Perfect Beginning and End of a Perfect Day!

So far we have had a really awesome week! Douglas, Leah, and i went to Lexington for Leah to compete in 4-H...she went all the way to semi finals in Horse Bowl, and received a blue ribbon for her craft project which was entered in photography, she took a picture of Nelly's eye, with a perfect reflection of trees showing in her dark eyes! I was really proud of her! We had a lot of fun, though the girls kept us wake until 2 in the morning both nights! Talk about worn out!

Leah gave King a work out riding some figure eights while Jack followed along, great learning experience for him. He had NO clue what to think about that, and it was funny to watch him, he would be running along side and as Leah turned King, he didn't know and just kept on going! He thought it all was a game. He got a work out too! He did well, King kept him in line with a little kick every time he got too close. I've got some movies at the end of this post, and little Jack having a major scratch he itched (TOO FUNNY) that seemed to go on and on forever!

Needless to say there was a lot of sweat and yawning going on in the barn when they were through!

I took a picture of Kings brand, I'd like to do some research and find out just where he came from and his background. This is it here:

King is almost completely blind in one eye. betcha didnt know that did you, a really remarkable horse for having that handicap, this picture doesnt show it really well, but you can tell a little how cloudy his eye is.

Bella has some beautiful eyes too!

She couldnt help but get some scratching in as well...what a goof! I guess the scratching and yawning is contagious!

Even little Cowboy was worn out and took a sound nap on the hay wagon!

We shod the horses today. Molly got her trim, Bella and King got some new shoes. Poor Buck couldnt stand being away from Molly...he sure is a pretty horse! He has very slow growing hooves, probably from not being shod until this time last year for the first time, he is about 5 years old. I cant wait until he has been ridden enough for us to ride!
Thought it was time to do some updates on the calves:
This is the newest calf (the white one who still doesnt have a name) and Giant. The always come running for a bottle, which in the end makes it difficult to get a good picture of them.

This is the three musketeers I was hoping to get a shot of the three of them together so you can see how small Torro is. he was born the early part of January so he should be MUCH bigger, but he is a couple inches in height below the other two. He is my boy though, loves to be scratched under his chin and rubbed on. He still lets me pick up all his feet and rub all over him, it works to start out as soon as they are born! He really isnt scared of much, well anything really, and lets me do whatever I want to him. Sweet little guy!

We have had a lot of storms this week. The other day we got 2 and 7/10 of rain and after today we are now 3+ inches of rain for the month.... looks like we will be replanting a lot of soy beans...We got a pretty good thunderstorm this evening, tornado watches, and it really looked outside like we'd get one! The grass was so green and the sky so hazy it was unreal! But look what we saw! A beautiful FULL rainbow that started up the street at our neighbors...

This is a close up

And would you believe it quickly turned into a double rainbow..both perfectly full from one end to the other, it was so close I couldnt get the whole thing in one picture!

Here it was at its brightest...

And this was the End of the Rainbow falling right in our field! Too bad the 4 wheeler wasnt over here so we could go stand in the colors! norm had that happen to him once, it had rained and he was at the shop talking to a friend and they turned and saw everything outside was yellow, and when they stepped out they were standing in the yellow of a rainbow! How awesome is that, and probably once in a life time experience! I'm never lucky enough to have something like that happen!

The end to a perfect day, and what a beautiful reminder of God's promise! Okay now its time for some movies, grab your pop corn and take a comfy seat! I'll try to catch up with every ones blogs tomorrow, its late and I'm pooped....Tomorrow is another early start we are taking Jack to the Vet to become a man! LOL He is being gelded, I'm sure I'll have some pictures of that too! Night all! ~*~Rae~*~

General Beauregard

Most of you know about my beautiful boy Bo. He is a Maine Coon, (more like a raccoon than cat!) he plays in water, eats his food from his container rather than his bowl, one paw full at a time, he lets you do anything to him - including playing dress up. The best cat ever! A little less than a year ago he suffered a stroke. When it happened, we went through tests at the Vets, worried about a tumor on his brain, etc....but everything was ruled out....a stroke was the culprit. He had to relearn everything - and it took us forever to get him to regain all the weight he lost...he was about 9 pounds under weight, wasting away to only 9 pounds, a shell of his former self. After it happened he only remembered us....not any other objects in the house..in fact everything scared him and he'd jump so high when something scared him it was almost funny - if it hadn't been for the cause of his jumping at every object or sound. He eventually recovered, mostly to his normal self. But the past two weeks I think he has suffered some mini-strokes again. He is doing his jumping and running at objects, his pupils are huge all the time, and he isnt eating as well as he should be. The Vet has told me that he probably wont live as long as a "normal" cat. It broke my heart to hear that, he has brought so much joy and many laughs to our life. I'm worried that he'll continue suffering from strokes and one day, even soon, I'll have to face the decision to put him down so that he doesnt suffer.
This is his half sister, Priscilla... I am very rarely able to get a picture of her, she runs away at everyone and everything, definitely a one person cat...and that person is me that she prefers. But I was finally able to get a decent shot of her!

Little Cowboy and Indian are doing awesome...turning out to be great mousers and even ridding the barn of birds. This is Indian...and his brother Cowboy...

And this is what we usually see...Levi thinks they are his own personal play things! Poor kittens!

My garden is coming along...

I've been getting a regular visitor!

Norm has been mowing hay all last week and if the weather holds, will finish this week and can start planting in some of those fields.

The other day he called me and told me to bring the camera he had something to show me....and laying in a patch uncut was this little baby! Tried to catch him - he was about the same size as my cat! - but he was too fast!

Last night was a beautiful sunset and an even more beautiful moon. I wish I had a better camera to capture just how awesome it was...but this will have to do.

I'm excited about this coming week...Me and the kids are driving to Lexington so that Leah can participate in some 4-H contests. And she'll be home for several days after. I'm looking forward to the trip and her time home, and hopefully riding with her every day! Yee Haw!
I've got lots to do this morning to get ready, so I'm gonna head! I'll catch up with everyone when I return!
Have a wonderful week friends!
~*~Rae~*~

There is rain..and then there is RAIN!

Yep....2.7" in 20 minutes...talk about some rain! we couldnt even see across the street when it was at its heaviest....what does this mean for us? Not good...lets start with a look around our flooded farm...pics are not in order due to my brain fart...actually its backwards! Oh well.

The last thing we did was check the cattle..why I hated this was due to the fact that they need salting, which means they follow the 4-wheeler. Thats 50 cows chasing you less than 2 feet away, this includes the bulls...2 new ones we have leased that I have yet to be around. I hated it. To have so many large creatures running with you, 2 big bulls included is enough to freak me out. Cows everywhere behind, in front and on all sides....nerve wracking for me! Luckily the bulls are as easy going as Norm said they were and really cared less that we were there, they were just chasing their girls around not us. I still hated it.

The farm was flooded...it was neat to see the air escaping the water, which is good means that the water was going down.

This is what we call the "bottom" a lower stretch of land that in the spring always floods. We thought we were out of the woods this year since it didnt flood when it usually does, but no....it still did..too bad it happened AFTER planting.

Places that dont flood - flooded (including the inch or more of water in our basement...argh Here is our field corn getting soaked on the bottom of the bags..we turned them upside down and shook the corn away from the wet side of the bag.

our equipment was even in the water...

another look at the bottom. The really bad thing is that we just sprayed fertilizer the last 2 days on ALL the corn...we are hoping that it wont hurt us, but it has to be on the ground for so long before the plant absorbs it...I doubt that 1 day being on the ground will work.

This is the soybean field across the street from the house.....it drained quick but could be enough to ruin the entire field of beans...again - NOT GOOD!

This is the front horse lot that Molly and Buck are in....can you see how hard and fast the tile is pulling water through? No? here try the next picture after this:

This doesnt happen often in fact Norm can only remember a few times its been this bad in this area of the farm.

Another view of the horse lot looking from the porch.

The soybean field across the street view from the porch

Behind the house in King, Jack, and Bellas pasture...poor baby's!

My drowned garden

Front horse lot again

And the soybean field again.
A total loss in these fields..wont know until the beans come up...or not. A big loss in money...oh yeah....enough to make you sick to your stomach.

Why does time pass so quickly....

The second time in a week we have had a beautiful rainbow! This time we could see where it began and ended! I wish my camera could capture it better.
Norm has been busy planting and cutting hay...we have 200+ round bails cut so far....150 acres of soybeans in the ground, 43 acres of corn so far...and if the rain would stop he could get the rest of the beans and corn in the ground, and get all the hay up. We dont mind the rain one bit...only pray that it will still be raining in the summer....the last few years of drought have been hard. People think when they see this much land that we are rich...I have to laugh ...we are no different than anyone else trying to get by in this tough economy..jobs are scarce and non-existent here right now, and if you farm you know that it wont make you rich! Guess when we win the lottery and can buy a bunch more land, and a huge cattle ranch then we can say we are rich! One day....I guess we should start playing the lottery to even have that happen huh? But all the money in the world wouldnt change that we love where we live, even the hard times are softened with a trip through the farm! It never ceases to make me smile inside and out. About a month ago, it was early evening, sun just going down and the grass had really sprung up along the roadside and I was driving from one end of the farm to the other, the frogs had come out, bugs making their summertime noises and I thought to myself..This is the best day of the whole year....that first time you know summer is around the corner and the world starts waking up from winter. I dont think there is anything like it. My farm dreams have come true and to raise my kids on such a beautiful peace of land is so awesome! I've dreamed of being able to give this to my children and never thought that one day we would be living this dream. But here I am, and it never ceases to amaze me each day...I think feeling so blessed every morning when you wake up is the best feeling in the world.
When I look back at my life, I'm ashamed of the stupid things I've done or said, I can see the lack of commitment I had to God. I wish I could set it all right with those I've hurt or made as "enemies". I wish they all could know me now, know who I am today, rather than remember me as I was. If I could mend all the bridges I would. I'm sure there are still going to be people who will never realize that my life is a completely different life for me - I am completely different. I guess it's something I need to come to terms with. I guess I should have the satisfaction of having a daily presence and commitment to God in my life, the friends that I've made who are more like family and enrich my life rather than hold me back or to a level I shouldnt be at, or that I'm a great mom, and I love my kids with all that I am and that they too love me, or that I have such a wonderful man in my life who grounds me and loves me - for the first time I get to experience that...there is so much more to me than they know....I am most thankful that the only one who matters...God...has forgiveness and always walks alongside of us, and can pull us up from dark places and give us new life, in this world too, not just when we pass. He can and does answer prayers even those half hearted ones. He can pull you up..you just need to ask. I think that I am so appreciative today for all that I have good in my life because of the STUPID choices I've made in the past! We all fall from God, we all have our skeletons, I'm just glad that we have the ability to change our lives.
So even if I havent accomplished the flowerbeds being finished, my pond being dug, my round pen being built or the chicken coop and goat shed not started, or the new flooring not done in the house and I still have ancient gold carpet from the 60's, or green linoleum in my kitchen - avocado no less, or that I've gained way too much weight, or miss my daughter like crazy when she isnt here, or there are people who will never believe these words,etc......I still have so much to be thankful for. And I am.
This week my daughter was promoted from 8th grade...she is now a high school student.....While at her ceremony I was so proud of the young lady she has become, yet so sad that my little girl, my baby..is no longer a kid...she is growing up so fast. I couldnt help thinking of the day she was born and how the thought of my little baby becoming a middle school student - and now a high schooler was unthinkable!!!! With each milestone - she has come out ahead and on top above her peers. I'm proud of the great job we (as her parents) have done, and must pat myself on the back sometimes for the job I've - we've- done.... she has so many that love her, a great father, and a step mother who has loved her as her own...I'm thankful that Leah has had such support in her life from all her family members and wonderful friends who have all helped make her who she is today. It is bitter-sweet watching your children grow up....your so proud and happy of them each day, yet long for them to be wrapped up small and snug, sleeping in your arms as a new baby. I mess the smells, the sounds, how they look in their adorable baby clothes. Their small warm heads sleeping on your shoulder. Those huge baby smiles and those first slobbery kisses they give you. I'll never forget that first kiss she gave us at her fathers aunts house....she wouldnt stop giving kisses...her face all lit up at her new accomplishment and how she was enjoying making us laugh! Now my baby is a teenager, going into high school, and making her own way into the world. Scary really to let them grow up. But regardless of all I miss when she was a baby.....I'm so proud of her, and it is a joy every day at seeing the young lady she has become and the young woman she will soon grow into.

8th grade awards ceremony - yes I'm much shorter than she is, another daily reminder that she is growing up!

Soon it will be my sons time to leave elementary school and enter middle school...and soon into high school before I know it..he is almost taller than me..maybe shorter by half and inch - or less. I guess then I'll really feel old! Why does time pass so quickly????