Four Random Things

I saw this plant stand on Pinterest and thought it had a nice mid-century vibe.  

 E has lots of plants in her apartment so I thought she might could use a interesting plant stand to spruce things up a bit.  I went to the shop and put one together with some scrap wood.

 She must have liked it because she went ahead and painted it when she was home a couple of weeks ago.

I think it looks pretty nice in her room.

 I love balloons as much as anyone, maybe more than most.  But what I don't like is when people release balloons for various occasions.   Where do you think they end up?

 This one didn't make it to Raymond and Jaunita forever in heaven.  It only made it to one of our pasture fields.  J has pick up several of these over the years, very annoying.

 I have been noticing that the squirrels around here don't seem to be all that skittish.  When I was catching my horse yesterday, this one just about let me touch it.   Granted, it may have been pretty focused on that hickory nut.

 Then lastly, we have some roof repairs.  The old barn is constantly leaking.  J managed to scavenge some old tin from somewhere to try to repair it again.

 Then, more importantly, we had a leak in the garage around the flue.  Hopefully, a bunch of caulk around the flashing will help.

Shopping Haul

As anyone who knows me knows, I don't buy clothes very often.  Let alone new clothes.  But a local clothing factory is going out of business so I thought I would see what they had.  A hour later I came out with a lined jacket, 2 pairs of pants (one is missing from the picture because I am wearing them, they are so comfortable), a lined skirt, 2 men's shirts and 2 long sleeved tee shirts.  All for.........

 $12!  Unbelievable!

 And retail prices were pretty high.   All total $392 retail.

 The only problem was that there were no dressing rooms.  I asked about trying things on and was told even though there were signs saying not to, I could go into the small toilet area.  They were like Sargent Schultz, "I see nothing."  So even though I could try things on there was no mirror so pretty much guess work.  I guess I guessed ok, because stuff looked fine when I got home with it.  Now I think I need to make another trip before it closes.

More Fires and Goat Observation

J mentioned that he didn't like all of the fallen branches on a road we have through a section of woods.  He doesn't like driving the 4 wheeler over them and having them pop up.  So yesterday afternoon I said that I would go pile up some branches.  

 J expanded on the idea and suggested we go ahead and burn them as we went.  We made a total of 3 fires to deal with all of the limbs along this section of road.

 The cows were still in this field.  They were curious but didn't get too close.   J is happier with his newly cleared road now.

On the way back to the house I noticed this nanny with her baby, who is nearly as big as she is.  J said maybe we should have a hundred goats if they can wean their own weight.  I'd like to see a cow do that.

Heifer Trouble

The fall cows are about done calving but there were two heifers left to calve that J has been watching closely.  Sunday morning he was greeted by this heifer presenting two feet and a nose but no longer trying to push.  She was calm enough that J just put the chains on in the field and pulled, but then it got hip locked.  He had to go back to the truck and get the calf jack to finish pulling the calf.  Amazingly, the heifer let him do this all out in the open. 

Then, Sunday afternoon, we went back to make sure the calf was up and nursing.

Which it wasn't.

So we mixed up the powdered colostrum to see if it would nurse.

Which it didn't.  Next up was me tubing it with the esophageal feeder.  J has never liked using that so it has stayed my job.  It is starting to nurse on its own now so hopefully out of the woods on this one.

In Bloom at the 4R's

This time of year and with the drought, there isn't much going on in the was of flowers.  

 But my zinnia's have been out doing themselves.  I have planted them here for several years now and they seem very happy.

 It also makes me happy every time I come and go because they are right by the garage door.  I just love the pinks and reds and oranges together.

And my hydrangea continues to bloom.   J said we had a frost last week but it must have not been too bad because this is the most tender plant.  Any hint of frost and it usually dies right then.  Looks like we will get to enjoy it for a while longer yet.

Driving Draper

With Draper still too young to ride, I have been trying to come up with other things to expose her to. 

 Yesterday, I decided to start working on line driving.  Since she has had no problem with the hunter saddle, I put the stirrup leathers on with no stirrups and ran the long lines through the leathers.  My biggest challenge with just getting through to her that I wanted her to move forward, away from me.  It didn't take long for her to figure it out and we were walking all around the barn.  Never once did she spook or kick at the ropes.  Such a good girl.

 So while yesterday's lesson was still fresh in her mind, I did some more diving today.  We even ventured outside this time.

 As soon as she knows what to do, she goes on and does it.  Such a joy to work with.

 Then, because J had the stock trailer out, we practiced loading and unloading.

 I think she has this pretty well down pat too.

She even backs off with no drama.  What should I do with her next?

Auction, Tires, and Chairs

Or, Three Random Things.

There was an auction Saturday just up the road from us.  We just drove to the end of the drive and walked because we knew parking would be very limited.  

 While we were there this motorcycle pulled right up to the auction bypassing the barriers.

She was riding on the back of it, with house slippers and pajama pants.  I didn't see them leave but was wondering how they were going to carry the fan and handicap toilet chair she bought.

Our county has a tire cleanup every year but for the last several we have always had something else planned.  Last year we could have done it but when I called they were full and put me on a wait list.  They called this year to say there was an opening and we could bring 100 tires.  One of the farms we bought, the previous owner used tires to set his round bales on.  We brought some of them to the house a few years ago during a drought when we had to buy large square bales and store them outside.  We used the tires to hold down the tarp.  Since then, they have been a constant source of irritation to me.

 Not any more, they are all on the trailer and have been hauled to the county recycling center.

 Had they not limited us to 100, maybe we could have finished cleaning up the other farm too.  Maybe next year.

 I didn't get anything at the auction but went to the State Surplus Store yesterday and found these chairs.

One was priced at $1 and the other $5.  When I was checking out I took the $1 chair up first and said there was a matching one that was priced different.  He asked what they were priced at and said I could have them both for $1 each.  My plan is to recover them in vinyl and use them as porch furniture.  J said, "Won't they rust?"  I said, what did it matter, they were only a dollar.