Corn Dogs, Birds and Hay

The other day Gramma saw someone making corn dogs on tv. Gramma loves corn dogs.

 Cooking them up on the stove.

 Done.

 My plate. I thought they were really good, but Gramma said they tasted more like pronto pups and that is unacceptable. So next time she's changing the batter recipe and she's going to use the packaged weiners like Oscar Meyer instead of the old fashioned skin on ones. I think she's right.

 The pileated woodpeckers finally started to come back to the suet. They are so big and so pretty.

 This is a House Finch.

 We call them Rosy Finches.

Gold finches.



In other news, I cut hay Saturday and Sunday. About halfway through the last field one of the universal joints on the haybine broke. I've been using Jess' tractor cause the pto clutch on ours is out. Anyway after a lot of monkey business and work, with Gramma's help we got the sickle mower hooked up and I finished. I have been plagued with equipment problems this year and with the temps in the upper 90's it's been a struggle. I started to rake today, but the wind started blowing and gusting and it started to blow the just raked hay across the field, so I quit. Good thing too cause it got over 100 degrees here and I can't take that heat anymore. Anyhoo, I'll get it done as long as it doesn't start raining. Cross your fingers. Later.

Fishing with my daughter

Went up to the lake on Sunday to mow and fish.

 Remember the big bush in the middle of the lot? Now you see it.

 Now you don't. Still some stumpage and stuff left, but it will be gone by fall.

 Jess and Reba came up on Monday to fish with me.

 We had a contest to see who could catch the smallest sunnie and she won.

However, I win the overall fishing prize for catching the smallest bass that anyone has ever seen. We caught enough bigger fish for a meal and had a lot of fun. So the moral of this story is: Take your kid fishing whenever you can cause it's lots of fun. Also she's a lucky charm when it comes to fishing. Thanks Kiddo, we'll do it again soon.  Auf Wiedersehen.

Baseball

On Saturday Gramma and I went to watch Russell play baseball. It was the last games and it was a tournament. They won both games and everyone got a medal. Russell went three for three at bat in the first game. We left after the first game cause it was so hot and there wasn't any shade.

Here he is playing left field.

Third base.

Catcher.

Here comes the pitch.

Hit! Run! Good job Russ!

If you should ever want to photograph your grandson batting, make sure you get on the first base line side before he gets to the plate or he will get a hit and you will have nothing but a dumb look on your face.

Here endeth the lesson.

I'm Baaaaack

Well, did you miss me? Do to technical difficulties and my ignorance of computer technology I haven't been able to blog for almost a month. So here goes.

Sally and Stan came up and visited for about ten days. Sally finally was able to retire. Yeeeaaahhh. We spent time visiting with different relatives and even went to Jess' farm. This is the only pic we got of Sal. She and Stan were taking pics all the time and I think we just forgot because their camera was always out. Here she is with Snapper and some goose feathers.

Here are the Randall cows.

Here are some of the pigs. They love me. Can you tell?

This is the bear that crossed the road in front of us on the way home. It stopped and looked at us, but the camera people couldn't get their cameras out in time. Pretty sure it was last years cub because it wasn't real big.

This is the flag case Stan made for my Dad's burial flag. He made one for Glen's flag also. Beautiful. The guy does really fabulous work. I think he should make stuff and sell it. Thanks Stan. Sorry if I picked on you too much. I just can't help myself, but your not the only one I pick on. Ted is going to get the flag folded properly by the flag folding guys in his LEMA group and then I need to find pics and things for the bottom case. I found his ribbons, but I'm going to try and procure the actual medals also.

Words and music by S.R. Berg Esq.

New Calf

Well we had some excitement today. Red Cow finally had her calf. A red one!

 Fresh outta the chute.

 Standing.

 Falling.

 Standing again.

 Here he is all dry. A bull calf.

I don't know if you can tell from this picture, but right now he has blue eyes. Cool. I don't know if that will change, but I suspect it will. Gonna call him Poco Rojo (little red) for now and in two years we're gonna call him, Yummy! Adios muchachos.

Sally's coming to town

My sister Sally and her husband are coming to visit next week. They'll be here on Monday. Since Gramma uses the spare bedroom for an office, I've been working on cleaning the basement and making a place for them to sleep.

 No I haven't made the beds yet. Put some carpet down, hung some sheets for walls and "Voila" instant bedroom.

 Put down some carpet runners. Heidi is checking it out.

 Large economy size sink.

Today I installed a toilet. First time I ever used the Pex plastic piping water lines. I'm impressed and it's much easier than copper, although you still need copper for part of it. Pretty classy huh? Just like the Hilton, or at least better than camping. Don't get any ideas, as soon as they're gone it goes back to a basement. Ciao Baby.

Chicken Stock

Gramma has been making chicken stock from the older chickens.

 Veggies are ready.

 Getting the chicken ready.

 Cooking it all down.

 Finished product.

 Ready for the freezer. We did a taste test with some store bought stock and we like Gramma's better. You can really taste the vegetables and not the salt. It's nice to know where your food comes from and what's in it, plus it always seems to taste better.

With all the rain we've had lately, we have a small pond in the pasture. Frank and Le Beef like to stand in the water. Burger Boy avoids it. Goofy cows. Adios.