Black Friday Shopping

 The most important thing on my shopping list this Black Friday was a live Christmas tree.  As you remember, last year, with my injury I was unable to decorate much and used my Aluminum tree instead of a real tree.   The tree farm I have been going to for several years is only open this weekend with a limited number of 5-7 foot trees.  Two years ago, I got there just before opening and people were already dragging trees out.  This year Keiran and Emily went with me and we got there at 8:15.  At 8:30 we trespassed and went looking for a tree.  When the owners showed up at 8:45 I ran to apologize for being early but explained that I was just too excited and really wanted the biggest tree they had.  

I also forgot to take a picture of the tree standing.  Emily and Keiran had done a great job finding the best one.  The lot owner cut the tree for us and we were headed out before 9:00.  Others had started streaming in at 8:45.  

Keiran got it loaded and secured for the 10 minute ride home.  

And guess what!  It was 10 1/2 feet tall!  I ended up having to cut some from the bottom and the top to make my 9 1/2 feet. 

  I didn't even need to set it up on cinderblocks.   Did I mention that they don't spray the trees and they only charge $30.  What a deal.  

Emily and Keiran started decorating after I put the lights on.  Then Sadie and Allie arrived.  Emily was an excellent ornament instructor.  

She has had years of practice.  

And Keiran was an excellent ladder.  Allie wanted to be lifted up to hang the ornaments up high.  

Then she requested "higher" and Keiran obliged.  We were no where near finished but I think everyone wanted a change so we started on Emily's Barbie tree.   

This was a huge hit with Sadie and Allie.  Sadie thought they were all so beautiful and couldn't get them out of the boxes fast enough.  It was so nice to have such good decorating help.   I think I had a very successful Black Friday. 

Thanksgiving Vacation

Sadie and Allie only had a half day of school Tuesday then they were off for the rest of the week.  Mike ended up bringing them over that afternoon to spend the night.  They had appropriate clothing this time and we spend a good amount of time at the barn with Clyde.  No pictures that day but don't worry, I made up for that today.

There was a beautiful sunrise.  An added bonus was Allie sleeping until after 7 am.  

I wasn't sure what the weather would be in the afternoon, so we went to the barn to ride Clyde in the morning.  Kit Kat was a bit of a distraction on the way out of the house.  

Sadie and Allie have gotten into a rhythm of sharing chores.  (there was no poop today) 

You can see that yesterday involved some braiding.  

Sadie wanted to try to lift Clyde's hoof herself.  I had to help but then she held it up and cleaned it herself.  She even held the other foot for Allie to clean.  

This was Sadie's first time at the barrel pattern.  Not quite there but close.  She ended up trotting so much that Clyde quit.  

So then it was Allie's turn.  She still doesn't want to trot and is fine with Sadie leading her around.  

Since Clyde is such a good boy, he got some treats.  I had an apple that I cut up for them to give him.  

Allie even gave it a try.  

Of course we had to play dress up back at the house.  

Sadie found the dress I got at Walmart after Halloween for 90% off.  She loved it.  

And lastly, a craft.  Allie didn't want to craft so she just played.  Sadie had picked out a picture of a wreath with a nativity.  After some trial and error, we came up with this.  She loved it and took it home.  
 

Bad For Sale Pictures

                             Nigerian dwarf fainter buck - $125 

 Meet Evil, a Nigerian dwarf fainter buck. 

Hard to tell much from this picture.  But wait, there is another one. 

Yes, this tells me everything I need to know.  I will keep my $125.  Actually, the title of the Craig's list post was all I really needed to know.  

Don't Let A Dress Stop You

Virginia brought Sadie and Allie over yesterday.  But she was tired of fighting with them over clothes so just let them wear their dresses.  I requested that next time maybe bring something for them to change into in case they want to ride instead of doing crafts. 

We didn't let the dresses stop them from riding.  I had one pair of boots.  Sadie started out with Clyde while Allie stayed in the shop.  One of the first things Sadie noticed was there were lots of piles of poop to share.  

Sadie has really improved with her posting.  I think she is figuring out the rhythm. 

Sadie kept the boots on to clean up poop while Allie rode in her dress and sparkley shoes.  She still doesn't want to trot unless it is on Otoelene.  

But she is getting much more confident about leading.   We had switched out the sparkle shoes for the boots. 

And she was very excited to clean up the poop.  I think Virginia is going to bring some clothes to leave here in the future.  

 

Jump Start

Since I was incapacitated last year during the holidays and unable to decorate much, I thought this year I would try to make up for that. I have broken my rule of not starting until after Thanksgiving. 

But so far, I have confined the Christmas decorations to outside.  I made this arrangement from just a walk around the yard. 
 

4, 3, 2, 1...

Yesterday, we weaned the last of the spring calves.  

These are the ones on the rented land.  Joe had the pens rebuilt a couple of years ago but there is no chute to load out of.  So we took some corral panels and made one.  Four chains, 3 panels, 2 gates and 

one Rav later, we thought we were ready. 

The calves didn't took too wild. 

And the cows were there to lend support.  

Joe got the first cut loaded without incident.  Then some how, one from the second cut escaped.  He got out between the trailer and the post.  The panel was chained to the trailer.  Neither one of us saw how he did it.  I think he managed to crawl underneath the panel.  

  Joe had to move the trailer and undo the chute system to get him back into the field.  And by some miracle, we were able to get him back into the pen.   We decided to take the others on to the house and not risk another escape by trying to load him on the already loaded trailer.  

So, another trip back to the farm and we brought him back by himself.  He only added 45 minutes to the chore.  I don't know what we will add next year to the 4,3,2,1.  Joe said maybe razor wire.  

 

Brewery Tour

Before leaving Brevard on Sunday, I was treated to a tour of the Oskar Blues Brewery where Keiran works.  

There was the Taproom with tables, a bar of course, and some merchandise.  

There were lots and lots of fermentation tanks.  They held 2-300 barrels.  There are 31 gallons to a barrel.  You can do the math. 

Keiran described a lot of the process. 

There were lots and lots of hoses too.  They all did one thing or another. 

This was the hops cannon.  It would circulate the hops from the bottom of the tank back to the top. 

There are the hops.  

I think this was the Corosys which injects CO2 into the beer.  

This was something. 

Here is the control panel for the centrifuge. 

And here is the centrifuge.  It has its own room because of how loud it is. 

Store room for lots of ingredients. 

And the packaging line.  Too bad they weren't doing bottles.  I could have had a Lavern and Shirley moment. 

Lots of cans ready to be filled. 

And a crushed can cube, very artsy.  

The effluent gets hauled off twice a day. 

And don't forget the labs.  Lots of testing and tasting.  Everything was very high tech and very clean.  Too bad I don't care for beer.