Antsy

I snapped this with my cellphone one day. It's another semi-load of hay headed south for the drought areas--there are 18 big rounds on this trailer. I see at least one load a day....sometimes a half a dozen.


As you see in the photo.....this is a load of "OK" hay headed south either to Kansas, Oklahoma or Texas. That is where 90% of the loads go. I've seen better hay, and worse hay....this is what the average hay looks like. When one is desperate, we'll take whatever we can get, I know.

The weather swings chilly, cold then nice, then back again. Most of the snow has melted that we got earlier this week (or was that late last week?). We need the moisture. Starting to get dry here.

I'm sincerely hoping Kyle joins the Reserves and works on going to college, he's hinted at it. *I* would be more happy with him doing that first, instead of hopping into the Military full-time right away. Time will tell.......

I've been antsy as of late, its the best way to describe "it". Since I don't know exact plans the Army has for Jared, it bothers me. I know the approximate area he will be, but not when nor for how long. He did manage to call the other day using his friends' phone. They'll be back in Ft. Bragg by the 1st, that's all I really know! Grrrrrr!


Other than that, not much news here. Except I had an old fellow stop by the other day and wanted to buy the white calf; he had seen him out in the pasture. He wondered what I wanted for him, said he'd "give $1 a pound for him".
I couldn't help myself, I laughed and told him if he found me calves his size for $1 a pound, I'd sure sell him for that price!! (Calves have been $2.05-$2.10 a pound [no kidding!] for his weight at the local auctions as of late.)

Even with me offering a more reasonable price, he didn't want to spend more than $350. I told him he was worth more to me in the freezer than dollars sitting on my table. He grinned and knew what I meant (you can't eat money). ;-) Homegrown is much tastier as well compared to what I can get in the store, and no coupons needed! *grin*
Beef prices are still crazy high, but the hogs are low. Go figure!!!

Nessa was in heat the other day, and wowza, can she "trumpet". It's the best description I can come up with--it's some kind of weird moo/bugle. Dolly about knocked Nessa into next Tuesday with a head-butt/push/grind when she was getting tired of Nessa's antics. Nessa should know better, but as a friend put it: "She has an 'itch' she can't scratch" (when referring to heifers in heat). So true!

It never ceases to amaze me the PSI (pounds per square inch) power a cow (and hogs!) has with their heads, followed by their pushing body....am I'm grateful Dolly knows NOT to do that to humans! Mad Cow isn't a disease, its a reaction! HA HA HA
I'm not sure why Nessa tries to mount Dolly the most, instead of the steers. I am sure when they get bigger she will.
I'll just be glad when summer comes and I can get her bred!! :)

Snow is here!

It snowed probably an inch last night. We've only had a couple of good 'dustings' so far this winter. The wind is strong from the NW so there is some blowing and small drifts. I see the snowplows had been out already when I took Kyle in early to school @ 7 am.

With the weather being decent, I have been doing things outside. Last Tuesday it was 60* and I was out in the garden preparing my 'potato bins'. I've decided to grow potatoes in the feed tubs that I grew the tomatoes in last year. Less digging this way for me! ;-) I mixed compost and the existing dirt in layers....emptying one and re-layering/filling the next.
Pat burned the asparagus area with the weed-burner for me the other day. I plan on putting Epsom salt there to discourage the grass from taking over. (This patch is 3+ years old now, so it *should* be safe to do!)

Kyle is Mr. Busy; school, band (plus playing drums for the dance team), work, speech practice, his girlfriend, and working out some mornings at the wellness center. Since we are sharing a vehicle, it makes life more interesting. HA

Jared is in Louisiana for training. His phone doesn't work there, and we've only heard from him a couple of times. He borrows a friends' phone, but usually doesn't have time to talk for long. I think it's the Military way for 'conditioning' us for limited contact for awhile. Bah. Ticks me off sometimes! But not much I can do about it except pray.

I was sick this past weekend, got some kind of stomach bug. Patrick had sinus issues, but is doing better. The calf with the foot injury is doing great, you can't even tell he had any injury/issue! (Yaaay!) ;-)

As for the snow-it's pretty and we do need the moisture. I just don't want the cold winds that usually accompany it! Oh well, it's the middle of January, and we are getting closer to spring every day. ;) I have some seed catalogs to pour over and make big plans for the garden this year (ha, when don't I?!)!! :)

New Year!

Dolly is on the front left, Nessa far right, and the steers


Last Monday my Aunt had (unexpected) heart surgery, but she is doing just fine now. My mom has been playing "phone tag" from Texas back and forth to everyone. Us kids text the message to each other when we'd find out info. It's faster and we can usually sneak a text at work (versus a phone call). ;-)

We got Jared back to the airport Sunday, it seems they had overbooked his flight. Military got first priority--I imagine there was some ticked off people because of it.

My truck decided to go wonky about 50 miles from home. At one point it wouldn't go into 4th gear, and then it decided to be somewhat normal. (I just didn't want to be stuck in say 2nd gear--that would be a slow trip home!!) So it sits in the driveway as mechanic Pat figures out if he wants to tackle the project or not. (Doubtful since his back is still messed up!) Whatever it is, it's internal, meaning the transmission has to come out--bah!!

And as usual the Military is changing plans/orders on Jared again (driving me bonkers in the meantime!!) I'm learning to just roll with it, slowly but surely! (I think!!)

Kyle and I are sharing the big truck for now--what fun--NOT! We work totally different hours, good thing his girlfriends' dad trusts him to drive the GF's car on occasion! (He drives it like he's driving Miss Daisy!! HA HA)
School doesn't start back up until Thursday, so that is a help.

The weather has been decent, it's been years since we've had such a mild winter. It makes me wonder what spring (storms) will bring! Yikes?!! We are getting dry, and on the drought monitor, the 'abnormally dry' is slowly creeping our way. Ugh.

I am getting anywhere from 2-5 eggs a day, the hens are still ticked at me for penning them up. I have seen two chicken hawks (think they are red-tailed hawks?) flying over and/or sitting in the cedar tree just above the pen. I knew there was one hawk, but the other night I saw two. Sometimes I don't realize one is in the tree until it flies off when I go out to the shed.
I have a tarp over the top of the coop, so it would be hard for it to get any chickens. Thank goodness I haven't had any chicken (missing) issues with hawks for awhile......

Black calf isn't limping anymore, he's feeling better. I've stopped soaking his foot, but he didn't seem to mind it at all! Yesterday not once, but twice he head-butted Nessa off "his" hay pile. She weighs three times as much as him!
I'm pretty sure I have a pasture lined up for the steers, just need to go out and access/fix the fences. It's not in too bad of shape, it just needs a bit of TLC. (and some elbow grease!) :)