Fall Colors

A ride on Otoelene netted some beautiful Fall colors.

This hickory is a yearly favorite.

The “gorge” is multiflora rose free due to J spraying and the goats working 24/7.

A little hint at the steepness.

A view to the bottom.  

And then back to the driveway.

Coupon Saturday #36

I know it is not Saturday, but Saturday is the day of the $5 off $25 at Dollar General, so that is when I do most of my couponing. 

 Here is this week's haul.  $12.15 spent in 3 transactions with a total savings of $77.44.   I also found out that the Saturday night manager is a couponer too.  So no worries if something isn't working right.  She can either fix it or just let me put stuff back without a fuss. 

 Plus, I made it to the Grand opening of our local store and got a $10 gift card.  I am torn between using it myself or as a secret santa gift.  Only time will tell.

Then, because I was one of the first 200 customers to buy something, I got this tote, cup and samples.  Now, whenever there is a glitch or a "run now" senario, I'm just 2 minutes away.

5 Random Things

I have a bunch of random things that by themselves didn't seem enough for a post so I am just cramming them together here. 

 The other day it sounded like someone throwing pebbles against the window.  When I checked it out, it was hornets throwing themselves against it.

 I don't know how I missed seeing this before it got this big, but here it is.  I'm not sure what had them stirred up that day, but it was a clear demonstration  of the saying "mad as a hornet".

 The burning bushes and red maple are in full color.

 I think it makes for a sunning entrance. 

 The ground was littered with hedge apples when I rode Draper yesterday.  It was very difficult to pull her away from what she thought was a tasty treat.

 Just a nice shot of a nanny goat and pretty sky.

And it is always nice to start a day with a beautiful sunrise.

Goats And Herefords

First the bad news.  Last week we went for 7 bottle goats to 5 overnight.  The rest of the herd had started spending the night in the bottom rather than on the hill in front of the barn where the bottle ones hang out.  Therefore, all the guard dogs were with the herd and there was no protection for the bottle goats.  

 Of course, the coyotes chose the biggest ones.  I really hate coyotes.  I have saved these, taken care of them for 6 months, J has battled with them for 6 months, then pow, coyote food. 

 Because our calves will be lighter when we send them to the feedlot, J bought 15 Hereford heifers to finish out the load.  But now he really likes the Herefords and wants to bred them and resale next year as bred heifers.  He may talk himself back out of this because it will mean buying 15 more of something else to finish out the load. 

 Anyway, one was coughing this morning and had a slight fever, so she got treated for that. 

The green mark is so J can quickly pick her out over the next few days to make sure she is on the mend.

Not A Fluke

Draper did so well the first time I took her across the creek that I thought it might just have been a fluke. 

 So when I rode her earlier this week, I took her over there again. 

 But first we headed up and over the hill to look at the cows.   After I rode past them, I think they became hopeful that they might get to move to new pasture, so they slowing started bawling and following after me. 

By the time I got across the creek, they were all down at the fence walking back and forth bawling.  This didn't seem to bother Draper in the slightest.  She calmly walked around the bottom and back across the creek, with just a little hesitation to do some more playing in the water.  Another nice day and wonderful ride.

Bumper Crop

Pears have been pretty sparse for the last couple of years. 

 However,  this year there were so many branches were breaking. 

 I propped up some on the limbs.  Not really sure if that helped or not.

Now they are falling off by the bushel. 

I thought I might try some pear butter this year.  But, it is really hard to cook pears down enough to get it thick.  J said it's like a cross between sauce and butter.  So I guess you can just take your pick at how to eat it.

Coupon Saturday #35

This may be my best one to date.  There was a clearance event this weekend, so and additional 50% off clearance items.  Plus, I found out that the buy one Coke product get a Cheez It free up to $2 digital coupon, actually worked on the family size $4.50 box, making it free.  In the couponing world, this is called a "glitch"

 Anyway, the $5 off 3 pantene coupon attached to the clearance trial size giving $3.64 in overage, and there was a Theraflu digital with overage on the clearance box.  And a little overage on the Febreeze clearance and the Gain Tropical scent gave overage too.

 SEVEN CENTS!  If you count the original price on things, that is $33 worth of stuff for 7 cents, including the tax.

 Then I got a little cocky and tried again on Saturday with the $5 off $25, but I got distracted talking to a friend I met there.  I ended up not following my written scenario and just winging it.  I got too many Gain products by accident and that ate up my overage.  I had added a bottle of vinegar (not in the picture) that I needed and that was supposed to take care of the overage, but there wasn't any because of the extra Gain.  So it ended up being $3.  Win some/lose some.

Then we were driving through Speedwell, and saw this!  It's open.  This is just the soft opening, the Grand Opening will be in a couple of weeks.  V went with me to try our couponing luck.  A $5 off $5.01 appeared on our accounts and we were anxious to see if it would work.  It didn't.  The facebook group is having mixed results with it.  It should be good all week, so I will study up on it some more and try another day. 

More Wire Woes

We still have a considerable amount of wire to get rid of. 

 We waited until the scrap metal bin was empty at the green box, and hauled another load down there only to be told they wouldn't take anymore.  The owner of the recycling contract said it took up too much room in the container and he didn't get paid enough.  So now what?  We have 400 pounds of wire on the truck and nowhere to take it.  J wanted to dump it in a hole, but I wouldn't let him.   I checked around and found a recycling center 30 minutes away. 

The claw, The claw

So up the road I went.  Apparently, scrap metal is selling for 3 cents a pound.  The claw came down and unloaded the wire and I left with $12.  Since then, I have taken 2 more loads.  At least it will pay for the gas.  The alternative that the county administrator recommended was hauling it to the transfer station, a mile down the road from the recycling center that I went to,  and pay $28 a load to get rid of it.  I think I chose the better option.

Coupon Saturday #34

Little deal for this week.

I love those Swiffer wet pads, so anything to get more of them.

I basically paid for the Cheez Its and everything else was free.

Drought Plan Round Two

The cattle at the house have settled down, so now it is time to wean the next group. 

 These are the cows and calves just up the road.  J already had them up and ready for me to help.

 The flies, oh, the flies.

 Sorting went very smoothly.

 The cows got dewormed and turned back out.  That should help with the flies too.  Plus, the weather has cooled down today, from the 90's to the 50's, big change.

Then we loaded up the calves, and brought them to the house where it will be easier for J to feed them and keep an eye on things.  Three trips later and done.  J said he is liking this dry weather to wean and feed in.  No mud around the feed troughs, everything staying clean.  I guess being in a drought has some upside.

Drought Plan

We have no rain from early August until 0.4 inches on Sunday. The pasture ere all in good shape with J’s rotational grazing, but things are starting to go down hill with no relief in sight.  And this time of year, once it rains it will probably frost, so not much left of the growing season. 

So J’s plan is to wean the calves 3 months early, feed them grain and get them ready to go to the feedlot earlier.  Then the cows won’t require as much grass and hay.

Tuesday  was the big day.

The temperature made it into the 90’s.

This calffound a way to deal with the heat by standing in the water tank.

After we separated everyone, J dewormed the cows then the calves.

Then the calves headed to one field with the cows in the adjoining field.  Fence line weaning is supposed to cut down on stress, but is sure didn’t cut down on bawling.  Pretty sure I didn’t get any sleep Tuesday night.