Just Dawned On Me.....

Yeah, I just realized, Labor Day is this weekend coming up, got a hectic work schedule to go with it as well.  :(  Oh well......for some odd reason I kept thinking the 'holiday' was a couple of weeks off.  That's what you get when you're uber busy and don't pay attention!

Been canning bunches, Patrick has been doing quite a bit of it, and has made so many different kinds of pickles it's boggling my mind!  We tried some of the pressure cooked corn (canned it) and it's yummy!  I've ate plenty of sweet pickles, we sampled the ones that didn't seal that we stuck in the fridge.  The salsa, a pasta sauce and a pizza sauce we made were great!  We simply chowed on some of the salsa, and used some of the others for Lasagna.  MMMM MMM good!  (Yes Jared, I'm thinking "spaghetti" when you get home!)  :-)
In fact, we ran out of canning jars, and resorted to finding some in the garage.  They were dusty, dirty but they cleaned up just fine.  Glad we have an 'extra stash' even if it takes some elbow grease to get 'em clean!

Got some rain (finally) and more is coming.  Had a freakish wind on the tail end of a storm the other night and it blew some branches down and rocked the house.  Just glad it didn't last a long time, otherwise much more damage to the trees, house and anything else not secured down.  It even flipped the old rabbit hutch and blew the hay contents out in a line.  Kind of weird!

My dishwasher is toast.  I don't mind doing them by hand, but at the height of canning season, it's easier to just stuff the dirty dishes and all the spoons, pots, pans, etc into it and let it do the work.  Pat looked that model up online, ha ha--the parts cost more than a new one.  Oh well.  I'll check the 'used store' for another one when we get over to the "big town".  ;)

Daisy is doing great since her accident, which is a big relief for me.  Finding another cow that is like her or Dolly is hard.  Now I just need to work really hard on getting her bred. 
Oh, I forgot, she has a 'new' foster calf on her.  His name is PeeWee (his name when we got him, Pat calls him Chuck [steak]).  He was a milk replacer bottle baby, and about a month old when we got him.  He was a twin and he's an Angus--so will have plenty of meat in time.  Here are some photos next to Bratman, the Jersey foster calf that lost his mama and we put on Daisy (he is Ann's calf, this saved her from bottle-feeding him).  Bratman (appropriately nick-named) is a month older than PeeWee.

PeeWee has been here since July 12, here's a "see what real milk will do for a calf" series of photos thus far:

The day after we got him, with Bratman.  See his ribs and how boney he is?  He looks more like a Holstein bottle baby at this point and only weighed only about 50#, Bratman for comparison weighed about 125#.  (And Bratmans' daddy is a Miniature!)

 

 

About 10 days after he came here, nursing.  He's slowly starting to fill out:  

August 12, after he'd been here a month (yes I took his ear tag out, served no purpose here):

 

About 10 days later filling out even more:

 

 

 

Bratman will be going home soon, and PeeWee still isn't taking all of Daisy's milk.  So once Bratman is gone, I'll milk the leftovers' PeeWee doesn't drink.  I'm sure in time he'll take it all, they all do!

 

On another note, Daisy managed to step on my foot/pinky toe Friday (the 22nd).  Woo wee the neighbors heard my sailor mouth that I can have.....I don't think she broke it, but it's still sore.  There is a couple of blood blisters on it, one on the bottom of my toe. And it turned a deep purple, but now it's a light purple.  Blech  I can wear my shoe if I don't tie it and often kick it off at work.  I know its healing, but it slows me down, and that is aggravating!

 

Talked to Jared online last Friday, was good to talk to him.  Kyle and Sammi started college again, haven't talked to them to see how things are going.  Chandra and Tracy have been swimming at the lake, and he's walking and likes to climb stairs.  ;) 

 

And that's the update for now.....will try not to be so sporadic!

 

Another Month Flies By......Photo heavy!

Well, it's Kyle's birthday!  He's got Drills, so not sure if he's able to "celebrate" or not!
Chandra had a birthday late last month, I got to see her and Tracy for a few minutes before I headed off to work.  Mr. Activity (Tracy) is getting big, and walking now.  Way cool!  (Too bad Jared is missing out!)  :(

Jared has been moved from one area to another.....and hopefully he'll be home in a couple of months.  A lot of "wait and see" is going on right now I think.  Sigh.

The garden is weedy, but producing!  It's taken quite a bit of water to keep it going in the dry period we've just had.  Rains pass us by, but last night we did get 1/2"--the pastures are sorely needing the moisture as they are turning brown.   :'(

Patrick and I have been busy.....Pat hasn't been feeling so great most of the summer, the heat really affects him (hence why we didn't stay in Texas!).  Even with it being "cooler", the higher humidity doesn't help matters any.

Anyhow, we've gotten quite a bit canned, and Pat did some pressure canning (corn) while I was at work.  Awesome is all I can say!  The peaches have been ripening for a month or so....slowly a few at a time are ready (totally weird--they usually don't ripen until late August/early September).  So depending on how many we get, we either eat them or can them.  Thanks to  Daisy, Peaches and Cream is very do-able!  :-)

Daisy had an accident not quite two weeks ago.  Keep in mind we've had the same hay trailer for 5 years, and it's never been an "issue" with the cow or calves.  Daisy somehow got her head stuck IN the tongue of the hay feeder (1 foot wide at the tallest part!) and then struggled enough that she slipped onto her right side.  All her weight was on her neck and stuck head, good thing I found her when I did, I don't think she literally had another 10 minutes left in that position.

It maybe only took us 10 minutes to "free" her, but I could see her bloating and knew things were going from bad to a very, very critical worse.  With the help of the neighbor, we tilted the trailer and Pat shoved her head out (it was very swollen).  When she breathed it sounded like someone snoring, oh boy,  not good at all!  Doc Tyler (vet) was here within 10 minutes of calling him--poor Daisy was weak, wobbly and couldn't stand very well.

Doc gave her an IV for fluids and also gave her some anti-swelling meds (Dex and Banamine) and they also help with pain.  It took her about 4 days before she'd actually lay down for more than a few minutes and was still sore and walked stiffly.  Her neck, head and leg are peeling where she was stuck, it all acted like a rope burn.

I am grateful to pay $102 for the emergency call versus losing my sweet Daisy!  I do know had she been left with a halter on, it would of strangled her, so am extra thankful that I didn't have one on her for whatever reason. 
Her milk production went down for a few days, so I supplemented with soaked alfalfa cubes and she's almost back up to her 2 gallons a day.  Peewee still nurses twice a day, but Bratman (Jersey foster calf that lost his mama) is on only morning nursing now since he's older, and a rougher/more aggressive nurser, I didn't need him making Daisy more miserable!

This is only about 1/4 swollen compared to the night before (I was too busy taking care of her to snap photos!)  The funny black mark on her neck is actually damage (like a rope burn): 

 

This was 4 days later (see even by her ear it's "raw"):

 

 

And I just took these today to show the "peeling" of where she was stuck:

Yes, even between her eye and ear, it was titled to the top and rubbing on the tongue.

 

Even this was rubbed/stuck under her jaw:

 

And the nasty neck wound:

 

I didn't get a photo of her leg, it's peeling on the inside, too.  She'd flung her left front leg up over the jack trying to free herself and rubbed it raw as well.  Every "rub" mark you see was all swollen. 

And her is literally where she had it stuck, thank God we didn't have a full bale in it like in the photos, we'd of never got it titled sideways without crushing her or one of us:

Here's a better one:

That gap is only 1 ft wide and 20 inches long to the jack, and it narrows (in a "V" shape).

How she got her head IN there in the first place (or WHY) is beyond me.  I'd expect it from a calf, not a laid-back mature cow!

 

It's slated for modifications anyway, covering up the open part now is on "the list".

On another note, I am down to TWO hens in a matter of a few days.  A feral cat or fox or possum or 'coon or bird (hawk/owl), well, *something* has decided to take hens in broad daylight, or even from the coop roost at night.  So the two left are in "jail"--the smaller chicken tractor.
My 15 chicks are in the larger chicken tractor for the time being.  I know there are at least 5 roosters in the batch....time will tell if I'm not realizing if there are more or not.  So it might be awhile before the pullets start laying. 
Feast or Famine.....that is the norm with livestock/produce/fruit!