Dairy Daze...and Now Beyond

No pictures for this one; just random thoughts.  Monday evening my bro Dan drove up for about a 36 hr visit.  He still had to work, remotely w/ his computer and cell phone, but we got in a good visit.  It was good to see him though he couldn't stay for Turkey Day today. All seven of us (Gary, Ellen, myself and the 3 in-laws) hied ourselves over to my mom's place for Thanksgiving, various ones of us toting bits and pieces of the meal. SIL gets a free turkey from work, so she fixes the turkey, plus dressing and dessert. And a tray of cranberry sauce.  Aunt-in-law always -for every get-together-fixes a big pot of pinto beans w/ham; cooked on her wood stove.  It might seem strange to have pinto beans for the holidays; but they are delish.  She always gives us the leftovers because she knows how much Gary loves them.  I usually put half of them in the freezer for later on.  Anyway, she also brought lemonade and mixed veggies. I did home-made ma...

Here are a few shots of various scenes around the dairy here.  I haven't posted many pictures lately on here so here goes. Back in October.  This hickory to the east of the milk barn likes to put on a fall show; especially in the evenings as in this shot. Fall means cooler weather; so off we go to get firewood.  Here is the dairy farmer himself, ripping into this limb.  This sycamore fascinated me with its wet bright green trunk; the peeled white part sets it off.  Plus the smaller limb growing straight up looks like a separate tree in the background. In October I found this box turtle fairly freshly dead; just lying on the ground by a stump.  I took it and wedged it into the fork of this tree.  About 4 or 5 days later the shell was back on the ground and quite empty except for a few tiny bones.  I picked it up and wedged it back in to place.  Heifers happily eating their breakfast.  Finally; Bella, t...

Our old laptop crashed a month or so ago and this new laptop wouldn't let me log into Google.  Then when I figured out what I needed to do (clear the history) and did it, Google itself wouldn't let me log in.  For some reason, way back when I created this account I was trying to be all stealthy and private and didn't use a real name for the account.  So I have no idea what my name actually is on this blog.  *sigh* But after much finagling around I figured out the email I use for this blog and the log in.  Those two have been inscribed in permanent ink in a place I will see frequently; lest I forget it again, or the computer or laptop crash again.  So now that I have access I shall attempt to remember stories and happenings and enter them here forthwith. Yes, I shall.

September sighs A cooler breath And summer's verdure dims, September shifts Drowsy, relaxed, Like insect-laced leaves Languid on limbs Summer's grip eases Releases early gems To gleam on paths To glow in clear pools Of the Faerie Spring To blanket secret woods Where sleepy spells drift and sway between the shadows September shrills With crickets' farewell to Steamy nights Summer stills In September, The Faerie Spring Is almost dry September sways And sweeps summer's Harvest From branch to Forest floor To become Spring's Promise

We sold all the of puppies.  And even Deuce. I sorta miss Deuce.  We had him about days less than a full year.  I feel like I failed him; but we just don't have the time to train the dogs and he was starting to be aggressive toward Bella.  Like he was jealous of her and/or didn't have patience with her air-headedness.  I'd have them out on leashes and he'd just up and attack her for no reason. Anyway; he went to a family with two kids so he will get all the attention.  He was just eating it up when they were here to pick him up. But now we are back down to just Bella. And now just Bella and I go on our rambling walks again; free from any aggravating males.  Bella loves to chase squirrels; Deuce never tolerated that. 

Last Tuesday, the 5th, Gary got this bizarre call from the in-laws down the road.  "Come down here and see what you can do, there's a calf with a bucket on her head!" Gary came up to the house from the barn to ask me to go see about her.  So I did. Um, yes.  There she was in the field next to the in-laws place; with a bucket on her head in very truth. How in heaven's name did she get a bucket on her head? Well you may ask.  We only have a faint idea of where said bucket came from. Many years ago, like maybe 7-9 yrs, we had a calf out in that pasture that had some sort of problem.  I vaguely remember toting water or feed to her in bucket.  All I can figure is that one of those water buckets must have been abandoned out there.  Heifer 231 found it and apparently did more exploring than was strictly necessary.  She could see a bit over the rim if she held her head just right so she wasn't easy to approach. But I followed her r...