Kid Confusion

Well, the kidding has begun.  We started with what I thought was a single from a first time yearling.  Then later in the day I went out and found another one but couldn't identify anyone that had had it.  The only choice was that she had had twins but was only taking one.  So I have started right off the bat with a bottle baby. 

 Then a few uneventful twins and singles.

 But yesterday morning we found Socks with one, and a stray one out a little way from her.

 J carried it over to her.

 But she didn't want any part of it.

 And just out from her was this one.  How many do you see under there?  If you said 4 you would be correct. 

 I think she would have taken all 5 if we had let her.  But we decided it was most likely 2 sets of triples that got mixed up. 

 Since the black nanny was taking anything, we left 3 with her and marked them so we could make sure that she was continuing to take care of them. 

And since Socks is a pet but was only taking one, we took her to the barn and put her in a pen to see if we could force her to take them.   So far she will stand to let them nurse if we hold her but she isn't giving them any love yet. 
Kid Count - 23.

Two Drives To The Barn

We started our Spring cattle work Friday with the yearlings. 

 These will be the replacement heifers plus about 10 of the smaller end of the calves.

 When they got to the gate, they didn't want to go through.

 J had to do a little arm waving and some hollering to get them turned around.

 But they weren't much trouble.  We got the heifers vaccinated, dewormed and we are trying out a mineral shot called Multimin 90.  J is hoping it will help get a higher percent of the heifers to bred.  Then J took the 10 small ones out to his dad's house where we rent 20 acres. 

 Then it was time to get the goats up.  The calender says they should start kidding on the 16th so we wanted to be ready.

 Some look a little more ready than others.

 J tried to get a count on them but had to wait until we got them in the barn lot for that.  We ended up 1 short from what I thought we should have. 

 They headed on pretty good.

 Jewel kept an eye on things.

Now they are handy so we can check on them more often. 
Kid Count - 0

Coupon Saturday #26

There was a surprise $2 off $10 digital for Thursday and Friday at Dollar General this week.   It is much easier to come up with $10 of cheap stuff than the $5 off $25.  Plus, the 5/25 is only on Saturdays and I am usually not in town then.  Anyway, I made up a couple of low cost scenarios.

With this one they owed me money at checkout so I grabbed the pack of gum. I used 2 paper coupons for the suave $3 off 2, but with their system you have to scan 2 products then the coupon, otherwise, it beeps and won't let you use the second coupon. Amazing how many little tricks people seem to find.  Then there was a store digital for $2 off $8 of suave.  25 cent overage for the digital cat food coupon, and a $2.50 gain digital. 

2 cents out of pocket (oop in couponing lingo)

I was so hooked I had to try again but I didn't have anymore suave coupons so I had to go all digital. 

11 cents oop, not too shabby.  So, 13 cents spent on my hobby this week, $24 in savings. 

In Bloom At The 4R"s

I think things are about a week behind last year.

 The plum tree is blooming now,

 but the Yoshima cherry trees are just past their peak.  It is supposed to rain for the next 3 days so I am sure they won't last much longer.

 I finished my garden path.  I like how it turned out.  I think I can get some more shade plants now. 

 Just what I need, another reason to go to Lowes garden center.

The old fashion daffodils have finished blooming and now the special color ones are taking over. 

 These came from an elementary school fundraiser probably 15 years ago.

 The redbud tree is looking good. 

 And some tulips have kept coming back. 

 The grape hyacinths are almost like weeds.  I have gotten where I don't mind pulling them up at all. 

But the are a nice surprise sometimes where they pop up.

Trap, Neuter, Release

I spent my Sunday morning volunteering with a great group of people.

An associate at work spearheaded a spay/neuter clinic for area feral cats. 

Feral cat caretakers trapped and brought in the cats in a variety of carriers and traps.

All the cats were scanned to make sure they had not been previously microchipped.

Dr. Kopp (our organizer) did all the neuters.  And a shout out to Desiree (helping Dr. Kopp) for reminding me to get the pictures for the blog. We also vaccinated all the cats, gave pain shots and a flea and tick treatment then tipped their ear so they could be identified from a distance that they were altered.

There was plenty for everyone to do. 

My job was to do all of the spays.

For our first try, things went pretty smoothly.  We did 14 neuters and 7 spays all in under 3 hours.  The cats will be released back into their original habitats on Monday.

And Bojangle's was kind enough to donate breakfast for us.

The "Tail" Of Two Calves

Earlier in the week I rode Otoelene out through the field that the heifers are calving in. 

 One little guy got confused and started following us. 

 I had to turn Otoelene about so we could herd him back the other way.

 His mom finally realized there was a problem and came running. 

 Then this morning I went with J to tag a new calf.  He said the biggest heifer just had the smallest calf.  He thought it might weigh 30 pounds.

 She is definitely a cute little thing.

But I am guessing her at closer to 50 pounds.  Still, that is taking calving ease to the extreme.

Bridge Timbers

Last summer M helped J replace the floor of a bridge on JJ Jr.'s farm  (JJ Jr's is the property we bought a few years ago the joins J's homeplace farm).  Some of the old timbers still has some life left in them so J suggested I replace the border around my flower bed with them. 

 These old ones were in a pile when we bought this farm 20 years ago and they were old then.  I dug them out in preparation for the next ones.

 When we went to go pick them up we found yet another problem.

 Part of the creek bank around the foundation had washed out during the flooding this winter.

 We don't know how we are going to get this fixed.

 Meanwhile, I did finish the new border.  I took down the window frame trellis that had seen better days and connected the asparagus bed that had been boarded by bricks. 

I think it makes for a cleaner picture.  Now it looks like we need some new gravel in the driveway.  Always something.