Interesting

This is a tree on top of the hill.

Anyone want to put in their hand  to find out what might be in there?

Thanksgiving

Our family had a wonderful Thanksgiving get together this year. 

Mama cooked the turkey to perfection.
This is how most of the rest of the meal was prepared. 
Bunny made is in from his travels.  I think a book is in the works about is scuba diving trip.  Unfortunately, he didn't get to keep the scuba suit.  He spent last weekend in Miami.  Then next month he'll be visiting England.  E said Bunny has led a more exciting life than she has.

Happy Thanksgiving

These turkeys were next to the driveway last week.  

I got my camera and on my way to work took these pictures.
All that I had to do was roll the passenger side window down and shoot.  None of these birds will be joining us at the table however.

And remember the first Thanksgiving at Berkeley Plantation in 1619, NOT THE PILGRIMS.

Working Cattle

We worked the fall calving cow herd today. 

Before we start at this farm J has to block a few weak spots with some panels.
We sorted out the cows to work first.  They got a 10 way vaccine and were dewormed.
One cow has a horn that grows too curved and presses on her skull so we have to saw it back periodically. 
Next, the heifer calves were sorted.  They only needed a 7-way vaccine.  The bull calves were castrated, implanted and vaccinated.
The work went smoothly only it wasn't a good day to have forgotten my rubber boots.

More Yard Ornaments

In case you haven't noticed, I enjoy taking found objects (and since we live on a farm these found objects are usually old farm machinery parts) and repurposing them into yard decorations. 

This is an old spring that was just the right size to support a bird bath which I have filled with some of my seashell collection.  No birds bathe in it but Oreo and Emma like to drink out of it.

Show Steers

We have picked out next years show steers.  We bought one and the other 3 are from our herd.

With all of the rain we have been having this fall, the barn lot is a little messy.

We just picked up the bought one today.  He weighs 844 pounds.  The other 3 are 760, 732, and 578.  The goal is to have each girl show 2 steers that will hopefully be in different weight classes.  The show in May is a long time away.

Catching Up

Just a few loose ends from last week while I was fussing with the phone company.

J took the camera up the hill one day and got the beautiful shot.
We worked the calves that were weaned awhile back.  We vaccinated 50 head and tagged them with the electronic ear tags.  We had some good help with "Scummy".

The puppies are really growing.  They are 13 weeks old.  We have been leaving them outside at night now.  They are really good about staying with the goats, at least with E's two.                    

Emma is good about only playing with them when we go to the barn with her.  She is still top dog but the puppies just about out weigh her.                                                                                     

I gave them their booster shots the other day.  I think I will have to spay them before too long.  I don't want to wait until they get to be 100 pounds.  I have been calling them Bumble, after the Abominable Snowman from Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer, and Bea, from Andy Griffith.  J on the other hand has been referring to them as Sugar and Honey, Mama's suggestion.

Career Day

I once again did career day for the local elementary school.  160 kids came through in 12 groups and every one of them patted Emma.  She is such a good dog.  In between groups she would patiently wait in her carrier.  She never once barked, whined or made a noise of any sort.  I performed 12 physical exams on her so she would just about open her mouth and say ahh if I asked by the end of the day.

I'm not sure why the guidance councilors continually ask us to career day (other than the fact that the children are easily entertained by a dog and we show up).  They only had 2 other careers represented today, police and VDOT.  It seems they might actually have representatives from some more likely career paths.  There are only 84000 vets total in the US.  That includes private and public/corporate.   960,000 claim farming as their principal occupation.   How many are in your professions?

Update Internet

After 5 phone calls to Century Link someone finally came out while we weren't there yesterday and checked that we had a dial tone then left. No effort we made to check the DSL which was the whole point of the complaint. Our neighbor retired from the phone company last year so after some phone calls from him someone else came to check the DSL and said the signal is not reaching the house DUH! He then disappeared and has not been seen since. Still don't know when it will be back. And yes V is driving us crazy. She won't admit it but she is addicted to my- space.

NO INTERNET

Our Internet has been down since Wednesday, not sure when it will return. The phone company was suppose to come Friday, then Monday, now they say Tuesday. We'll see.

Mulch

Every year I get one or two truckloads of mulch for the yard.

It comes from a sawmill nearby.  The mulch is usually pretty rough with lots of big chunks of wood.  The people aren't at the sawmill very often so it is sort of hit or miss about being able to get the mulch.  I had the day off and heard they were suppose to be there so I went but still had to wait half an hour for them to show up.  It also was raining all day but I didn't know when the next time would be where they would be in and I would have the day off.
The reason I put up with all of this is because a truckload only cost $20. (I had already unloaded part of this load before I took the picture.)  The price is hard to beat.

Reconstruction

J blowing out the birthday candles.  Another year has come and gone.  J's in-laws took him out for supper.

Yesterday K redid a rock wall that she constructed several years ago. She did not like the spacing or something about it.

Another view of the revised wall.  There is no room for error!

(Text by J)

Goat Thinning

Today was the day to sort the goats, sell the kids and culls.

The no name yet puppies are growing fast.  They mostly hang around the billy goat they came with or E's bottle goats that like to stay near the barn.
It is always difficult to decide which ones to sell.  I hated to let the appaloosa go because she is so recognizable.  However, I was afraid after the c-section she might have trouble again.  We sold 30 in all, just didn't have the numbers this year.  We lost so many to coyotes and parasites.  The wet weather was good for the grass but it also is good for worms too.
We kept 42 nannies.  Maybe we'll have better luck next year.  

Horse Sitting

V has started her job of horse sitting.  She has to feed and check on two and a half horses twice a day while the owner is in the hospital having a baby.  One is a show horse that has to have a blanket and hood depending on the weather.

Blackie is the 1/2.

Spooky

The girls and I were at C's for Halloween (I had a CE meeting).  I took 2 pumpkins and C supervised the carving.

E's had a few changes between the concept stage and the cutting.  He seemed to end up with E's personality.
V worked on her's second and learned from E's errors.  It came off a little more spooky.
C said she just gave them the knives and turned them loose.