Plein Air

My mother had been invited to have her farm with an historic mill, be a part of the first Montgomery Museum of Art and History Plein Air event.  She didn't get to see it.  But my sister Ann worked hard to make it happen since it was something Mama had wanted. 

Today was the event's finale where the artists entered their paintings in a competition and offered them for sale if they wanted.   Since this was the first year, only 18 people had signed up.  There were multiple historic locations to chose from.  Three artists chose our location. 

The artwork trickled in throughout the day.  

I bought this oil painting of Mill Creek.  

Linda bought this one of Mill Creek barn. 

And Ann, who had stayed on site for 2 days and had met the artists, bought the one of Bennett's Mill.  When I left the event, these were the only three paintings to have sold.  Maybe if they do it next year, more artists will see how lucrative this location can be.   

 

Friday Fun

The summer babysitter had a doctor appointment so I got to keep Sadie and Allie today.  

It seems like every meal now they want it to be a tea party.  I had some old snack sets which I traded out for one of mama's.  These have been working out great so far.   Sadie also likes to pick out a special knick knack to decorate the table.  Today she picked out a turtle. 

Allie picked out a bunny.  

I had a craft project ready.  I had these two posts that I thought would make cool garden totems.  Before lunch they painted on the primer.  Then, after lunch the color.  It was hot and they didn't finish.  Just more crafting for next time.  

And of course we rode Clyde.  Sadie hugs him and says he is the best pony.  (which he is)

Allie rode around by herself but didn't want to trot today.  Which is fine, she really needs to work of steering.  

Her confidence around him has exploded.  She feeds him leaves and hugs him too.  He really is the best pony, even if he is a little lazy.  

We also picked flowers, played Booby-trap and the memory game, played feather ball (something I had picked up at the thrift store), had baked spaghetti and went for a walk.  It was a busy day.

If A Tree Falls

Joe went to clean out the cattle guard yesterday. It was full of leaves, gravel and dirt from the winter. But since it has been so dry, it was like concrete. That is until our 4 inches of rain. That softened it up enough to work with. 

Joe had gone down in the truck. I came a little later with the 4 wheeler.  You may be wondering what all of this has to do with trees.  Well, Joe took the 4 wheeler back to check the cows and I went out with the truck to turn around and come back. 

That is when I found this dead oak tree blocking the driveway.  So I had to back back up the driveway, find Joe and tell him he now needed to get the chainsaw. 

It was steep and dangerous. 

But Joe has a lot of experience with fallen trees. 

At least there wasn’t a fence to fix afterwards. 
 

Cattle and Mud.

Joe and I worked cattle Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.  We are barely speaking to each other now.  Anyone that has worked cattle will understand.  

There were actually no issues and everything went smoothly.  

Calves got 2 shots, ear notch, and pour on for ticks.  Cows got one shot.  

And look!  Since the first of the year we have gone from abnormally dry, to moderate drought, to severe drought.  We are now on the borderline of extreme drought according to the drought monitor.  But we finally got enough rain to make mud, over 4 inches in the last 4-5 days.  At least now the tire troughs have filled back up.  
 

Snake!

Joe was mowing the lawn this afternoon when a black snake came slithering out from under the shrubs. 

It was a big one. Joe does not like it when they are heading towards the house. 

He killed it with a hoe. 

 I know they are good snakes but I don’t like it when I find them in the garage.  I also don’t like it when they are heading towards my bird houses. 

Kidding Done

It was a disappointing year for kidding.  Several nannies ended up being open.  Half of the ones that did kid only had singles.  We only had 2 sets of triplets.  But they were finished so it was time to work them and get them turned back out of the field they have been in for over a month. 

They seemed to know it was time to get turned out and they came running. 

Getting them into the lot and into the barn was uneventful.  

I am hoping for a younger person to help take my place next year.  Running around and catching each kid is getting a little more challenging.  Joe on the other hand, is still great at his job.  After we finished banding the male kids and letting the female all out, we dewormed all the adults.  Joe held each one for me to squirt the dewormer down.  

Everyone was excited to be done. 

Final kid count - 44

 

A New 4 Year Old

Happy 4th Birthday Allie!

 Looking forward to a wonderful year of fun!

Nice Ride

Yesterday’s weather was beautiful for an afternoon ride. 

I started out in the barn.  Draper gets penned up in the stall and Clyde gets moved over with Hugo. That way the barn is open and I can ride out without having to get off and open the gate. Walk, trot and canter both ways. Otoelene acted like she was ready for a ranch riding show. 

Then I headed outside for a couple of trips up and down the driveway. I alway like how her speed never changes whether she is walking away from the barn or back towards it.  Had I been braver I would have ridden around the farm some, but I am still having problems with my courage.  Maybe one of these days…
 

Special Treat

I had some special visitors yesterday for Mother’s Day. 

Virginia and Mike brought Sadie and Allie over in the afternoon and stayed for dinner. Allie is a big fan of Kit Kat. 

But she is still scared of the dogs. Sadie isn’t though. She loves to feed and pet them.  We also watched the baby goats play and run around. 

And they both wanted to give Clyde some treats. 

 But the best part was them doing poop patrol in the barn where Draper is hanging out.  Nothing is too messy for a couple of princesses. 

Big Mistake?

I either made a mistake planting them or cutting them down. 

The two river birches in front of the house had gotten too big.  We just had a new roof put on and I was afraid they might damage it at some point.  Plus, they shed limbs constantly and plug up the gutters with catkins in the spring and leaves in the fall. 

The Leland cypress trees were also getting pretty tall. 

So we hired someone to come top them and cut down the river birches. 

It was an all day job  

I don’t think it will miss the tops of the cypress trees. 

But the river birch that was on the right might leave a hole. It will take some getting used to. 

But I will have a big pile of mulch for next year. 

 

More Big Bin Dealz

My Pyrex storage lids have been disintegrating for some time now. Joe said you might as well just lay a paper towel over the bowl and it would be as helpful as one of those lids. I have thought about getting replacement lids but that is as far as I got, thinking. 

That is until I went to the Big Bin Dealz store yesterday for $1 day and found these. 

They are not Pyrex brand but they fit. 

 And it looks like I saved $17.  

Turned Out

We finally got the first group of cows and calves worked so they could be turned out. 

We had them up in a smaller field last night so they would be easier to corral. 

Cows got one shot and dewormed and calves got two shots and their ear notched. Joe has been notching ears instead of tagging. Then the heifers we keep as replacements get a tag later.

It was just 17 pairs so Joe and I whipped it out in no time. 

 Then it took three loads to take them across the road to our rented farm.  17 down, 150 or so to go.