Out With The Old

We planted several fruit trees when we first moves here. Some did well, a lot did not. 

The peach tree grew well, 

and has always had a lot of peaches. 

But it has been a disappointment year after year.  The peaches always rot before they ripen.  Joe figures he has had a half a dozen that he has been able to take a bite out of.  I am sure it is a fungal infection that requires spraying which is something I don’t want to deal with.

So time to make the tough decision and take it out.

Our decision was spurred on because we were gifted another tree and we had no place to plant it.

 It is an Arkansas Black apple tree.  You may remember we got some Arkansas Black apples a couple of years ago. Click  HERE for that post.  Hopefully, this will be a more productive addition to the yard. 

More Cattle Work

It was the fall calves turn today.

Just running through the chute to deworm everyone and vaccinate a few.

Mike came over to help.  I always love help because that makes less for me to do.

Joe pushed them all through the chute.

There were two to dehorn.  We used a horned Hereford bull last year.   We haven’t had any with horns for a few years.  It is not something I look forward to.  But I do everything I can to make it less painful.  I do a lidocaine nerve block and a pain medication injection.  At least it was just two.

 We were done in quick order and everyone got turned back out to graze.

Working Ride

Joe said if I wanted to ride he could use some help moving some cows and calves. 

He wanted to mix two groups of cow/calf pairs and needed my help to heard one group though the gate while he kept the other group back. 

Everything worked perfectly and I got to enjoy the view and nice weather.  Since it didn’t take long, I continued riding for pleasure.

At one point I spotted this red tailed hawk. 

It didn’t seem at all bothered about how close we were 

and Otoelene wasn’t bothered about it flying from tree to tree.

We did have a run in with a bit of mud.  And since she was so sweaty she got her first bath of the season. 
 

Sadie Saturday

Mike came over yesterday morning to pick up the swing set that has been in my garage since before Christmas.  He had Sadie with him and she asked if he was dropping her off.  He said she could stay if she wanted to and she said yes!

She immediately wanted to pick flowers.  We walked all around the yard picking at least one of everything. 

Then I gave her two vases, a big one and a little one.   She went to arranging them, big flowers in the big vase little flowers in the little vase.  She narrated as she arranged them.  I think she is practicing for a YouTube channel. 

She was very happy with the results. 

After lunch we made a trip to the barn for baby goat feeding. 

She said the bucket was heavy this time.  But there were a few more bottles, so she wasn’t wrong. 

It is alway fun to watch them eat. 

And it is fun to watch Sadie play.

She has no fear what so ever of the goats and still is trying to pet them all.

She also helped stack some wood, a new chore for her here. 

 I had to reward all of that hard work with cooking chocolate chip cookies in the Easy Bake Oven. 

We ended the day with a trip to Dollar General where I bought her something without a coupon (gasp!!!). On the way there she said she wanted a unicorn.  We found a candy unicorn rainbow fan which fit the bill.  And Sadie quickly learned to not get it too close to your hair when it is running.  I had to get the scissors to cut it out.  There wasn’t even any crying.  She said that was a good shopping trip. 

Three Random Things and A Bonus

 Durning Joe’s endless checking, he found a cow with a large swelling.

I have circled it so you don’t have to guess where the swelling is.  It is hard to tell by looking what it will be so into the chute for an exam.
 

It felt fluidy, not hard so I tapped it with a needle.  It ended up being a seroma.  A seroma is more common  at a surgical incision but sometimes trama can cause one.  Hopefully, it will resolve on its own and not turn into an abscess. 

Next up, my on going battle with a starling.  It has been trying to build a nest at the top of the barn door for several years.  Every Spring about twice a week I have to pull the nest out.  It takes a long time before it every gives up.

Number three is me stalking the Lowe’s clearance plant rack.   I have never heard of Lithodora, but the blue blooms were stunning.  It is low growing and evergreen.  I thought it would make a nice addition to my rock garden. 

I also bought two corral bell plants.  I have a lot of corral bells from my grandmother but this is a different variety that has purple leaves.  I think the foliage will look nice even when it is not blooming.  Lastly, 

A bonus Kit Kat photo.  He planted himself in the mulch.

Chickens, Work and Play

A technician that use to work at the clinic lives close by and said she had too many eggs.

I contacted her and asked if I could buy a couple dozen.  Absolutely, was the reply.   I ended up with 5 dozen.

The chickens are beautiful and happy.  I will probably have to share the eggs with Virginia and Mike.  But I have already made Joe some egg salad.  

When I got home there was a heifer in labor.  She wasn’t making very quick progress so we got her up to pull it.  I put on the chains and Joe pulled. 

I had to pull a little but at least we didn’t have to use the calf jack.

This has been the largest calf out of the heifers so far and the first one we had to pull.  It wasn’t stressed at all and we turned the pair back out this evening.

With a break in the work, I took Otoelene out for a ride.  

I ended up finding more work for a Joe.  Yet another tree had fallen on a fence and flattened it.

At least the baby goats got to play.

In Bloom At The 4Rs

Sadie hasn’t picked all of my flowers yet.  I still have a few to share.

The apple trees have been full of blooms.

I hope this means lots of apples later.
 

The clematis is prettier than it has ever been.

I love how large the blooms are.

I have some pink tulips,

and some very dark purple.  I know some people treat tulips like annuals, but these have been coming back for years.  Maybe I can remember to plant more this fall.

To continue with the purple theme, the columbines I planted last year are doing great.

They are loving the rock garden. 

As is the candy tuff.

This rock foil is a new addition this year.  I need to check out the clearance rack a Lowe’s and see if they have any creeping phlox.  I think that would look nice in the rocks.

And speaking of the rock garden, the eastward expansion phase is completed. I ended up adding about 5-6 feet which amounted to about 20 more rocks and 20 more trips up and down the hill dragging my snow sled.  I might be done for now, at least until I decide to expand southward.