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.

Well me and the dogs made it back from the lake. They were glad to be home. Especially Heidi, because now she can sit in the chair with me. We brought up a couple of outdoor lounge chairs to sit in and took out the couch because of mold problems. Never had these problems until a couple of years ago. I think it's because we don't go often enough and so it doesn't get aired out. I've thought about leaving a couple of windows open, but then the rain can get blown in. So when Gramma was talking to G. G. Gramma on the phone and telling her about the mold, she said, "Don't you have any vents?" Whoa! Light bulb moment. So I'll get a couple of wall vents that can be closed from the inside and I think that will most likely solve the problem. Thank you G.G.Gramma. You get Kudos from me. Anyway we went to the lake to mow and paint. I brought up the rider and put Gramma to mowing while I got everything ready to put in the dock. Well we had trouble with the dock. The frost had heaved the ground up on the little path that we push the dock down and it wouldn't clear it. So with some shoveling and pushing we finally got it in.

Here's the boat lift. We've decided to sell it. It's too hard for me to put it in anymore. When we bought it the guy at the place asked what kind of boat we had and said this is the lift we needed. It always seemed too big, but I never had one before. Turns out after I did some research that it is about four times bigger than we needed for the boat we had at the time. Live and learn.

This is a Great Blue Heron standing on the dock. I wish I could have closer, but it flew away when I tried. Anyway, after we got the dock in we had to clean everything in the cabin with bleach, including the pans and silverware and stuff. When we got all done we were tired and sore and so no painting happened. Of course it started to rain in the night and rained the next day, so no painting at all. I have to fix some siding on the front and replace the door, because of wood rot, but after seventeen years I guess that isn't too bad. Maybe next trip I can fish. See Ya.

New Home For The New Chickens

After I got the meat birds done,the next day I cleaned out the small coop and moved the new layers in there.

 They've been afraid of me, so after I put some grit in there and made sure that they had been eating it, I cut up some lettuce for treats. It didn't take too long before I became their new BFF. We get along pretty good now.

That's Lucy outside the coop watching. She is not happy. She kept pacing and making "Mad Hen" noises. After I fed the little ones I gave the older hens some grain on the floor. Well Lucy just kept giving me the "Chicken Eye" until I let her eat some out of my hand. Usually she will let one of the other hens grab a bite or two also. Not this time She chased the other ones away whenever they would come near. I guess she thinks I'm her farmer. Pretty funny. Gramma has vacation next week and we are going to the lake for a couple of days and try and paint the cabinette. Then she's going to stay with her Mom for a couple of days. I think we may have a calf by the time I get back from the lake. At least I hope so. Anyway, that's all I know. Does anyone read this tripe or am I just whistling in the wind?

Roast Chicken

Finished butchering yesterday. And no it's not as much fun as you probably think it is. I now know a few things I'll do different next time, such as, I'll do it at 6 or even 5 weeks. These birds were way big at 7 weeks. Bigger than what we usually buy at the store. Also Gramma usually takes out the backbone before roasting, which seems to allow it to cook more evenly. I remembered this as I was putting the last bird in the freezer. If I did this as I was butchering it would cut the cleaning time by at least half, because the backbone is what all the stuff is stuck to. She did tell me that the one she made last night was the cleanest chicken she ever saw. That made me feel good.

 Getting ready.

 Ready.

Done! Yummo! Turned out really good. Gramma said it tasted better than a store bought one. Tasted like chicken to me. Shows what a discerning palate I have. See Ya!

Farm Stuff

A beautiful night here. 76 no humidity, no wind, great. Pheasants crowing, cranes hooting, frogs singing, just a good old country night.

 Hay is coming up nicely.

 Started to butcher chickens today. I thought that I could get three done before my back gave out, but I did six. Six more to go,so I should get them done tomorrow. Can't wait to taste them. Then I can move the layers, which is good, because they are getting big.

 Waiting for Red Cow to have her calf. She bagged up just this past week, so it could come anytime.

 Ingrid wanted her picture taken, she's doing her Veronica Lake impression.

 Here's Aksel doing what he likes best. Well he likes this best next nibbling on me and sliming me.

This is what his head looks like when it's not inside a bale. Goofy horse. Ha det bra.