February into March

 Greeting everyone! Here's an update on my life.  First, my Janome 11000 is in the hospital. I miss that machine but I know that it needs a great cleaning of which there hasn't been in "years."

And then there's this little problem.

Can you see that little red blob laying underneath his mom? Well just the other day, one of those very cold 25 degree, wind blowing at 15 miles per hour days......well this little guy was laying very near the fence where his mommy left him for whatever crazy reason...and what did he do but roll over which placed him on the other side of the fence which placed him out in the road...which unfortunately was the exact moment that looked out the window and saw it happen......!!!*&@#^^$&@)@*^$@!*

What to do.....what to do?!?!?!?!

Have I mentioned that I don't like cows!? And of course Mr. Cowboy was away....Eeeeek!

I threw on my overcoat, found my boots and gloves and walked outside hoping not to spook the little critter.  After some heart-stopping moments and huffing and puffing, I managed to guide him into my front yard and closed the gate.  Then I promptly call Mr. Cowboy!!!!!!! Mind you, it was very cold....let's say freezing and this is a two to three day old calf.  By now this mom has coming looking for him only to discover he's missing.  After a lot of  bellowing and charging the fence look for the little guy, she turns and runs off in another direction looking for him. He's shaking and panting and finally lays down near another fence which, thank goodness, is made from hog wire (small squares impossible to get through)....WHEW!

After about a half hour Mr. Cowboy comes home, wrestles, grabs, tussles.....you can picture it and manages to get him back to his mom.  I'm exhausted after all the action....I think I need a strong cup of coffee to warm up.

To reward himself, Mr. Cowboy bought himself a new pair of boots.

Hummmmm, something's wrong with this picture.!@#$%^&**&@_

Enjoy the rest of your week!

June 22nd?!

How has this month nearly gotten away from me?!  What have I been doing, you asked?  Well let's see.
First I was watching the little ones:

I'll bet you thought I was talking about the grands....hehehehehe! Nope, can you see the two spotted fawns?  They like to camp out in my yard in the afternoons around 5ish.  When I went to the front door to take a photo, they heard me but didn't know from which direction I was. They froze in place. They were too cute.  I was able to get a couple of pics before they scampered off.

Then I:::::

Did some canning of tomatoes.  All I did here was chop up a bunch of tomatoes into a very large pot. Poured sugar over them and allowed them to set for a couple of hours to draw some of the liquid from the tomatoes. Then I brought the mixture to a rolling boil, reduced to a simmer & cooked for about 4 hours until most of the juice had simmered away. Because I didn't can these in a hot bath, I placed the jars in the frig until I'm ready to eat some and give some away.

Finally....

I've been flower gardening......don't laugh.........I know what you're thinking. At no time during the time I've known "her" has she ever been involved with flowers!!!! And you would be correct but a couple of my girlfriends talked me into this and off I went......SIGH!!!

Until next time....cross your fingers that I don't kill the garden.

What have you been doing in June??

Eeeeeeeeeeeeek!!!!!

Hi there! The old snake wrangler here. Not really! Can you say,' freaked out!'

I was out at our church running an errand when I happen to look down at the foot of the door I'd just walked through a couple of time already when I noticed a rather too thick of a tail to be a lizard. "Please let it be a lizard! Please let it be a lizard," I babbled as I was sure it wasn't. 

Of course I wasn't dressed for hunting snakes.

 

This is my normal attire for hunting critters.
Anyway, back to my dilemma.
As you could probably guess, there was no one, I mean, no one around to help me. So I grabbed the wasp spray thinking.....well, I wasn't really thinking very much at this point. I gave the snake two cans worth of the spray while chanting, "Please slither away," over and over. But alas, he didn't get that message. On two the next solution.....call everybody to help.
Wouldn't you know but the secretary was busy, my cousins had literally gone fishing, the neighbors were, I'm thinking hiding in their homes or something because absolutely no one was about.
I did manage to find a couple of garden tools but by this time, said snake had managed to wedge himself between two very heavy planters.
Praise be!!!! Two guys came along and I managed to flag them down and together we came up with a plan to slay the snake. Basically they told me to stand back and they'd handle things! That was all I need to hear. In a matter of moments the snake was dispatched as I watch on with frayed nerves. 
I actually thought about having a bit of Communion wine to steady my nerves.
No really!!
I thanked the guys profusely and offered them bottles of water before they went on their way. I did come home and took a couple of aspirin a little while ago.  I think I'll need a nap as well.....sigh!!
BTW, I am unable to respond your comments at this time. Blogger or someone needs to fix that situation but please know that I read & appreciate every comment!! 

Shots Fired!!!

No photos....sorry about that.
My cousin Clark is a great guy and a softie at heart. A few months ago he trapped a wild hog or two (see POST here) with a bit of drama.
Now that he fully understands how vicious wild hogs can be, he's decided to take a more....well....not so close-up and personal approach.
 The other day Clark informed me that he had borrowed another cousin's rifle to do a little hog hunting.  Well not real hunting. Some wild hogs have been rooting up his backyard. They are cunning, have great hearing and smell and are very fast. Clark says he made sure the rifle was fully loaded when he placed it near his backdoor.
At 11PM, he quietly open the backdoor but nothing was amiss. At 2:45AM he had better luck. There were about 3 adults and loads of babies rooting away.
I can just picture what Clark was telling me. He eased the rifle into position, took aim and ....... click!!
Yes, click!!! A shell was not in the chamber. Upon hearing that small click, the hogs took off for the hills. By the time Clark was able to fire, he was shooting at the night. Needless to say, he was very disappointed.
I told him that those hogs would return in a few nights.
I was wrong about the time of night....they showed up this morning in my field. I quickly called Clark, who being a bit more prepared this time, tipped into a good position and fired....rat-a-tat-rat-a-tat-rat-a-tat!
Sigh........we need to work on the aim.
Better luck next time Cuz!!!!

It's Wild Around Here

Warning!!!   Warning!!!   Warning, Will Robinson!!!!  Okay, sorry I couldn't help myself with that opening from Lost In Space which was one of my favorite TV shows way back when. But seriously, if you're squeamish, look away NOW!!!

All the photos were taken with my iPhone. It's a handle thing since my camera is always misplaced.

 

As most of you know who follow me, I live in the country where there are plenty of wild things lurking about. In the above photo you are seeing a mole.......dead, thanks to my cousin Clark. This critter had been wrecking my yard for weeks leaving giant mole mounds. Clark is the local mole exterminator & he offered to "take him out" so to speak.

He did it!!! The mole was very crafty but Clark was patient. Look at the teeth on this thing....OMG!!!

I'm sure this isn't the end of my mole problem but it sure feels good to know that the granddaddy of all moles is no longer.  Thank You Clark!!!

Update:  Here's the latest photo of little "Show Girl," Showee for short. She stopped, posed for me, even started towards me in curiosity, then backed up. She's so funny to watch. Fairly soon afterwards she realized that her mom had moved off so off she dashed with her little tail in the air.

This beauty was fluttering about as I was gathering up some fallen branches after the big storm the other night. I was able to get quite close for the pic. This photo doesn't lend the beautiful coloring.

Finally, this is a photo of a branch/creek that fun thru the back forty. I'm thinking of doing a mini quilt from this pic.....if I have enough energy after all the hay baling.  We'll see.

I hope everyone has a great weekend and a nice Mother's Day.

TMI!!

The other day Mr. Cowboy asked me to come along with him to a Beef-master workshop. I love tagging along with him most of the time when I'm not into a quilting project. So off we went over 80 miles. Once there, we observed and graded the cattle present on a scale of 1 to 10 so to speak. That was fun and the heifers were mild mannered (easy to handle). Next, we had lunch with a great group of folks while taking shop. But then came to meat of the day...... discussion about breeding heifers. Mr. Cowboy asked me to take notes. Little did I realize the "in depth" reporting that would take place.
If you have been following me for a bit, you know that critters are not my thing even though I was raised and still live on a working farm, so when the talk came to AI (Artificial Insemination) and believe you me, it was very thoroughly discussed, I was cross-eyed and dry mouthed. Mr. Cowboy was eating all the info up because he loves all that stuff. Several times he asked me if I was keeping up writing all the stuff down. If looks could kill, he should have known to back down but he seemed oblivious to my feelings on the matter....sign.

Here are "the babies" at least that's what I call them even though they are a little over two years old, about to endure AI. Look at those innocent faces. You know I named them. Meet Alice, Annie, Amber, Angie Anna, Alicia, April, Amy and Ava.

Mr. Cowboy had better tread lightly. Remember what happen to him when I sold Buzzard Bite. Me and my blogging friends rose up and...... well, it wasn't pretty. 

Stay tuned.

Hay, Literally

Take a close look at the little ones.

The other day before 9" of rain pouring down, the babies (aka - calves) got a taste of hay. They were so funny to watch. They seemed to get a taste then want to spit it out but didn't know how to do that. After a time they gave up & laid down in it while their moms ate around them. Farm life's little moments are precious to me & Cowboy. Watching birds, going fishing, feeding the herd, bouncing around in the tractor; it's all pleasurable & peaceful to us.

I hope you have special or peaceful times as well.

Cutie & More

Look at this little cutie! I've named him Coco. Mr. Cowboy has promised not to sell him or move him to a different pasture without consulting me first. We all remember what happened to Buzzard Bait, who, BTW, is now a proud mama cow but owned by someone else, but I digress!! This little guy is a couple of weeks old and was looking for his mommy who was stuffing her face on range cubes a distance away. Coco was not very happy with her one bit.

Next...... I got a package in the mail......the mail lady was nearly as excited as I was!

Look at all the goodies I got from England Designs. I look that online place.

Roughly 30 years ago I purchased this ruler from the Nancy Zieman store (Nancy's Notions) in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin. It has been one of the best buys of my sewing experience.

At this point it's helping eliminate some of my stash. I'm working on a scrappy spider's web. This will probably take some time because I'm also working on several mini pieces as well.

I hope everyone has a great week!!

So, I Was Sewing When....

Got a few minutes? You're going to want to hear this one. So I was sewing up a storm on a secret project for October (a little hint below) when Mr. Cowboy texted me that he needed help with something. He doesn't usually ask for help with many things so I knew this must be important.

So I shut off the machine, turned off the iron, changed into my work clothes, jumped into the Jeep and headed for the pasture.

Now those who have followed me for the past few years know that I DO NOT like certain things (critters) but I won't list them at this time. 

I drove slowly thru the pasture, bypassed the "mud" hole that I got stuck in back in the winter...nope, Cowboy has yet to fill that in.....rounded a corner and this is what came into view....

Three "wild" pigs in Cowboy's hog trap. Two females and one crazy, hyped up, angry male that kept charging at the fence. Now, you may be wondering what I'm thinking about this time......well, let's just say that I was eyeing Mr. Cowboy like he was crazy because he was instructing me to back the trailer up to the gate of the trap so that he could maneuver the shoot into place. He was barking orders at me so fast, I could hardly think straight. 

The 3 little pigs (pun intended) were squealing and grunting and charging the fence. And did I mention that they can jump really high. That was scary to see. I'll have nightmares about jumping pigs which was pretty close to "pigs flying!"

Finally, Cowboy got the trap door open and had me manning one of the trailer swinging doors with a rope to pull it closed. Did I mention that those doors are very heavy and you really have to pull like mad to get them to catch!!!!!

So, with that all firmly pictured in your minds, now comes the really hard part. Mr. Cowboy starts prodding the piggys towards the trailer area, attempting to have them load into the trailer.....this is not easy and those pigs are mean and fast.

By this time he and I are sweating buckets. My hands and arms are getting tired from holding the rope in the ready; Mr. Cowboy is not happy that the pigs are not willing to get in the trailer when.....the male broke into a mad run towards me (OMG) then into the trailer. He went in so fast that I didn't have time to shut off the section he ran in to and he almost went back into the trap but I was bound and determined that that was not going to happen. I was screaming at the top of my lungs No! No! No! This gave me extra strength to get that section closed but me loud voice frightened off the two females. Oh' brother!!!!!  Ten minutes later the females went in, we got every area closed off and Mr. Cowboy and I collapsed onto the grass laughing and sweating but happy it was over.

The pigs are off to somewhere far away. I hope never to have to help with that sort of thing again.....EVER!

My Favorite Color

Green is my favorite color. When I visit quilt shops, green fabric is what I head for. I have so much in my stash now that I decided to make a quick quilt.

Here's the kite shape on my foundation.

If you know me, you know where I'm headed with this project.

Here's the first side. I decided to use a brown strip & grayish triangle to break up all the green strips.

All blocks done measuring 12 1/2" sq.

Loving what I see on this green fractured diamond top. Now I need to think about borders.

Yes that's my foot in the way but I'm happy with extending the inner diamond into this first border.

Close up.

I saw a cicada that had just emerged from his beetle shell. It took about twenty minutes to dry his wings before he could fly off.

 This photo does not do it justice.

Catch of the Day!

Mr. Cowboy was kind enough to hold up my catch of the day. The fish were very stubborn last evening but I managed to hook two while Cowboy moved some hay bales to higher ground due to all the rain & flooding around here. As for this particular photo, I downloaded a neat app on my iPhone that does all kinds of wacky things to spruce up pics. So I decided to play around with the fish photo to practice. This is the old view finder one.

Hope everyone is enjoying the weekend!!

Tusk, Tusk

In a previous post, I mentioned the wild hog problem around our farm & in Texas in general. 

Take a look at the following photos:

This is a single tusk which one hog lost in a fight with some local dogs. Luckily the dogs weren't to badly harmed. The hog ran off.

This is frightening to even think about. We can't take walks in our community without thinking about, what if a hog comes at us!!!

Stew from Leftovers

I had lots of different leftover containers in the frig & decided to see if I could get another meal from most of them. The easiest is to make a stew or soup. I combined the tomato & onion soup to English peas, shredded carrots from my veggie bin; I diced up a New York strip steak, added 1/4 cup catsup, 1/2 cup water & sprinkled some bacon bits to add a bit more flavor. All this I heated in a large sauce pan for thirty minutes. Serve with cornbread or garlic toast.

While I was whipping up some lunch Mr. Cowboy was dealing with our wild hog issue.

Exhibit A & B

These two were caught in our hog trap & weren't happy one bit. Cowboy had to load them in the trailer to haul them off to a local guy who, I don't even want to know what he does with them. If you are unfamiliar with the damage these critters can do, they root up fields, yards, crops, etc. They carry disease and are extremely dangerous to people & pets. Mr. Cowboy has caught a dozen these past few weeks but that hasn't even scraped the surface. 

Enough about that. I hope you all have a great & safe Memorial Day weekend.

Busy Week

Here's a snippet of what I've been doing:

Baked banana bread loaf for my mom.

Helped Mr. Cowboy count heifers & calves. Note, I'm in the back of the truck safe & sound while my fearless honey walks amongst the giant animals...laugh out loud!... Those moma cows weigh close to & some over a thousand pounds, I'm not crazy enough to get that close!!!!!

Dew on spider's web

& elusive hummingbirds. Everytime I tried to slap a photo they flew off...oohhh, it was maddening. So Ayden's class didn't get to see them but I'm not giving up yet.

Fresh strawberries to.....

8 pints of strawberry jam.....whew, that's what I've been up to. I hope everyone of you are doing well & enjoying life!

Rolling Along

Yes, that's me about to start on another of the endless rows of tilled grassed seeds. The "roller" behind the tractor mashes everything into the ground so that the grass grows evenly, so says Mr. Cowboy!!!!!

I visited Ayden's school Easter eggs hunt last week to cheer her on. As you can see, she found loads of eggs & shared her portion with a couple of kids who were not as successful.

Look closely & you'll see a Canadian goose just off her nest. I was about to do a little fishing at our lake when I spotted her & snapped this photo. The male was close by swimming around. I hope to get a photo of the hatchlings when that event happens.

Day One

Ayden's first day of school was a great success. After dropping her with her teacher, her parents stood at the door for some time. When Ayden noticed them hovering she mouthed, "You can go now, I'm okay!"

I'm so happy she's had a great start.

On another note......

Lucky & her new mom are getting along swimmingly. Of course the mom has no real choice but is happy to get to eat all the hay & range cubes she can eat. Lucky is very perky & upbeat because she gets all the milk she can drink! All's well at the farm!!

Abandonment Issues

My mommy abandoned me. So now Mr. Cowboy has to bottle feed me. What will I do? He only comes around a couple of times a day.

Mr. Cowboy found a solution.

A new mommy. Thank goodness she accepted me and now I'm as happy as a lamb.

What a great save. I'm names this little one "Lucky" because she's lucky to be alive and was lucky that another heifer allows her to feed.

That Time Again!

BB near the lead with a quick gait!

Hurry up cowboy & pour out those cookies (AKA range cubes)!!

Bully is not impressed!!

Is that all you've got cowboy?? Get back here!

We're leaving, this is ridiculous!

These heifers will hopefully have babies by the winter so that they fed a little extra. I see them nearly everyday. They live in a pasture across the road from my house and each day I walk to my mailbox, they come running and are not happy when they notice that I'm not lugging a bag of cubes with me.