Cold

This is in response to some recent thermometer pics on some blogs I follow. I win. Had to chop ice in the stock tanks this morning. I know my sister will remember back when we were young we would chop ice in the stock tank until it got so thick we couldn't do it anymore, so we would carry buckets of water out to the horses several times a day. Gosh that was fun. Dang horses.

Arm Update

Went back to the doc today and got the cast thrown away. YAAAYYY! That's the good news. The bad news is, on Monday I start physical therapy. What it should be called is "Physical Torture". I've done this a couple times now and I don't like it. The "Therapists" are usually young, nice looking with great smiles that they keep on their faces while pushing, pulling, twisting and overextending the affected appendage. These are not really fake smiles, but you know they are laughing hysterically inside at your suffering. I have to go cause I promised Gramma and the doc, so I will and I'll try not to cry, though it won't be easy. Wish me luck. Yes, I know these aren't pics of my arm, but it's all skinny and the skin is flaking off, so who wants to see that? Not me. Twin fawns. Cute. Bye.

Animals

I thought I would remind everyone that Gramma and I share our lives with some pretty cool and sometimes goofy critters. Look closely at the pic on the top of my blog and then look at these.

 This is what happens when it rains. They like to roll in the mud. And you thought we got rid of the pigs.

I thought I better get a picture of Jack's comb before it freezes and falls off this winter.

 Here's the whole gang, except for one. Just gave them some treats. They like meat the best. I don't know how they know the difference but they always go for the meat scraps first.

 Here's the black cows. That's "Frank The Tank" laying down. Big boy.

 Brown cow. She goes in the freezer in December.

Red cow.

The two buddies relaxing on the couch. Sorry, no cat pics this time.  Later.

Saturday

On Saturday the Berg family came up to visit, have lunch and help the "Old Gimp" get some stuff done. Ted and Sue helped us get some hay out to the poor starving horses and cows.

 There was also some shooting." Dead Eye Mary" went first.

 Then "Sure Shot Russell" went next.

 I think they had a good time.

 The whole family stacked firewood for us. They worked really hard.

Nice pile huh? Thank you guys, Gramma and I really appreciate it. Now we can be warm this winter without having to burn Gramma's furniture Thanks again.

The One Armed Man

I thought I would update you on the condition of my arm.

 As you can see it's still in a cast, so I'm still the "One Armed Man". (No, not that one armed man, I didn't kill Dr. Kimball's wife.)

It's a half-cast so I can take it off to take a shower. Just have to wrap the elbow in plastic wrap to keep it dry and Gramma has to help me get dried off. The good news is I am able to run the bobcat, so I can still put out hay. I also was able to sight-in one of my deer rifles, it was a bit tricky, but if I still have this cast on in a couple of weeks I'm pretty sure I can still hunt. Jess and her friend Steph came over on Sunday and helped me do some stuff around here and we pulled out a bunch of fence posts from her little house which I will use to fence off the south field for cow pasture. Thanks girls. Anyway, back to the doctor next week and hopefully get this cast off. Gramma goes to Chicago on the 30th so it will be interesting if I still have it on, cause she does so many things for me right now and the dogs have refused to help. Dang dogs.

Eggs

Yeah, I know, I know, enough with the eggs already.

 So first here's the "Chicken Whisperer" tending her flock. The other half of her flock was hiding behind the stock trailer cause it was windy and they didn't want to come out. Bunch of "Chickens".

Anyway, yesterday we got eight eggs. Once we got twelve, but that's cause we didn't find them for a couple of days. These were all laid the same day. We are happy.

Fall Colors II

Remember these?

Six days later.

Big wind storm the other day. I haven't looked to see if there are any trees across trails yet, or if the new deer stand blew over, but I hope not. Jess is coming over today to put out hay for cows and horses. Hopefully I can do it myself next time. Later.

Gramma's face and new eggs

 We finally got an egg from one of the Maran pullets. We like the cross eggs better.

Let this be a lesson to you all. This is what happens when you wise-off to Grampa.

Just kidding. It took a few times but they got all the bad stuff. They take a little and then test it and keep doing it until they are satisfied that they have it all. OUCH! Now it will be seeing this doctor once a year from now on. Some fun huh? So everyone keep this in mind and check yourselves for moles and things that change shape or look funny.

Autumn

Saturday, Gramma  and I went up to the "North Shore". We stopped in Duluth at a fur processor and dropped off the gray fox I had in the freezer to get the hide tanned. Then we drove up along the shore to see the fall colors. Problem was, there wasn't any. The leaves hadn't really started to change along the lake. I don't know if it is because of the lake or what.

 Anywy we drove up to Two Harbors and had lunch. Here's a breakwater along the way.

 Gramma sitting on what appears to be a "cold" rock.

 The old guy.

 Here's an ore boat heading to Duluth.

 We have more color at our place, although it has a little way to go yet.

Unfortunately our maples are deeper in the woods, so I'll try to get some pics of them later.

Farm Stuff

Just a couple pics about what's going on around here.

 Two horses, seven cows wondering where their hay is. As soon as I get a bale on the bobcat, the cows all crowd around the feeder. I have to get inside the feeder to cut the twine and get it rolled up.

Here is our second pullet egg. Wellsummer on the left and Maran on the right. Can you see how it appears to be a combination of the two colors? We think it's pretty and pretty cool.