He’s Here!

It has been a long wait.  After last year’s stillbirth I really wasn’t getting my hopes up.  But I was trying to do everything I could right.  She went over her due date by 10 days. She has been in the barn on fescue free hay since the first of April.  I have been putting her in a bedded stall every night for a week.  I aim the Birdfy camera at the whole barn during the day  and moved it to just the stall at night.  I can check the live feed on the app from anywhere.    I usually wake up around 2:30-3 and check the camera. But last night, I had an itchy spot right in the center of my back that I couldn’t reach and it wouldn’t go away.  So I thought I would go ahead and check the camera. 

 It didn’t record it but she was lying down. She went to roll over and hit the coral panels, got startled and jumped up. When she swung around I could see feet. I told Joe I was headed to the barn. 

I got there in time to see it born!  I did jump in and moved the placenta off his face. 

Then after a bit I untangled he’s front legs from her rear legs. 

Draper is being a good mom. 

He was born at 12:23, stood at 1:18 and nursed at 1:45.  I made it back to bed at 3:30. 

This morning he was still perfect. 

I had to go to work today but Joe will be there for the vet to do the foal CITE test to make sure he got enough colostrum.  

I will have plenty of blog material for awhile. 

In Bloom At The 4Rs

We are still in a drought but have had just enough rain to keep things green. Plus, I have been carrying a lot of water to the flowers. 

Not really a bloom, but I moved my wine bottle bush out from the shadows to the stump of one of the river birches that we had cut down. 

The cone flowers are just starting to bloom. 

And can you see that electric blue in the background? 

That is the delphinium that I planted last year as a trial.  I had never grown it before so I wanted to see if it would come back, and it did!  I think I might have to get a few more now. 

The day lilies along the driveway are heading towards their peak. 

And for my flower pots, I decided to try different foliage plants instead of flowers. 
 Who doesn’t love a nice poke a dot plant and sweet potato vine. 

$220 For $10

I really need to stop going to the Big Bin Dealz  Store. Today was $2 day.  I really held back and actually put some things back. But I did find some good Dealz. 

I had actually been looking for some new placemats. I thought these would look nice. 

I didn’t know they sold for $80 at Pottery Barn. 

I thought these wooded knobs looked cute. Surely , I can find a project for them. 

And a $20 savings is nothing to sneeze at. 

This is a 100% cotton table cloth. I really liked the pattern and color. 

$58 savings.  

I had gotten Emily’s stainless steel in sink dish drainer for Christmas a couple of years ago. 

I paid a little more than $2 for it then. I thought maybe I would give it a try to see if it would clear off my countertop some.  

A you-tuber I have been watching about growing house plants recommended a water meter instead of using your finger. 

For $2 I thought I might give it a try.  

Can you tell I am becoming addicted to this store. 

 

Weekend Fun

Sadie and Allie came over Saturday while Mike and Virginia worked on painting their newly finished basement.  But as soon as they got here they asked if they could spend the night.  Of course you can!

First things first, we had to go love on Clyde.  This time Sadie wanted to dress him up.  What I had as Christmas Parade items looks like it will work for 4th of July attire too. (especially next to Sadie's star jeans)

This time we went all the way down the driveway, through the gate and to the road and back.  Clyde was such a good boy.  

Back at the barn Allie helped Joe with the poop patrol.  

And Sadie worked more on her riding.  

There were lots more fun and games at the house.  

And we enjoyed pizza at CJ's for supper.  

Sunday morning they had already put on their dresses for church but they still wanted to go to the barn to help with Draper.  (she is a week overdue now) 

And they even let me braid their hair.  This has been a rare occurrence.  

After church they put on their bathing suits and played in the sprinkler.  It was a fun weekend. 
 

44 More

Monday we worked 10 cow/calf pairs.  These were at our farm up the road.  Since Joe is still doing the Sandhills shuffle for calving, these ten were in a different group than the rest.  (you can find out more than you ever want to know about the Sandhills calving method HERE)

It wasn't difficult to just do 10 pairs, and that meant 10 less to do later.  

Later came today.  We did 34 pairs.  

We noticed one of the cows limping.  I thought I could see something stuck between her toes.  

When she came into the chute, there it was, a stick.  Joe was able to reach through and pull it out.  

She might be sore for a couple of days.  But hopefully, that is all that was wrong with her.  

No other drama, and we got them finished and turned back out.  
 

Trees And Birds

No, the birds are not in the trees.  The trees are on the fence again.  Maybe you remember this tree from last year (HERE)

Well, another part of the tree fell over the same spot in the fence.  

This is on rented land but we have to keep up the fence.  A neighbor drove by and said he would take the wood but he didn't offer to help get it off the fence.  There was a lot of cutting and eventually a tractor was involved. 

But Joe got it done as usual.  

Now there are just 2 trunks left to fall.  

On the bird front, my bird box that had the camera has birds but  no camera.  Ants had gotten into it and I gave the replacement bird house away at Christmas.  But I can open the side and hold my phone over the nest for a picture.  Not sure how many are there.  They are tree swallows.  

And a surprise find inside one of my grapevine balls.  

A mockingbird nest with 3 eggs!  So, if a bird in the hand beats 2 in the bush, what does 3 in a ball get?

The Channels

Joe wanted to do something different than usual on Sunday.  So, instead of walking around here, we drove and hour and a half to walk around somewhere else.  I had seen something about The Channels in Saltville and thought it sounded interesting. 

It was purchased by the Virginia Department of Forestry in 2008, so it is a relatively new attraction.  There are only 10 parking spots, violators will be ticketed and towed.  There were 12 parked cars and another waiting when we arrived and another pulled in right after us.  Joe was pretty put out.  He thought that no one would bother to drive 30 minutes up a very winding road in the middle of no where to go on a hike.  I had already read that you needed to get there early to get a spot so I was not surprised by the number of cars there.  And since we were already there, I didn't mind waiting to see if a spot opened up.  It turned out we only had to wait about 30 minutes.  Then off we went.  The trail was 3 1/2 miles up hill the whole way.  

I enjoyed spotting wildflowers like these fire pinks, 

Mountain laurel, 

rhododendron, 

galax, 

goat's beard, 

blue eyed grass, 

And wild azalea.                                                                                                                                             

Finally, at the top there was a lookout tower.  Unfortunately, it was closed to the public.  

But there was a rock outcropping that had a beautiful view.  

I had eaten my lunch in the parking lot while we waited, but Joe packed his up the mountain and ate here.  

Then it was just a few hundred yards to The Channels.  

It doesn't look like much from the top.  

But it is amazing from the bottom.  

Joe said it would be a good spot for a Gunsmoke episode.   He said he could just hear Chester getting lost and calling out, "Mr. Dillon, Mr. Dillion."

I, on the other hand, thought about True Grit when Joe said he would take my picture.  I took off  my hat and my sunglasses immediately flew off and down into a hole.  I just thought about the snake pit.  Luckily, there was a stick near by that I was able to use to fish my glasses closer so I could reach them.  And there was no snake. 

We explored all of the nooks and crannies for about half an hour.  It was fascinating.  

Then it was 3 1/2 miles back down the mountain.  

It was a very enjoyable 4 hour hike.  We had no idea this was nearly in our backyard.