New Collection

I have heard it take 3 to make a collection.  

I have had this variety of Hen and Chicks for years.  It started out as one someone gave to my brother.  Then I got a start of it when we moved here.  

It is growing in lots of places around the yard, but I like it in this pot. 

Recently, I got this one.  It seems subtly different than the previous one.  

It had arrived in this pot with a clearly different variety.  I purchased it at Rural King a couple of weeks ago.  Don't worry, it was on clearance.  

Then a friend at work gave me this variety several years ago.  I love the spider web appearance.  

And look, it is blooming.  This might be the first time I have seen a Hen and Chick bloom.  Pretty cool.  So, I am counting 4 different varieties, definitely a collection.  

 

Cattle Work Day

We finally were able to work a larger group of cows and calves today.

These are the ones just up the road.

The calves got two shots,

and an ear notch.  Joe is notching the ears for id instead of ear tagging.  We will put tags in the heifers that we keep for replacements. 

Thankfully, Mike was there to help.  My duties decrease dramatically when Mike is around.

We did the calves first so the cows wouldn’t crowd the chute area checking for their calves. 

No drama, and finished in a couple of hours. 
 

Yet Another Loss

My Birdfi camera stopped working Thursday.  I thought the adult birds were making so many trips in and out that the solar panel couldn't keep up with the camera charge.  So Friday, I got an extension cord to plug in the charger.  When I opened the box I thought, "wow, those little birds are like rabbits and have just froze to protect themselves from a predator"  Then on second thought, that just didn't seem right.  So I took a closer look.  They were all dead.  

I don't know what happened.  It had been pretty warm Thursday so over heating could have been a possibility.  Emily said bird numbers are decreasing, especially Tree Swallows because of pesticide use.  Whatever the cause, it is very depressing.  Emily suggested cleaning out the box and the parents might try again.  And it looks like they are.  I will hope for a better outcome.  

 

Moving Around

All 6 are still there.  They are moving around a lot more now. Joe killed the 6 foot long black snake that was making his way towards the bird house.  The flower beds are safe again for Sadie and the rabbits.  

 

Dollywood 2025

I joined Mike, Virginia, Sadie and Allie for a day trip to Dollywood.

We arrived at 10 am for the opening.  Everyone was in good spirits after a 3 hours ride there.  

River rampage was our first ride.  Nothing like starting the day off soaking wet. 

Allie wasn't sure what to think of it at first, but she ended up enjoying the ride. 

The weather was perfect, not too hot, not too cold.  And there were no lines for anything!

I tried to get a family picture, but Allie wasn't interested in holding still.  The little ones started to get just a little grumpy around 3:00.  They had eaten all of their snacks so I suggested the all you can eat buffet.  Amazingly, after that their energy was renewed and we went for another round of rides.  

We finally had to drag them away. 

One the way out, Sadie really wanted to pick some flowers.  After I said no, she asked if she could pick up the ones that had fallen off.  Ok, I couldn't see any harm in that.  She carried them all the way to the truck.  I found a container and put in some water and she held onto that for the whole ride home checking on them periodically until she fell asleep.  She really loves flowers.  

After 10 hours Allie was still dancing. 

It was a very nice day.  
 

More Than I Could Handle

I have gotten back to expanding my rock garden. It is becoming my favorite part of the yard. 

But I got in over my head when I got this rock down the hill. 

It started up above that big tree. I was able to get it to the driveway but couldn’t get it all the way up on my plywood sled in order to pull it to the yard with the 4 wheeler   I asked Joe to help. 

A week later, he came with the tractor. 

And dumped it near where I had planned on putting it.  Then he said since he moved the rock for me I could help vacuum out the tractor cab.  Fair enough.   

After some digging and scooting, I had it in place.  I love it.  

 

Soon To Bloom?

In a gift exchange at Christmas, I received a bag of wildflower seeds. 

I have been trying to think of a good place to plant them.  There is really no extra room in the yard, and most everywhere else has goats, cattle or horses.  

It looks like an ok mix of flowers and covers 175 square feet.  But where to put them...

Then I thought of of the area where I had just burned the brush.  The ground was already cleared.  It was next to the driveway for easy viewing.  And it was outside the fence, so no livestock.  

I got a buggy full of manure from the barn and tilled it in. 

 

I liked that the seeds were mixed with some sort of pink substrate so I could see where I was spreading it. 

That seemed like about 175 square feet.  After a light raking I am ready for some flowers to start popping up.  Then we will just see what the deer don't like.  

 

Hatched

Remember the six eggs,

Here they are the morning of May 21.

Then around 9:30 this started happening. 

Mom was there to help clean up.

 But on the 22nd it still looked like there was an egg.  I just couldn’t tell if all six had hatched.

Then I saw this and was pretty sure there were six.

They are now 8 days old and growing like weeds.

The parents have been very busy.  There is no way to watch all the videos. There are over 3000 now.  

Crafting With Sadie

Sadie sent me a video message asking to spend the night.  Who could say no to that, not me.  We found out how to keep her from picking flowers.  On the way in she saw a big black snake in the flower bed.  She decided to make a craft instead. I was hoping the snake would catch a rabbit or two. 

Fortunately, I had already scoured Pinterest and had a craft picked out.  I thought she could try some paper weaving.  I cut strips of paper from magazine covers and used a clip board to hold the vertical strips.  She got the hang of it right away saying it was a pattern.

We were making a get well card for papa Reasor who was in the hospital with pneumonia. 

I sewed the weaving to the front of the card and trimmed up the edges. 

It looks like something similar can sell for $12 on Etsy.  I wonder it we could start a little business. 

Sadie drew hearts, a cake, and a snow girl holding a flower. 

 And papa Reasor loved it. But he really loved a visit from a pretty, sweet great granddaughter.