Wine Bottle Yard Art

I found another Pinterest project that I liked. 

I thought that this looked pretty easy.  What I didn't pay attention to was that it was beer bottles not wine bottles.  

 I found out that wine bottles are much heavier and more difficult to work with. No way was I going to be able to use 12 bottles.  I went with eight.  I thought of several ways to try to attach them to the supports.

 I settled on drilling holes in the bottoms,

 then spacing nails for the bottles to rest on. 

 This was my black paint fail.   The blue isn't too bad though.  Maybe if I get some black paint for another project, I can slap a coat on this. 

 I think it adds some nice vertical interest to the flower bed.  I am calling this another Pinterest success.

Come Ride With Us

J and I went on a perfect trail ride yesterday. 

 I rode Otoelene so you know my ride was perfect.  J rode Jessica and he even said she was perfect.  She usually has at least one spell over something, but not yesterday.

 There were a lot more trailers than last time.  Consequently, we ran into several other groups of riders.  But once again, no drama, just polite passing by. 

 The weather was perfect, partly cloudy, mid 70's and surprisingly few flies and no bee episodes.

 The trails were in good shape too.  Even with all the rain we have been having, there was very little washing. 

 J doesn't like Jessica's wild mane, so I had tamed it with a few braids before we left.

Who wants to go on the next one? 

Culling, The Sadder Side Of Ranching

Sometimes bad things happen.  But when they happen to a 1200 pound animal the options are limited.  

 If a cow can't walk well for one reason or another, she can't take care of herself or her calf.  At that point, we need to decide that if she won't get better, we will have to cull her. 

 This week J sorted out 5 cows that had varying degrees of lamenesses.  Several had bad feet, one had an injured hock and one lost a calf plus had a bad foot.

 It is always a hard decision.  But one that is necessary.

No one ever said cattle ranching was easy. 

2018 Hokie 1/2 Marathon

Our youngest daughter E has now completed the Hokie 1/2 Marathon.  Her goal was to beat her sister's time from 2014.  

I almost missed her going across the finish line, you really have to be quick with the camera. 

 The weather was nice, a little mist and upper 60's.  She finished in very good spirits.

 She was able to get her own refreshments, unlike V in 2014.  You can read about her race HERE.

 And she wanted a picture with her medal and shirt.

V, M and J were all on hand to celebrate her accomplishment.  But I'm not sure she was able to beat V's time.  E said she ran it in 2:20 and going back to check V's time, it looks like...2:20.  Guess we will just call it a draw.
Uh Oh, E has corrected me.  She looked up the official times.  E 2:21, V 2:24.

Coupon Saturday #18, Okra, And Twin

I think I will start in reverse order from my title since this is more of a farm blog.

 Earlier this week, when J was checking the fall calving cows, he found a second set of twins.  The first set was born a couple of weeks ago and the cow is taking good care of both.  This set however, not so lucky.  The cow had totally abandoned this one after it was born so J loaded it up and brought it to the house.  He is doing great so far.

 And no, he is not deformed with a big head and little body, just a bad camera angle that I thought was cute.

 Next, the okra is going gangbusters.  I think J's dad has reached his saturation point with it.  We have been giving some to a neighbor and they said they were canning it.

 Since it is still blooming,

 And we are picking a bag full every 2 to 3 days, I thought I might try canning some.  That would make the giving season last even longer.  I say giving because we are not eating it at all.  J won't touch it and I haven't become a big enough fan to cook much for myself.

 I found a youtube video with an older gentleman showing how he canned okra to fry for later.  Here is the link if you are interested. OldAlabamaGardener He had lots of good reviews so I gave it a try.  I won't know how I did until I give it away and someone else cooks it, but it looks nice.  He also has a video on frying canned okra, a broccoli smoothie, home hemorrhoid remedies and a multitude of other interesting topics.

 And lastly, I did very little couponing this week.  But I couldn't pass up this laundry scent booster for 25 cents.

 It was on sale, and there was a store coupon and a manufacturer coupon that could be stacked on the same product.  I like with things go through without a hitch.

 I also went to Walmart to get my gift card for my complaint about not scanning coupons that met their store policy.  It manager again apologized and said all the cashiers would know the policy.

 I just so happened to have 2 coupons for Zyrtec for $4 off the childrens.  They have some in the infant department that meets the coupon requirements but is only $3.47.

And guess what?  The cashier said, "I don't know if you can use this because it is more than the product."  I didn't tell her I had just left the manager about this same issue, but stood patiently while she called over a supervisor.  The supervisor said she had seen these before and it was ok.  The cashier then said, "well, now I know."

Dr. Pimple Popper, Veterinarian Edition

I know several of you have watched the show, Dr. Pimple Popper.  For those of you that haven't, the name is pretty self explanatory.   Well, J brought me a patient for a veterinary version of the show. 

 This is a 600 pound bull calf that developed a swelling on his right hip that was getting bigger and bigger.  Once the cattle got rotated to a field closer to the barn, J sorted him and his mother out to the barn lot.  It is so nice that he does all the prep work and I just have to show up with the equipment.  First, I clipped the hair.  It is best to have that all out of the way.

 That's a nice size pimple, or abscess as we like to refer to them in the medical world.

 A little prep of the skin with some betadine and then lanced.  I like to make an X for the opening.  It is less likely to seal up too quickly then.

 That is all the pus that came out.  Makes me think of a song we sang when we were little,
"Cans and cans of greasy grimy gopher guts,
mutilated monkey meat,
little dirty birdy feet,
tons and tons of all purpose porpoise pus,
that's what the school feeds us."
(I don't know why our parents didn't put a stop to us singing that in the car.)

Then we are left with a deflated balloon.  I flushed it well with dilute betadine and sprayed the area with fly spray.  Who's ready for the video?

Coupon Saturday #17

There was a surprise $2 off $10 at Dollar General this week.  I only have 2 accounts so only 2 transactions.  I tried to get E to make an account for grandma that I could use but her response was, "you don't need anymore stuff."

 Well, yes I do.  I needed a dustpan and Mr. Clean paided me to take it out of the store. 

 Anytime you get toilet paper for 1/2 off is good.

 And the Mr. Clean coupon also worked on the Dawn brush, so 60 cents profit there. 

And I have an update on my Walmart issue from last week.  I emailed the customer service about my complaint (cashier not scanning coupon for more than the price) and I got a message back saying if I come in they will give me a $10 gift card and make sure all of the employees understand the store coupon policy. Score one for the squeaky wheel.