Three Things

The weather was nice today so I decided to go for a ride on Hugo. 

Nice ride, not perfect but not dangerous either.  With my sporadic riding I cannot expect perfection so not dangerous is the next best thing. 

Walking through the field the other evening, I thought the foxtails looked like caterpillars. 

We are discovering that Allie likes to be a bit of a clown. She loves to make us laugh. But it makes getting a good picture challenging.  They had fun when I took them to Gigi’s house Friday. 

 

Problems Resolved

Things don't always work out like you want so you adapt.  

We had a first calf heifer Joe thought was thinking about calving Thursday morning.  He went back later and she she had not done anything so he got her up and called me.  I left work early and we headed out to the farm to check.  (the fall calving cows are at a farm about 15 minutes from the house) She still had not done anything, just walking around.  We were worried about the possibility of a backwards calf.  We got her in the chute and I checked, fully dilated, no calf in birth canal and the placenta had not ruptured.  I found two feet, soles pointing upward and thought it was going to be backwards.  I got the chains on and pulled a little and checked again, I found the head, down and to the left.  It was an upside down calf, not backwards.  So I crossed the chains, pulled some more and got it lined up to come out.  Since Joe and I can't pull as much as we use to we were going to use the calf jack.  

And since we have had some wrecks in the chute with cows going down when you start to pull, Joe wanted to let her out and tie her to the fence.  The only problem was she wouldn't stop fighting the rope and we couldn't get her snugged up tight.  

When we went to put the calf jack on, the 50+ year old rope that was tied to the halter broke.  Now we had a loose, mad cow.  

Joe was able to get her back in the chute and we were able to jack the calf out and the cow didn't go down.  Unfortunate, the calf was now dead. 

We left her and the calf in the lot overnight.  The next morning we brought another twin we had been feeding.  

Joe skinned the dead one and used it to disguise the new one.  

The heifer wasn't too sure about this.  

And the calf didn't really like the hide but was enjoying his freedom from the dog pen in the barn where he had been staying.  

So, back into the chute and the calf went to town nursing.  Joe said the heifer liked him by that evening.  

And then checking on the other cows, there was one on the wrong side of the fence.  On closer inspection, she had calved in the field she should have been in and then got through the fence but the calf didn't.  Since it was easier to deal with the calf than the cow, Joe just put it through the fence to be with mom.  So at least that possible disaster was averted.  
 

Goats and Worms

The wet summer was good for plants but it was also great for worms. Even though we dewormed the goats the first of August we still ended up losing three to worms. 

So Tuesday we got them all up again for another dose. 

Maggie made sure everyone was ok. 

And they all headed into the barn to be caught by Joe one at a time. I would check eyelids for paleness and dewormed anything questionable. 

Instead of turning them back out on the hill in front of the house, we drove them down into the hollow. I sort of thought they would beat us back around. But they have actually stayed there over 24 hours.  For some reason they just don’t roam around as much anymore.

I kept two back to sell. Someone came to the clinic wanting two young goats for the grandkids. I said I had two that were bottle fed but stayed with the heard. So they were tame but know how to be goats. 

 It was a tight fit to get them in the pet carrier but it worked.  So at least we have two sold.  We will be cutting out the bigger ones to sell in a couple of weeks. 

This and That

Nothing major happening, just lots of little regular things. Some are more interesting than others. 

We have has some beautiful foggy mornings.  Then it has been in the 30’s for the last two mornings. I don’t think the weather knows that it is still officially summer. 

The goats are climbing trees. 

For some reason I get posts on Facebook from the Dull Men’s Club.  I thought this one was particularly funny.  Plus, it is a double collectable, both a face and a fence. 

I have been working on my rock garden some more. When I turned over a rock to bring it down the hill yesterday I found this black widow spider. I did had on gloves. But I did not let her live. 

 Then there is Kit Kat just because he is so handsome. 

From Jungle To Drought

I don't even remember with it rained last.  Everything is drying up.  The jungle is no more.  Since Draper's ultrasound was positive and the grass is no longer sappy and growing, I decided she could escape the fat lot. 

I put her back out in the field with the two 25 year old horses, Jessica and Pep.

Draper tried to drum up some excitement by prancing around some

and then rolling.  

But she gave into the vibe of the other two and just started grazing.  
 

Catch Up

Our internet has been out for the last 3 days, and before that we were really busy.  Busy with what? You might ask.  

Sadie and Allie came over Saturday morning and stayed until Sunday evening.  The weather was very nice so we were able to do a lot of outdoor activities. 

We took them down to the creek to play.  I thought they might just wade around some and maybe look for pretty rocks.  

But they decided playing in the mud was much more fun.

When we got back to the house, I made them take a bucket bath before allowing them back in the house.

We did have some indoor time too.  Of course we had to make a craft. 

Then back outside to feed the animals.

Sadie remembered Lucy.  And it looks like Lucy remembered Sadie too.  She has grown a bit since Joe brought her home in a sack last year.  You can check that out HERE.  But she is a good deal behind her contemporaries that just left for the feedlot in Nebraska last week. 

Sunday after church we went on a hike.  Sadie wanted to show Allie the tiny house.

It looked like a Little House On the Prairie moment.

We still don’t have a key which was a disappointment to Sadie.  I told her she would just have to imagine what it would look like to be in a wooden box.

 A fun time was had by all.

Bricks

The barn that the cow and calf from the last post are at isn't somewhere I get to very often.

The previous owner had dumped a load of bricks in the shed part, I think to help keep hay off the ground. 

I found a very interesting hand made brick there.  Do you see what I see?

How about if I put it this way?  I went back and looked more and found...

lots of broken ones.  Don't you just love them? 

I need to find a really cool way to display them now.  

I set up a line of them in front of the wood stove.  You see them as soon as you come out of the garage door.  Joe said they were creepy.  He thought they looked like something a native on Gilligan's Island might have used to ward off evil spirits.  

I like all of the different expressions.  Angry or confused, I don't know which.  

defiantly happy, 

 maybe a little scared.   Any ideas what to do with them?