Operation Bird Rescue!

This morning, while Katie was "supposed" to be doing school...all of a sudden, she went flying out the front door. Matt said she was running after the dogs for some reason. The reason, I soon found out, was because the dogs had a bird. She had been looking out the window (instead of doing school work) and spotted the "incident" just as it happened. So out the door she goes...shoe-less in 20 degree weather, no less! The story had a happy ending for all concerned, except the dogs of course...who did NOT get the bird. But Katie was happy. And the bird was happy...a little shook up, naturally, but happy nonetheless. (If I was an animal...I'd sure pick Katie as my friend.)In other exciting news, Rachel has a new violin bow. We were informed by her teacher several weeks ago that she really did need a new bow. We did a home trial program with Shar Music. They sent six different bows for her to try. You can keep them for 10 days, which gave her lots of practice time, plus her teacher spent an entire lesson with her in helping her determine the best bow for her violin. Turns out, she and her teacher ultimately picked out the same one! So, one week and $450 later, Rachel has a new bow. If you're terribly interested, and I know you are, you can go HERE to see the one she decided on. It really is amazing to hear the difference in sound a different bow makes! Now...if we can ever just get fast internet, I'll upload a video of her playing.Jacob's Intro. to Accounting class seems to be going well for him. He likes it better than he thought he would...of course, he hasn't had his first test yet! :O) Today is really his first day "back in action." The entire family (with the exception of ME) has had some kind of nasty head/chest cold bug. It's been nothing to sneeze at (no pun intended). They've really felt bad with it. Seems to take about a week and a half to really get over it. But Jacob was the last man down, and he's getting back on his feet again, so I believe we're all in the clear now. :O)
So I guess that's about all for now. Hope you're all well and happy! I'll be back again soon!

Remember the Poison Ivy Tree?

Perhaps you remember last July when I posted about the really big tree that had fallen across the fence? It was just crawling with poison ivy...and I took pictures of Katie climbing all over it. The title of the post was "Another DUH moment in the life of me." Why such a title? Because it's a well-known fact that Katie has had some pretty severe reactions to poison ivy...and there I stood letting her climb all over the tree...I just wasn't thinking! *sigh* Anyway, yes she had another bad reaction that July also...and Matt and I both also got a pretty nasty case of it ourselves. Hard lesson learned. After cutting that tree off the fence line back in July, it has just been sitting there all this time...after all the hub-bub with the poison, nobody wanted to touch it! :O) (Once bit, twice shy.) So 6 1/2 months have gone by, and Jacob finally got brave enough to hook it to the tractor and drag it back to the house. It made me shudder to even look at it! :O) It was really quite a big old tree...81 years old to be exact...we counted the annual rings.
Jacob spent the better part of his afternoon cutting it up...
and busting it.
Katie spent the better part of her day helping stack the wood and yes, playing with Spud.
Rachel....let's see...where was she during all this work? Well, I did see her pick up a piece or two of wood...but it all happened so fast, I wasn't able to get a picture. (This girly girl does not like to get dirty...but turn her loose in the house and she can clean like nobody's business.)

Speaking of cutting wood, we have had so much cold weather this winter, we're getting low on our wood supply. But we have sure enjoyed a taste of spring this past week!! We had temps in the 60s! It was gorgeous! I'm sure we've not seen the last of Old Man Winter, but these warmer days have sure been welcome. I think the cows and chickens enjoyed it more than we did! Just look at this hen...that pretty red comb and those dark feathers. This ol' gal is getting ready to start laying after taking the winter off. :O)

White Again? :OP

We awoke this morning to more of the "white stuff." (Have I ever mentioned that I'm not a snow person?) I'd say there are several inches of dry, powdery snow. It's still snowing some but not like it was yesterday evening. It's early in the morning right now and the kids aren't awake yet, but my guess is that there will be some hootin' and hollerin' youngens sledding down these hills before too much more time goes by. :O) Don't have any pics of the snow yet...maybe later today...but you can visualize it...white. It is sooo cold too! Yikes! Last night, when the temp was 12 degrees, the wind chill was minus 2!! We had wind gusts of about 30 mph! (It sounds like a train coming through this holler!) :O) Too cold for my blood.

I do, however, have some pictures to share with you of a new heifer. Aren't ya excited? I knew you would be. Matt and I spent several hours at the stock pen this past weekend. By the way, have you ever been to a livestock auction? You really should go sometime. I love hearing the auctioneer, and watching the farmers bid. They each seem to have their own bidding style...including Matt, who cannot for the life of him bid without his cap. I know when he takes his cap off that he's fixing to bid on one. :O) He sorta just waves it a little bit...just enough to get the auctioneer's attention. So yep, the stock pen is...well...it's an interesting experience. The sights (and definitely smells) stick with you for a long time. Poor Rachel doesn't have the stomach for it...she can't take the "aroma." She nearly loses it when she sees people eating a hot dog or hamburger in the midst of all that smell. But it's fun. No kidding. I always enjoy going with Matt. Anyway, Matt wanted to get one more heifer while the price of cattle was somewhat lower than normal. (We're counting on prices going up in spring and summer.) He ended up with this gorgeous black angus heifer...about 9 months old. She really is quite pretty, don't you think? Look at that thick winter coat and those stout legs! Woohoo!

Whenever we get a new cow or heifer, we always keep them in the corral for a few days so they can settle down. The other cows always gather round the corral to check out the new kid. :O) The newbie and the other cows are always anxious for the time when we let the newbie out of the corral so they can push and shove and establish their "pecking order", so to speak. It sometimes takes a few days for the new one to be completely accepted, but eventually it usually always happens. Funny thing, if the newbie is a bull...it's not a problem. We keep him in the corral for a day, maybe two. We let him out...the "ladies" might push or shove him once...but they cut him a lot more slack than they do another cow.

So here are a few of the cows...waiting patiently for the newbie. :O) (The cute little Jersey on the left is Carl...he'll be in the freezer soon.)

Here's Whitey...she sticks out like a sore thumb here. Most of ours (except the Jerseys we're using for beef) are Black Angus. I think she's cute, but Matt insists on selling her this spring.
So enough of the cow pictures. I don't want to over-excite you. :O)

By the way, I put a link to my new blog over on the side bar. Come visit me over there, too! (No cow pictures are there...I promise.) :O)

That's all for now, folks!