tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70555690663289854562024-03-16T07:07:24.716-05:00Dairy Daze...and Now BeyondFrom Portland Metro to Backwoods MO. Thanking God for Every Blessing!Calfkeeperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12481855231233879731noreply@blogger.comBlogger831125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7055569066328985456.post-68018545805365193122024-03-16T07:05:00.003-05:002024-03-16T07:06:50.193-05:00Spring Flings and things<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRbQ0GCtNt8dbRFAFaxu6FOZVvpxnL63CL37DNbWZ_6YviBi_LRKgI8avS9HJijrpEiLJ52Nh42FPbQsRz4QDwsJWMI0gYGmgxvLoNMAg2nHjR9tu_xlNvYDY9vNFLzOXiFb-tuD9KjowenWvSyfhPOlIeHsOTtE6xmHmGq8nC4-ZZGpdouoZL5lc5a6mO/s4160/IMG_20240315_150207.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRbQ0GCtNt8dbRFAFaxu6FOZVvpxnL63CL37DNbWZ_6YviBi_LRKgI8avS9HJijrpEiLJ52Nh42FPbQsRz4QDwsJWMI0gYGmgxvLoNMAg2nHjR9tu_xlNvYDY9vNFLzOXiFb-tuD9KjowenWvSyfhPOlIeHsOTtE6xmHmGq8nC4-ZZGpdouoZL5lc5a6mO/s320/IMG_20240315_150207.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /> The daffodils are really blooming now. This is much earlier than usual, it has been so unseasonably warm. I love these double flower ones. I transplanted them from the old homestead on the back ridge over to here. Daffodils are not native to the US, so I often think of who would have planted them over there on the old homestead. Was in the sisters who last lived there...up until 1968, or was it the original Howard clan who homesteaded the place? We shall never know...not in this world anyway. <p></p><p>Yesterday I got 3 bags of cow manure/compost and started working on my iris beds; combing the dead leaves and trash out of them. Here in the bed closest to the house is this lovely flower. I forget what it's called at the moment. In any case it was one that was given to me when my mom died a couple years ago. She would have loved it; she loved all flowers.<br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2Flh0AY0NM1KF9lO63zLqX2t6EucgvPUdaK2kjSgF4IdFNJfM3B72z81c5C7kSE34jz4kFnaqw5O6Ql1gNYaTV-68WLKHxxjWOIRNbvdUc-ijilydzZAWjUYiMIfN-izivJPOZvwNzKF9Uw8q0xo4i6dgKkxxIKkccOO5LdG2KhevBMtYDmjc_pqPBVX5/s4160/IMG_20240315_150330.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2Flh0AY0NM1KF9lO63zLqX2t6EucgvPUdaK2kjSgF4IdFNJfM3B72z81c5C7kSE34jz4kFnaqw5O6Ql1gNYaTV-68WLKHxxjWOIRNbvdUc-ijilydzZAWjUYiMIfN-izivJPOZvwNzKF9Uw8q0xo4i6dgKkxxIKkccOO5LdG2KhevBMtYDmjc_pqPBVX5/s320/IMG_20240315_150330.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /> So far none of my irises have started to shoot up a bloom stalk, but they are usually a few weeks behind the daffodils. <p></p><p>Every spring I look forward to seeing these bulbs flinging up their leaves and bloom stalks. It's a party in the garden. The miracle of rebirth after a long winter. <br /></p>Calfkeeperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12481855231233879731noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7055569066328985456.post-45338672860503829802024-03-15T07:16:00.004-05:002024-03-15T07:16:48.069-05:00Walking<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3e5wtKAqmdKmAcRtJz7CY6OXePhyphenhyphenw8h81us5M_TMlV3hG38cpwzIsXUethIZRXUjL3qHb2ba4i7-_prxbmOR8Khooj22nkKlwet5XBlxUmA_KEBIDWEzpg8ZgnQIyLCDJEnKKVjq4rinMqmfC_OZ0q0X3CAb0OZB94v1k9WsPnxxDWGzjTp_t769U8c0Q/s4160/IMG_20240312_182532.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3e5wtKAqmdKmAcRtJz7CY6OXePhyphenhyphenw8h81us5M_TMlV3hG38cpwzIsXUethIZRXUjL3qHb2ba4i7-_prxbmOR8Khooj22nkKlwet5XBlxUmA_KEBIDWEzpg8ZgnQIyLCDJEnKKVjq4rinMqmfC_OZ0q0X3CAb0OZB94v1k9WsPnxxDWGzjTp_t769U8c0Q/s320/IMG_20240312_182532.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /> So this photo is apropos of nothing really, just something to stick in here. The only thing it really has to do with anything is that I see the sun setting behind this tree most every evening while I am walking. <p></p><p>During the six years I cared for my mom I really neglected my health and, as a result, gained a deal of weight. The only exercise I really got was dairy chores, and they were not significant enough to do much practical good. Unless you count tossing random buckets of grain into feed bunks and wrestling the occasional new calf to get a bottle into it. But there wasn't much consistent effective exercise going on. </p><p>I have blogged on here about exercise before, and maybe that humorous entry is one of the ones I listed to the side. But here is my practical entry on the subject. I have found it difficult to get consistent exercise, even with gardening, due to random reasons...mostly excuses. But the majority of the property here is dedicated to livestock and is, in season, the abode of little terrors like ticks and chiggers, or larger terrors like copperhead snakes. These make simple walking fraught with all sorts of dangers from fresh cow pies to potential tick-born diseases, or venomous snake bites. The better part of my walking is done during late fall to early spring when the above varmints are dormant and the cows are confined to certain fields to be fed hay. This winter my usual cold weather haunt, the creek bottom, has been invaded by random dogs. Almost every time I take Bella down there now, there are dogs down there. Not just coyotes, but pet dogs that have come from somewhere. We have no idea whose dogs they are. They make me nervous. I am not a dog person at all, and the large packs or dogs, or even dogs running in pairs make me nervous, especially when I don't know them.</p><p>Just a couple of days ago I ventured down there with Bella and sure enough there were 2 dogs down there. I was intensely annoyed. So far they have always run off when they see me, but Bella was wagging her tail and seemed of a mind to make friends. This alarmed me to no end because I remembered that just a day or so before that she'd showed signs of coming into heat. THAT would be great! She is ten now and probably shouldn't be having pups. I was glad all they did was bark and run away. </p><p>So let me wander back to my main point here. I have downloaded a step counting app onto my phone. It is highly inaccurate, but gives me a rough guesstimate at my steps. At least 5-6 days per week I have been attempting to hit 6000 steps per day. I fail pretty consistently, but at the very least I am doing 30-40 minutes walking per day. Sometimes it's just 15 minutes at a time. This week I stepped it up and have done a few days of 3 20-30 minute sessions of walking. That way if I can do 2000 steps per session, I can hit my goal. </p><p>As far as where I walk to achieve this...well, pretty much up and down the driveways, around the garden area and down around the sawmill circle. If I am going to continue to walk down around the sawmill circle I am going to have to invest in tick and chigger proof hiking boots. I wonder if they make such. </p><p> Keeping this up during gardening and canning season, and when I actually start substituting, will be a challenge, especially when the temps get super high. But mostly that will be in summer, so I won't have to worry about subbing then.</p><p> </p><p>A couple of great benefits to this walking is that I sleep much better at night. And I can go longer without having to get up and pee. </p><p>Not to mention my blood pressure is really good. My mom always had high blood pressure, and I was resigned to have it as well. But they say that walking helps keep your BP in check and is good for your heart anyway. So I have GOT to make this work during the hot spring and summer days. </p><p>I will keep you posted as to my success and progress.</p>Calfkeeperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12481855231233879731noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7055569066328985456.post-80858412626139687882024-03-14T06:29:00.007-05:002024-03-14T06:29:57.505-05:00Beef Farming Happenings<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqBeLYve_tvEoOGCyAVnh2CADMOO9PNMuPJicR_ArBNaLXPEPk-oqs0Z2cPEbfmG9Wfg8UJmWSt1GS1qKx3EQktPs3z9x7UAQ_4w7Fpne7bPmBNCXKiIZ7Bzoz78ApWFqM0ItOUY3URnocITlHJzG_dopD0MhNJusG5hki-yMLmHPJV_HHmEMHpIjecqJX/s4160/IMG_20240313_141000.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqBeLYve_tvEoOGCyAVnh2CADMOO9PNMuPJicR_ArBNaLXPEPk-oqs0Z2cPEbfmG9Wfg8UJmWSt1GS1qKx3EQktPs3z9x7UAQ_4w7Fpne7bPmBNCXKiIZ7Bzoz78ApWFqM0ItOUY3URnocITlHJzG_dopD0MhNJusG5hki-yMLmHPJV_HHmEMHpIjecqJX/s320/IMG_20240313_141000.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /> This little fellow wouldn't cooperate with me for a good photo, but he is the first of our calves to go to a new home. Gary registered all of our pure bred Angus calves. This one is going to a place near Elkland, MO to a guy who is raising him to breed his little herd of Angus. <p></p><p>We have two Angus/Holstein cross calves; both heifers I think...one might be a bull, I am not sure. We are not sure what we are going to do with them, but they will be privately sold. As in; we will not take them to the sale barn. Gary listed the calves as for sale on Craig's List yesterday morning and got a call just an hour or two later. There is also a different guy who was interested in buying all of the registered bulls as he raises and sells them himself. But he wasn't going to come look about them until the end of the week. </p><p>I'm kind of glad the guy got this first bull yesterday. I like to know they are going straight to their new permanent home from here. I've not let myself get too attached to the calves because I knew they were going to have to leave eventually, but I am glad they aren't going to the sale barn. </p><p>Gary is going to sell the registered heifer calves as well. I don't think we really want to grow our herd any larger. Plus, if you keep the heifers, you really ought to get different bulls so you aren't inbreeding. Some people do that. Or they play musical fields and trade bulls around from spot to spot. But we aren't set up to do that. </p><p>After two years of having this little herd of Angus beef, this is the first actual income from them. Farming is certainly not a get rich quick operation; that's for sure. <br /></p>Calfkeeperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12481855231233879731noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7055569066328985456.post-87704979659619333162024-03-13T07:47:00.002-05:002024-03-13T07:47:39.355-05:00Just a Random Photo<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLSDq-BfVCciPcxTAywCG60JvQf6J4AmpGCWIt0dGvYGOrDNtGaga21g_wzRRUdbs_uwroyhbkP40MNKz_OJ-Ad07czZJ9ywxfTZtb7cKhbOYH7lv6l3c66H16POwIn8I2LWrO0v6VZVHJv30C2ICFOhVfuN_doo2_P_hdYMNYxjbR6wlaDR1NvMtvI4MT/s4160/IMG_20240306_103231.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLSDq-BfVCciPcxTAywCG60JvQf6J4AmpGCWIt0dGvYGOrDNtGaga21g_wzRRUdbs_uwroyhbkP40MNKz_OJ-Ad07czZJ9ywxfTZtb7cKhbOYH7lv6l3c66H16POwIn8I2LWrO0v6VZVHJv30C2ICFOhVfuN_doo2_P_hdYMNYxjbR6wlaDR1NvMtvI4MT/s320/IMG_20240306_103231.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /> Sometimes I go through my camera pictures on this phone and wonder; What in the world was I trying to get a photo of with this picture? Usually I have to think a bit, but then I figure it out.<p></p><p>I took this picture above when I was out walking in the fenced in garden. This weed is the first to bloom in Spring, so the bees just flock to it. I took this because somewhere in there is a honey bee and I was so pleased to see her flying around collecting pollen. </p><p>Just last week Gary was up cleaning out around the old Homestead house on the back ridge with the bulldozer. He pushed an old dead tree over and discovered it was a honey bee tree. He was heartbroken that he'd done that to them. I told him that they would find a new place and recover. The queen would find a new dead tree and they'd make a new hive. I have heard that they will even transfer all of the honey over to it. Those old dead trees can't stand there forever and must eventually fall apart on the bees anyway. I'm glad to know there are still healthy honey bee hives around. <br /></p>Calfkeeperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12481855231233879731noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7055569066328985456.post-17820980943805275102024-03-12T07:44:00.002-05:002024-03-14T06:30:16.958-05:00Happy Calves<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr3Tw3g7S-GThKZGm1Davib8O3Sohcyc50i9jJgZFK1JFetqkDx4or3nYBJ5umDhwLVPa34CmctovbFI2cG5VRk0AlyCRWmI736Uyh3rPaCpIIOprjul2AUfdDT_pEqOcjOuXhHnP6KLoNKQjqbTzsElXZ-FM75sOX_r51GSmLp6fiV0Kyp1YiLhAfOoZB/s4160/IMG_20240311_143953.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3120" data-original-width="4160" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr3Tw3g7S-GThKZGm1Davib8O3Sohcyc50i9jJgZFK1JFetqkDx4or3nYBJ5umDhwLVPa34CmctovbFI2cG5VRk0AlyCRWmI736Uyh3rPaCpIIOprjul2AUfdDT_pEqOcjOuXhHnP6KLoNKQjqbTzsElXZ-FM75sOX_r51GSmLp6fiV0Kyp1YiLhAfOoZB/s320/IMG_20240311_143953.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /> Yesterday Gary had me come out and help him at the new corral. We set up the new corral a few months ago and now he has added a squeeze chute on to it for the purpose of sorting, vaccinating and what not. Gary attached a scale to the chute to weigh them as well. He wanted me to help him set up and calibrate the scale. <p></p><p>It wasn't hard, so it didn't take long. Then he wanted to test it, so he got some feed and tolled the herd up to the corral. Most of the calves wouldn't go in...that would be this group here that you see. A couple of them did though, and we got them in the chute and weighed. Calf #286 weighed 575 pounds, and calf #284 weighed 560 pounds. Both of those are the calves from the Angus/Holstein cross cows. They are not registered. The other calves have been registered with the Angus association.</p><p>I think they are all so stinking cute!<br /></p>Calfkeeperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12481855231233879731noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7055569066328985456.post-4306227386319622432024-03-11T06:52:00.001-05:002024-03-11T06:52:22.027-05:00Certified<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKnchBXwy1rYctWi_09M-5wBrZXD3iy6E6ikpiHvRm5O2VdG-h6WrcDJqXVAKguP4QS9FnkxKgcXXpR5aVx-RLOioKlIgrrb5sqHt96ViH8PryH5yXlXHCzoYp5KG-jHbPNmP4dSX0i49h6cA8loII2p3OF5MvJFzKjJvufz4Uy-VcjXUzYgSAT0NF3UDL/s4160/IMG_20240308_205101.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3120" data-original-width="4160" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKnchBXwy1rYctWi_09M-5wBrZXD3iy6E6ikpiHvRm5O2VdG-h6WrcDJqXVAKguP4QS9FnkxKgcXXpR5aVx-RLOioKlIgrrb5sqHt96ViH8PryH5yXlXHCzoYp5KG-jHbPNmP4dSX0i49h6cA8loII2p3OF5MvJFzKjJvufz4Uy-VcjXUzYgSAT0NF3UDL/s320/IMG_20240308_205101.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p>After 3 months of dinkering around I finally have a certificate to be a substitute teacher in Missouri. It is, of course, my own fault it took so long. I really ought to have called in to the main admin office and asked about the whole application process from the get go; but doing things in a logical manner has never been my M.O.; hence my rather disorganized life. But, I have persevered and conquered; at least to this point.</p><p>In December I talked over with Gary about my becoming a substitute teacher in our county here. Gary was for it, so I did what the random FB posts say to do; went onto the school's website and clicked the link to apply for a job. Then I waited maybe 3 weeks to be contacted. </p><p>*crickets*</p><p>So I started asking around, asked a friend at the admin office, where I should have started in the first place. She advised that they never did get my online application. So I got a paper packet application from her and learned from her coworker who handles such that I needed to get my certificate to substitute teach and get my background check..and it all goes through this particular website called dese.org, or something along those lines. </p><p>So I began there, filled out the application to get the certificate online and went through the whole process. Fingerprint background...cleared...check. </p><p>Then getting my college transcripts transferred over was a bit of a learning process again. Nowhere on the screen or in any of the instructions did they specify how they wanted the transcripts. They just gave an address. So I mailed a copy of them in, and waited like 2 weeks for that. Then I hunted down their number, stayed on hold for a good while and then found out the transcripts had to be mailed directly from the university. So THAT took another week and a half or so.</p><p>But finally here it is. Now to turn in the app, along with the certificate, and make a run at the real application process. </p><p>Most people my age are looking at retirement; not a new career. That is OK, I am not most people. I am ready for a new challenge.</p><p>At our local Walmart there is a checker who is 74. She seems to do pretty well, but I have done my time in a check stand back in my 20s. I just can't see clear to doing that job again; so I am off to school. I think my mom would be excited for me. She was a teacher's aide for almost 30 years, and then a foster grandma for near 10 years. She loved working with kids. I think I will too.<br /></p>Calfkeeperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12481855231233879731noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7055569066328985456.post-52178246928728445372024-03-09T18:02:00.001-06:002024-03-09T18:02:06.485-06:00Off and Running...or walking, as it were...<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB9kac4K14jQjDKiIhgNZdmsHJqNvjlfSrEgCIq65t-LBYJ_YV-yQtJwV1CdVfD1vSmg812-1AKo_A1PMEHBY0CwWYA78i2LNBUCwze_P4-AySs9MhJGqpaoutENnUS4kD-C_9jfZ5Ue2RB2NVjwwdDRa6bY76T5XIhBwWb4ktox2mc3iudk6wyYfOsjy1/s720/FB_IMG_1710024299021.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="540" data-original-width="720" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB9kac4K14jQjDKiIhgNZdmsHJqNvjlfSrEgCIq65t-LBYJ_YV-yQtJwV1CdVfD1vSmg812-1AKo_A1PMEHBY0CwWYA78i2LNBUCwze_P4-AySs9MhJGqpaoutENnUS4kD-C_9jfZ5Ue2RB2NVjwwdDRa6bY76T5XIhBwWb4ktox2mc3iudk6wyYfOsjy1/s320/FB_IMG_1710024299021.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /> The past 2 or 3 Saturday mornings a few people from church have been meeting at the church and going running. Today 2 walkers joined the group; that would be me and my neighbor. Another of the runners joined us in walking. A--- took this photo of the runners with her phone, as she was in the center of the road. <p></p><p>The runners went 2 miles down the road and then back for a total of 4 miles, we walkers just went one mile back and forth for a total of 2 miles. It was fun. But I really need new shoes. I just wore my old broken down shoes and now my feet hurt. </p><p>It took us walkers a bit over 40 minutes to do our two miles. The road is pretty rolling, as you can see. You don't really notice it that much when you are driving, but when you are on foot it's a bit of a pull up and down them all.</p><p>After 3 days or so of rain and clouds it was nice and sunny today; fairly crisp actually. It was in the upper 30s at 8 AM when we met. But we were pretty well warmed up by the time we got back to the church.</p><p>Due to the walking excursion I am later in the day in blogging. Usually I blog in the mornings. Ellen is off to the Junior/Senior prom this evening. She almost half didn't want to go, for a variety of reasons. One of which was the fact that she doesn't have a boyfriend. I am glad she doesn't have a boyfriend at this point; she needs to be focusing on her classes and grades. But part of me wishes she did have a nice guy to go out with on occasion. All in good time, I do hope. After the prom, which is down near Fair Grove, they are headed back up to Buffalo to go bowling. Ellen, once again, isn't sure she really wants to go bowling. She says she doesn't plan on staying the entire time at the prom either. Says most kids are planning on leaving the prom after an hour or so. We are just worried about her driving at night, with Lord knows who or what else out on the roads. <br /></p><p>Gary has been working on the squeeze chute for when we need to vaccinate and check these new calves. We probably need to vaxx the heifers as well. </p><p>Today after walking I did the usual random house chores that come up; laundry, vacuuming...etc. A few days ago I got a couple of new throw rugs so I switched those out. A new rug always looks sharp when you first put it down. It changes the room.</p><p>For now I will stop nattering on and maybe go do something else constructive. I am going to be teaching the Wednesday night Ladies Bible Study for the next 11 weeks. We will be reading though a Jen Wilkin book; "Ten Words to Live By". It's pretty good. I think it will be a great study. <br /></p><p><br /></p>Calfkeeperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12481855231233879731noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7055569066328985456.post-49450880369188547032024-03-07T06:41:00.000-06:002024-03-07T06:41:19.494-06:00Random News<p> There really isn't any new news here with us; nothing exciting anyway.</p><p>This coming weekend is the prom at the high school, so Ellen is gearing up for that. She also is working on a FBLA project, as well as several other projects for her classes. Last month she'd had to do a research project for her government class. This week she got the results; an 89/90. So she was pretty pleased about that. She is still struggling in her math class, the trig section, but as far as I am concerned compared to me in high school she is a math genius.</p><p>Gary has been busy delivering gravel, fixing wells and doing random jobs here. He has been dozing and cleaning up around the old homestead place on the back ridge. He's going to fix the fences up there and let the beef herd down into the bottoms to graze....eventually. It's going to take a while to get the fences fixed and everything cleared off. </p><p>Our first beef calves are getting really big. They are 4 or 5 months old now. But one heifer just had her calf last month; he is so cute, so tiny compared to the other calves. Gary figures she calved so late because she probably slipped a calf partway through her pregnancy, then got pregnant again a few months later. Gary hasn't banded the bulls, and he has registered them. So I presume he is going to sell them as registered breeding bulls, instead of for beef. <br /></p><p>Gary is also working on upgrading his squeeze chute.</p><p>I am still helping Ray and Ottilla one day a week; Thursdays, which would be today. Ray just finished his last chemo treatment. Now just to wait and see how his next tests turn out. </p><p>As far as getting my certification for substitute teaching; I am waiting on the Educator Certification office in Jeff City to get my transcripts, get them entered into my records on the system and then email me that it's done. THEN I will turn in my application. So I have a feeling that I will not be doing any sub teaching this year. Which is fine. </p><p>My Sunday school class is going well. I have 4-6 regular students; 4 of them being boys. There are 2 little girls who come on occasion. They are all cute. My age group is from 7-9 years old, and 3 of the boys will be leaving this year. One is already 10, but is waiting to move up until the other boys move. <br /></p>Calfkeeperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12481855231233879731noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7055569066328985456.post-21776543916350495772024-03-06T07:18:00.000-06:002024-03-06T07:18:04.643-06:00Neighborhood Cats<p> As a general rule on here I try not to complain much, but for a lack of anything interesting to post today and the desire to post something current instead of memories, here goes:</p><p>The past year or so we seem to have had a plethora of stray cats roaming around and it is annoying. We have a cat; Smudge, of whom you have seen many photos if you have followed this blog for very long. My sister-in-law up the road from us has a cat; Princess. They both tend to keep to their own territory and, as of late, have preferred to stay in the house to avoid the feline drama outside.</p><p>However up the road, maybe 1/4 of a mile, our neighbor has a literal herd of cats, none of which he fixes, and all of which he leaves outside in his sheds. They are for the most part orange, so when we see an orange one down here we know to whom it belongs. He has had this herd of cats for several years, and their numbers have fluctuated from the starting number of 3-4 up to 15 or so, give or take a kitten or two. We have had them stray down here more than once, we have seen more than one dead alongside the road on occasion. And we see random tom cats crossing our place with one goal in mind. Lately there have been a great deal more toms roaming around, one of which we call Lion Head, due to the mane of fur around his neck. The neighbor has taken to using a BB gun to chase off the cats that he says aren't his. In my opinion, which I recognize bears little influence, if he's going to have unspayed females roaming around he's going to toll in tomcats from 5 miles around, and therefore they DO in fact belong to him and he ought to DO something about it; like get shed of all of the kittens and fix his female cats. <br /></p><p>He puts out a pile of dry food for them only once per day. Of course since the food is out in the shed, well away from the house, the coons and lord knows what all else wild animals get into it. So these cats are forever up here scavenging in my compost area, or are wandering around our barns and sheds. The females wander quite far to feed their kittens. Gary's hay shed, which is in the field behind this neighbor's house, stinks like cat. The only good thing is that there probably isn't a rodent within a 200 foot radius of the neighbor's house. lol</p><p>Another neighbor to the east of us was an animal collector. She recently passed away and her husband told me when I met him at church a couple of weeks ago that she'd left behind about 11 cats. She was very reclusive, they are a long story all on their own, and I am quite sure she had more than that out in their sheds and barns. Ha. I would not be surprised if that wasn't where Lion Head and the other toms originated. </p><p>Time, disease and, unfortunately, coyotes tend to thin out the strays around here. In fact this past summer the neighbor said at one point his cat population took a dive down to just 7 or 6 and he had no idea why. But at about the same time one of them had come up here and died in a back clearing...fortunately away from the house. Gary found him by random accident just curled up dead in the grass. He was super thin and out of condition. I am sure none of the strays, or of the neighbor's cats, are vaccinated or vetted at all. <br /></p><p>I wish people would take care of their pets. <br /></p>Calfkeeperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12481855231233879731noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7055569066328985456.post-72148986240583919122024-03-05T07:43:00.004-06:002024-03-05T07:43:55.165-06:00Grandmother Davis<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO0conOuiPWTt_8HYjCmTIVKrXQCrOO9egK9db-Yh1kc9GsekHVkHaJHI3gkXh71GuELj6T1WSg7WPyXFQfH7YerKkUh2LxjxuzQuHhWanYrC55tU5gRdbk1vdKrtWwrBK4e4VI5gJaEyJc50F2loCTMv_wTRbZQWcSh2OHDhW3K5Xw78dJEDYy7WDtWqK/s720/FB_IMG_1709516896522.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="540" data-original-width="720" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO0conOuiPWTt_8HYjCmTIVKrXQCrOO9egK9db-Yh1kc9GsekHVkHaJHI3gkXh71GuELj6T1WSg7WPyXFQfH7YerKkUh2LxjxuzQuHhWanYrC55tU5gRdbk1vdKrtWwrBK4e4VI5gJaEyJc50F2loCTMv_wTRbZQWcSh2OHDhW3K5Xw78dJEDYy7WDtWqK/s320/FB_IMG_1709516896522.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /> Here is an old photo of my Grandmother Davis standing out in her garden. I have no idea of the date of this, except that it was probably early to mid 60s, before 1966 anyway. I believe it was in 1967 when she had her right arm removed due to bone cancer (?). I was born in July of 68, so her surgery could have been in early 68, I am not sure of the dates. At any rate, I was just about a year old when she passed. But my mom always said that she believed Grandmother Davis was partly the reason I turned out left-handed; when she held me in her lap she always used her left hand to move my left hand around, due to her having lost her right arm. <p></p><p>She was a character, from what I gather from my mother's stories of her. A devout Christian lady, but still with her quirks and foibles, as we all have. </p><p>She loved her garden; both vegetables and flowers. I believe her main love was flowers. She had various blooming bushes growing all over the 5 acres they owned there in CA, as well as bulbs. I remember several rhododendrons, a rose bush, plenty of daffodils, calla lilies, snow drops, surprise lilies (which my mother always referred to as Naked Ladies, but are actually a type of amaryllis) and many others that I can't remember now. </p><p>Well do I remember some of my mother's stories of my Grandmother Davis and her quirks...most of which I will not share here as it deals with other family members. But one of the stories I remember was of when they had done a butchering. I think they; my dad, Grandmother Davis and mom (they all lived on the same property, in separate houses) would butcher a beef on occasion. One summer they had done so and then shortly thereafter, maybe a day or two, my mom said that Grandmother Davis left for a few days to visit other family members further south. My mom said after a couple of days she went over to Grandmother Davis' house to check on something and found that she had gone off and left the beef heart and other entrails in the kitchen sink. Summer weather didn't used to get overly hot there, maybe in the 70s on a super warm day, but after days of just sitting in a warm house in the sink the bovine entrails had to have been awful. My mom said she was so aggravated but she cleaned it all up. She said that later upon her return my grandmother thanked her for doing so, but said she had intended on cleaning it up when she got back. Haha... I am not sure why she didn't freeze or refrigerate it. She had the means to do either and, as far as I understand, wasn't the wasteful type. </p><p>Years later, on the same property and in the same house my Grandmother had lived in, I believe I was about 18 or 19 when I took a notion to plant and grow flowers. I used all sorts of random junky pots and containers that we had all over the place. I knew absolutely nothing about flower gardening, as my father didn't hold with that at all. He only encouraged vegetable gardening. Looking back I wonder if flower gardening only reminded him of his mother, with whom he'd had a tense relationship over the years. At one point in the midst of my messy attempts at flower gardening he just shook his head and said if I ever wanted to know what my Grandmother Davis was like all I needed to do was look at myself and my flower growing operations. At the time I didn't know how to take that. Now, I believe I am pleased that the gardening gene has proven true in my life. I'd like to think that my Grandmother Davis would be pleased with my garden attempts; both flowers and vegetables. Some day I believe we will get to discuss it together in person, in a garden beyond this earth. <br /></p>Calfkeeperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12481855231233879731noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7055569066328985456.post-40275096362258954072024-03-03T20:19:00.002-06:002024-03-03T20:19:13.451-06:00An Old Photo<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiamFAMyPTJm9Dzh5-NiGHt_EYyKTCWPD7e5wFKK17Xiyk2t7lKvHvj9vhHuX3aRf2lSNaVhKVZpbiMfZ19y_E2TfTDZDtATwlPJx9rqmyDd546BKLj1e8Yu40YEQG2JAm7DT34BWdZRtS9Rkojfum8wAdFnSjrAU2zUaFJdLYdIWfAjLBlgiEzHEJgxue0/s960/FB_IMG_1709516832867.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiamFAMyPTJm9Dzh5-NiGHt_EYyKTCWPD7e5wFKK17Xiyk2t7lKvHvj9vhHuX3aRf2lSNaVhKVZpbiMfZ19y_E2TfTDZDtATwlPJx9rqmyDd546BKLj1e8Yu40YEQG2JAm7DT34BWdZRtS9Rkojfum8wAdFnSjrAU2zUaFJdLYdIWfAjLBlgiEzHEJgxue0/s320/FB_IMG_1709516832867.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /> Lawrence (on the left) and Riley Davis. <p></p><p>I don't know if I have shared this photo on my blog before or not. My father, Lawrence, was a lumberjack in his younger years in Northern California, there in the coastal redwoods of Humboldt County...he probably worked up in the mountains of the neighboring counties as well, but I am not for sure of that. </p><p>Perhaps I have shared stories of his before on here. I am sure I have shared some on Facebook. I wish I could hear him tell them again. I don't remember him telling much about Riley working with him felling trees. Riley was a sea man. He and his second wife owned a ship and spent many years sailing up and down the East and South coasts of the USA. He had plenty of tales too. I remember Shirley, his second wife, telling how she was swimming in a bay in Louisiana, or maybe it was Florida, and a gator was in there with her and Riley started yelling at her to swim faster. My memory of her telling that is very vague, so I am not sure of the veracity of it. Riley had some great photos of himself and his ship. I wish I could find them, or knew who had them now. Very likely they have long been trashed. </p><p>It was, I believe, when I was in Jr High that Riley and Shirley came and lived on our place there in Humboldt County. That was after he was older, in his 50s or 60s perhaps; his sailing days far behind him. Daddy was glad to have his little brother there close to him, but there was a bit of tension too. I am not clear what it was about. I was only 12, maybe, and they kept most of the tension clear of me. My brother probably understood more of it than I did. But I think he was in the Marines at the time, so I am not sure. When their mother, my Grandmother Davis (strictly "Grandmother," never Grandma or Granny or anything shortened) passed I think my dad inherited the property there in CA. So he promised half of it to Riley when Riley wanted to retire from his wanderings and settle down. Riley did live there on the place for several years, maybe 8? I am not sure. But eventually he opened a locksmith shop in McK and lived there in the back room. They never did get the land legally split, though they looked into it. I think there were too many legal loopholes. <br /></p><p>At any rate. The middle brother, Milton, was a school teacher who got into gold mining after he retired. He'd take groups up to Alaska on gold panning expeditions. I do wish that Daddy had been more adventurous and we had gone up there one summer to do that. But perhaps Mom wouldn't have gone for that. She wasn't much of a traveler; she was a strict homebody and didn't like getting too far from home, even overnight.</p><p>Well, none of this rambling has anything much to do with the above photo. But I just want to get some memories down. <br /></p>Calfkeeperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12481855231233879731noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7055569066328985456.post-44001168879791676652024-03-02T07:57:00.002-06:002024-03-02T07:57:27.747-06:00Ellen again...<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPUgS47TDjIwb2MfqAb7mc_CB5om9FN3Bbb3g3uUPnrvDMTnPh1R6PZ8GBh_RrlXg8jLyLOxTtLcFEspXJt3-AXSxIOw7eET6ZYj_BsoULFXljfNxwX73qY9Nvbxd-o5AzeUuBSK176QtfcZgVgSCT8r-rlt4h_5fuOUqIPCHAbgc9JZfn81kSTDZxi1Qx/s4160/IMG_20240227_092331.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPUgS47TDjIwb2MfqAb7mc_CB5om9FN3Bbb3g3uUPnrvDMTnPh1R6PZ8GBh_RrlXg8jLyLOxTtLcFEspXJt3-AXSxIOw7eET6ZYj_BsoULFXljfNxwX73qY9Nvbxd-o5AzeUuBSK176QtfcZgVgSCT8r-rlt4h_5fuOUqIPCHAbgc9JZfn81kSTDZxi1Qx/s320/IMG_20240227_092331.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /> This is my favorite picture of Ellen. This is in fact from a professional photo shoot I had done of her when she was 6 months old. The only professional photo shoot we ever had done. <p></p><p>When we brought her home from the hospital, she was the sweetest baby. From the beginning she would sleep well, almost through the night. I would have to wake her up to feed her. But I must have had some sort of mild postpartum depression because I remember sitting on the sofa holding her and just sobbing because I was worried I wouldn't be able to love her as much as I should. This seems silly now because of course I love my daughter with all of my heart, of course. I can't imagine life without her. She is my sunshine and I love that we laugh together and understand one another so well.</p><p>I am so proud of her, of who she has become, of her goals in life; that she loves the Lord and that she knows what she wants to do in life. I pray every day that she overcomes all of her fears and self-doubts and becomes everything she has ever dreamed. </p><p>Gary and Ellen are my everything.<br /></p>Calfkeeperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12481855231233879731noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7055569066328985456.post-8402871186553055932024-02-28T07:56:00.006-06:002024-02-28T07:56:58.155-06:00The Day After Ellen's Birthday Post<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUpjK4BrciRFeEfMXSfax66M1z_4xEAORkyt9M2ryNDStTtMm-wdP4xRaIPxLT4w21_oOlMMLgxOiAFfVnpjwUmRfbrLwN6144LmqVzyhzmvgVN_mGGMu7ytHPmfPy1aib8N6_FUkXnaxfSNxRyUkEg0zxTGbSkQt2Qj3BVinfKffnFL4LdMPcvHQTAwzb/s960/FB_IMG_1709090265724.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUpjK4BrciRFeEfMXSfax66M1z_4xEAORkyt9M2ryNDStTtMm-wdP4xRaIPxLT4w21_oOlMMLgxOiAFfVnpjwUmRfbrLwN6144LmqVzyhzmvgVN_mGGMu7ytHPmfPy1aib8N6_FUkXnaxfSNxRyUkEg0zxTGbSkQt2Qj3BVinfKffnFL4LdMPcvHQTAwzb/s320/FB_IMG_1709090265724.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /> Yesterday, February 27, 2024, she turned 17. Amazing. But of course I didn't get any recent photos. Here she is from about 6-7 years ago when her hair went down to her butt. This was when I was the one still brushing it for her. She was in middle school, I believe; maybe 5th grade. Her hair caused more stress in the mornings than anything I can ever think of. I am not sure of the exact time, but not long after this picture was taken I advised her that she was quite old enough to be brushing her hair for herself. It was not long after THAT when she decided she wanted it cut. <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHDOZORRRpl8oSfrAKhAihAHZ65S7EltsZqy8NMbWLO0u2LD314VOvhKy4KAWvlvNOjvyiOOV5QmfMUv_OgTh0tJ58RF5Yz7zqig7IJXHJ82gDXtdaJWvovKvYu0X0j2YFijQDdlQ6lDOUKXG4AMhF-DL-K83QUG7otf5eSFTXqruqfLPyx-e5Ik-Lwjwt/s640/FB_IMG_1709090187720.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHDOZORRRpl8oSfrAKhAihAHZ65S7EltsZqy8NMbWLO0u2LD314VOvhKy4KAWvlvNOjvyiOOV5QmfMUv_OgTh0tJ58RF5Yz7zqig7IJXHJ82gDXtdaJWvovKvYu0X0j2YFijQDdlQ6lDOUKXG4AMhF-DL-K83QUG7otf5eSFTXqruqfLPyx-e5Ik-Lwjwt/s320/FB_IMG_1709090187720.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><p>I think the above photo was from just last year maybe. She has kept her hair about as above; short enough to handle easily, but long enough to do different styles with. She has mastered French braids, and does other random pony tails or braids, along with curls and the like. </p><p>She keeps herself busy. At the moment she is working on a presentation for the FBLA state competitions in Springfield. It will be a summary of what all their chapter has been involved in over the course of this past school year. </p><p>Just this week she started doing "manager" work for the track team. This is sort of out of her usual realm of activities, but I am glad she is getting involved in some sort of sport, even as a manager. I was never active in any sport, though in middle school I also worked with the track team both years, I believe. I was never athletic so I never competed, but it was good to be involved. I hope she has fun with it.</p><p>Yesterday in her government class they took the test on the US Constitution; which they have to pass to graduate. Ellen missed one question. Today they are taking the test on the Missouri Constitution. She is nervous about that one. But I am sure she will pass it. </p><p>She is currently struggling with the trigonometry section in her math/calculus class, but she will prevail I am sure. The last quiz they took...no one passed it. I think this is more a failure of the teacher than the students. The teacher is a very nice lady, but the first of this month she took like 10-12 days off to go to Morocco. I am not sure of the reason for vacationing in the middle of the school year, but I think it set all of the class back a bit as the substitute wasn't up on what was required. </p><p>She just finished and submitted her rough draft of a 5 page essay for one of her classes; I can't remember which class. </p><p>She is planning on pursuing a career as a school counselor. Once she is certified for that; whatever that process may entail, if she discovers that school counseling isn't for her, then she can branch out into any of several different career opportunities. </p><p>The world is her oyster at age 17. <br /></p>Calfkeeperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12481855231233879731noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7055569066328985456.post-19135133966087816792024-02-26T06:24:00.001-06:002024-02-26T06:24:28.598-06:00It was a lovely evening last night..<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRjaTc8Rwf_2qe14GiG6uhJ6WHtQcDtGdXTfMhkzi8JcG7Axz0AoFQslkNQW-5y_ORROL3J_pus0a06pLesz0PIp_5S8xMEYU7HgqtasX43BESp-cgOZrKGvlxB5UVZCbAcl86NQhyF-r_RJUqX-a5GUuolMxrzOWRNDbhglLon7QdNpN4VvPrqapZpTaj/s4160/IMG_20240223_174024.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3120" data-original-width="4160" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRjaTc8Rwf_2qe14GiG6uhJ6WHtQcDtGdXTfMhkzi8JcG7Axz0AoFQslkNQW-5y_ORROL3J_pus0a06pLesz0PIp_5S8xMEYU7HgqtasX43BESp-cgOZrKGvlxB5UVZCbAcl86NQhyF-r_RJUqX-a5GUuolMxrzOWRNDbhglLon7QdNpN4VvPrqapZpTaj/s320/IMG_20240223_174024.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdes6vNJ1CKy4S9R6yUssuKnDO8b7RysikYq7tqIQC7Os9zHAKxqCIR3LDGzbq3v8cib22seipxGunYjTXQKAC0ZIAB2P2my_e9j_niB08wnUTpHnCEcflYRlyO7sAZKhQ5feK7HYKqbxhMDz4l7zm8N8inzkoDvioONp3pdP7QpvoYQeh7KowWeq99owG/s4160/IMG_20240223_174043.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdes6vNJ1CKy4S9R6yUssuKnDO8b7RysikYq7tqIQC7Os9zHAKxqCIR3LDGzbq3v8cib22seipxGunYjTXQKAC0ZIAB2P2my_e9j_niB08wnUTpHnCEcflYRlyO7sAZKhQ5feK7HYKqbxhMDz4l7zm8N8inzkoDvioONp3pdP7QpvoYQeh7KowWeq99owG/s320/IMG_20240223_174043.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx1XByGpqyRWKHF18iYS0KxPZinLMRKAyKEC0S_VL5FL1WMLLYxSUyyZHrbAtKouMGwZQOvhpM5POg6TE8VpUz4y662Jrh5cBtTMZh-nNdkOub3E_PixxqeQcnwRr67diCxgaTaBufUiRNSNLxXK8JtIE4-C_CV5aXVNYT6Ihk2T-SnIav56vpYQxvG8OR/s4160/IMG_20240223_175450.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3120" data-original-width="4160" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx1XByGpqyRWKHF18iYS0KxPZinLMRKAyKEC0S_VL5FL1WMLLYxSUyyZHrbAtKouMGwZQOvhpM5POg6TE8VpUz4y662Jrh5cBtTMZh-nNdkOub3E_PixxqeQcnwRr67diCxgaTaBufUiRNSNLxXK8JtIE4-C_CV5aXVNYT6Ihk2T-SnIav56vpYQxvG8OR/s320/IMG_20240223_175450.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4gYXkWSKkDGs_jykSoCLmmiSu0VJnfOUecS924NTOJ3glyQ1maGf9UGzK-EZjhT8WY3noDqHNocFaZFZz-biaUY99bUhEUHX1Mcp0e9O03Ehy96rnDS6VE2MJwhbeelIm6sMbPVBYim5a406XV25bwaWmi4fQxLgpKXSTWvTiUA3V0Au1Xqjvzalr0KXz/s4160/IMG_20240223_180048.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4gYXkWSKkDGs_jykSoCLmmiSu0VJnfOUecS924NTOJ3glyQ1maGf9UGzK-EZjhT8WY3noDqHNocFaZFZz-biaUY99bUhEUHX1Mcp0e9O03Ehy96rnDS6VE2MJwhbeelIm6sMbPVBYim5a406XV25bwaWmi4fQxLgpKXSTWvTiUA3V0Au1Xqjvzalr0KXz/s320/IMG_20240223_180048.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><p>That was the progression of the sunset while I was doing my evening walk last night. The last picture, of the tree in the pasture, is classic. That tree is in just the right spot to catch the setting sun this time of year. </p><p>Well, this was supposed to have been published a couple of days ago, but apparently I forgot to hit the correct button. Sorry. ... <br /></p><p>I took this series of photos of the sunset, then turned around to go to the house and found this scene...</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7Zm77H_AfoSSQsjGdTsD9kcuUS40gjyd5Dy2KZAAzs4b7Qz2dtxBynwjPFpx8iJnhbsylS0JMfC2dJdV83QTSg_u6Ckwm4Uu7w9_oBIP20TTf9AwsWTKJbQLgSfHZziMFZ6Bv5zh8TEBbVqpdEevjYnSWc_2fLuf7joDS0r1HGdHs_xRhYVaQ5iWp_km7/s4160/IMG_20240223_180415.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3120" data-original-width="4160" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7Zm77H_AfoSSQsjGdTsD9kcuUS40gjyd5Dy2KZAAzs4b7Qz2dtxBynwjPFpx8iJnhbsylS0JMfC2dJdV83QTSg_u6Ckwm4Uu7w9_oBIP20TTf9AwsWTKJbQLgSfHZziMFZ6Bv5zh8TEBbVqpdEevjYnSWc_2fLuf7joDS0r1HGdHs_xRhYVaQ5iWp_km7/s320/IMG_20240223_180415.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /> </div><p>The full moon coming up over the trees. I framed it:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqLV0NrncBZsAtfI8AMc9ZM4H0L8mKRwmIvnxty5hGESpTkWXaHOQQ1LhE45DxBfMYwSZ0bBA-Go9-XI6I1avU7wyZ12LP-isF2PxcAJf27OjoklMvQWOQZ-WY-DkwfJ-ixTktDg7X2vMnRlhKsLQddX3yxSWAw8Kbvr3aNwoVgWZpc2oHPtsl8MrnSPhs/s4160/IMG_20240223_180237.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqLV0NrncBZsAtfI8AMc9ZM4H0L8mKRwmIvnxty5hGESpTkWXaHOQQ1LhE45DxBfMYwSZ0bBA-Go9-XI6I1avU7wyZ12LP-isF2PxcAJf27OjoklMvQWOQZ-WY-DkwfJ-ixTktDg7X2vMnRlhKsLQddX3yxSWAw8Kbvr3aNwoVgWZpc2oHPtsl8MrnSPhs/s320/IMG_20240223_180237.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><p>A pitiful frame. But there you go. I needed something a bit more interesting to post than leaves and tree trunks.<br /></p><p><br /></p>Calfkeeperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12481855231233879731noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7055569066328985456.post-16419706791299769482024-02-23T14:07:00.002-06:002024-02-23T14:07:17.177-06:00It is Sunny Here...<p> Sunny and warm.</p><p>This does not bode well at the end of February. Crocuses and daffodils are already blooming. I am afraid that the fruit trees and berries are going to bloom early as well, and the blooms are going to get frozen some time in late March or early April.</p><p>The weather is making me itchy to get to gardening though. I already ordered a few seeds and am planning my garden. The garden beds here next to the house are pretty much surrounded by deer hoof prints, so I know I have to plant stuff that the deer won't eat....or at least will choose last.</p><p>Wednesday night my neighbor gave me an elderberry start. I have to figure out where to plant it. An elderberry bush can get quite large. Plus, it's just the one shoot. You are supposed to have 2 to get good pollination. So I dunno. We shall see.</p><p><br /></p>Calfkeeperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12481855231233879731noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7055569066328985456.post-9673877297302710852024-02-21T07:38:00.000-06:002024-02-21T07:38:00.211-06:00Wood Piles<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUICI-oOMI8A2mmsQAQE6shwbZHZyKvS6QSBZJWP9JkXN2K8EmH6YsZZvTdbNZPAjZsNQ3A_a_rGIJP8aHgWq4X5VMx7csj_sKAKGRCGMTs6nPspcXedfjjw2JXpM5UeZwv3-N-haRRLp4PNIYJP6IErWM_VclkNqLhmWh2B7BpiuH8zb0kDCuhMCGaL3D/s4160/IMG_20240217_174724.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUICI-oOMI8A2mmsQAQE6shwbZHZyKvS6QSBZJWP9JkXN2K8EmH6YsZZvTdbNZPAjZsNQ3A_a_rGIJP8aHgWq4X5VMx7csj_sKAKGRCGMTs6nPspcXedfjjw2JXpM5UeZwv3-N-haRRLp4PNIYJP6IErWM_VclkNqLhmWh2B7BpiuH8zb0kDCuhMCGaL3D/s320/IMG_20240217_174724.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><p></p><p>A few months ago a dead tree down by the former milk barn fell over into the path. Three days ago Gary cut and split the final pieces of it, which you see here. When I think about it I find it incredible the amount of memories I have that revolve around fire wood. Where would I even start recording them?</p><p>To begin with I'll say that up until the age of 22, which is the first time I left home for an extended period of time, I had never actually lived in a house that didn't have wood heat. (This was in the summer of '91 when I lived as an exchange student in Mexico for 5 weeks one summer.) Summers in Mexico don't generally require any sort of heating in the house at all, so I have no idea how they heated their house. But in very rural coastal Northern California we almost always had to have some sort of heat in the house, year round. Summer evenings can get quite cool, even in August. It gets foggy, more often than not, in the afternoons and evenings and a heat source of some sort is usually used to dispel the damp, if nothing else.</p><p>We had wood heat exclusively in our house; which isn't uncommon there even today. I never knew a time during my childhood when the fetching, splitting, hauling and stacking of wood weren't regular chores. It was a constant mess in the house, of course and a constant chore to keep the fire going. It was a daily chore to fill the wood box on the front porch. I wonder how many miles I racked up pushing a wheelbarrow back and forth. <br /></p><p>My father only very rarely ricked all of the wood into tidy stacks. We went through so much that usually it was just tossed into a large pile and used from various sides so that none of it sat there too long and rotted away. I vaguely remember him occasionally buying a load of wood, but usually he got it himself from up in the hills further away from the coast. He'd get a firewood permit and go onto government land to get the wood. Those are different stories.</p><p>To keep the piles dry he would use large tarps tossed over them. In spring and summer of course the rain would make large puddles on top of the woodpiles and frogs would lay large masses of eggs in those puddles. I would collect the hatched tadpoles and raise them in jars or containers out in the woods where I spent most of my free time. </p><p>At about 10 years old I was given a little hatchet and was expected to chop kindling. As I got older I remember learning to use the axe to do more chopping of wood. I remember one summer my older sister and I spent time fetching wood together and swapping off chopping the wood. Some of the cuts were tougher to chop than others and while I don't remember many details I do remember there was quite a bit of laughter involved as we got wood.</p><p>The mixture of kids and wheelbarrows is going to mean much more than the fetching of wood, as one can imagine. There were many wheelbarrow rides given, races and whatnot. I can still see that rusty brown wheelbarrow in my mind's eye. I don't remember any color on it whatsoever, handles and all were solid brown, rough in some spots but worn smooth to the bare metal where we touched it regularly. I think somewhere I have a picture of it, probably with one or more of us kids or with my niece or nephews in it. </p><p>Wonderful memories. <br /></p><p><br /></p>Calfkeeperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12481855231233879731noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7055569066328985456.post-29292991002897279212024-02-20T09:22:00.000-06:002024-02-20T09:22:01.917-06:00This was the moon...<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoBy1xuNjjecyLZ-Tx0pFYZ9g6QrqXBQ1SFj8qqNKrtJ2bQTO3OFfbr9LFoC0dEAaGLsEZgwbtXkHPdHjmL4vBTGQmv8WWlf7XdugJHWrGIbLv2D4WSCzAwgjg9VDKHT2KeER2jHYZvvZk3SgcPHTz5kModCS5-G9jeT_7sYZVFdloFSPAnYd9fBvFc66i/s4160/IMG_20240218_180102.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoBy1xuNjjecyLZ-Tx0pFYZ9g6QrqXBQ1SFj8qqNKrtJ2bQTO3OFfbr9LFoC0dEAaGLsEZgwbtXkHPdHjmL4vBTGQmv8WWlf7XdugJHWrGIbLv2D4WSCzAwgjg9VDKHT2KeER2jHYZvvZk3SgcPHTz5kModCS5-G9jeT_7sYZVFdloFSPAnYd9fBvFc66i/s320/IMG_20240218_180102.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /> ...a couple of evenings ago when I was doing my walking. Of course the phone doesn't capture how pretty it was in person. But I am sure you get the idea.<p></p><p> I always associate the moon, in any phase, with my dad. He was forever calling me to come outside and see it; especially when it was full. He was fascinated with the night skies, and on the Northwest coast of Humboldt County CA; when you get a clear night sky, you'd best get out to enjoy it because it doesn't happen too often what with fog and rain. </p><p>Well, this is a short one today. Laundry, visits with neighbors and other stuff is calling.<br /></p>Calfkeeperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12481855231233879731noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7055569066328985456.post-66749515975004565392024-02-19T07:13:00.005-06:002024-02-19T07:13:51.931-06:00Drought Honey<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNpO8DUtDa9jA5UpiBg6ZVWcfOQFEvliL0l4PiFfsugwfSAbzBQyyEy38ZiFhrQFB15RAAIVcbUe4N0DSth2nONzXLMKnYuRC8Tnps9Aa0KccZU_xJSFXglPLZhXp2RPcpM2fKjkRL2R7feRQ3k5AC0lv0P5mFRU8qSnDgUNdoqB3TgWfdKujlwz-ndD_R/s4160/IMG_20240218_161206.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNpO8DUtDa9jA5UpiBg6ZVWcfOQFEvliL0l4PiFfsugwfSAbzBQyyEy38ZiFhrQFB15RAAIVcbUe4N0DSth2nONzXLMKnYuRC8Tnps9Aa0KccZU_xJSFXglPLZhXp2RPcpM2fKjkRL2R7feRQ3k5AC0lv0P5mFRU8qSnDgUNdoqB3TgWfdKujlwz-ndD_R/s320/IMG_20240218_161206.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /> About 2 weeks ago Gary went to work on a well at a place where they sell honey. The lady gave him this jar of it. It is quite different. I am not sure how accurately this photo captures the color, but it is unusually dark. She told Gary that this honey was from last summer.<br /><p></p><p>Last summer we had a drought. There were few, if any, wild flowers blooming, so the lady said the bees had to source their pollen from other plants, resulting in a much, much lower honey production and much darker honey. (And another note; I thought perhaps she had just bottled it up so something because it
had a bit of foam on it, and bubbles in the honey in the jar. But Gary said she had
just handed him the jar, as is, straight off the shelf.) </p><p>I took some of it over to a friend for her to sample, because I thought it was so interesting. When she opened the jar the first thing she said was; "Oh, it smells like whiskey!" This made me laugh. Yes, it does have a strong smell; and a slightly stronger taste.</p><p>It's really good; just super different from store honey, even the 100% pure honey you can find at a store.<br /></p><p>One snippet of trivia that I remembered from my botany class in my college years is that gin is made from cedar berries; which made me wonder if the bees perhaps had access to cedar trees. A quick Google tells me that whiskey is made from different grains. I have never had the opportunity to compare the smell of gin and whiskey, but maybe the alcohol content would make them similar.</p><p>So I went further on in my Google research and learned some interesting things.</p><p>Raw honey has yeast in it and can ferment, (think mead). Fermented honey will taste and smell like alcohol and it will get foamy. </p><p>Here is a quote from a Google search. I'm not sure of the source.</p><p><span class="ILfuVd" lang="en"><span class="hgKElc"><b>"When the moisture level of the honey is slightly elevated and the temperature is warm, fermentation may occur, due to the enzymes and the yeast in honey."</b></span></span></p><p><span class="ILfuVd" lang="en"><span class="hgKElc"><b> </b>So the foam on top of the honey was from it fermenting, I believe, and that is why it smelled like alcohol. </span></span></p><p><span class="ILfuVd" lang="en"><span class="hgKElc">So from what I gathered from my research; during the drought last summer the bees sourced their pollen from plants other than wildflowers, which can change the color and taste of their honey. It would also seem that the heat during the drought started the fermentation process of the honey. I am not sure if the honey was able to have a high moisture content during the drought, but perhaps if it's hot enough it will ferment it anyway.</span></span></p><p><span class="ILfuVd" lang="en"><span class="hgKElc">Interesting. <br /></span></span></p><p><span class="ILfuVd" lang="en"><span class="hgKElc"><br /></span></span></p>Calfkeeperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12481855231233879731noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7055569066328985456.post-81318736724875915402024-02-16T07:17:00.004-06:002024-02-16T07:17:25.701-06:00Transitional Places<p> The following photo has little to do with the subject matter at hand this morning, but I thought I would throw it in here just because. In fact, I might just throw in a couple more random photos just to get them off of my phone.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglOhOGodZ-dfB2w8OLucv9Gy_EWBmn6P0hxjYKW1AhwKhJ9D9oiK5Gv7CpqH44LtwNpSI7EJcphuvA9oFq0XEiWNUHGDAa2UpXhscJ4-PZE6n0gd9TyMqFHhyhBGUNEnFF9I6IcNW7JZeqcacYjn_IljFOLd_oNgUzhxSvmEDc3PVtfGhNt5TclcJKh7Wc/s4160/IMG_20240207_070303.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglOhOGodZ-dfB2w8OLucv9Gy_EWBmn6P0hxjYKW1AhwKhJ9D9oiK5Gv7CpqH44LtwNpSI7EJcphuvA9oFq0XEiWNUHGDAa2UpXhscJ4-PZE6n0gd9TyMqFHhyhBGUNEnFF9I6IcNW7JZeqcacYjn_IljFOLd_oNgUzhxSvmEDc3PVtfGhNt5TclcJKh7Wc/s320/IMG_20240207_070303.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><p>Perhaps sunrises do have to do with transitions. I am sure, astute reader, that you can draw the parallels quite well without my needing to enumerate them for you. Whatever the case, let's begin.</p><p>A few decades ago when I was in my upper teens and 20s I'd had the mistaken idea that when I was the elderly age I am today (haha) life would be quite, quite settled with no surprises or upsets and that I would know everything and all would be well and life would go smoothly.</p><p>Fantasy never translates well into reality, as hard as we may try to force ourselves to believe. I should know; I spent much of my younger years with my head in the clouds. Those were my mother's own words, so I know that is true. It is one thing to dream about a future, but quite another to have the drive, discipline and self confidence to pursue it. I have never had much of any of those three qualities in my life. What good that came into my life in my first thirty some decades came from my blundering about and the Lord somehow blessing my blunderings. (There is an autobiographical book title in there somewhere I am sure) Life, in other words, has happened to me and I have gone along with it, and enjoyed the ride.</p><p>Now in my mid-50s, at the age when most of my high school friends are entering into blessed retirement, I find myself looking forward to new challenges. I do not wish to fade into the background of backyard barbecues in summer and flights south in winter. I wish to "do." </p><p>Almost 2 years ago I began attending a writer's club in town; an eclectic collection of writers who meet once a month to discuss writing projects. During one writing exercise I discovered, quite by accident, an interest in writing children's short stories about a specific character, or group of characters. So I am in the process of finding an illustrator and, on down the road, a publisher. Even if it is just local, it would be fun to see a book in print with my name in the author's position.</p><p>Here a few months ago, it also occurred to me that Gary has been retired from the dairy for 2 years now. He does still do his other business of water well work and gravel hauling, so he is out and about quite a bit. But I, however, am no longer "The Calfkeeper." So in yet another transition for me, I am making a determined stab at becoming a substitute teacher in the local school system. It has already been almost 2 months since I began the application process and, due to my lifelong trait of blundering about, it has probably been more of an ordeal than it ought to have been, but I am persevering. </p><p>Last, but not least, I am working on leading a small group at church. I know I intend on the focus being prayer walking. Pretty soon I am going to have a meeting for all of those who might be interested in attending so we can work out the details. </p><p>I do realize that every decade of our lives brings different transitions that are not controllable and that we needs must conform to whether we will it or not. At this point I am determined to work on these particular transitions and see where they lead me. </p><p>Oh, here are more random pictures.</p><p>The cat trying to "help" me make the bed when I was changing sheets. <br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXABUYbKP6z0DwUuxzHaV2VNJu1cZUi1EH069zgBEJhX-ke4-Nn9i0t8dJAsrIPpQ7AGiQ56O0idakdWUZ5FIepV8sS6b26OHcDLlbQNIFLuIqSVqYBwqO4SFGi1vBcwh7r8Z9sN_6HsTvouAR89_pneGATDXznvEHwvoUyY60pVWkr9Kc7Dn2Mzl3hm_y/s4160/IMG_20240213_091202.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXABUYbKP6z0DwUuxzHaV2VNJu1cZUi1EH069zgBEJhX-ke4-Nn9i0t8dJAsrIPpQ7AGiQ56O0idakdWUZ5FIepV8sS6b26OHcDLlbQNIFLuIqSVqYBwqO4SFGi1vBcwh7r8Z9sN_6HsTvouAR89_pneGATDXznvEHwvoUyY60pVWkr9Kc7Dn2Mzl3hm_y/s320/IMG_20240213_091202.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><p></p><p>The Sheep honking at Gary. He'd come out of the house and was heading toward the feed bin.<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqk9yNfpvUu0dLzNIPC20ROnNFPkj1yGAQXxgbdfU4JFbOaPNpbKi5Xl3SOWndbA1mbMEZZ52v-v6FH0tais_Tp6Jgi_itF_ICBicZB9mNGJN2tLfgxrjH-l5L-LVJTpYrq9eUn_ZDKnfA4CgvZoGh0yMseKGHGd1pBkdxJ4pVdTljs8atQkDwQYpGtcxg/s4160/IMG_20240213_080353.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqk9yNfpvUu0dLzNIPC20ROnNFPkj1yGAQXxgbdfU4JFbOaPNpbKi5Xl3SOWndbA1mbMEZZ52v-v6FH0tais_Tp6Jgi_itF_ICBicZB9mNGJN2tLfgxrjH-l5L-LVJTpYrq9eUn_ZDKnfA4CgvZoGh0yMseKGHGd1pBkdxJ4pVdTljs8atQkDwQYpGtcxg/s320/IMG_20240213_080353.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaLyHLt6dstkuu94tHLYh73XkCW_pTbLo0CoaxW_0s1cG9rh7QU6fHJnCPGqPY8NrzC5Fv0WZs5U6VUlBh_rV0lRaR294SE1ulynLAnTQrt1a_ag0MBz7gbi-ea3hSxafvKbN-_f0Zg4J0BhT5gUEK6Y0RLpuxmmVBIC26P5TJxO8oOFbOIUsfyzIn_kkH/s4160/IMG_20240212_081224.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaLyHLt6dstkuu94tHLYh73XkCW_pTbLo0CoaxW_0s1cG9rh7QU6fHJnCPGqPY8NrzC5Fv0WZs5U6VUlBh_rV0lRaR294SE1ulynLAnTQrt1a_ag0MBz7gbi-ea3hSxafvKbN-_f0Zg4J0BhT5gUEK6Y0RLpuxmmVBIC26P5TJxO8oOFbOIUsfyzIn_kkH/s320/IMG_20240212_081224.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>Above: how tussocky the fields get when they have not been either mowed or grazed. The rodents love this; lots of seeds to eat and lots of places to nest.<br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Calfkeeperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12481855231233879731noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7055569066328985456.post-82654185846977288202024-02-15T06:31:00.001-06:002024-02-15T06:31:19.496-06:00Threesome<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEUnLm0EvgzkOzC4ZWonj9_h64hyphenhyphenG-EBuucRiAmLUABphyKT_EKvOXazCkiVPkSvWY_Pdsrf0kiyk111KPpyUmG3uG8dZr9uXOTq8yCS0sWyLJxQ9GZo1CukSLCuWIkFaBQF_ly0rTrQTih_A5FVI2GyCzMcgz-jWObmA9uN7AuRrigv8C3rCSx1Mk7Gte/s4160/IMG_20240213_080631.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEUnLm0EvgzkOzC4ZWonj9_h64hyphenhyphenG-EBuucRiAmLUABphyKT_EKvOXazCkiVPkSvWY_Pdsrf0kiyk111KPpyUmG3uG8dZr9uXOTq8yCS0sWyLJxQ9GZo1CukSLCuWIkFaBQF_ly0rTrQTih_A5FVI2GyCzMcgz-jWObmA9uN7AuRrigv8C3rCSx1Mk7Gte/s320/IMG_20240213_080631.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /> The Sheep and her calf, and Bella. <p></p><p>They are funny together. Bella is compelled, by whatever inner instinct, to watch the cows as closely as she can. And The Sheep seems equally compelled by her own bovine curiosity to come over and inspect Bella. The calf also is curious, so it comes over to see what's going on. And they will stand there staring at each other for quite some time before Bella loses her reserve and "boofs" a few time and bounces around. The calf will cut and run a ways, as will The Sheep, but The Sheep will come directly back and duck her head at Bella right at the fence. I think she would probably be the one doing the chasing, instead of Bella, were there no fence between them.<br /></p>Calfkeeperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12481855231233879731noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7055569066328985456.post-90780546710244708852024-02-13T06:47:00.002-06:002024-02-13T06:47:59.840-06:00So I found this new tree...<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHn4e-W9OpnZqfeHYzTv81cI1-dQJTPxr6zPSMjoSdnzoYzWV5w2fnPTJ4yQPIgeszlmpDBYmq5pqcJz0tNXEJhsNqILLoPSqPHuOafu2BpASbB5f0YIMivvUnuCgGCrGHL55SbKgcguZPSC9zOTJnKF5s5OK_tCaYGi9ZGHBJwVjZduZ8ALS9B4-dVN5g/s4160/IMG_20240212_082854.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHn4e-W9OpnZqfeHYzTv81cI1-dQJTPxr6zPSMjoSdnzoYzWV5w2fnPTJ4yQPIgeszlmpDBYmq5pqcJz0tNXEJhsNqILLoPSqPHuOafu2BpASbB5f0YIMivvUnuCgGCrGHL55SbKgcguZPSC9zOTJnKF5s5OK_tCaYGi9ZGHBJwVjZduZ8ALS9B4-dVN5g/s320/IMG_20240212_082854.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>Well, it isn't new, technically. I believe it's been growing there for decades. But I'd never noticed it before. It appears to be a quite old thorn tree. This is what the trunk looks like.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDzSdMO577eHJLARmpj9PBKNTjmx6j5koKdA1KA_ZigRLsr5o6atrSNKC7NH_6ULzqisX5DhUlbTF6SinW8tHOfUukit82dN441K3FA97jNzGchuQXriswasDYOLqBLF0ZpNFlOEnruh1tDmjt-srPlFpI6zxKFhlA1CiUClHf0tLS5-8pyogwYhLUi1Nu/s4160/IMG_20240212_082826.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDzSdMO577eHJLARmpj9PBKNTjmx6j5koKdA1KA_ZigRLsr5o6atrSNKC7NH_6ULzqisX5DhUlbTF6SinW8tHOfUukit82dN441K3FA97jNzGchuQXriswasDYOLqBLF0ZpNFlOEnruh1tDmjt-srPlFpI6zxKFhlA1CiUClHf0tLS5-8pyogwYhLUi1Nu/s320/IMG_20240212_082826.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><p></p><p>At first I thought the thorns were coming from the vines running up and down the trunk, but no, they are coming straight from the trunk itself. </p><p>Here are what the ends of the limbs look like:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcj-L4PF1ACsx-1fVIKcoLbzSgmlaC4WPEowr4X0WxP8WBQWwfgJwUSsRgnaJ2tsHHERwD4iuXf91NIL1e48JlEqFSvktGb9s4rFfzuiUFcU1x1KvJEDCAfChKulNICblZEK59I-ZykBEX4CfD1ydAa9HQjeuF_7TsUd1RPoJOZkfPZU9W5p2cmOwnLk7C/s4160/IMG_20240212_083124.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcj-L4PF1ACsx-1fVIKcoLbzSgmlaC4WPEowr4X0WxP8WBQWwfgJwUSsRgnaJ2tsHHERwD4iuXf91NIL1e48JlEqFSvktGb9s4rFfzuiUFcU1x1KvJEDCAfChKulNICblZEK59I-ZykBEX4CfD1ydAa9HQjeuF_7TsUd1RPoJOZkfPZU9W5p2cmOwnLk7C/s320/IMG_20240212_083124.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><p>You can see the hairy, thorny-looking trunk on the left, but the limb in the foreground originates from the trunk. Fascinating. I'll bet not many squirrels shinny up and down THAT tree. And no buck has ever used it as a buck rub. Haha...</p><p>That is the fun thing about nature; even when you think you have seen everything, there is always more to discover.<br /></p>Calfkeeperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12481855231233879731noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7055569066328985456.post-2256873920490569952024-02-11T07:39:00.001-06:002024-02-11T07:39:19.850-06:00Prepping for future events<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqIZHEAuVIEz97UzDstm3bUR0N77_L5wbOcX-7NB6foweqmiKxt1ehPrdJuWr6yj0ioMxVFwrq31H0nPFvzmpcPB-It48_XWh1N94FNoSB_g843F8AGm55Nf0cQE0IzUW96VyTM5HMaM29mivP07GVfNrMNw4QYWiOd797K_kxA_iJk5rh_xEn-dMz_uXI/s4160/IMG_20240210_183223.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqIZHEAuVIEz97UzDstm3bUR0N77_L5wbOcX-7NB6foweqmiKxt1ehPrdJuWr6yj0ioMxVFwrq31H0nPFvzmpcPB-It48_XWh1N94FNoSB_g843F8AGm55Nf0cQE0IzUW96VyTM5HMaM29mivP07GVfNrMNw4QYWiOd797K_kxA_iJk5rh_xEn-dMz_uXI/s320/IMG_20240210_183223.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /> Seems hard to believe but winter will soon be drawing to a close. Spring is on its way! Spring means several different things aside from gardening. One of those is it now means is the beginning of vendor events season. The first one I go to is the Buffalo Art Walk in May. At least I believe it's in May; the first Saturday. <p></p><p>I am therefore trying to come up with new loom knit patterns to sell at said events. The above Peeps Bunny pattern is from loomahat.com. Denise, the lady who IS the loomahat lady, also has a YouTube channel where I get her patterns. She has beautiful patterns; scarves and hats and shawls and all sorts of toys and dolls. I have yet to try any really large project, even a scarf, because in my observations at these vendor events, large items like scarves, shawls, blankets...etc, rarely sell. And even if they DO sell they usually don't go for what they are truly worth. I have more luck selling little toys like the above for $3, or the teddies will sell at $10; than selling expensive large items. Last year at the art walk the lady next to me had beautiful crocheted items; lacy looking shawls and a selection of smaller key chains and doodads. She sold out of the smaller things. She also had these intricate crocheted hamburgers, with each piece done individually; meat patty, lettuce, cheese slice, tomato, and bottom and top of the bun...including sesame seeds. They were adorable and got a great deal of attention from almost everyone who walked by. She was asking $18 for a life-sized crocheted hamburger, and I doubt that price even included the amount of time and work she put in detailing. But she didn't sell one of them. I strongly believe had she been set up in Springfield, or Kansas City somewhere, she would have sold out. But few people in Buffalo are going to shell out what a handmade item is actually worth.</p><p>This is why I tend to focus on small, simple items. They are fairly simple to make, work up quickly and actually sell for me.</p><p>With all that being said. I posted this little guy on Facebook and everyone says that he does indeed look like a Peeps bunny. However I think my next one I will make with just a smidge shorter ears. </p><p>Stay tuned.<br /></p>Calfkeeperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12481855231233879731noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7055569066328985456.post-40473248806367962682024-02-09T07:04:00.002-06:002024-02-09T07:04:18.699-06:00This is Princess<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqiWa4wEa5za37QA2L7qlKUYEqqoHzaDI0sy7qqcNJjYJPrK58HKzWuGaDVO9LQMC2IUWEQZegpGIxNJ1i8vLLbbZVIttQaPzttArG3S4U65zd_36ahVqv793my33E3d1S1pTBMdE_fYkbWOX80oIFwN9pmr0vZ6xYh9fey676taT7oEL99I3Ifxr8oWJN/s4160/IMG_20240207_104527.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqiWa4wEa5za37QA2L7qlKUYEqqoHzaDI0sy7qqcNJjYJPrK58HKzWuGaDVO9LQMC2IUWEQZegpGIxNJ1i8vLLbbZVIttQaPzttArG3S4U65zd_36ahVqv793my33E3d1S1pTBMdE_fYkbWOX80oIFwN9pmr0vZ6xYh9fey676taT7oEL99I3Ifxr8oWJN/s320/IMG_20240207_104527.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /> Princess is my "cat-in-law" I guess you could put it; Gary's sister's cat. This past Monday she became a bit under the weather, so on Wed I took her to the vet because Gail had to work, of course. This picture is when were we in the exam room waiting to see him. <p></p><p>Princess is less than impressed with going to the vet. Normally she is a holy terror to get into the carrier. Before she left for work Gail shut the bedroom doors, which was the cue for Princess to go berserk and hide under an armchair in the living room. She had to be rooted out from under there and corralled in the bathroom with food and water until time for me to pick her up for her appointment. When I got down there she wanted out of the bathroom, of course, but she didn't put up much of a fight. The carrier was hidden behind the shower door in the bathtub. </p><p>To bring a long, pointless story to an end; she was given some antibiotics and is feeling much better today. <br /></p>Calfkeeperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12481855231233879731noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7055569066328985456.post-58236278639045546622024-02-08T06:25:00.003-06:002024-02-08T06:25:52.517-06:00Sunrise Perspective <p><br /> Yesterday Ellen took the bus to school. Sometimes she drives; sometimes she takes the bus. When she first started taking the school bus we decided to not use the bus route that goes directly by our house, for various reasons, the main one being that friends from church lived across the river and their bus time pick up was a smidge later in the morning. At this point, the bus going by our house, if she rode it, would be picking her up at 6:20 in the morning; which is absolutely ridiculous, because he gets to his first school building early and can't even let the kids off because the building isn't open yet. The bus route across the river at the neighbor's place picks up at 6:50ish. But all that aside. </p><p>We are up on the ridge, and drive down and across the river to get to the bus stop at the neighbor's place. (Lord, it's 6:18 AM and there went the bus right now!) We get to see some pretty sun rises coming up over the ridge to the East of us.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZTq_d8F8oQ0rS6WW_IzCCdkBB6Gh0LgfSQAWcPQmGrutJdVUld662MT3qAb_f0IB81V5T9e3gJVWdGwOODl58wRzIh4wceM8ArSOwtVw-UukSzTNw5ecq-hwcXz-KWsmASX56A7HhDEWPSAZhQdHbow5SodGCLdvMFX1O2vyVy4Bto5LO9a7ZYjuSJQX-/s4160/IMG_20240207_065235.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZTq_d8F8oQ0rS6WW_IzCCdkBB6Gh0LgfSQAWcPQmGrutJdVUld662MT3qAb_f0IB81V5T9e3gJVWdGwOODl58wRzIh4wceM8ArSOwtVw-UukSzTNw5ecq-hwcXz-KWsmASX56A7HhDEWPSAZhQdHbow5SodGCLdvMFX1O2vyVy4Bto5LO9a7ZYjuSJQX-/s320/IMG_20240207_065235.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /> I took this really quicklike on the way home. <p></p><p>What has always fascinated me is the difference from what we see of the sunrise from down by the river, and what we see when we get back up on our ridge.</p><p>This was about 5-6 minutes later, after I'd parked the car at home, got out and walked over to our fence to take the shot:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiNGx3cqUeDBDC6dcfeT0ONF3MbPK3EhuuezOuDIx7qWN2C2aF72rnBP6Akz2jRs6pBzxMPcuNKEJ1A59_ynvIBKI4N5vRjLN2Rg04dWTHVlbpZOR0TChto7MDSGBU6f6IIuqAWIFu25Czc-jpubGLekFTs3zuAvQpsmjufX2j0KVt9qqtjoInffSJdFQG/s4160/IMG_20240207_070311.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3120" data-original-width="4160" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiNGx3cqUeDBDC6dcfeT0ONF3MbPK3EhuuezOuDIx7qWN2C2aF72rnBP6Akz2jRs6pBzxMPcuNKEJ1A59_ynvIBKI4N5vRjLN2Rg04dWTHVlbpZOR0TChto7MDSGBU6f6IIuqAWIFu25Czc-jpubGLekFTs3zuAvQpsmjufX2j0KVt9qqtjoInffSJdFQG/s320/IMG_20240207_070311.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p>On Facebook there were tons of sunrise photos from yesterday. It was pretty dramatic. And of course there is no photo that can catch the totality of the sunrise. Everything was orange, the light, the western horizon was even pinkish orange. <br /></p>Calfkeeperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12481855231233879731noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7055569066328985456.post-11945164546781710442024-02-07T08:49:00.001-06:002024-02-07T08:49:37.755-06:00Next Year's District Secretary<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwkczZOLvbCYF9GKy2IyetvrD8BiPNp3d-lbuws9KiYOJ7-QqVaifURMXajQE_FED6Z5t1Cq59IQk8kbhIrcHFS7M-66oQNlSojYjeqYOGpMb83Zmq__Ciep-IUjfczYIwfc64u7HYdqbPV8TcwgrOTU7BaPzw0Pbiz2LSC5fx2M18Q0bw2CtQprGDZx8-/s4160/IMG_20240206_161433.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="3120" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwkczZOLvbCYF9GKy2IyetvrD8BiPNp3d-lbuws9KiYOJ7-QqVaifURMXajQE_FED6Z5t1Cq59IQk8kbhIrcHFS7M-66oQNlSojYjeqYOGpMb83Zmq__Ciep-IUjfczYIwfc64u7HYdqbPV8TcwgrOTU7BaPzw0Pbiz2LSC5fx2M18Q0bw2CtQprGDZx8-/s320/IMG_20240206_161433.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><p></p><p>Yesterday the Future Business Leaders of America club had their district competitions in Bolivar. Ellen was disappointed that she and her fellow classmate only placed 5th in their competition. But they got medals for participating. </p><p>Plus she had to give a campaign speech because she ran for district secretary. She was the only one running, but still. She sweated over that speech because she had to give it in front of over 500 people. But she did great. </p><p><br /></p>Calfkeeperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12481855231233879731noreply@blogger.com0