Kit Kat Sunday #157

I caught Kit in the garden. 

 Maybe he's dreaming of lettuce and onions.

Hey Grandpa, What's For Supper

Fresh garden greens

 tender and new,

 and quite a variety too,

 and a little green onion

 diced finely on top,

 then heat a pan

 and cook bacon 'til  hot.

 Crumble it good, and make your dressing, vinegar sugar and drippings I'm guessing.

Now eat your kilt onion and lettuce and go watch Matt and Festus.

Four Animal Species And A Plant

I had a nice ride on Otoelene this morning.  Bumble didn't show up for supper last night which is highly unusual so I thought I would go looking for her.  I had no success this morning but thankfully, she was there for supper tonight. 

 I rode up on top of the hill in front of the house to get the best view while I looked for Bumble.

  The yearling heifers are looking good. 

 Then I saw this robin from my bedroom window.  Yes, it is just a robin but I thought it was interesting that it had a centipede in its mouth.  (should I have counted the centipede? five species then)

 The baby goats are really growing now. 

Kid Playground

I still have one that I take a bottle to in the evenings when we feed the dogs, but it would probably be fine without it. 

And just because I love Alliums.

Some Gave All

Ronald Reagan

“…And if words cannot repay the debt we owe these men, surely with our actions we must strive to keep faith with them and with the vision that led them to battle and to final sacrifice."

"In Flanders Fields” by John McCrae

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Spring Cattle Work

Saturday V and M helped us work the cattle at Julian's.

M and J did all the prep work of getting the cattle in and sorted.  We vaccinated and tagged the calves first this time.  Last year we worked the cows first, but they were so annoying trying to come up to the headgate to claim their calves.  It worked out much better this way.  The calves just hung out, out of the way until the cows were done.

I gave the cow shots.

Mike was the muscle, putting the calves down the chute.

J did the tagging and calf vaccines, then switched with M to sort the cows the way he wanted.

And there were three he sorted for me to check.  Unfortunately, they were all open, but the work went smooth with excellent help.  Thanks V for taking pictures since I left my camera at the house again.

When You See A Coyote...

Yesterday morning J was looking out the window and yelled, "there's a coyote, let me get my gun."

 He handed me the binoculars and told me to keep an eye on it, so of course I grabbed my camera instead.

 There were actually two in the field.

So, no, this isn't what J looked like, he did stop to put on his boots.  Plus, he had clothes on because he was getting ready to eat breakfast, not take a shower. 

I guess stopping to put on boots slowed him down too much and they were to far out and the grass too tall by the time he got out there.  Just hope the dogs continue to do their job as well as they have in the past.

Sure Sign Of Rain

We haven't had much rain for the last couple of weeks, but now the peonies are just starting to open. 

 That is a sure sign of rain.

The weather forecast has rain for at least the next 5 days.   Here are a few other flowers I have been enjoying before the rain set in.

 Old fashion bearded irises from Grandma. 

 Siberian irises,

 from Lowe's.

 And who doesn't love a purple Allium?

 C's Lamb's Ear is just getting ready to bloom. 

And I love that the Daisies from Dr. G are blooming with the heifers in the background. 

First Trail Ride Of The Season

It looked like Sunday was finally going to be a nice weather day.  Plus, J had some free time.  So, perfect day to go for a trail ride.  The only problem was deciding which horses to take.  J likes to ride Jessica, so I had to decide between Draper and Otoelene.  Draper really needs to get out and be exposed to more things, but Otolene has put on the "Spring Grass 100". 

 So the obvious choice was to get someone else to go with us.  In stepped Kelsi.  I have been talking to her about horses at work and kept telling her to come ride.  She use to have a horse growing up, but doesn't live where she can have one now.  Looks like all the stars aligned because she was able to come. 

 Good thing she brought her phone for some pictures because I forgot my camera.  No idea how I let that happen. 

Anyway, I rode Draper, who was pretty good, just a few bobbles around some barking dogs, and passing horses going the other way.  Kelsi rode Otoelene, who did great as far as I could tell.  (that is both horse a rider doing great).   And J rode his steed Jessica.  I think at 19 she might have finally settled down.   So,  who is going riding with us next?

Just Kit Sunday #156

I think the quality of Kit Kat photos will increase now that I am using E's camera. 

And in the background is a hint at In Bloom.

Coupon Saturday #44

You know the drill by now, to get what I want for less.  

 Doritos were on sale 2/$5 and J said we were out of snacks.  Plus we needed the hot chocolate at $1.85

Not bad, $5.15 plus tax so everything else...FREE.  It was a little more challenging today because the app that I scan the prices from wasn't working, so I had to just trust that everything would attach like it was suppose to, and it did. Success. 

What A Difference...

..a good camera makes.  Since E bought a new camera, she left her old one here for me to try out.  While she was still here I did get a chance to go birding with her.  

 Birding is very challenging.  It's pretty easy to hear the birds, a little harder to find them.  Then it is nearly impossible to see them in the camera viewfinder, focus and get a picture before they fly off.  But this camera makes all the difference.  On our trip to Oregon last year I totally gave up on taking any bird pictures with my camera, but I am loving E's so far.   On our hike we saw this goldfinch,

 red headed woodpecker,

 and Baltimore Oriole. 

 Then I went to my yard to practice on birds easier to see.   I'm going with Chipping Sparrow for this one.

 And the cutest Eastern Bluebird.

 Can't figure this one out. Help me here E.

 When I was out checking the goats I saw this Indigo Bunting.

 And I was inside the barn when his bird landed in the window.

I'm loving the camera.  Now I have to work on identifying all these birds.   This one could be some sort of fly catcher, a Eastern Phoebe maybe?