Guest Photographer

E has been hiking around the farm everyday with her camera and binoculars.  She says she needs one more bird to move up to 5th place on the county eBird list.  Here is a sampling of what she has seen. 

red-tailed hawk 

not a bird but a coyote.  we have seen this one a few times.

blue jay

golden crowned kinglet

song sparrow

eastern screech owl

northern harrier 

american kestrel 

E is letting the pictures speak for themselves, she has nothing to add. 
 

Parks Board Game

E received the game Parks for Christmas. 

It looked like a good fit for a naturalist interested in hiking and visiting the National Parks.   Four of us tried to play it yesterday.  Between us all were 4 undergraduate degrees, 3 masters degrees and a DVM.

Note the ages and time to play.  And interestingly, you can play by yourself. 

The game is super cute, nice game piece, 

and beautiful graphics. 

After an hour of reading the 10 pages of directions we finally had the board set up. We managed 1 round of turns with mostly illegal moves before giving up.  I really have no idea how a 10 year old could figure this out.  E decided we needed to try it when we were more rested and maybe with just 2 people, then add in more as we figured things out.  I have since watched a couple more youtube videos and think I am ready to try again.  I'll let you know how it goes. 

 

White Chirstmas

We woke up Christmas morning to about 4 inches of snow, which soon turned into about 6 inches by lunchtime.  Plus, it was only 10 degrees.  

The snow and cold meant extra work for J which took longer than he had planned.  He decided to stay home and deal with the farm chores while me and E went off to visit with family.   

The snow did make for some pretty pictures. 

The dogs didn't seem to mind.  

Maggie was right at home.  

The goats had to work a little harder to get to the grass but they managed.  

They are staying together better since we weaned the kids and have a billy with them.  Makes it a little easier on the dogs.  We have spotted more coyotes so it is never very safe for them.  

Ok, one more picture of the tree.  I just love a good Christmas tree. 
 

And This Will Be A Sign Unto You;

 Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

Merry Christmas
 

I Spy

I looked out the window at sunset and was greeted with this stunning sight.

Can you spot all of the birds?

Here are a couple of hints.

Any guesses?  

I didn't get to see the Star of Bethlehem because of all the clouds but at least there was a nice sunset. 
 

S🎅NTA

I am at it again, not Pinterest this time but Etsy.

Can you believe $35 for this?  Granted, it is pretty cute and includes shipping,  but maybe I will give it a try. 

I stole an ornament off the tree that I made a couple of years ago (HERE).  I took it to the shop and managed to find the same board I had cut them from so the thickness matched.  This looks a bit thinner than the model.  Maybe I will try another version with thicker wood.  Then I went to the Dollar Tree to find stencils but came home with sparkle stickers instead.

I'm not sure about the Santa shape with the sign so I added a block behind him. 

But then he kind of disappeared into the red.  

Maybe someone would like to design a new one for me.  

Wildlife and death

I got one more ride in on Tuesday before the weather turned bad here. 

I decided to just ride down the road and back since it was still somewhat muddy.  At the far entrance to the farm I was greeted by the smell first.  

It was a little harder to identify without the head, but the smell... Yes, a headless skunk.  Otoelene was a little leary of this but walked by, no problem.

We had a nice rest of the ride and on the way back to the house I saw this happy bouncy squirrel.  A big improvement over the headless skunk.  
 

Just Kit Sunday #163

E had Kit come inside for his Christmas photo shoot.

The lighting wasn't the best, we may have to try again during the day. 

But he like playing with the ornements, maybe a little too much. 

No point zooming in to look for the pickle.  I haven't put it on yet.  Just a little early Christmas from E and Kit. 
 

Weaning The Last Group

J decided that yesterday would be the day to move the cattle back to this side of the creek and wean the calves. 

They were a little stubborn to start with, standing and bawling but not coming across.  

They finally came, no need to cross over ourselves and help herd. 

Two pairs had gotten out the day before and J did have to go after those. 

He had noticed a wire on one cows fetlock, he said it looked like she was wearing a bracelet.  

But it turned out more serious than that.  

The cut round part was visible, that twisted tail thing was not.  It was jammed way up between her toes and very difficult to pull out.  J said it looked like she felt better today.  I would hope so after getting that thing off. 

And we had some fabulous help.  E is home from her job in GA, on a break until she heads off to Texas for a few months.   She helped with the sorting and deworming, no pictures there because I had to leave but I am told everything went well.  

And on another note.  Happy Birthday E!
 

One Shot

J was looking out of the kitchen window this morning and exclaimed, "there's a coyote!"

(no coyote in the picture, taken after the fact, bullet casing added for effect)  And sure enough, there was one making its way across the field.   J grabbed his rifle and headed off after it.  

Did I mention he got it with one shot. 

He said he came to this brace post and it was trying to find a way through the fence down the hill. 

Then it headed up that way when he shot.  

The goats are up on the hill this morning, no little ones to worry about and the dogs were all there.  But one less coyote anyway. 
 

Coupon Saturday #51

Several good digital coupons this week, and my Dollar General was mostly stocked.

48 cents plus tax, 

$1.88 plus tax.  I had it at 88 cents but didn't check my paper coupon for beggin strips, it was expired.  Rookie mistake.  

Was running low on M&M's, $4.48 plus tax.  

It was a good Saturday at DG.