No More Pictures for a While

Well I had such a great day last Wednesday that I just have not had the time to write it down for all of you to read about and laugh.   It all started as I drove back from taking the kids to the bus stop because it was raining.  I looked over at the cows and could only count 9 of 11.  Since they are imminent to calf any day I knew I needed to go and find those that were lost.  I went inside got all the rain gear on put my phone in one pocket--in case I need to call for help--and the camera in the other pocket--to take pictures of any new born calves or anything else I find interesting.  I walked out to the cows and counted again.  Now there were 10 of 11.  Still one missing.  I counted twice more just to make sure before I went looking all over the pasture.  Still only 10.  Off I went making the rounds around and through the trees.  I could not see the missing cow anywhere.  However about halfway through I did notice that one of my pockets was empty.  I had lost the camera--somewhere in the tall wet grass.   I was still worried about the missing cow so I retraced my steps looking for the cow and the camera.  When I got back up to the top of the hill I counted all of them again.  Now there were 11.  At least all the cows were safe.  Now if I could just find my camera!!  So off I went zigzagging over the pasture.  Then I here a lot of mooing and looked up the hill to see about 30 cows on the other side of my fence, all over the driveway and my front yard.  I called my neighbor--who owns the cows and he came right over.  I helped round up his cows and chased them down the drive and road to his place where they jumped back over the fence that had been crushed by a fallen tree limb.  By this time my pants were thoroughly wet except where they were covered by my raincoat and boots.  I went inside to eat breakfast and as I get to the front door Isaac is standing there crying.  The cows in the front yard had frightened him--poor kid.  So we sat down together and had some breakfast and read a book or two.  Then I turned a kid show on for Isaac got a dry coat and hat on and went back out to zigzag the pasture.  One and a half hours later I was again thoroughly soaked and still cameraless.  I went inside and took a warm shower and went on with my day.   Later when the family got home we all went zigzagging together--still no camera.  I still have hopes that on one of my rounds 2 or 3 times a day to check on the cows that I will find my camera.  Wether or not it will work is a different story.

More calves.

We had one more calf late last night or early this morning.  It was a little heifer.  Her name is Paulyanna.


It has been a very busy week.  Checking on the cows two or three times a day can be a little time consuming.   It is good exercise--I hardly puff when I am walking up the big hills anymore.  

We also got four pigs on Thursday.  They are now at home in the garden--which means no more picking of vegetables.  They have already eaten all the broom corn I planted too late to harvest.  At least it was put to good use.

This is a picture of Patch who was born on Wednesday.

A New Little Calf

Dottie and her calf Harvey

On Monday, Sept. 12th our little farm was blessed with a little bull 

calf.  We named him Harvey in honor of the Harvest Moon that we had on Monday morning.    Mother and calf are doing well.  We were out on a walk as a family Monday evening and found Dottie just after the calf was born.  It was neat to watch her clean the calf, and the calf's first attempts at standing.  Another calf was born early this morning.  It is a brown/red color with a white face.  We named him Patch because he has a brown circle around one of his eyes.  Two calves born and hopefully 9 more to come over the next few weeks.

This is a picture of my two boys that look most alike, in their twinner shirts.  Isaac has adopted the name Moose because he loves wearing his moose shirt.

We went to the Wayne County Heritage Festival at Mill Springs a few weeks ago.  Here is a picture of the kids with Lake Cumberland behind them.  The festival was fun with old time crafts and singing and Civil War re-enactors.

The Dog Days of Summer

A few of the kids swimming at Laurel Lake

Our oven turned patio project

  A few weekends ago we took a break and went over to Laurel Lake and played around for a bit.  The weather was nice and the water was perfect. It was a lovely day.

The clay oven project that I have posted before has turned into a little bit larger project.  We originally were eventually going to make a patio out front along side of the oven.  As I was about to finish off the base for the oven, Brett said, "You might want to make that taller."




Why, because if we make a patio we will have to even everything out, raise the ground here lower it there--lots of earth moving.   Well since we just couldn't decide how tall I needed to build it without the patio, we dug up the front yard and have started on the patio.   So now the oven is on the hold until we get the majority of the patio figured out. --Maybe by Thanksgiving we will have an outdoor oven to cook a turkey in and a nice place to sit and eat it--outside.

The kids have been in school for about a month.  Life is still very busy.  Monday night for family night the kids, grandma and I went and picked about 14 gallons of apples and about 1 gallon of pears.  This week we have been busy making pear butter, dried apples, and still have apple pie filling and applesauce to go.  I am glad for tools that make things easier for the kids to help.  They all like to take turns turning the handle on the apple peeler slicer.

Isaac showing off our biggest watermelon from the
garden and his cheshire grin.

Buttercup and her buddy Isaac

Here are a few pictures of lone Isaac.  I think he enjoys being the only one home--although I have played Memory, Uno, Checkers, and Stratego more times than I care to count in the past few weeks.  Sometimes I am thankful the patio isn't finished because there is lots of sand for Isaac to be happy playing outside on his own for a while--even if the sand often finds its way into the house.  The best is when Isaac climbs into my bed for a nap and sand falls out of his pockets or seems in his clothes.  It is so fun to climb into a sandy bed.  Reminds me of trips to Lake Powell as a kid and the beach when we lived in Oregon.  Just one of those little things to help me remember how truly blessed I am.