30 am - premature. Born into this world from an infected womb and rejected by his mother. The labor was taking too long and we called our vet and he assisted Radish into a cold morning. I never felt the cold wind that day or noticed anything other than that beautiful golden foal laying crumpled on the dirty barn floor. I remember I could hardly breathe and my heart was skipping beats and I was in love. And I was scared. I knew he was early and I knew the mare was not taking to him.

And that is how Radish came to live in the house with us! I did know caring for a foal was a 24 hour job, especially one born premature, and chill and pneumonia would kill him fast and our barn wasnt equip to keep those things at bay. And no, my feet were planted on this and they weren't moving. So Little Radish was placed in a wheelbarrow after a couple hours after I had cleaned him off and dried him up and wrapped him in a blanket and he was wheeled to the house. 67 hours of constant feeding, a preemie cant eat like a full term baby so it was much more often, many of my blogger friends here gave me so much advice and I was on her constantly asking for help and they were giving it right back! (THANK YOU AGAIN GUYS!) He was so precious. He would neigh, nicker and whiny for me. Those sounds I can still hear today, and I would know them as his alone and if I could only hear them now, oh what I would give! If I was gone for any length of time he would call for me and I'd look in on him and his ears would be held high and he would be looking around for me, see he couldnt stand yet cause his legs were not fully developed, and his sharp little eyes would see me and they would light up and he would start to get excited and he had figured out how to scoot to me. He would nicker and work his way or try to over to me, his little tail swishing. I swear he would be smiling. I was mom. He was my baby. I became a very tired mom...napping when I could and getting baby sitters so I could nap, a foal can mess your house up fast, even one that cant walk, tarps are a must, it takes more than one person to feed, they cant feed laying down so someone has to help you hold them up while they eat. Little Radish would often fall asleep when he was eating, so I'd wake him up and he startle and eat again like a little piggy. Or thats what I thought....he was actually having seizures. The seizures had started at birth, so small that we never saw them. What I thought was just falling asleep when he was eating, or just a tired baby, wasn't that at all. I should have known, but I'd never taken care of a foal before, and I was learning as I was going along. And I did, I learned a lot about foal care from Radish. I learned a lot about love in 67 hours that I've never learned in 38 years.

Radish did stand, he did walk, he did make progress that you wouldnt think he would looking back now and seeing that all that time his seizures were getting worse. He was a fighter my little man. He took his first steps to get to me, on legs that were not formed straight and strong yet, and had he been given the chance to live, within another week of life would have been strong and straight like a full term baby foal should be. But he made them work, his love moved his legs, and I was lucky enough to have those first steps on video. Heck, I'm typing through tears now and I cant watch that video and I've only watched it once since he's passed....my hearts not healed yet, I guess a part of my heart will always be with him, and maybe one day I can watch it again with a dry eye and laugh at his silly face determined to get to me! But he did he walked to me and defied a lot of odds in 67 hours looking at what we know now about his condition.

Yeah, he was my baby....I tucked him in at night, I held him close...

Norm figured out finally he wasnt going outside until he could stand (this was before we knew there was a problem) so be built me an indoor stall..smack dab in the middle of the living room....hey I couldnt live in the barn...so the barn came to me.

Yes on March 9th, 2009 at 8:30 am Love came to me in a whisper....his name was Radish. Rest in Peace sweet my angel....

Saddle up...what am I waiting for?

2010-03-11T12:52:00.005-05:00

Saddle up....Reading through blogs of my "horse friends" really gave me that familiar itch to ride and work with my horses again. Boy have I missed it. Just when I got back in the saddle, I had to slip back off, what a disappointment. But I had a few good days to be able to ride some and those were some awesome days to feel the earth beneath horse-hoof and hear the squeak of leather, and breath of your horse in the stillness of nature for a couple hours. Really does wonders for your soul. As I told you I'd update you on everyone, it sure would be such a long post if I did it all at once I'd surely bore you too death with all the reading so here is some horsey goodness. I realized I didnt put any pictures of my sweet Molly and Buck on here tho! Shame on me....I'll just have to give them their own post, which is fitting since the farrier is coming in a week to give them both a trimming! Little Jack is not so little anymore. Jack-a-bo...aka "Jack" is now 2 years old. You wouldnt believe the progress our "baby" has made. Its going to be hard not to call him a baby. He has the body of a big boy...yet the mentality of a toddler. He has been such a joy to watch grow and I'd do it again if I had the chance! I have loved every single minute watching the changes he has made! Hard to believe how fast he has grown! We started him from day one if you recall, on as much as we could, as consistently as we could. Picking up his feet, grooming, desensitizing, etc. What a special horse, this boy has learned what we have showed him the first time and hasnt forgotten it. Which therein can lay a problem...almost too smart...he learns us faster than we can learn him! All of you with horses know what I'm talking about! If I was as smart as Jack I would have started teaching him tricks from the start such as the one below:

Yes..you are seeing that correctly...he is bringing me his halter! But ya know..I really hate winter and cold weather and the lesson stopped, but I figure as smart as he is, we can pick up on that one now that its getting warmer out again! Gypsy and Jack are great pals now that Jack doesnt need King for protector so much anymore. King was "momma" until the last 5 or 6 months and Jack has begun to come into his own with his confidence and now is establishing his order in rank and has separated himself a tad from King. BUT I still see the need for reassurance when something scares Jack or he sees something he doesnt know what it is....too cute. He wants to be all grown up...but its a front! He still needs the "big man" to protect him after all!

Jack has taken to the bit, and saddle, trailer loading, lounging, and carrying a rider quite well!!!!! What a horse he will make! Just gotta learn what go means! And what gears are what! :-)

I've been so proud of Leah, this is the first horse she has started..and she has done such an exceptional job...I cant tell you the amount of respect and trust she has established between herself and Jack...he KNOWS she is his herd leader, and he listens! In fact....he knows that we all are above him in rank, she has done the job well! Oh dont get me wrong, he has tried us a few times, but its only taken him a few times to correct the problem, but we do stay on top of him.

Here she is after lounging, waited for the inner ear twitch....used her body language to tell him to stop, turn to her, approach her, and then to come and wait for him to touch her...sign of respect and submission on his part....way to go Leah....I'm a proud Mom! Proud of both of them beyond words!

There he is ^ Jack in his "outfit" all saddled up and looking dandy! Lets look back and take a small walk to a year ago when we first started this little guy under the saddle....you'll get to see how he has grown! Here below was his first time putting on that saddle!

Dont know if you can tell, but the saddle fits so much better now, and its a big saddle so he still has more growing to do, but he's getting there! He is gonna be a big boy when said and done!

When I hug him now...which I should get a picture of...he is MUCH taller than me, we no longer meet eye to eye like this picture!

This was taken about 6 months ago right about the time I quit blogging...Doug was riding then even! We had a really nice day giving the horses some exercise, boy did they need it! Leah had been working with King, who needs some muscle build up, working him some patterns and getting him better with his balance. I love this next picture!

Here are the boys, this was early last summer, Jack was still clinging to Kings side matching step for step! He looks like such a baby! He has gotten so big! I cant believe it!

My boy King! I love my guy! King is such a good trail horse, doesnt matter that he is blind in one eye...you'd never know it!

Here is my girl Gypsy, had a good day, determined not to let my bad days take over, which it seemed to be doing at the time and I had people wanting to ride. *sigh* My balance on my own feet was bad, the motion of climbing on a horse made me so dizzy - not to mention the movement of riding on one was worse than walking and I didnt know how I was gonna do it, but watching them was killing me as I stood on the ground watching. I figured since Gypsy was the smoothest being a walking horse I was getting up there on her back! Ok, wasnt in a saddle....and shocked my daughter when she saw I was riding bareback, which required more balance than without and more balance than I had at the time to even ride! I guess when you want something bad enough, you tough it out, even if it is just a few rounds in a pen on your favorite horse and you know your gonna pay for it later....sometimes thats how it is with life...you gotta take the chance...tough it just for that moment of heaven you know your gonna get, even if you gotta pay for it later. And I did..it got me down, but those dizzy rounds on my horse, was one of the best moments on her back! Hey, I had a mane to hold on to and she dont mind that I about squeezed the breathe out of her, she was already worn out from everyone else riding, she wasnt gonna go any faster! Funny also how a horse is in tune with its rider, and friend. She knew what was up..when I'd walk her, shed stop before she knew myself I was gonna get vertigo....or when she knew she'd have to have me hold on to her....she is something special....she is aloof, but...she is in tune with me all the same...such a strange relationship we have. I've gotten through to my horse King, torn down walls built by years of neglect and who knows what he had gone through....definitely not kindness and love, and turned him into a horse that is happy, loving, and curious. A happy horse for sure. Gypsy....I dont know what happened in the 4 years since I had to sell her...she changed and too closed herself off....I thought she would open right up, yeah, she recognized me and King both, the kids too, but there is a wall built too, she is my project. If you know me...you know I'm a fighter with my animals, and I dont loose...not without giving it my all...I just dont give up. This will be a fun challenge. So my title today...Saddle up.....what am I waiting for? Well winter is over, cold is leaving...my health is restored for the most part. My days are more good than bad (Thank God all praise to him), and though my doctor told me that its something that will come and go and I'll learn to live with it, I'll do just that - learn to live with it, and hey.....you tough through, grit your teeth for just that one moment of heaven, even if you have to pay for it later, right? I've been through worse...I miss my horses. The smell of sweat, leather, feed. The sound of their breath and squeak of leather and hoof on the earth. I miss my walks with God as he is with us along for the ride. That fire was lit today.....wait.....it was never out!

So until the next ride..which will be soon, and update as Gypsy's progress goes this summer, and however long it takes....like I said...I dont give up and I wont on my girl, not on her, never. Not on someone who got me through the most difficult time in my life 6 years ago. See you from the saddle soon!

Yes...its really me! I'm back..for good this time!

2010-03-10T09:39:00.006-05:00

Has it really been that long since I've written to you? Life can pass so quickly, and sometimes we have to take a pause in a few things, which is where I've been. As you know cows and crops never take a pause and keep on growing, having baby's, munching grass, and thinking its greener on the other side of that fence as usual. Which incidentally did happen the other day with one bunch, what a surprise for us! I dont know in how long something like this has happened. You know when cattle learn a hot wire, they mind it, for some reason the cows seem as anxious for spring as we are and decided to walk through an open gate (that we always leave open when we go through that they NEVER decide to cross to the other side - ever!). Funny thing is..the grass wasn't even green, at least no greener than where they were. Just like us always testing what we dont know that might be better, and usually wrong just like they were! Our calves are coming fast! I like to say they are popping like popcorn all over! With so many cattle we always suffer some loss. This year we have lost 5. But even with so much snow - the most we have had in a long time - its not been due to the weather! We have had over sized calves one of which was born too early, and it was born with an underdeveloped brain. The other had a leg folded. And another had its head folded downward and mom had pushed all night and by morning when we found her the calf was already dead and we had to have the vet remove the dead calf.

Each time we loose a calf it takes a piece of my heart with it. I dont like to loose, and that is how I look at it, like I've lost. especially those that I've brought into my kitchen to warm up a calf half frozen, or one that mom's milk isnt flowing enough to feed, pneumonia, or whatever the case may be.
This is a normal average loss for the number of cattle we have, so we are praying that the numbers are over now. So far we have had only 2 twins born....last year we had 5 sets...it made up for any lost calves...strange only 1 set this year after several years in a row of many more. Maybe there will be more in the others, since we are not even half way there...I think we have 60 calves on the ground at this point. How much fun it is to watch them play!God was good to us last summer with rain, not too little and not too much, just enough at just the right time. We had such a good year. Steers sold good too. The best year we've had in a long time. But farming is always a roll of the dice, never knowing what you get. As the song goes " He just takes the tractor another round, he pulls the plow across the ground, and sends up another prayer, he says "Lord I, never complain I never ask why, please dont let my dreams run dry...." Thats all a farmer can do.
As for me...the last 7 months have been a struggle with my health. I had some really bad days and was unable to write to you and had to put my farm journal aside, actually writing to you and being on the computer was something near impossible except for games or spending small amounts of time, and as you know a blog requires quite a bit of time. I put aside my photography, and pretty much everything. But my health has improved greatly, I have had many more good days than bad, and tho I still have some bad ones here and there, normality is coming back! And I'm excited to get back to my farm life journal and getting back in touch with all my friends I've made. Gee, I dont know if you realize how Ive missed you! I have thought so much about you and wondered what you have been up too!My horses.....Oh my baby's! They are so wonderful! Our baby Jack is not so much a baby anymore, I have so much to tell you about him and I hope to write so much more, but I guess a post about everyone individually would probably just be best! Everyone, critters and all, have just grown in so many ways, not just physically, but so many milestones! Our family too!
Speaking of the family...we are all so good...the kids are doing great, Douglas is taller than me and reminding me every minute he can. Leah is as beautiful as ever and doing good in school as always and just had the chance to shadow her farrier and was so excited about that! Norm has been working hard as usual, has really taken up my slack when I needed his help...I dont know what I'd do without him.
So, I'm back....full force....and I missed you - all of you - and I cant wait to talk to each of you and see what I've missed. Like I said - I have thought about each of you and wondered where you have been in your lives in the last 7 months since my absence! Talk again soon! I cant wait to update you!
~*~Rachel~*~

Farm Update

2009-10-05T11:55:00.003-04:00

Seems it will be yet another 4 weeks until my desktop is back from the repair shop! I'm using the little laptop and I hate it. Well I'm getting used to it actually. I haven't posted in so long I don't even know where to start! All my friends and family keep asking me when I'm gonna post again! And its that time of year for all the cattle questions to start coming in. I've already had several searches so guess I'll try to get back in the swing of things.
Harvest time is upon us here at the farm. Corn and beans are ready. Corn is right at 20% and Norm is going cut some to put in the bin with the fan to dry them out a little further. 20% is the highest you can go. The beans themselves are just right, but the stems are a little green and tough, so he is going to adjust the bean head on the combine and start running them. I havent gotten any good pictures yet, all its been so far is just machinery work getting it all ready to go! Kinda boring to me!
The two little cows above are MY newest additions. Flower is the mother and Lilly is her baby. I finally found my Jersey's! Flower is a 14 mo old and she was bred way to early but luckily had her calf, Lilly, safely and both are healthy. Flower (the momma) is a little thin, but will soon get to a healthy weight. She is eating awesome and the baby is as well. Both are extremely docile for not being hand raised. A trait of the breed. I'm really pleased and I've been spending a lot of time with them. In the few days I've had them they are now eating hay out of my hands! Soon I'll have them gentled down with a halter on them, and hopefully can work on leading. They are so sweet natured and quiet. Lilly the baby is even more curious and friendly than her mother!
The last month or more my very good friend and neighbor, Mari, have been putting in A LOT of hours working in the barn. The stalls have been holding water and urine more and more. I guess with the horses in the barn more often the ground is getting even more hardened and holding the liquid. its been so bad that we have decided to place a dense grade gravel down that will pack and harden over time like concrete yet still allow water to drain. A THICK layer of straw is then laid over top to prevent any sore legs or hoof problems. The horses will only be in this barn until spring, then another barn that is on the property thats not being utilized will be turned into their very own home. More space, better drainage, and access to a pasture that will be all their own without having to be moved for cattle or shared at any time. Its been a lot of work shoveling all that gravel and laying it all out as thick as we needed it to be. But I have to say I think the both of us got some muscle and lost a little weight in the process, not to mention how good the hard work feels when your done and the pride of your accomplishment feels! The barn will go back to the cattle, my baby calves and not have standing water! Which means no more wrestling baby calves at feeding time and getting covered from head to toe in poo and pee!!!! Well, if you know cows thats still gonna happen but not as bad now since the rain water doesnt hold in there now! :-) In this process of barn renovation I have discovered that MY horse King has fallen in love with someone else....yes..its true. *sigh* Its Mari. He loves her. She pulls in and his head snaps up, he comes up in the field to greet her right away with this beautiful rolling snort, lays his head on her shoulder, will let her rub him for ever as long as she will, in fact she can groom him awhile the other horses eat and he forgets about his food....YES...he doesnt care about eating even! Should I be jealous? LOL No...I've actually enjoyed watching this special bond develop. To see My Boy who a yr and half ago who was a horse closed off to the world, blossom into this beautiful loving horse who now loves the attention of humans and who has not only bonded with us but with Mari..it really warms my heart to see them together. Okay, a twinge of jealousy!

Our Little Jack has had so much going on its unreal! I'm so proud of Leah and all her hard work which is paying off. He is the perfect horse to be her first to start. And she has done well! Here is an overview of the past couple months....first bath...first farrier work (no shoes just trimming)...new bridle...taking the bit...learning the bit...FIRST RIDE...

I think this is one of my favorite pictures I've ever taken of Leah with the horses..can you feel the love they were both feeling at that moment?

So..with each of these...Jack has been..let me say...PERFECT...not a jump, not a buck..not a scoot, not a twinge of nervousness! He acts like an old horses who has done all this a thousand times! He will make Leah such an awesome horse. He is just a couple months shy of turning 2, so they have many many years together and I think that is so awesome!

This is one of my VERY good friends Libby! She and her family came to visit, had a cookout and bonfire and a WONDERFUL time, I loved each of them. It was the first time I'd gotten to meet her two boys and her husband and it was really a lot of fun and I cant wait to have my hippie momma Libby and her clan back again! I love you Libby!!!!
So thats it in a nutshell.
Our annual Bonfire and Hayride is coming up for our birthdays....Leah, Mine, and Norms, and my nephew John's birthdays are all in October. I cant wait for our big party! It is always SO much fun! I love having our bonfires, we didn't get to have as many this year, it seemed to rain every time we planned one!
I'm going to try to get back into the swing of things again, I miss reading every one's wonderful blogs and I need to catch up, I wonder how everyone is doing, how your farms and horses are, your crafts are going, etc. And just how YOU are in general! I have missed you!
~*~Rae~*

I dont even know where to begin

2009-08-26T01:37:00.009-04:00

*warning my pictures are not in any order! lol sorry about that! my post is actually at the bottom of my pictures its late and I'm too tired to organize it all!*
Here are some pictures taken since I last bloggedThis is Buck being worked in the Round Pen Norm built for us

Leah working Jack

This is a picture of a living roof taken while on our trip with Mari last Sunday to Bernheim Forest..if I could build a house any way I wanted my roof would look like this, other pictures from the day are on here too but like I said my pics are not in order

here is Chicory (formerly known as Babe - story is posted below)picture taken tonight

This is Lauren riding Buck, his first ride in over a year

this was also taken at Bernheim Forest, this little deer has been there since before my kids were born, he was shot in the eye by a hunter and has lived there his entire life, I have pictures of my kids with him over the years, it will be weird to go and him not be there one day

this is one of the coolest statues there at Bernheim, its titled "emerging"

This is my friend Mari who we went to Bernheim Forest with, yes, she is like me and always has her camera with her as well

Chicory (formerly known as Babe) is actually Peppers horse, she roosts with her, nests in her hay, and Chicory wont eat her hay if there is an egg there either

one of the many flowers at Bernheim Forest

Taken Last Saturday when Leah and I went riding through the farm

Bernheim Forest again

And again

Our farm

Same day, oh hey...I've lost 14 pounds since we've last talked!

And I'm still a nerd, couldnt loose that unfortunately!

My view Saturday from my horse

Doug got him a squirrel last Saturday when he went hunting with my dad

my ride on My Boy King tonight -

We have had 4 fogs so far this month....4 snows this year then....hmmm we'll see.

This is Jasper, Mari's new kitten who showed up one day

Douglas climbing a hill of shale at Bernheim last Sunday

Leah working with Chicory flexing

Leah and Lauren taking Chicory and Buck out for a ride, Buck's very first ride thru the farm..he did well and only spooked once

Me tonight - notice my little trail friend Levi..you will see him in every ride set of pics...he is always with us

Yeah so I wore my shorts to ride..So?

Doug working on his balance in the round pen on Chicory

Lauren working with Buck

Okay now onto my post

It's been so long since I've posted I have no idea where to start.
Not too much has gone on as far as farm work...well I mean the planting and plowing kind of work. Norm has been busy bush hogging and mowing and getting equipment ready for harvest.
Douglas turned 11 on July 20th, he had his friends over from school along with family and friends of ours for a cookout.
Leah had her best friend come for 10 days and they worked with Buck riding him for the first time in a year. Not to mention riding each and every day. Norm got us a round pen fixed up! WOW what a difference that has made!
I've been riding a lot, HEAVEN!
Jack - What a total 2 year old he has become. He can get out of anything and we have to come just short of pad locking his stall to keep him in, should have named him Houdini. He is also a thief. His newest game is to run off with things out of the barn, luckily he drops them before he gets to far.
King - Wow in just over a year My Boy has come so far. He came back to me a very withdrawn, inward closed off horse, to a horse that now seeks me out, calls for me, and wants my attention AND affection. Yesterday I couldn't get him to leave the barn when I turned them out. This was the first time that has ever happened. He hung around while I cleaned stalls, I was literally bumping into him the whole time. He let me hug all over his neck laying his head on my shoulder. He and I have really bonded strongly. I'm very proud of the progress I have made with My Boy.
Babe - Well the first major change is her name. Leah and I have ALWAYS hated her name...she is far from an OX..she is a small dainty legged mare....and Babe is so generic..and Amy was kind enough to point out to me that it reminded her of that pig Babe...LOL thanks Amy...so I have decided to name her after my favorite flower which happens to be a field flower that covers our fields here in a beautiful periwinkle...Chicory! So you wont hear me refer to her as Babe any longer!
So Chicory's progress is really coming a long. See when I sold King to this guy I also sold Chicory to, he was already closed off to humans, so when I got him back, no different. But when I got Chicory back ( formerly known as Babe) she was different. I didn't want to see it at first, and no matter how granny she may get some day she will always be beautiful in my eyes...but I could see the diff. in her even if I didnt want to admit it. The happiness in her eyes was gone. Her coat was dull, burnt, her eyes, were dull and far away life less, and she was thin.
no pep in her step. We had to practically chase her to catch her, she didnt trust us at all. But in the few months she has been back "home" with me. She is waiting at the barn each morning, she never turns her head from me, she lets me give her kisses, her coat is slick, shiny and black, her mane and tail are coming in thick, and her poor pitiful forlock is growing finally, and her eyes, those beautiful eyes I remembered are back. She has that pep again and on our last ride I had to hold her back and made her mind she wasnt a dead head!!!!!!!
I have more to say....so much has gone on...to those of you who read my personal blog I'm gonna do a post tomorrow...if you dont read it and want to let me know......it's about why I haven't been able to blog lately.
Hope you enjoyed the pictures! I've missed you all a lot and I dont know how I'll ever catch up, but I'll try!
~*~ Rae~*~

Summer has its way...

2009-07-19T13:41:00.002-04:00

of keeping your time away from the computer! it seems like ages since I've written, and I sure need to catch up with everyone....wondering how the end of your summer is coming along?!
We have been having a really good time, since Babe has come home there has been A LOT of time spent with the horses. Doug has been riding a lot too, and even went with Leah throughout part of the farm, they didn't go to far on his first "trail ride", and he got a little nervous, but did well non the less
Yesterday a sweet neighbor Logan came over to get some lessons and fell in love with Babe. Here she is on King (she said he hurt her butt to ride LOL) They all had a good time, and I love to watch someones face light up when they hop up on a horse! I know how they feel! Logan brought her mother Evelyn, a very sweet woman, and my friend Mari (all of us are neighbors) over to watch the riding lessons given by Leah and Lauren (Leahs best friend).
Everyone is falling head over heels for Babe, I wonder if she knows just how loved she really is?
There really hasnt been much to report here on the farm other than riding horses...all the animals are doing great, Norm Neil and Doug and another neighbor kid - Tyler, have all been working hay since you last heard from me. Guess thats why I havent gotten on much. Time seems to be slipping away this year faster than summers in the past. Tomorrow my baby boy turns 11 years old! We are celebrating his birthday with friends and family with a cook out in the afternoon. We have been searching ALL year for the only thing he wanted for his birthday...a youth model 20 gauge interchangeable barrel shotgun/243. We wernt able to get it as a 20/243 but were able to find a 20/22. We will order the 243 barrel online for him so that he will have his own deer gun this fall to.
Last week we had a very interesting view of a storm rolling in. My neighbor called me and told me to get outside with my camera it looked like we had mountains in the distance...hmmm. Walked outside to see the most magnificent clouds I've ever seen! They did look like we had mountains in the distance, or waves of the ocean. I've never seen clouds like this before...it was really cool! The kids and I watched until the unique clouds disappeared. Very cool. I took a few pictures and of course they just dont do that sky any justice, but here they are any way.

Well I've got to begin preparing for Douglas' birthday party tomorrow, and get some supper laid out. You guys have a great Sunday, I'll be by soon to catch up when things slow down a bit.
~*~Rae~*~

Saturday on the farm

2009-07-12T01:31:00.004-04:00

(Molly above) We have had some full days lately. Norm has been bailing and raking hay all week. Today he did the yards and mowed a path across the farm for us to ride. Its bumpy from the wet winter with tire tracks from the tractor and cow prints, and in the tall grass its hard for the horses to see all the low spots and with all the rain we also had some "streams" running through causing even more ditches. (Isnt he so sweet to take up all that time just so we could ride??!!)

Even the kittens got into the act! This is Cowboy and King

And even the little Indian couldnt resist a ride in the saddle!

Neil and Michaela (the neighbors down the street and my other "children") spent the day and have been dying to ride the horses and since the temps cooled down tonight they were finally able to. Michaela is too scared to be away from home over night so she didnt stay till morning, but Neil comes over a lot on the weekends and stayed the night with Douglas.

This next pic is Michaela and Cowboy...again the kittens couldnt stay away and wanted to join in the fun (cowboy likes to play with the horses and swing from their tails!)

Cat in the hat? Nah...it's really Cat on a hat

This is Neil (he is a little too big for Babe)

But he sure did fall in love with her right away! No she isnt a pony, he is just very tall and she loves hugs so she lowered her head down for some affection from her new friend.

Now this is a better fit!

Can you see the love in Dougs eyes? I have just been so tickled with how he is riding, just jumping up there and going off like he's done this his whole life! he has finally faced his fears, next step is riding King, but he isnt confident enough yet for him.

Michaela was a little scared and has only been on a horse a few times, but she did well for her first time, with lessons from Leah,

Here goes Doug off on his own to the other end of the pasture, he even loped with her! Soon he'll be cantering along like a little cowboy

Best Friends (I love this picture!)

But this is my favorite! I wish it was more clear, my camera was taking some blurry pictures today and I couldnt figure out why.

The geese on the pond were making their way for a good nights rest

We topped the day off with the 5 of us (me and Norm, Leah, Doug, Michaela and Neil) sitting outside watching fireworks down the street making up for the rainy 4th of July, and my good friend Tina came over and we sat outside until well after midnight laughing and having such a good time! The only thing we lacked was a bon fire...why didnt I think of that?
Our days have been filled with horses since Babe has come home, work on the farm has actually slowed down since planting is done and most of the hay bailed and put away. Norm can now finally breathe a little easier now, and hopefully wont have to work anymore 15+ hours a day now thats its slowed down.
So what did you do today?

Tired Thursday

2009-07-09T23:23:00.005-04:00

It's really been busy around here. Summer seems to be slipping away to fast. Before we know it it'll be time for the kids to start school and then the next time we turn around the dreaded winter months will be here! *sigh* We have been taking advantage of the warm summer sun and spending most of the day outside.
Norm has been busy cutting, raking, and bailing hay in the big hay pasture. Tomorrow the guys will all load the hay onto wagons and put it up in the barn and the big round bails will go into the lot for feeding the cattle in the winter.
The silage corn is coming up good, not to mention all the field corn, its huge and just about to tassel. Soy beans are looking good as well. I don't want to jinx us, but it looks like this year will be a good one. We have had a lot of rain, sometimes its been a little much, but its better than last year where we hardly got any! It hurt the crops, the pastures for the cattle, and our hay cuttings badly. This year it's green everywhere, and cattle are fat and happy.
We did have a young heifer die yesterday and we arent sure why. She just laid down and apparently was sleeping when she died. The dead wagon that has been used in the past has changed hands. Rather than making rounds once a week with the old company (meaning that a dead cow could sit several days and stink up the place!) Now they come out the same day, and if unable to come that day they do the very next day. In fact the driver called yesterday to tell us he just couldnt make it from his other trips cause his truck broke down and apologized! What a surprise! I think we will like this new company much better!
I did some work in the garden and have decided that next year we will not plant near as many plants as we have this year. I have too much squash and cucumbers that I dont know what to do with! I'm hoping some of our neighbors and family will take some. If not I'll be putting a sign up in the yard advertising free veggies!
I finally was able to pick a few jalapenos and banana peppers. The green peppers are getting bigger and wont be long until they are ready. I planted a bit later this year so no sweet corn or watermelons yet....really bummed about that!
Today we took a little trip out of town and went to our favorite Chinese restaurant! We haven't been in a year, it's about an hour away where I used to live in the big city, and anymore I really hate going up there. In fact I hate going to town here! The food was great! I began going there when I was 2 years old! My mother and aunt went all the time and of course drug me and my brother along, then after I moved back from North Carolina, I too started taking my kids. Leah and I totally drooled the whole time it was so yummy! :-)
Norm began his farm work when we got home so we didn't see him till after dark, and he went to bed right after supper. We are all beat today, the heat has really drained us! The dew point has been 65 so its humid and you cant help but start to sweat as soon as you go outdoors! This hot and muggy weather makes it hard on the horses so we havent ridden the last two days. We did today for a few minutes. Doug has been dying to ride again, and Leah wanted to ride Babe bareback. She is so smooth so it makes it really easy. We wanted to work on our balance so we decided to bring her up and ride for a small bit. We didnt put the bridle on, just used her halter and some lead ropes....my girl is so good! Both Leah and horse! Douglas did so well without a saddle! I really have been so proud of him, he has come such a long way since Saturday when we brought her home! After that colt kicked him and severed part of one of his fingers, he was terrified of them. Now he is grooming, tacking the horse, riding and hugging all over her! She knows Doug doesnt know much about what he is doing and that he is a kid, and walks so slow when he is on her. He can get her to gait though! And he did that bareback too! Of course since she is a Tenn. Walker it's so smooth its easy. I however, being so short have a hard time climbing on her and getting down without stirrups! I rode bareback too, but I had more trouble that Douglas, of course I'm old and fat and that makes a difference! She was also getting pretty sweaty and we didn't want to do anything much, so I didn't ride for long like that.
We also got our hands on Buck, haltered him and brought him into the barn for some grooming. he is pretty shy of everyone but Norm. But a mans heart is through his stomach! He did well, much better than I expected! We only had him tied and groomed long enough to brush him down all over and comb his mane. His poor tail is a mess and needs much more work, I'm really hoping we dont have to cut it because it drags the ground and is so beautiful. He is so sun burnt he looks like a buckskin, even though he is really a beautiful chocolate color. He has a tad bit of rain rot too! I guess all this wet weather has been a little hard on his skin. So tomorrow we are going to pick up some stuff to clear it up. Luckily its not bad.
Leah worked with Jack again today, he had a trailer loading lesson, and loaded very well twice with no problem. the second time he took a little longer to walk up, but he still did well. He was saddled for the second time and did great. Leah had her feet in the stirrups and leaned her body onto his back, working on jumping up and down on the ground and into the stirrups, and flapping the stirrups on him. That was the only thing that made him a little nervous, but after a few times he relaxed. I took some pictures I posted below. Well time for bed, more garden work in the morning, horse lessons and grooming, and hopefully taking it easier than today....probably not though! I hope tomorrow i have more time to visit your blogs, I'm just too beat and need to hit the hay. I hope all is well with you! Enjoy the pictures of Jacks lessons!

A day with my kids and my horse

2009-07-08T00:14:00.006-04:00

Welcome to the farm/horse blog here at Wilmoth Farms!
Whew is all I can say for the day today! Yesterday I about burned the house down grilling out some steak! Leah and I were making supper, homemade macaroni and cheese, fried green tomato's from the garden, one lone red tomato sliced, and some burnt yet under done steaks raised and hand fed from the farm.....
I set the grill on low and put the steaks on intending on a nice slow cooked steak....but about 10 minutes later Norm runs in and tells me the grill is flaming and black smoke is billowing out into the yard! The grill was on fire and not a little fire, and the porch was close to burning! Luckily Norm was here mowing the yard and saw the smoke cause the kids and I were in the house! Could have been a disaster, the propane tank could have blown, the house could have burned! We did recover from the scare, but unfortunately the steak didn't get through it okay! You know your loved when your family eats you burnt under cook steak! We think there was a birds nest I didn't see or was aware of and it caught fire.
Norm has spent the day mowing another pasture for hay. (if anyone wants any hay here close to us let me know!!!)
Today was fun....reminiscent....and HOT!
After our cool spell last week today was HOT and humid! It got up to 88 degrees!
The farrier came today, not the usual but a fill in for our guy who had knee surgery a week or two ago. I wasnt NEAR as happy with him as I am when Josh shoe's and trims. He did...okay...but slopping looking. Now dont get me wrong when I say sloppy. He basically did the shoeing okay....I felt he filed down Babe's hooves to short. She isnt in any trouble of having hoof problems, and he did set her shoes good. I just think he didn't have to file that much on the wall of her hoof. Josh does it clear enough to perfect so I was spoiled, and this guy charges more! I hope Josh is on his feet when its time for a mani and a pedi again!
Now I always seem to leave Jack out of my posts and pretty much have ignored posting! I dont know why? But I'm gonna post about him a little.

Jack did not get to get out of a day at the Wilmoth Farms Hair Salon! He really got a work up, his first ever complete day of beauty. He was a shiny little clean colt when we were done with him!

I dont know if he likes his new Doo or not, he stood still though and finally tried to go to sleep on us after a bit. As you can see the black in Jack (ha ha that rhymes!) is either sunburned or he is turning into a brown, black, and white paint...hmm take a look and tell me what ya think.

I love his eye has a little blue sliver in that pretty almost black eyeball of his! You can see it in the above pic better than this one I think.

Jack has really amazed us. We dont know exactly how old he was the day he showed up on the farm...quite expectantly! He was a neighbors horse down the street and he was shooting off guns right by his pen that he had just been weaned, in. As you can guess...he jumped fence and went running to get as far away from that idiot that he can! It took them 2 days of trying to catch him before the neighbor was totally pissed off by riding a mare up to the barn. He thought the horse was worthless with a nervous disposition. (he was wrong!) Jack is the quietest colt I've EVER seen or been around. He haltered from the start with no full at all. He has learned a few commands that we use such as sound or body language along with word commands. For instance, When we are needing him to move that pretty colt's but out of the way. We snap our fingers at his rear end and he automatically steps aside our of your space.

Jack stands well, grooms (usually falling asleep!), lets us pick up 3 feet. Doesnt kick, never has, has had a saddle on a few times and never cared, has had a bit in his mouth, the bridel was too big so we had to hold it where it fits, even with our hands above his head the whole time, he didn't care. All this done after the first time we tried. He is a little friendly and loving horse! He has issues we are dealing with right now. We are working on him picking up that last hoof for us to pick out. Today he did finally pick it up after some work, and started to let Leah pick it when he pulled. Leah held on and when he quit she let go. We praised him and ended on a good experience rather than a bad. He didn't like to be separated all day from his buddies, but it didn't kill him and something he has to learn to be okay with it. He even had fly spray on for the first time and never twitched a thing on him, he didn't care! This little guy will be easy from start to finish I think. I'm going to send him to someone to start some ground work with him. I dont have a round pen or space to do so. He likes his comfort zones with the other horses. He needs to learn a lot that I cannot do with out that accommodation. We are really going slow with him and do repetition work each time. We always end it pleasurable. He also doesnt like to walk outside the barn or the field and has taken off twice now....he goes right to the gate to the field at least.
I cant wait until one of us ride him!

What is it about a horses butt thats so cute? Babe is another one of those who doesnt care what you do. And had her day of beauty too. Cowboy had a little nap in the hay.

The guys all got new fly masks. I wonder if that would count as a mud path facial at the salon?

Babe too got her's!

I'll get into our riding day now. Leah and I rode for about an hour (too hot to do much and had some barn cleaning to do). I remembered again why I love this horse. She is like riding a cloud since her walk and gait are smooth! We had a great time walking around in the horse pasture and the heifers pasture (which is much bigger). She did great on all her voice commands when I verbally asked them, except for - stop, left, and right. Babe was trying to get back to the barn so we had to walk around a bit more and she was made to think going to the barn is our idea and what we want. We were ready and she didn't try to lope to the barn. That is one thing I want out of her right away. Actually its the only thing she needs a little work on and actually its me thats doing it wrong when I'm stopping her from doing that. Now you might picture a horse jumping around and totally ignoring me and not listening. She didn't really do much except trying to turn in that direction every few minutes! It got annoying by it quickly. Doug rode Babe today after his 15 minute riding lesson from Leah yesterday. He walked, gaited and loped on her! He was nervous when she gaited and loped, but all in all I was soooooo proud of him for just getting on there and giving it a try even if it might scare him a little!!!

He really had a fun time! And as you can see he took the lead even!

This is the view from atop of King.

We tried to get some pictures that didn't make me look fat, THAT didn't work as I'm sitting here and seeing thats impossible. And the hair got flat after sweating in the helmet!

I have a picture of each of my kids peaking out from under babes head to print off so we decided to take one of me too to join them...not really happy with that one but its the best we got, maybe when I wake up tomorrow and that 30 pounds I want to loose is gone, and we could try again!

My beautiful Babe

I had a blast about finally being up in the saddle again after several years! I never once got nervous after not riding in 3 or 4 years with this stupid fear I developed.

My view from a horse
Babe and King dont feel they have to be first, they just switched off the whole time.

I'm just so glad to be reunited with her and get my experience and be confident at it. I had forgotten that it felt like to ride her, its as if your walking on clouds. I know now that this fear will be gone and I will officially be back in the saddle! We ended the day with supper out for pizza.
I have an award for some of you so keep scrolling down to the other post I did before this post. Guys' check out those blogs they are all so great and worthy of an honest scrap award!
Thanks again Luanne!
nite all, I'll catch up on your blogs tomorrow, my eyes are now crossed and trying to close so I think thats a sign I should head to bed....good grief! Its 1:29 am!!!!
See ya! May God bless you!

Honest Scrap Award! Thanks Luanne!

2009-07-07T23:17:00.002-04:00

This Honest Scarp Award was given to me by Luanne at All in a days work!!!! Thanks Luanne! This award is given for those how speak honestly from the heart on their blog!

If you receive this award, you are to credit the person who bestowed it, bestow it on 10 blogs (letting them know of the award) and tell your readers 10 things about yourself that they don't know. You are under no obligation to participate, however, it is kind of fun walking down memory lane a bit!
So here are 10 things about my self that you may not know (but probably do since I tell it like it is and I'm pretty much an open book!)
1.When I was young I took tap, jazz, and ballet. (sure wish I'd stuck with that!)
2. I also taught myself how to play the piano and can play by ear...HOWEVER...I havent touched the keys for many years. I got Leah a piano and I havent even tried to play it either. (in my defense it does need tuning and I really havent had the time to play with it) I believe that when you dont use a gift that God gave you, you could loose it....I'll need to see if I still have it in me.
3.When I was a senior in high school on New Years Eve I was cutting me off a piece of country ham that had been in the fridge. It wouldnt cut so I turned the knife around and cut towards myself and cut deep into my left thumb between my pointy and my thumb. Bled like the dickens, my brother almost passed out, and took 5 calls to my mom for her to believe me that it was as bad as I was telling her it was before she'd come home to take me to the hospital. (I cut it to the bone...yes, I could see it!) We got to the hospital and I got 13 stitches. The first ones I'd ever gotten! (was pretty cool to watch it done, my mom couldnt go back with me, and my step dad about passed out...useless!) LOL We got home early morning and I go to bed. Mom gets a call right after she had taken my brother to school. His first class was PE and he had broken his leg playing basket ball. Did you know that if the same admitting nurse sees two children from the same family within 12 hours they will grill your mother to see if she is abusing you!!!!??? TOO FUNNY! Well he had a cast, I had a bandaged thumb and was off from school a couple days. The story doesnt end there.....the day before I was to go back to school I had talked my brother into going into the garage to get a box of my clothes that was stored in there. I stood on the back porch watching telling him "Cant you move any faster?" when I felt my mom slap me on the back of the head and tell me I wasnt to boss him around anymore and to get my own box! I only had a broken thumb she said, guess she thought that broken leg was worse! ha ha.
Well They both watched me drag it down the driveway, grumbling the entire time. At the time we had a big truck with those long mirrors on the side that stuck out too far. (you can see where this is going probably) and I was dragging this box backwards and yelled to them..."well can you at least tell me if I'm gonna hit the mirror???" and they laughed at me and told me just do it yourself....at that moment I turned and smacked my self on my butt after running into the mirror on the truck...can you imagine how I looked that next day back at school? Bandaged thumb and a big black eye! I guess thats what I get for being so mean.....I still think they were the mean ones! I really wanted to be an only child.
4. (you mean that last one doesnt count for 5 of the 10 I have to list???)
Here is one...the first guy I ever really really liked broke up on me the same day my dad left my mom...both were cheaters....really a sucky time.
5.I was on TV when I was 15! I was chosen to be on the PBS channel in Louisville for their annual childrens auction. I was chosen out of hundreds of other kids....it was a Full day of camera-action- and lights! A real blast! I was told I should go into Communications...which I did and decided I didn't really like it. And decided going into banking would be better which I did for 13 years until I burned out.
6. I have two BIG pet peeves...reading over my shoulder and windshield wipers on after the rain has stopped and there is no need for them! Dont ask me why.
7. When I got pregnant with my daughter in 1994 I weighed 97 pounds and thought I was fat. Before I had my son I weighed about 110...really thought I was fat...boy would I love to be that fat again! Now I just look like humpty dumpty!
8.This spring (after dealing with cancer issues for 5 years) I was given a clean bill of health!
9. When I was 15 I also won 1st place, and $50 bucks in an essay contest where I wrote on what the American flag meant to me.....it went to state. I was pretty proud and apparently I was pretty smart at 15...wonder what the heck happened!
10..whew finally...this has been hard to come up with 10 things people dont know about me!
hmmmmm growing up I used to sing on a monthly basis in church..guess I wasn't too bad they kept asking me to sing! I did that until I was 15 or 16.
Okay, now I need to pass this on to 10 blogs that I think are worthy of this award. Please go check out their blogs, they are all great!
1. Liz at Madbushfarms one awesome lady who isnt afraid to tell all!
2. Amy at Life in a tudor house - another honest woman I admire!
3.Cheryl at Desert Horses - I think here and ber blog are great!
4.Lisa at Laughing Orca Ranch - another woman who isnt afraid to tell it like it is! I admire her honesty and guts!
5. Lisa at South View Farm - I think she is just great and has a great blog, dont worry Lisa you'll be in the saddle soon!
6. GA Farm Woman! Life on a Southern Farm - Another great lady and blog!
7. Christy at Whistling Wind Farm - She is just another of the great and awesome women I've met!
8. Cathy at Wippoorwill Wood - A fellow cancer survivor who too isnt afraid to be honest!
9. Kacy - At All Horse Stuff, girl you know I love you and you deserve this one!
10. Libby with ~*Auroras Garden *~ - now THIS is one lady who will tell you whats up for sure and a good friend ! Love you Libby
There are several other blogs that I think deserve this award...but since I had to list 10 here ya are! (if you dont want to participate thats fine wont hurt my feelings - HONEST!)

Reunited!

2009-07-07T07:58:00.002-04:00

I bet you can guess who this is!!!! Saturday we picked Babe up, and dropped Bella off. Now Bella to everyone is the most beautiful horse. BUT to us...Babe is the most beautiful in our eyes! I had promised Leah that she could be the first to ride her again, and I kept true to my word. But Douglas wanted to ride the moment he saw Babe Saturday night when he returned home from his dads. I am SO proud of Douglas I can't even tell you! He has been so scared to even be in a field where a horse it, or even the barn...but yesterday he overcame that fear and got a good lesson on riding from Leah. Leah told him the ropes and we never even led him around, just told him what to do and he did it. He even led her by himself from the field to the barn!

I cannot tell you the joy the last few days have been just having her around again! She remembered us I'm sure and just like she used to be, she knows when a kid is on her back and takes it so easy. We missed this horse so much! Leah was grinning ear to ear when she hopped up on her back for the first time in 3 1/2 years. (ME TOO for that matter!) Babe and King remembered each other and it was like an old friend reunion!

I had forgotten how it feels to ride a horse that your in tune with (I had forgotten how to hold the reigns for a walking horse and kept riding as if I was on a quarter horse...DUH) We tried her out to see if she remembers all the voice commands, she probably hadn't done this since we had her, I'm sure Larry didn't even know she could do that. She was rusty but she remembered to walk from a standstill, gait, and turn! She was rusty on voice commands to turn right or left,stop, or walk from a gait. I told you tho that she was amazing! She has aged in the last 3 years, a little flabby in the muscles, but that will soon all change. We couldnt ride her much, and would have all night if we could, but her feet need some work badly. I called my farrier (forgotten he just had knee surgery) to come straighten her out. He said he was the last to shoe her but that was back in the fall and he couldn't believe her shoes were still on! She is missing on in the back, and her hooves arent level and somewhat splayed and in need of a trim badly. But we were lucky, he has another young man who graduated from farrier school with him and he is coming out today to get her set up right. Now I've never used him, and I'm hoping he is as good as Josh, the guy we usually use. Josh is young, but I tell you this, he is great and does it very well. I love the fact that he is so gentle with my horses yet shoes them properly. He makes it a nice experience for them.

Of course when I rode no one took any pictures, which is usual! I told Leah that had to change today!

On another note, the kids and I were searching Youtube and found some really awesome amazing horse videos. YOU HAVE to watch these horses...the things these horses can do will leave you in awe! You can go HERE - HERE - HERE . Please check them out it will make your day!
Farm work has slowed down since the 1st. Everything is planted and after 2 days of rain growing high and green! So different than this time last year! We are very hopeful this year. Norm took my 3 bottle calves to the sale this morning, I was a little sad to see Toro go...he is such a friendly calf, lets me pick up his feet, loves a neck scratch, and follows me everywhere, but he isnt going to big enough to ride or show so we let him go this morning and bid our farewells. Today after cleaning the barn some, and getting Babe's feet trimmed and shod we will be riding. The house is spic and span...got ready for today last week. I'm talking scrubbing it all down! It feels so good to have such a clean house. I put if off so much with everything else to do, so it was in need of a good cleaning. Well I had better go, time for another cup of coffee, some breakfast and a day of riding! (dont forget to watch those videos, you wont be disappointed and if you love horses you will Love those videos!)
PS has it made anyone else mad that you know who (dont want to put his name here or I'll get all kinds of fools on my blog) has been celebrated so much when this man was charged with Child Molestation? It seems to be that there has been no concern about those children who are watching it plastered all over the TV. Dont get me wrong, he was extremely talented and I appreciate and acknowledge that...but...come on! Its so callous to me! The death of Farrah and Ed have all but been forgotten and lost in the media hype of the other one! Just had to speak my mind on that!

Working Hay & 2009 Ky 4-H State Horse Show

2009-07-02T20:49:00.009-04:00

Since I haven't posted for a few days this will be a little long, not in words, but in pictures. Norm, Douglas, Neil and another neighbor Patrick raked and bailed hay, finally finished!

Yes, Doug can work and keep up with the big boys! Now there is no excuse Douglas! He worked hard for two days and felt really good about it. Last year he couldn't even pick up a bail.

One of the several wagons of bails. The first cutting made about 800 bails and 2 or 3 big round bails

Of course something had to break, a few times the twine broke one the bails

Here he is Papaw! You should be proud! Looks like we already have most of the bails sold if not all. Last year we sold all of it to a man who runs a horse farm in Lexington Ky, and we have a call into him to see if he wants it this year as well. He said last year to call him the following year and he'll truck them into his farm. If not then my friend Tina's brother needs a lot to feed his herd. If any are left over we will probably list them for sale. We are hoping they will be sold soon though.

Levi had fun taking a road trip across the farm. He went with me driving around. my Sunday Stills Challenge is Wildflowers this week, so we went searching. It ended up being a challenge since all the wildflowers have pretty much bloomed and faded. But I got creative and ended up with a few pics that I thought were pretty different. I have a picture here below. If you would like to see some really great photography you can go HERE to the challenge site and view them! If you would like to join, just take your pictures, post them on your site and leave a comment under that weeks challenge and your good to go!

Okay this is a small preview of what I took, I cropped the picture so its just a hint of what I'm posting.

Here is just a view of the farm. When Levi and I went out, I had forgotten the fields need to be cut and we found several holes that we went into and almost got stuck in. We also got chased by the cows for quite a way, they thought we were going to salt them..they thought wrong. They are in need of it, but bailing the hay comes first. We did find a cow dead, looks like she was struck by lightning in the last storm a few days ago. You can tell because the buzzards and animals wont eat an animal struck by lightning. It does something to the blood that they wont touch...something I didn't know until the other day. Pretty interesting I thought.

Here is the garden. Please ignore the weeds, I've been working on it the past two days pretty hard but after several days of rain and ground too wet to do anything they really popped up. I watered them the night before last and these were the pics before I did. I went out this afternoon when my mom came to get some squash and cucumbers and everything had grown and there were more veggies on each of the plants than the 24 hours before when I worked on the garden. I was really surprised at how fast it all happened!

This next picture is the tallest tomato plant this is at eye level, I'm 5'1" ( I know short I've heard all the jokes already) :-) We are just now getting tomato's, all but one are green, and the one that was kinda orange is almost red and will be ready for picking tomorrow probably. Cool, now I can make some good BLT's.

This next picture is of the carrots, I had forgotten I planted them and took me forever to figure out what they were! I knew it was some seed I'd sown since they were all in a neat row. (yeah, A DUH moment)

Here is the squash, the plants are huge! Twice the size of last year, of course last year was a drought and the garden was planted too far from a water hose so I couldn't do anything with it to help them out, in fact the watermelons only made a few and they were too small to do anything with. I was really disappointed, but this year will be different.

Even my Bell Peppers are coming along, they need a lot of water so as the watermelons, they were a bust.

Even the other peppers are getting big. I went out today after I watered and found that each plant was huge and all had several little peppers growing! Great! Now Leah and I can make salsa when she gets home next week! I can't wait!

Again Levi got into the act of helping me pick some veggies. (he is always in the middle of EVERYTHING to the point of annoyance.) He liked it pretty well and picked it himself, so I'm wondering how many he has eaten so far....darn dog!

Here is cowboy and Indian (I haven't taken a pic of them in awhile and it was a little dark in the barn)

Last night we attended the Ky State 4-H Horse Show, Leah participated and I was really proud of the girls! They came in 9th out of 11 teams, but in their defense they only really practiced hard the last month, the other teams all practiced since last August. I hope that over the next year the girls can all practice much more. They are running into the problem of not having an indoor arena. I think though that Leah told me they found one..I'm not sure about that thought I could be wrong. Leah's team did a 70's theme...they were so cute!!!!!!! Here are some pics of the night, of course not that great due to lighting and a camera without a zoom, but you can get the drift.

Now I hate to say this, but besides my daughters team, I really liked the county that had a team of all walking horses, the only one in the state, and the music was upbeat and matched the gait of the horses, and they were all under control, and was if the horses did all the work. They looked good and used the flags which I think made a difference. They are the ones that probably took first place. This team and Leah's were the most entertaining of the night. They automatically took off 10 points on Leah's team since they went over the allotted time, the paperwork they received stated a time for them which was wrong...oh well great practice and was really well done. I was really proud of them and their attitudes...they were kinda bummed but still happy they could participate! This was the walking horse team again. All in All all the teams, I can say, there were some really nice horses, all tight and great spacing, and there were a lot of horses that weren't so good that the kids had to really work at keeping them in their formations and just some plain crazy horses those little girls shouldn't have been on! Leah's team really were under control compared to most of them, so I really was surprised they didn't place better.

So that was my week. This week I've been filling soap orders and as usual, the house has been left last. Tomorrow I'll be mowing, which isnt just a small yard, I got quite a bit of work which will take me all day and probably still wont be done. Norm's mom has a huge yard, then there are two other houses to do...I'm looking forward to it, getting some sun and driving the tractor. I good time to think.
Luanne has given me an award, but Luanne, I'm gonna have to post it tomorrow, I'm just too beat and since I have those 10 things to list, I have had to give it some thought, so tomorrow come take a look and please visit her blog!!!
Saturday - We drive to Grayson County (only about 10 minutes away really) and pick up Babe and drop off Bella. I am not riding until I get a helmet. I know she is safe but I dont like riding without one, you never know, even the safest horse can spook at anytime even if never having done so before. You don't know what might scare them and since she is new here on the farm never being here, I am not taking that chance. Too many friends here have had accidents that I am trying my best to avoid. It is a valuable lesson I've learned, I do wish I hadn't learned through others mishaps, but it has made me more aware of what I'm doing and I dont want to be reckless. I'm not a kid anymore who can take a fall! Leah said she wants to be the first on her anyway and I've promised her that. She too bonded strongly with Babe and she is as happy as I am to get her back. Its been a long 2 1/2 years without my horse! Yeah I know I talk about her too much, but the excitement also comes from the fact that I'm not in any fear of riding her. I've ridden her before many times and I know her and how she rides. Doug is really happy too cause he wants to learn to ride. Its been hard on him to be around the horses since he got hurt pretty bad and learned his lesson with them. So I'm happy he's ready to face his fears and Babe is perfect to do that on, like King, she knows when she has a little one on her or walking her, she is careful to watch her steps so she doesnt step on anyone, being respectful of our space, and walks so slow with those scared or who are little or never ridden before.
Well thats a look around the farm this week. I get a lot of visitors who visit my blog searching for information about cattle, or farm activities, so if your a visitor and have a question leave me a comment and we'll be glad to answer if we can. Norm has been farming since he was 10, starting out helping his Pap and dad, and pretty much knows the ends and out's of farming.
If your just a visitor who happened upon my blog, leave me a comment too! We'd love to hear from you!
Thats it...sorry this is so long with so many pictures!
nite all!
~*~Rae~*~

Productive Day on The Farm!

2009-06-29T21:32:00.004-04:00

(Amy - My favorite cow! a.k.a Miss Friendly)
After several days of some really hot and humid weather in the upper 90'sf, today was so AWESOME! No humidity, and a high of 85 f, with a great breeze all day! This week will be the same all week so its a great time to do outdoor work and activities!
The barn was in a major need of organizing and cleaning. So today was spent organizing the tack room, and cleaning up the barn runway. I only got half done with the runway, after mucking stalls and cleaning it up (empty feed sacks were piled up - no garbage can in there, something to remedy) that's about all the energy I had! I only have about 1/3 of the runway to clean up now. I had straw laid when our mare was foaling, she only stayed in there a couple nights and its not dirty just heavy with straw. Norm has to move the hay wagon out and fill it up and get the cow chute pulled out and out of the way. I was also able to get the cages all cleaned and fixed neatly in the barn, the rabbit, the dove, and the small coop for Pepper. She isn't really happy about going in at night and lets me know all about it, but she is free rang all day and only put up at dark and let out in the morning so she can squawk all she wants! After the first day the kittens have left her alone and I'm sure she is happy to have the company of them now. Hopefully she will also keep the bugs down. I had gotten a disposable fly trap (stinks to high heavens) but worked VERY well. It was also nice to get all the feed organized, feeding was much easier today, I filled up each bucket with the separate feed and carried them around to the miniature zoo of farm animals. I've been meaning to do this for a long long time, but time seems to be lacking lately!
I've been planning in my head how to build a larger coop and a MUCH better one than I had (the poor thing got destroyed in the ice storm). Amy at Twelve Acres and Callie at Chickens on the Porch have given me some great advice and some cool links to some other chicken coops you can view them here and here. Now if I had the money this is the coop I'd build. You must take a look! Stained glass windows...yeah its awesome. The others are a really great design for a coop made from dog pens, and the other is an adorable outhouse designed coop...both are great.
Tomorrow is the garden....I dread that! Today Norm tilled up the section not planted yet for it was overtaken by weeds, so the rest of the weeding and tilling will be tomorrow! We already have some huge squash!!! And probably some cucumbers...hmm hoping the green tomato's have ripened as well...the lettuce is wonderful so I'm hoping some fresh BLT's are in order for lunch and dinner! YUM!
Farm Report:
Saturday - Soy Beans replanted in the fields that got flooded
Sunday - the rest of the silage corn has been drilled and the alfalfa has been mowed.
Monday- Wheat has been thrashed and straw bailed. Barn cleaned and Doug mowed (most of the yard).
Tomorrow - Alfalfa will be bailed (should take the whole day). Garden work. Salt and Mineral the cattle.
Wednesday - Will have to see how tomorrow goes, in the afternoon we are driving to Louisville to watch Leah in the 2009 Kentucky State 4-H Horse Show. She has been doing drill team and I'm really anxious to watch her!!!!! The 3 of us along with my mom are driving up! I can't wait.

The cattle are all doing well and fat and happy on all the nice grass they have had all spring and into the summer!
On another note...I've lost 8 pounds!!!! I've changed some meds and one of which I've been taken off of made me gain about 30 pounds, so since I've been off of it for almost 2 weeks I've lost 8.....I've really been working at watching what I eat and portion sizes. Working outside has helped bunches, and I still need to start walking either outside or on the tread mill. But I'm on the way! YEA ME!
I'm gonna close with a poem that I got from C-ingspots. I just love this to pieces!

"Old Cowgirl"

I shall wear diamonds
and a wide-brimmed straw hat
with silver and leather on it,
and I shall spend my social security
on white wine and carrots
and sit in the alley of my barn
and listen to my horses breathe.

I will sneak out
in the middle of a summer's night
and ride the chestnut mare
across the moonstruck meadow,
if my old bones will allow.

When people came to call I will smile and nod
as I walk them past the gardens to the barn
and show, instead, the beauty growing there
in stalls fresh-lined with straw.

I will shovel and sweat and
wear hay in my hair as if it were a jewel.
And I will be an embarrassment to all
who look down on me.

They've not yet found the peace in being free,
to love a horse as a friend,
a friend who waits at midnight hour
with nuzzle and nicker and patient eyes
for the kind of woman I will be,
when I am old....

Question - How to repel spiders and bugs from barn?

2009-06-29T12:19:00.001-04:00

Does anyone know what I can get that will repel spiders, wasps, flies, etc from the barn? I was thinking I've heard that moth balls will do that, but not sure...anyone know and have some suggestions of things you have tried that works?

A day at the lake!

2009-06-27T19:30:00.004-04:00

Today was a good day. Douglas and I went to Nolin Lake to visit with our friend/neighbors who have a house there. (the picture above is a view of the hill we have to climb up you can barely see the house from the water..talk about a long hard wear-you-out walk!! We swam for about 3 hours and went to the neighbors beside them Ronnie and Carrol and ate a huge meal! It seems that each time we are there there is a cookout! I'm not complaining! Except that I probably added the 6 pounds I lost right back! it was some great food!
The kids had a blast playing in the water and I finally got some much needed sun! Here the kids are all waving at me!

Douglas and Neil had a lot of fun playing Marko-polo (sp?) and Neil had fun throwing Doug into the water off his shoulders. Poor Michaela in the background looks like she has fallen asleep! LOL

We always have a great time, going out on the boat fishing, and laying in the sun! I do have to say it really wore me out and drained me, the sun was so hot about 93 degrees today and not a cloud in the sky...I have no idea what the heat index was but I can tell you it was hot!
Back at the farm:
Pepper is doing well free ranging, so far she has kept the kittens at bay and in fact they seemed to not really be obsessed with her yesterday. I know she can defend herself with those claws, I'm actually more worried about the kittens loosing an eye! LOL
Norm didn't get to go with us today to the lake, since its supposed to rain and storm again tomorrow he had to stay back and finish planting the soy beans that got flooded out a few weeks ago.
Molly had been a little sore footed, and since she wont let us pick her hooves I was worried about her. She gets a little rank and since she is SO big its something I dont attempt! She foundered (not badly) several years back and a shoeing makes her a little sore, but this happened a week or so afterwards. She actually has pretty good hooves even with the founder, and bounces back quickly and I noticed today she is fine and dandy. I intend to start working with her picking up her feet, but I've had so much here to do and like I've said recently I've just had too much going on and havent done much with the horses at all.
Did I tell you I went the other day to see Babe? Larry isnt keen on giving her up and I was afraid he was going to back out. But now its a done deal and I'll be happy to have my special girl back home with me! Leah and Douglas are just as excited, Leah thinks its so cool that Douglas will get to learn to ride on the same horse that taught her to ride. And yes I meant it that way - Babe did teach her to ride! She was all fat and slick and just as beautiful as ever. Her age (about 14 or 15 yrs) doesnt show and she looks like she is about 8 or so. She is in great health and shod all around, ready to go! WOO HOO!
I've been looking online for some used tack. I want the works (not really needing a saddle but if I found a great price and it matched everything I'd consider it!). We want a tie down and nose band for King since he is into throwing his head around the first 15 minutes he rides. Bad habit, however the last time we rode he didn't do it at all. So maybe he has learned his little trick wont work. We are going to move Jack to another pasture for awhile, he needs to learn to not be so dependant on King. It's almost like we need to wean him all over again! And King worries too much about his friends when he is away from them. Big Baby's.
We will miss Bella - we are trading her for Babe- she is a sweet horse, but too much horse for all of us besides Leah. She is a great horse and very showy but you have to decide which is more important..Bella who we all cant ride, or Babe who we bonded so strongly with when we had her and who has taught us all to ride and can be ridden by anyone. There was no question for me...Since I had to sell Babe to Larry when I moved I've regretted it and longed to get her back.
Poor Buck got his nose shocked on the hot wire but is slowly realizing I'm not the one who shocked him! I think since I was feeding him both times it happened he thinks I did it! He has loosened up though.
Well off to lay on the couch and unwind from a long day at the lake!
See ya'll later, its time to post my Sunday Stills photos. Click here to see mine and others great pictures!
Later! ~*~Rae~*~

Lots Going On....

2009-06-25T22:02:00.004-04:00

Seems like its been busy around the farm and the world the past few days!
First Ed McMahn dies, then Farrah Fawcett & Micheal Jackson. Okay I must admit I'm really not feeling anything for Micheal, except maybe what comes around goes around. Then I found out about what these purple boxes are hanging from trees along the roads. Kentucky has quarantined 20 counties to contain Emerald Ash Boer's. Read More Here. Then Kentucky has limited cattle imported from Nebraska, Texas due to tuberculosis. Read More Here. Both information on the Emerald Ash Boer and the cattle are on the same blog, COSDA.
We have been busy on the farm as well. Norm has been raking hay this week, and will begin re-planting the parts of the soy bean fields that flooded out the soy beans. The warm humid weather has dried up those low area's quickly!
I've been working on the garden tilling out the weeds that are prospering with all the rain. A real job in this heat. Right about now I'm wishing we had a pool to jump in!!! I worked in the house re-arraigning furniture and got quite fed up with it all cause its just not suiting me one bit! Our office area and the living room are combined a long room and hard to make it all fit just right. usually I can decorate my house and fix all the furniture well and cute...NOT today! So Douglas, Gin and I went to town to Wal-Mart (I HATE THAT STORE!!). I didn't want to go there but Gin needed some yarn to finish a quilt she is making for the fair and I needed to pick up a few groceries. We made it to the mall so Douglas could trade in his games for a new one. I'm really lucky, he doesnt play much at all, but in the winter it keeps him occupied. He would rather be outside than anywhere else. We ate Arby's at the mall, which wasnt that great, but all of us needed something to eat.
Then I went to work in the barn. I actually cleaned cages, the rabbit, the dove (the baby one that cannot fly), and the chicken. I had so much sweat dripping from me I thought I was gonna drip away...it was like a sauna in that barn. I moved the chicken back to the barn and fixed her smaller coop she used in the winter back up and going to put her up there at night while she roost's. I'm going to let her free range during the day. She usually stays in the barn and not venturing too far out into the yard. Last fall and all winter she was housed there with my bottle calves and thought she was one of them! Her temporary coop we fashioned last summer when we got her (if you don't know - I found her in the parking lot of Doug's school. No owner could be found so we took her in). I was planning on a coop and getting chickens this year anyway, so the dog pen was converted for her. But the ice storm we got in January all but demolished it. Still was up but looks terrible. And I need the pen for Levi, my dog, to put in when we are working cattle and at night. He has done fine at night and keeps an eye on everything, but after Norm saw a BIG coyote this morning not far from the house I decided to put him up. It wasnt a normal coyote, it was taller than Levi, and moving through the day in the open. It is probably a Coy Dog. We have several of those around and they arent shy like a wild Coyote is. The are much bolder and pose a bigger risk for animals and humans alike. In case you dont know a Coy Dog is a mix between a coyote and a domesticated dog. They are MUCH bigger.
So I'm putting him there for the night since we often have the coyote's close to the house. A coyote usually dont come up to a house, but we did have several pay a visit last fall and we have seen them in the back yard about 10 feet from the porch. So I'm playing it safe. We probable wont have a problem, but since my dog is not aggressive at all and thinks every canine is a friend, he wouldnt fair well with a pack of them. Well he is like that during the day, but he does guard his territory at night and I wouldnt want to be someone coming into the yard. I've been working on my design plan for my coop though. Amy at Twelve Acres has given me some ideas with the chicken and the coop. And a Duck recipe for the one Douglas got. (I really need to cook it for him). He also has this squirrel he got a few weeks ago. Yeah only one, so a special supper for him alone! So if anyone has a good recipe for squirrel let me know!!! I'm hoping to work more in the barn tomorrow. It needs a lot of cleaning up. I've neglected spending time with the horses lately, so many other things that take precedent over them. I've been working on Buck (our Rocky Mtn.) coming up to me, he is shy with me (though he adores Norm, knowing him all his life) . Feeding time has become a time to try to get him more acquainted with me. I really need to get him out and groom him to improve our "relationship" but I just havent had the time. I hope to start that next week. I was really making progress with him until the two of us found out the hot wire fence was grounded and when his poor little nose touched the metal trough I was putting his food in shocked him he has not come up to eat. Rather when its feeding time he snorts around unhappily telling me "I am not under any circumstance going near that trough!". Poor guy, really set back all I'd done. I think he relates me to the shock! I hate that! I've been putting his food closer each night to the trough for him and he is getting close, about 5" away now, but I think it will take awhile to come any closer. he eyes that trough like its a monster and gonna reach out and grab him any second. (Yes I'm unplugging the hot box so they wont get shocked while they eat). Well as you can imagine I'm pooped and after moving around some concrete blocks into the barn to put the cages on my back is killing me! So I'm gonna head for the night....I'll have to catch up with everyone tomorrow if I get some time. I've got a lot to fit in tomorrow before the weekend, we are going to the lake for the weekend. So good night all! I hope all is going good, sleep well!
~*~ Rae~*~

A look Around Last Night

2009-06-23T12:32:00.002-04:00

I took these as the sun was going down so sorry they are so dark. The rain has done wonders for the garden, these are a few shots. We did do a much smaller garden than last year, the sweet corn is not planted here at the house we have it in the same location as last year. My squash is huge and doesnt have blooms yet, so I imagine before its done they will be well over my head! Since we have had all this rain the weeds were beginning to get out of control so while its been sunny I've been slowly working on it, its been so hot and muggy I end up being a pile of sweaty mess after a very short time.

I havent taken many pictures of the new kittens who are supposed to be in the barn eating mice. They must be doing their jobs cause I'm not seeing many around or seeing much damage to my feed sacks like before they came. My previous barn cat disappeard not long ago, right before the end of fall *frown*. Both boys came up from the barn last night and little Indian cant seem to stay away from Norm rubbing around his legs, little does he know Norm really doesnt like cats. Cowboy ran up the tree to get away from the dog (he thinks they are his personal play things) and since it was his first time in a tree didn't really think he could get down on his own...so we helped him out this time...twice...Douglas couldnt help but be goofy with his face and a stem from a wild unwanted polk plant...he and Norm had fun goofing off.

The sunset was really beautiful! Across the street the sun was reflecting off of the clouds so beautifully and its so neat to see how the colors change and get so deep. I've never seen sunset's or rises like we have here! So I got this "bright" idea I'd take some pictures of the horses with the sunset behind them, I'm sure I'd get some beautiful shots right? NOT!

The sun was going down fast, should have done this earlier, and since I was barefoot I didn't want to get into the lot and get another broken toe, so I chose to lay on the ground my the fence and take pictures. Why is it when I try to get a good picture with a beautiful sky behind them they wont cooperate, yet when I just take a normal picture they pose? As you can see I had to shoot with my night time program and no one would cooperate at all, and the above is all I got.

I'm really determined to get some great shots of them with a beautiful background, ONE DAY I tell you...One day. I'll blog later when I have more to say!

Exciting Horse News and Random Thoughts and facts about me (been tagged)...

2009-06-22T15:40:00.007-04:00

Okay...here it is!
I've blogged so much about my mare I used to have a few years ago, you all know the story about Babe....I've been praying like crazy one day I'd be able to get her back....the steps to her used to be a world away, and now I'm just a half a step from her!!!!!!
My friend Johnny called me today to say that Larry (her current owner who bought her from me) will now consider selling her back to me!!!
My heart stopped! Since we have decided to sell or trade Bella, the mare we have now, I have offered him a trade, one horse for another. I should know over the next day or so what the verdict will be....so my horsey friends...say a big ol' horsey prayer to God for me!!!!!
I'd give up so much to have her again. And if Larry does the trade I'll have peace of mind knowing she will be well cared for.
********UPDATE!!!!!!!**********
IT'S A DONE DEAL...I'LL HAVE MY GIRL BACK WITHIN THE NEXT FEW WEEKS!
I'M SO HAPPY I COULD SPIT! EVERYTHING WORKED OUT GREAT FOR ME, AND FOR BELLA WHO WILL NOW GO LIVE WITH LARRY AND BE WELL CARED FOR...AND SOON YOU'LL BE READING ALL ABOUT BABE, PICTURES GALORE, AND MY HAPPY RIDING TRAILS, WITH BABE - I HAVE NO FEAR!
************************************

Okay on to some random thoughts and facts....I've been tagged....so here goes:

Why is it that I keep forgetting to put the full container of tea in the fridge at night?

Why does my other cat only come out of hiding and want attention when I'm in the bathroom?

Why did Douglas shave off half of his right eyebrow 2 days ago?

Why cant I remember to NEVER walk into the barn with anything other than barn shoes? I now have several pairs due to my stupidity.
How did I forget I planted carrot seeds until I read that another blogger had planted carrot's in their garden..hmmm thats what that plant is?! DUH!
How is it that my cat's poor fur is so matted up since his stroke a couple weeks ago, after not having any matte's at all - yet he still sheds like crazy? Why dont those hairs matte?
Why does my stupid dog stand in front of my car when I pull in and wont move?
Why cant he swim..he is a Labrador after all!
Where did all my kitchen knives go?
Why are flies all over the sides of my house and car?
And why are the flies so bad this year?
I really hate sausage - with a passion.
Why oh why has my hair started to curl with humidity when it used to be stick straight..old age perhaps? I wont mention all the grey showing up either
Why do I love the smell of a barn, cow poop and all? But cant stand dog crap?
Why is my favorite flower a weed?
I need to start playing piano again
for that matter I need to paint again
I hate spiders
I love sitting under our big shade tree and just doing nothing!
I wish I could drive all the farm equipment and help my farmer more
I could sit and watch my farm animals for hours yet usually dont want to be around people that long.
I love to re-arrange furniture but cant seem to get the energy to do it lately
I'm so happy - finally
Did you know it's common for a cat to develop a brain tumor?
how did I get through 37 1/2 years before breaking a bone since I was such a reckless tomboy growing up
Norm and I share our birthdays on the same day..October 25th, just one year apart!
My daughter was born the day before my birthday
my sons birthday is the same as my mothers birthday
I love going to the lake but hate swimming in the lake where I can't see whats below me
I hate icing on cake unless its cream cheese icing
my favorite guilty pleasure is Dove chocolates
why does my son want to hug and talk to me when I'm typing or reading on the computer or talking on the phone, but I can sit next to him for an hour and he has nothing to say
I stepped on a dead birds beak when I was little, yes - it hurt
I almost cut my thumb off my senior year in high school cutting country ham
I also got a black eye from running into a big side mirror on my dads truck a few days later - imagine the embarrassment of going to school after all that.
My brother broke his leg the day after I almost cut my thumb off...mom was questioned for child abuse when the same admitting nurse saw both of us
I've only seen my real father 2x's since I was 14
I am finally at peace with that
I can never remember to water my plants until they are almost dead, thankfully they are all forgiving.
I remember the first time I was on a plane, I was going to Wisconsin with my grandparents to visit my aunt and uncle, I was 2 and the stewardess had red hair. but I cant remember the easy stuff?
I tend to hold a grudge for far too long than I should
I get my feelings hurt easy and lash back
I am now cancer free - 5 months and counting!!!!!!!
I always start my prayers out with a thousand thank yous before I ever ask God for anything.
I would love to travel the US, well the world for that matter
We have some weird ghostly things that go on in our home from time to time, Norm doesnt believe the kids and myself when we tell him.
Tonight's dinner is polish sausage...remember I said I hate sausage? So why cook it? The smell makes me want to barf
my dog is a heavy sleeper and scares easily - TOO FUNNY!
I've put my head into the electric fence...ouch
I really never thought I'd love chickens but I'd cry if something happened to mine!
I'm a sensitive sap really - movies and sad TV shows make me cry my daughter laughs at me about it and just rolls her eyes
I'm really blessed to have a wonderful family, a man that loves me, and a man I love, and a home I never want to leave!

Okay now your turn if you want to....the only rule I followed was to list random facts about yourself and thoughts for 5 minutes. There done!....all for fun. I hate rules on these things anyway, sorry. I'm not going to tag anyone do it if ya want or not.
Have a great day ya'll!
~*~Rachel~*~

There is something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man. ~Winston Churchill

2009-06-22T09:15:00.003-04:00

*Yawn* "where's the coffee?"
Looks like today will be a busy day, got a barn, coop, rabbit and Dove cage to clean. Norm has been bush hogging, so may help him out a little with that too, would be nice to get some more sun, though I got a little burned the other day. Oh yeah....the garden needs some major work...I may have to put the barn on the back burner.
I'm optimistic that this week will be a productive one for us...So far yesterday and today I feel pretty good! Doug and I did some kitchen and living room cleansing. A little spring cleaning a little late...I wonder if Douglas does windows??? hmmm now thats a thought. I've still got the office, my bedroom, and bathroom to clean, I should be able to knock out at least one of those! I hope this week to get my "goat area" measured out, new coop too. So looks like a busy week if the rain stays away!
So what do you have planned for the first week of summer?
I've been really proud of Douglas lately. He's been so helpful and when I've asked him to help with cleaning or chores and he's done them when I've asked and even done them right!!! He's been so affectionate and caring. He is even working through his fear of horses! Yesterday he got in both horse lots without running when the horses came up to him, even rubbed King on his neck! Big accomplishment! (this is a picture before his accident when he liked the horses)

He asked me if we could saddle King up and lead him around!!! WOW! I think he is seeing the enjoyment Leah and I take from the horses and wants to join in. I cant blame him at all for his fears and trepidation, after his accident with a horse, and it was a big one, he has every right. We have not pushed him on the horses, in fact I've told him he doesnt have to have anything to do with them at all. But he seems to really want to conquer this fear! Yea Doug!
Which brings up another issue.......
A friend of mine has recently had to deal with some really nasty and ugly comments on her blog. She had a really bad accident with her horse and has decided to sell her. A decision I think sounds wise knowing everything that happened, and knowing my own fear I've developed over the last 3 or 4 years of horses....dont ask me why I'm still trying to figure that one out. I've had some ugly comments too that I've promptly deleted and in all honesty I dont care what they think (wasnt about my horses tho)...this is my blog....I can say what I want and I know that Lisa and several others feel the same way. But there is always going to be those trolls who find it easy to hide behind a keyboard and computer screen and try to poop all over your blog. I'm finding that some of those horse lover blogs ( NO not any that I'm following and is why I don't follow them!) are pretty uppity with their opinions (which is what has happened to lisa). It makes me wonder with their point of view, how wild horses and my own for that matter even make it to live a long and healthy life! I'm not a fanatic, probably many would think I dont pamper my horses enough or dote over them, or because I dont spend every waking hour with them - that I'm doing things all wrong. Funny...my horses are all healthy - "as a horse" ha ha- and happy. They love us, yet I let them be horses. One thing I've been told that I believe is true is that horses are not pets...they are our partners, a work animal, and treating them as a pet is a disaster waiting to happen. I know for myself and Lisa and other horse loving bloggers, we read each others blogs to learn new things, new techniques, and equine care. Not to have opinions pushed down our necks or to have rude and hateful comments if we dont do as they do, nor asked for. I hate it for her thats she's had to deal with this. This is not a place to be like that, this is not a forum - it is a blog a personal journey or diary, or for anyone to be un-Christian like and make inappropriate comments about anything you post, like Lisa and myself have had. I guess after reading everyones reply to Lisa's post ALL of us have experienced ugliness in blogger land, in one form or another, either from bloggers we really dont know, or even people who do know us. I just think its pathetic.
And with that said (needed to get that out of my system)
like Lisa, I have decided to sell Bella (my Tennessee Walking Mare) only Leah is advanced enough to ride her, though she is a great horse - smart, loving, and wants to please, she is more horse than the rest of us need. You cant have a horse your in fear of, as we all know they know when your scared. This is a decision I'm quite at peace with. I'm not feeling any guilt at all and know I'm making the right decision for my family. I hate it that she isnt what we need, I love her and her personality, but she is not the horse for us. And I cant afford a yard ornament. So nasty comment leavers....I'm sure like on Lisa's blog, you'll have something to say about that, just leave it to your own blog.
Okay....I'm over it, on to my regular blogging attitude! (I usually dont even mention that kind of junk here or acknowledge it, but felt today I needed to.)
SO...did you know that a bull can break his penis? I had no clue! But the other day we discovered one of our leased bulls has done this very thing!!
Now you know I try to be informative with my posts about farming and farm animals, sometimes explicit about care and Animal "issues", and this is blog is for that purpose, to document farm life....and not everything is Rosy and pretty...there are some really weird and to some, disgusting yet, natural occurrences with animals. It is a fact of life. And you wouldnt believe the amount of people who find my blog due to search engines asking legitimate animal husbandry questions, many 1st time farmers, or inexperienced animal owners. Luckily I have Norm who has 38 years of experience and who has taught me SO much. I thought I knew a lot about animals, yeah, whatever! There is always more to be learned...such as this topic.
Okay like you are probably doing I laughed and made all kinds of jokes about our bull breaking his penis, that were actually serious questions but when asked just made us laugh harder and just too funny. How do you fix it? Does the Vet put a Popsicle stick splint on it? Or a cast? HOW does that happen?? When Doug came rushing in the house to tell me he said " Mom do you want the bad news or the bad news...trust me the bad news is disturbing" Then when he told me I had to laugh at his comment, it would be disturbing to a male!
Well all joking aside, it is true and happens when a bull is mounting a cow and another bull decides that he needs to be doing the job and head butts the other one, it can cause one sore bull with a broken penis in the process. (hmm are they even called a penis in a bull???) Can it be fixed? Well....it can, if only the tissue is torn, but not if the bone is broken. (anyone else have this happen to one of their bulls and has more knowledge in this area??? let me know what you think and have experienced)
Almost all of the time, the bull is sold for slaughter and goes into those wonderful Mc D's hamburgers. They are no longer able to serve their purpose. I wonder how PETA will react to this post considering they were all over Obama a week or so ago for killing a fly....yes..they were up in arms, now calling him a fly killer...WHAT????!!!!! I swear, and I've said it before because I have a major beef with PETA, they are all fanatics and over the edge of sanity. I wish I could squash them like a fly. They make me want to wear real fur coats!
If your going to comment on the Bull '"issue" I just talked about...make it respectful please and a real question, and not something I'll have to delete! But PLEASE feel free to laugh though and make a good joke!)
I found out some really interesting and even troubling news today.
A mutual friend of mine and my parents, Elizabeth, is a really good woman. She and her husband adopted two special needs and abused children when they were very very young, her daughter being a baby and their son just a few years old. There have been many trials throughout the years, dealing with incompetent schools, getting the care they need, many doctor and therapist visits, etc. Her son is now graduating and going to college. Her daughter is almost out of high school. Her husband and her have really done well caring for these children and raising them the best they could and have really worked at preparing them for life on their own the best they could.
She recently found out she has breast cancer, and she is still in the stages of discovery and tests to find out what stage she is in and what the course of treatment will be. Her life right now is put on hold, in a way. THEN - here is the kicker to the whole sad affair - she after 22 years of marriage and trying to have children of their own, at the age of 45, has had one ovary and fallopian tube removed ---- is now pregnant!
Her husbands response, and all of us who know her is..."How did that happen???"
She is elated that they have finally been able to conceive, scared that she wont be able to do any treatment for her cancer because it will harm the baby, her age scares her as well. And what if it comes down to saving the baby, or saving herself so she can continue to mother and care for the 2 children she already has who will need her throughout their own lives due to their special needs. I have no clue what God has in plan and we are all dumb founded at the news. I would just like to ask you prayers warriors to say a prayer for her and her family. I'm sure at this point she is still trying to wrap her head around all of this. Overwhelming.
Another gripe...cooking.
I really hate to cook. Dont get me wrong, I CAN cook and cook well, I just really hate it! I see you all post some awesome dishes with recipes to match...and I'd so love to sit down at your table and share them with you....but I cant bring myself to experiment at home with cooking. I'd rather pop in a pizza, or have a bowl of cereal. No I'm not lazy about it, I just really dont like to cook!!!! My Hungarian grandmother (my grandfather is Italian so she had perfected the art of cooking authentic food), is probably rolling over in her grave right now and every time I complain about cooking. She was old school and cooked everything from scratch down to her noodles, bread....etc...all day before sunrise she'd begin and let me tell you - she made the most awesome food I've ever eaten in my entire life and the most amount of food in one meal I've ever seen! I miss her cooking so much, but then again...she made it not me! LOL I really wish I enjoyed cooking, I want too.....but I guess its not me. I would rather do the dishes than cook, and if you know me you know how much I DESPISE doing dishes. Hopefully Leah will not have a hatred of cooking like I do, and that her fathers side of the family has instilled their cooking abilities in her...cause I know I sure havent! I do love it when she decides to cook for us, cause its always yummy! And she enjoys different types of foods. Okay, now I'm hungry..think I'll settle for a bowl of cereal.
Yeah, I've been a little gripey today....it happens every now and then. But now its time to get some of that work done that I need to do..think I'll start in the office rearranging the furniture...the garden will wait until the heat of the day is gone.
Have a good day
~*~Rachel~*~

First Day Of Summer! Finally!

2009-06-22T00:03:00.001-04:00

It may be hot, rainy even...but it's so much better than winter!

There is nothing better than sitting back and talking to your cows - Russell Crow

2009-06-20T22:01:00.004-04:00

So far it's still been pretty rainy here in Kentucky. It has really brought the corn and beans growing good. We have gotten so much rain though...we are hoping that it continues throughout the summer. Remember that flooding we got a couple weeks ago...not too much damage really. just a few low spots and one smaller field of beans ruined that need to be replanted. It sure could have been worse.

There have been so many wild flowers growing big this spring and holding on longer than usual. I have really enjoyed driving the 4-wheeler around the farm and seeing all the pastures so green with wildflowers everywhere. The only thing I'm not enjoying are the amount of spiders and fly's. it's unreal how many are around, especially with the major ice storm we had, I was hoping that it would kill a lot of them out...no such luck. Doug got his first squirrel last this past week. Unfortunately it was only one, so when I cook this up for him, it will be his special supper...hope he likes it!

He was so proud! I took him out two times on Friday squirrel hunting but no luck, it was so hot and muggy I guess they were all hiding out. We also went to the lake, but it stormed and rained a bunch, it was a quick storm so the kids all got to swim for a couple of hours. We took levi, which I've decided not to do again...he drives us crazy trying to "rescue" everyone. It really gets annoying when a big ol' dog is splashing toward you grabbing a hold of you cause he thinks he needs to be held once he gets to you. he hasnt quite got the rescuing down pat. The water was so high after all this rain, and he wouldnt go back to the shore, instead he'd swim to the dock, and had to be pulled out. Dummy would grab hold of the edge of the dock and since he quit paddeling he was going under..nothing more annoying that pulling a big Lab out of the water and then being covered in his shedding dog hair.

Bo has been having more strokes, small ones, but still alarming. He isnt eating good again like last time, and feels like he has lost weight in the last two weeks. His fur has matted up terrible, he is hiding 22 hours out of the day. Freaking out at everything. Jumping higher than I thought a cat could when he gets scared, cautiously coming up to items he has seen forever, not knowing what it is. His pupils stay dialted. The worse part of this behavior is that he has once again forgotten how to use the litter box. When he does come downstairs I've been taking him to the litter box which he promptly uses. It has a very strong odor, more so than normal cat urine. Telling me he isnt drinking enough water. Unfortunately there is nothing that can be done, except hope that he pulls out of this like he did last time and stops having these strokes. At least for a time, I know they will continue to come back. I wonder how much more his brain can take before he can no longer function. As I have said before, he wont have the normal lifespan he should...it breaks my heart. But there is just nothing I can do. Since he isnt quite himself he let me get a few pictures of him, usually he wont sit still long enough for one, but he had a particuarly bad day when I took these and I guess needed some comfort once he regained his old self back somewhat. He seems to remember us even when he has these episodes. I'm happy about that at least.

Well time for bed, again not feeling well the last few weeks, and hoping this passes, some of you know whats up with that and I'd rather not specify, but I'm really hoping to get it all straightened out soon and feel like getting back to making more soap and blogging more, I've missed you guys! Take it easy....OH! I did 2 posts here today, so scroll down to see some pictures I've taken this week!
~*~ Rae ~*~

Never Kick a Cow Chip on a Hot Day - Proverb

2009-06-20T21:49:00.004-04:00

A walk around the farm......

I forget what this "weed" is...its one of my favorite flowers...weeds are just flowers out of the garden

Wild Rose - next year I'm transplanting some of these closer to the house

The new ground Norm leases from his uncle that adjoins ours

Doug squirrel hunting - Friday was the last day so I took him out around the farm..no luck, we've had a lot of rain so everywhere is green, it's so pretty when we are not in a drought!

More flowers...I dont know what kind this is, but its interesting

This is my friend Tina's Dog, they moved into the house on the back part of the farm, his name is Lucky

Doug was helping Tina clear out a flower bed and found tons of Rolly pollies, we didn't notice her babies until they all came out from underneath her...they carry their babies this way

2009-06-13T22:55:00.007-04:00

Leah has been working King, yesterday she did figure 8's with him and he really seemed to enjoy the workout. My boy is so good, and Leah looks so good riding him, she's quickly becoming a pro!

As I sat under my shade tree I hear a horse behind me...and I bet you can guess what I turned around to see...Leah and My Boy taking a cooling off walk in the yard. Several cars were rubber necking (as if they have never seen a barn animal in a front yard - with us there is no telling what animal we are gonna be playing with in the yard anyway!)

Water is slowly draining in all the flooded ares. Today Norm was able to get some more hay put up, he got to feeling sick (his blood sugar I think got too low) and came on in. Yesterday evening we took the 4-wheelers out for a couple hour's and rode around the farm...here are some of the farm, YES I take my camera everywhere!
As you can see the garden is coming a long:

Even my Hummingbird/butterfly flower mixture is coming to life...I planted the seeds just a few days ago and already they have come to life, I cant wait until they bloom!!! A lot of them are perennials and a few annuals in the mix.

Path through the woods

There isnt much that is prettier than fields of Daisy's! And they were full of them!!!

Now - this is the flower Norm and most all farmers hate THE MOST...I think they are so pretty! But they spread like wildfire, once they seed if you dont bush hog they multiply like rabbits and soon you have a full field of thistle..they choke out the other grasses...so I defiantly understand why Norm hates them...but they are still pretty and take a great picture.

I havent altered any of these pictures...but the next one you will swear I did...promise - I didn't, I couldnt get it this green if I tried:

I think that is such a pretty picture!
And no farm documentation would be complete without a farmer checking his crops coming up:

lastly we had a nice setting sun this evening, the camera just picked up the sun as being white, but it was as red as the rays and bright as can be......A great day here on the farm!