Dairy Daze...and Now Beyond

Every spring when I set out those little sweet potato slips I always marvel that they will eventually take over the area and become a writhing mass of lovely vines. They are very popular with the deer and groundhogs. Hubby's aunt's sweet taters were decimated by the deer. The tater part didn't get a chance to develop. The deer would eat the leaves as soon as they grew. My mother in law's sweet taters were decimated by a groundhog; they could see it running for cover sometimes when they went out there. Originally they'd thought it was a deer getting them, so they set a hotwire, but the leaves still kept disappearing. ARGH! I think just now they have finally started growing out, but we aren't too sure that the roots will have time enough to develop. You are supposed to wait until just before frost before you harvest; but I always jump the gun. I pulled maybe 3/4 to 2/3 of ours already last week. I couldn't wait to see what was under there. This was my take so ...

So this past summer in the dairy department has been off and on. We have had two sets of twins born; both either bull/bull or bull/heifer combos...meaning that we had to sell them. The cows all seemed to coordinate births. In early Aug we had two cows go on the same day, and the same on another day in early Sept I believe. I think we have had 9 calves since early Aug, and maybe 2 or 3 in July. (It's hard to concentrate here, I have a pot of pinto beans w/ ham soup on the stove simmering; it smells very distracting.) We don't have a regular calf buyer anymore, but hubby just puts them on Craig's List and we usually have a buyer within 24 hrs. One guy came for two little bulls. He called when hubby wasn't here and asked me how big the calves were. Well, they weren't the biggest bulls we've had but they were fairly average sized Holstein calves. That's what I told him. Well, he shows up with a fairly flimsy dog kennel; the kind where the top lifts off...

OK So remember the post before the pallet post, just two posts down? Remember? Tonight as Ellen and I were walking down to get the 4-wheeler just out of the blue she says; "He has a key." Me, rather bewildered: "What?" Ellen: "The bull has a key to open the cow. I think he opens her back." Me, starting to catch on: "Why does he need to open the cow?" Ellen, with a sigh at my density: "So he can put in the seed in. The seed to make a calf." Me, trying not to giggle: "Oh." And that's where I left it because if I started trying to explain she'd want to see things for herself and we haven't gone beyond where we were at the last discussion. And it has been a long day and I didn't feel up to discussing penises. What I really need her to understand is how to wipe herself after using the potty, and how to not get both legs into the same underwear hole when dressing herself and practical things like that; not bovi...

Here, because I don't know what else to blog about, but I need to blog about SOMETHING, is a random photo from my files. This is a shot of a place out west of us, close to the Kansas border. The place must be 20 acres or so of cleared, rolling land. The owners have filled it with piles and piles of rotting pallets. Piles of pallets and old broken down trailers. We drive by this place on our way to get alfalfa, or to go to the tractor supply place out there near Lockwood. Every time we go by there we always like to speculate on why someone would fill their property with piles of pallets. Certainly they must be snake magnets. I can't imagine why someone would actually want to do this to their property. But to each his own, I suppose.