Zucchini

In case anyone has zucchinis and tomatoes in abundance, here is a good way to eat them.  

Slice zucchini, toss with olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic powder.  Lay out on cookie sheet.  Top with tomato slice and parmesan cheese.  

Bake at 400 degrees for 20-30 minutes.  And you have a tray full of bite size goodness.   

More rain yesterday evening created some fog on the mountains.  

Things are very green for this time of year seeing as we have been in an extreme drought.  
 

Hit Or Miss

I have been away all weekend.  When we came home last night it was obvious that there had been a down pour.  

The driveway was washed, 

and the muclch washed out of one of the flowerbeds.  The rain gauge had 1 1/2 inches in it. 

The cattle guard had 4 rows filled with gravel.  Virginia said they only had 0.1 inches at their house 2 miles up the road.  The rain has really been hit or miss.  It can change from a desert to rainforest around here in no time.  

And just for fun, a picture of Golden Boy (not his real name). 

 

Last Group

Joe and I worked the last group of cows and calves this morning. 

We had 11 pairs to work and 7 for me to pregnancy check. 

It was nice finally getting the last ones worked.  Joe will be turning out the bulls out soon. 

The mud is long gone and we are back to dust. Some rain would really be appreciated. 

I did find a surprise in the barn. Luckily, it was just the skin and not the snake. 

Pretty cool how the scales over the eyes even shed. 

 

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.  
 

In Bloom At The 4Rs

It has been rough weather for Spring plants. From two nights of 18 degrees to 80 degrees and drought to below freezing a couple of nights ago not to mention the wind it just hasn’t been growing weather. But somehow, I have some flowers blooming. 

I left a couple of patches of Star of Bethlehem. It is the flower that I unescaped from the field a couple of years ago. Since it appears to be an invasive species, Emily recommended I do away with it. But since it has already invaded I thought I might just keep a couple of patches and not let them go to seed.  It is a pretty flower. 

The Siberian irises never disappoint. 

And the old fashioned bearded irises are always the first color to bloom.

“Poppies, poppies will make them sleep.”  You can’t see poppies and not think of that famous line from The Wizard of Oz.

I just bought three pots of pink phlox this spring. The butterflies are enjoying them too. 
 

So Much For An Early Spring

A front moved in yesterday evening and bright with it cold and snow. 

There was also a good deal of wind.  Overnight temperatures got down to 18 degrees. 

 Then today, the temperature never made it above freezing.  The forsythia is done for the season. And I am sure the daffodils are too.  So much for an early spring. 

Spring Grass

This morning Joe wanted to get a group of cattle up to sort out the bred heifers and fall calving cows. 

There hasn’t been anything in the barn lot this winter and with the warm weather the grass was already growing. 

It was very noisy with all the cows shoveling in the grass as fast as they could.  It won’t last long though. Next week’s weather forecast is for 18 degrees. 

 

Melting?

We have had some sun but not above freezing this morning anyway. I think it warmed up in the afternoon but I wasn’t home for that. 

But when I was feeding the birds, I got to enjoy some growing icicles.  I am starting to worry about the safety of the gutters now. 

 This has been the only section of sidewalk that I have managed to clear and keep clear.  Joe had said several years ago the he liked having at least some spot of no snow before coming into the garage. So that has been my motivation to keep this clear.  At least I was able to get the car down the driveway today. Since I am spending the night at the hospital with Mama, I don’t know if I will be able to get back in or have to walk. 

Waiting

We got about 6 inches of snow on top of the ice last night and today.  With just snow, the animals can usually paw or push it out of the way and still do some grazing.  But with the thick layer of ice, there is no grazing.  So everyone is just waiting on Joe to bring the hay. 

The goats have taken up with the horses.  I guess the cows are not as suitable as dining partners.  

The replacement heifers are next in line.  

And then the cows.  

 I don't think anyone is having much fun.  It is 7 degrees here now.  Looking forward to 2 degrees in the morning with 20 MPH winds, gusting to 40.  

Back To Ice

Ok, the flower break is over. Back to the real world of ice.  Condition continue to deteriorate. 

As you can see, some of the water troughs are still freezing up.   Joe has been taking a shovel to bust up the ice and scoop it out. 

The shovel also comes in handy to dig out foot holds so we can get back up the hills. 

Pretty much anywhere where the animals haven’t been or the tractor, is as smooth and slick as an ice skating rink.  Only, you don’t want to be skating on that slope.  Joe has already ended up in the electric fence once. 

 And now they are calling for more snow and wind tomorrow, lucky us. 

Treacherous

Well, with temperatures staying from 0-20 and wind chills in the negative numbers, the 3 inches of packed snow and sleet has turned into solid ice.  

It may look pretty but it is treacherous.  Yesterday, Joe fell 5 times trying to get around to feed and bust water tanks.  Thankfully, he was not hurt.  It took me 3 times as long to feed the dogs last night.  The goats are preferring to hunker down under an old barn 1/2 a mile from the house.  

And when you have to walk with baby steps, everything takes longer.  

 

Aftermath

The precipitation wasn’t as bad as expected. We got about 3 inches of snow followed by some sleet then freezing rain. 

We had some wind gusts from the opposite direction as usual. My winter porch decoration took a tumble. I think the glass table top broke but the pot may be ok. 

The livestock are not too happy.  I think the freezing rain has made everyone miserable. And now the temperatures aren’t supposed to make it out of the teens for at least the next week.  So now we will have 3 inches of frozen packed snow with a layer of ice on top to negotiate.  At least we haven’t lost power yet. 
 

Rainbows and Snow

Virginia brought Sadie and Allie over for a visit before the weather got bad.  They had lunch, play Barbies and then Sadie wanted to do a craft.  She has seen me go to the computer and google kid craft so that is what she wanted to do.  She picked out a rainbow.  

This only required paint (I used Wrangler's old tempera panint), paint brushes, a paper plate. glue and cotton balls.  

Sadie's turned out beautiful.   She was very careful to keep the colors separated.   

Allie's was beautiful too.  She had a totally different technique that involved blotting everything with a paper towel.  We learned when you mix all the colors, you get brown.  

And then the snow started.  

 So far, it looks like the cold will be worse than the snow.  But it still remains to be seen.  

Calm Before The Storm

Snowmageddon 2026 is being predicted for this weekend. 

As you can tell from the map, we don’t know a whole lot yet.  

But we could use a little moisture. The dry weather has been great for Joe to be able to get around the farm with the tractor feeding. But it hasn’t been so good to keep the water troughs full.   This one is in the horse field. The 10 cows from the cattle drive earlier are now here. They will have to be moved tomorrow so hopefully the trough will fill up some before the arctic blast freezes everything solid. 

On my way down the driveway going to work this morning I had to stop and take a picture of the beautiful sunrise. It looks like the calm before the storm  

I also have an update on my shades. I think they look nice from the outside.  But I needed them last month when we had a crew putting a new roof on the house. 

I will have to brag on the double sided tape I got to attach the fabric to the metal rod.   It actually came from Dollar General (I had a $3 off $15 that was good all month not just on Saturday). There were rave reviews. So far it is working great.   I would highly recommend it if you need strong double sided tape. 

 

Back In The Saddle

Looks like I took a bit of a break from riding.  Between the weather, the grandchildren and the holidays, I just didn't make any time to ride.  

I changed that today and caught Otoelene.  

The temperature was warm but it was starting to rain.  I just stayed in the barn to ride.  

But at least I did it.  I need to do better at making the time.  And there were no issues, she did great.