Timely Article

Mama was decluttering her file cabinet and gave me a folder of articles she had saved about gardening. I found one that was very timely for me.

You might notice that the date is November 1978.  She has been holding on to this for awhile. 

But look, I happen to have a very leggy Dracaena.   

I cut the tops off, dipped them in rooting hormone and stuck them back in the pot with the stumps. I then cut the long stalk into sections and stuck them in water to root.  In 2-8 weeks if I see roots, I can plant them in soil.

While I was in the planting mood, I decided to deal with my snake plants.  My original one came from a leaf cutting I did in Plant Propagation class in college.  It has been multiplying ever since.   I planted this one a couple of years ago but have never been happy with how it has done.  I have had to keep it staked and tied.  

These two are usually on the mantel.  Emily has been appalled at how root bound they are.  

I thinned out the root bound ones.  They do look better. 

And I made two more small ones out of the big gangly one. 

I think they like to be root bound so maybe the smaller pots will be better. 

Couponing #81

I did 3 transactions at Dollar General on Saturday.  There were glitching Swiffer coupons and a $5 off $20 Gain coupon that was stacking with the regular $5/$25.  I didn’t want those to go to waste.  I bought (paid for) Pepsi and a loaf of bread.  

 And got $72 of stuff for free.  One transaction was coming out negative so I had to add a 25 cent Christmas item.  That made it 13 cents INCLUDING tax.  I am pretty set on Swiffer stuff for awhile.

Sadie, Allie, Hugo, Otoelene Saturday

Hugo has not been getting much riding attention lately.  But the weather was nice enough this morning for me to work with him a bit. 

He still backs away when approached or if surprised, but it is usually not violent.  But when ridden, he always seems calmer than we would expect for how he is when we are on the ground.  So I guess I prefer that combination to the opposite.  
 

Then Virginia showed up with Allie and Sadie.  I tried to get a picture but no one was cooperating.   Sadie just wanted to ride.  I told her she needed her helmet.  When she realized what I was talking about she remembered it and jerked off her hat and said, Yes! Helmet.  

She carried it to the barn herself and would have tried to lead Otoelene if I had let her. 

Otoelene has been so calm and quite with Sadie.  A real superstar so far.  

And we always have to clean the feet.  

I lead Sadie around for a little while but she kept asking to trot.  And since she always gets what she wants...

I got on and we trotted.   She usually doesn't want to ride for all that long so it is a pretty easy day for Otoelene.  

Then it was inside to play with her kitchen.  Virginia said Sadie would keep asking to come to Mimi's and play kitchen.  

Little Allie seems to enjoy the kitchen set too.  And she played some with the quiet book.   Then Emily and Kerian came to move their things into storage before heading to South America in a month.  I helped some  with the toting of things.  Then it was CJ's for supper with everyone!  Another nice Saturday.  

More Sorting

With the feedlot cattle gone, Joe decided to split the left behinds into two groups,

the replacement heifers and the small ones.  That way he can pay closer attention to the replacements to make sure these are the ones he wants to keep.
 

We had 2 sets of obstacles today, mud and very uneven froze ground. 

But we managed without any hardships.   Now Joe can study more on his choices.  

But now he once again has two groups to haul grain to.  

At least the view is nice.  

Four More Open

It has been a rough year for open cows.  It seems like there have been more than usual.  But I haven’t added them up yet, just a feeling. 

 Anyway, Joe got four more up for me the check.  He has seen them back in heat at one time or another after the bull had been taken out.  And he was right, they were all open.  Another trip to the market Thursday.

Sadie and Allie Saturday

Virginia's internet was out Saturday so she decided to bring Allie and Sadie here to hang out for the day.  

Sadie went with me and Joe to get a truckload of wood.

It was rough and rocky ground with lots of obstacles.    I'm not sure how many times she fell down.  But she would just get back up and keep going.  

Then the goats made a trip past us. 

Sadie was very interested in them.

But she was a little intimidated by the dog. 

Allie had a good time in the jolly jumper.

And she even played with a doll that Sadie didn't take away. 
 

Less Feed Now

Our cattle made it to Nebraska without incident.  So Joe has 92 head less to have to feed. 

He is still buying 2 tons at a time.

But now it should last three weeks instead of one.  He is still feeding grain to the mates of the ones that left, the smaller ones and the replacement heifers.  But at least it is a little less work.   Kit Kat was there too, keeping an eye on things, or checking for a mouse. 

Another New Apple - Pazazz

I saw a new apple at Food Lion the other day.  It was the cheapest one so I took a chance.  

A 5 pound bag was only $5.  But the apples were huge, only needing 6-7 apples to make 5 pounds. 
 

They are delicious, crisp and sweet and tart all at the same time.  I have since found out they were developed from the honeycrisp apple.  I ended up buying another bag and making some apple sauce while Emily and Keiran were here.  Since the apples were so big, it didn’t take all that long to peel and cut up a pot full.  The apple sauce didn’t even need any sugar, and disappeared fast.  So another trip to the store for two more bags.   I’m loving the apple sauce and the apples, highly recommend. 

Plant Sitter

Emily is getting ready for 10 months in South America.  First she is going to Panama then Ecuador.  Part of her preparations included bringing me all of her house plants to babysit.

This is only about a third of them, and the smaller ones at that.  At least she brought a grow light so not all of my windows will be blocked.  I just need to get a timer so I don’t have to remember to turn it on and off  every day.

Three Things Plus One

First, the plus one.  The drone is sunk.  We couldn’t get it to work today.  The 10 minutes it worked was fun.  I am thinking of getting another one. 

It has been a couple of weeks since I rode Draper.  I caught her today, got on and rode normally.  The ground is too wet and soggy to ride outside much, but I did ride around outside the barn a little.

She did really well with her barn work too.  She is still acting like a normal horse and not some crazy thing.   I hope this continues for some good springtime riding. 

 Speaking of wet ground, Joe got two loads of gravel today for the road down to the old barn.  The calves are getting hauled out Thursday and they are calling for yet more rain.  Joe doesn’t want the road conditions to hamper getting the trucks and trailers in and out.  He is ready for the feedlot to takeover this group.

Yesterday we went birding with Keiran and Emily.  I was just taking a picture of the two of them, while Keiran was pointing at something, when Emily sneezed.  If you didn’t know better, it looks like there was something more violent happening.  

But they made up and continued birding.

Maiden Voyage, Not Unlike The Titanic

I got Joe a drone for Christmas.  I have tinkered around with it a little inside but had not had a good opportunity to really figure it out.  

Emily and Keiran were here today and Keiran seemed very interested in getting it to work.  He picked up where I had left off and actually got it flying.
 

Things were off to a good start.

I was even able to take some pictures from the drone. 

And since the purpose of it was to be able to find the goats, we went looking for them.  I started having a little problem with the video, so Keiran started bringing the drone back.

He was doing great bringing it in, until a gust of wind caught it.

And deposited it in the top of the maple tree. 

A lot of discussion ensued.  Keiran said he could climb the tree and get close if we had a long grabber.  Joe’s extendable calf catcher pole was just the thing. Keiran climbed as far as he felt comfortable and took the pole and was able to shake the branch enough to get the drone to drop out.

Too bad one of the propellers broke.  I’ve worked on it with some glue tonight.  Tomorrow we will see if it still works, or if like the Titanic, its maiden voyage will be its last. 

Sadie Saturday and Treeeet Update

First the tree, there wasn’t much left.  When I went to get the tree, the farmer gave me some new information I had not known before.  He is one of just a few allowed to go to Mt Rogers and pull up Fraser Fir seedlings from a “nursery” area there.  He brings them back and plants them immediately.  They are completely organic.

 And obviously, the goat love them.

Sadie spent Friday night with us.  Mike was away at an overnight trip with the wrestling team.  Virginia was wanting a little help.  I was up for the challenge.  Sadie enjoyed some cooking in the morning.

Then she went and put on her coat and said she wanted to go see the horses.  She didn’t seem to understand that it was 25 degrees, with the wind blowing and a skiff of snow on the ground.  Plus she was still in her pajamas.  But we patted Pep, Otoelene and Draper.  Then Joe came by with the tractor and we got in.

I opened gates while Sadie stayed in the cab with Joe.

I think she really enjoyed seeing the cattle and doing something a little different.

She even posed for me to take her picture.

Then there was more indoor time, playing with old toys.  These were her first cousin once removed,  Matt’s when he was little.

Then, after nap time, Allie showed up.  It was a very nice day.