A Month of Sundays

So we've had some wet and cool weeks this spring, but we have seen plenty of flowers, too (though, these flowers were supposed to be facing a different direction, but they uploaded a little funny--so much for making all of my images come up square and hoping that the more vertical photos would work again!)

Anyway, we've had some beautiful Sunday afternoons in the last month and I've been able to search out some beautiful sites (just down the road and up the ditch and next to a field I found some blankets of Mayflowers!)

So perfect and clean!  We saw them while driving home from church and I told Dan we would have to take a walk back to see them after we had lunch . . . and so we did--aren't you thankful!!!!

The next weekend we let the cows and horses out onto pasture.  (You might notice that our horse, Checotah, looks mighty wooly--we are quite sure that she has Cushings.  She was starting to have her hair grow really long last year, but it definitely got much worse this year--Dan just gave her a good clipping on Monday, so she's looking much better now!

While the rest of the animals went out to pasture, Mickey just couldn't get past the fact that he had to go through where a gate had been electrified for his entire life.  We figured, eh, he'll get hungry enough and wander out to his mother sometime overnight.  By the next afternoon, he was still in the yard and separated from his mother with no signs of going out on his own--sooooo . . . Dan decided to try to get him to go into the pasture again--this time when Gert (his momma) saw Dan going to fetch Mickey, she came and stood right by the gate to moo her encouragement!

So Mickey started on his way to his mother (through the muddy wet at the bottom of the cow yard)

And he finally decided that he really would like to be with his mother and the rest of the fam!

And that he had really missed his mother's milk!

 . . . a lot!  He must have nursed there for a good 5 minutes or more!

Beauty was quite happy to eat the grass after a winter of hay! (good hay, let me tell you, but it isn't fresh grass--come late fall when they've had grass for months on end, though, they're going to be excited for hay)

Soooo . . . in our wanderings after getting all the animals in the pasture we also came across one of the wild plum trees in the pasture just at the end of its full bloom.

And Dan looked good, so I snapped a photo (or two or three or four)

Back on Memorial Day we spent the day at the home of my parents-in-law.  Here my niece and her cousin (and best friend) laugh as I take their picture.

Here they are much more well composed.  This is the picture that Kalyn wants on her birthday card this year.  (of course, I told her that what I put on her birthday card is my decision, so she might get a picture of her ear instead).

Ummmm . . .  this one uploaded sideways and I don't feel like going back and trying to upload it again and again when I know I saved it the right way, so turn your head or your screen and you'll see a pretty rainbow over the cow shed rather than to the left of the cow shed)

Last week Dan got a new bike (well new to us).  A 2008 Honda Rebel to commute to work on and to make himself look cool--you should see him in his motorcycle chaps (okay, no you shouldn't because I don't want you to--I'll keep him for myself!)

Nice!  (and the bike is, too)

Dan's brother, Jason, his dad, and there's Dan again all on their bikes.  His brother was visiting last week and came with us to pick up Dan's bike and then his dad thought he better come on over and they all went for a quick ride into town together.  What a fun night!

And sometime in the midst of all of this I made dandelion jelly--good stuff.

Hope your month has been great!  I'll be starting to teach a musikgarten class through our local community education program next week, so wish me luck on that (I've got some busy weeks coming up--we're having a wagon train start here next week for a ride through a bunch of local communities and I was in charge of finding musicians for their first night of camping with a community picnic and our church has its 125th anniversary celebration (and I'm involved with music and I have to finish off editing and putting together a history dvd for that as well--wish me luck with that, too--so many pictures (that my mom has thankfully scanned in, but now we have to figure out exactly where all of them will go!)  Hmmmm . . .  I've got to make some special banners for the front of the church, too--soooo . . . lots to do!

Making stuff

This past week nature has been making things more beautiful around here (though today is rainy and chilly again).  I have been loving the evening light as it glows over the flowers that are blooming in the yard!

 

Last night I made up a quick project using scraps of bulky and worsted weight yarn on size 13 double pointed needles.  Soooo . . . I've been making stuff, too!

This is the Scrappy Gnome Hat made for a brand new baby named Henry who has a baby shower next Saturday--I made this while watching the final episode of Smallville (and an extra hour to hour and a half--a very fast project!)  As I do not have a child, Oscar, the gorilla, kindly stepped in to model--he wasn't too excited about it, but he didn't get a whole lot of say!  I just love this silly hat!

Have a great rest of your weekend!

Up, things that have been

More pictures of things going on around here!

Bernie and Rosie in the remains of the very weedy garden from last year.  Bernie is quite surprised that his picture is being taken.

Norman looking off of the back porch

Green tulips last week--they finally are blooming now and were all nice and yellow just in time for Mother's Day!

Dakota had a run-in with a raccoon last Wednesday morning in the wee hours.  So far it looks like she is seeing out of her eye--no infection has happened--but she will remain a conehead for a little while.  We are hoping that the eye will heal over eventually, but the scratch was deep and we may have to bring her to someone who specializes in doing surgery on the eye.  Poor Dakota--just trying to make sure the raccoons don't come onto our place and kill our kitties (which they have in the past).

Mother's Day and my mom's 64th birthday were on the same day this year.  We had everyone over for dinner and my brother's family (his wife, really) brought the cupcake cake!

The apricot trees just started to bloom this weekend!

The violets finally opened up yesterday!!!!!

This morning Dan found two little kittens in the wall of the barn--fallen down from the haymow.  We hadn't seen these little ones yet--they are definitely one of the more wild(e) kitties kittens--probably Bobby's daughter's kittens (not that you know who Bobby is, but she has a daughter that looks almost exactly like her except that Bobby is has no tail and Bobby's daughter has a tail and also Bobby loves us very much, but Bobby's daughter doesn't so much care for us (except that she knows we feed her).  Anyway, they seem to be really sweet kittens--not scared of us at all, surprisingly--the little peachy and white one started purring as I held it even, but Dan has said the gray and white one will not be allowed in the house--all of our gray and white kitties have "issues" and constantly chat at us and are just plain weird--like the Bernie--did you see his expression in that first picture?  Do you want to know who started chatting at us at 6:00 am this morning after we got him (or her--I didn't check that carefully and my 6 am eyes have been known to be wrong in the past) out of the wall--the little Bernie look-a-like.  Oh, you little kitties!

Molly's little kittens are also growing up and starting to move around--what little sweet things!

Last, but not least--the cows were enjoying today's sun.  Here's hoping the rain will let up for a few days to help dry out their yard.  I was using a long lens on this photo--there was a great oozing expanse of mud and muck between us as I shot this photo!  Rain, rain go away, I've smelled enough cow muck for today (and next week and next month and so on)

Mud

There are reasons for 4 wheel drive around here--winter and spring (or springs in the road following wet winters!)

Looks a little mucky

Looks a lot mucky!

Hope mud baths are good for the Tahoe!

The area where I live is filled with springs--they are on the sides and tops of hills all over the place.  I think it will be a while until we can make hay properly this summer without rutting up our fields! 

Somehow that doesn't seem so bad to me--not being able to get things done because you are too lazy or even too busy--you can do something about that most of the time--not being able to do stuff because there is too much mud and water--well, can't help that, so might as well relax, do a little something else, and wait!

Guess we might not have too many pretty wild flowers growing this May Day!  Maybe people will need to make up mud pies to leave on their neighbor's doorsteps.

More Cows!

Wilde Rose Knitting, a set on Flickr.

I know, lots of cow photos lately, but that's where the excitement has been at our place for the most part! Just wait till you see the new one at the end--what a cutie!

Molly and Babies

Molly and Babies, a photo by wilderose on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
Molly had her babies on Monday 4/18/2011. Four little ones--two girls and two boys. She had them on a tarp up in our haymow--I added a little hay underneath her and the kittens to keep it a little cosier!

A couple more gratuitous cattle photos

Ummm . . . we've got a problem . . .

We (well, I use the term 'we' rather loosely because it really was Dan) made a divider down the center of the feed bunk to keep the cows from laying down in the comfy hay, but . . . apparently . . . ummmm . . . it is a quite comfy calf bed now.

Now, remind me again--who says cattle don't have personality?

Hey, Mickey your so fine, your so fine you blow my mind--Hey Mickey, hey, hey, Hey Mickey

(or should I say, hay Mickey?--oh, I am so hilarious . . . or not)

Sorry, that song has been going through my head this week and I think that is the only part of that song I know . . .

Well, bye, bye!

Spring is in the air

Yesterday morning I woke up and I thought to myself, "It looks like spring."  Most of the snow is gone and the tulips are starting to poke through the soggy earth and the grass and a few other perennials are starting to green up.  Our home (well, not the home per se (is that how you would spell that? I don't know) so much as the cow yard) stinks to high heaven.

But most importantly . . .

We welcomed a new creature into our midst on Sunday!

Meet Mickey

Born in the wee hours of Sunday morning--here he is just hours old and a little shy

Mickey and his mother Gert in our cow yard that smells to high heaven!

He's got a little snowy white face and is quite clean compared to the rest of the springtime sludginess that abounds at this time of year.

Welcome to the world, Mickey!  You may not be our little calf, but you stay with us, and you let us scratch your ears, and we really think you're sweet!

Mickey had his first visitors on Sunday afternoon.  They included his owner, Tim and Tim's dad as well as my brother and his family (including my very excited 6 year old nephew--who will be sharing that he got to meet a baby cow over spring break at kindergarten this week).

Sunday was a busy day at our place and I needed that day yesterday to just decompress from all of it, I think.  We also were able to find a family for one of the precious little puppies that Dan found a few weeks ago.  I really wished we could have kept him, but it would have put a strain on our finances to have another dog as much as he was so sweet.  I had Dan convinced that if we weren't able to find a family for him in two weeks, we would keep him forever and ever, but just a day after Dan and I put up flyers for him, we got a call from a family (who had recently put their 11 year old lab down) that  were looking for a puppy.  They also live in the country with some acreage and were really missing having a dog to call their very own.  It was very bittersweet to have to let him go.  My parents will be taking the other puppy as soon as they have a dog kennel ready at their place (they live right next to us--separated by just a hay field, so at least we will see him all the time).

Anyway, what a weekend--and spring is here--soon there will be another calf and little kittens in the barn.  And not too long after that we will have our own little longhorn calves (we hope, we hope)!

Puppy-ness