Daily Archives ⋆ Page 8 of 21 ⋆

The Course of Life- a road with twists and turns

Posted on July 15, 2020July 15, 2020 by ihaveanotion

The course of Life is full of twists and turns! What makes travel down one road fun might create difficulties on the next!!! Or conversely what was a problem is now FUN!!!

the for sale sign put up — Putting the house up for sale

The Big Twist- the last move

For the last few weeks, we keep reminiscing about where we were a year ago!!! It’s only been a year since we changed course unexpectedly and it happened way more rapidly than we ever anticipated. Next week we will mark the sale of the house in town and the purchase of our little acreage of paradise. And the move a couple of weeks later.

Farm Road toward home — The road we live on has twits and turns too

The Fourth of July was a good turn

Fourth of July Fireworks — These are all we saw on the Fourth of July this year

The turn of moving from town to the country was a good move! In a state where ‘fireworks’ are legal and sold in mega tents in every shopping center parking lot for weeks before the holiday is a good reason to leave town life. The unexpected discharges detonations happened at all hours of the day and into the late evening hours. Then on the 3rd and 4th, it becomes a free for all well before dark and after the supposed curfew of midnight. Out in the country, it was quiet. With the exception of 2 planned, local area displays. The noise was done by 11, and better yet we didn’t hear a single test fire or early playing at all!!! Nope -don’t miss close neighbors!

Fireworks Parking lot sales tent — Parking lot fireworks sales tent

Visitors from the Road

A little twist last week, we had guests stop by. My nephew, “Mr. C” and his daughter “Little A” stopped by on their way from Pennsylvania to Missouri. It was only for a night, but I haven’t seen Mr. C since 2016 and “Little A” I can’t remember… when. Originally, they were going to return by a different route, but enjoyed the visit on the way to MO, enough to change course and come back on the way home! We enjoyed the visits too. “Little A” loves cats, so having 7 put us at the top of the list. None of ours allowed her close enough to pet, but she wanted to know the name… of each cat. The cow and pigs were a treat too. She is a city girl, and therefore declined to pet any of them. She was also intrigued by the garden and the foods it was producing. Seeing them in the garden enticed her to try them at the table.

Pigs and Little A — Feeding the pigs with “Little A”

Born Fabric Petter

“Little A” is 10. When she discovered I have a sewing space in the basement, she insisted that I show it to her. Of course, I said yes!!! The “Creative Space” is still in the process of unpacking, but I do have the fabric on the shelves. While we were talking, she was petting the fabrics and pointing to ones that she liked. If she comes back for more than a night at a time, we’ll have to play with some fabric!

And with all that said… it is back to the regular channel… chores, and gardening (which fill up most of the day) until its too hot to be outside… Take good care of yourself in the meantime by washing your hands and wearing a mask! Beth

News -Who and What’s New?

Posted on June 12, 2020June 12, 2020 by ihaveanotion — 8 Comments

Lots of news here, and I have started to write this post several times in the last week or so… but I get sidetracked by many things. I am learning to follow the flow, even if it doesn’t seem to be in the intended direction.

Is it just me or does everything take longer? Last week I was away from home 4 out of 5 days. Only one was really planned, the rest just sort of followed downhill. Two days were devoted to the car in the shop. Big misunderstanding on how soon it would be done… leading to 2 days to take it and then go back to get it. Fortunately, they had a loner, but the previous borrower, was a smoker and the drive home and back seemed twice as long. But things on the farm are ‘moooving’ along.

Not just news, but NEW

I want to introduce you to our new resident. This is March. He is about 9 months old give or take a few weeks. He has been here for about 3 weeks. I don’t think he is too happy about his new place- he missees other cows something terrible. Especially his mama. He mooed himself hoarse the first few days. He still has a bit of hoarseness when he really tries to bellow his frustration.

March and the loafing shed — March Loafing

He spends most of his day in the loafing shed, (the red building in the pasture, out of the hot sun. Several times a day he grazes from the loafing shed to the barn for some grain or a long drink of water, and then back to the loafing shed. We don’t think he likes the pigs!!! The goats from the neighbors were still here when he arrived, and he seemed to think they were friends and a comfort. Then the goats moved back to their home, and his loneliness once again became apparent.

Speaking of Pigs

Piggy Ann and Iggy Piggy are doing very well. The big news is that they finally ventured outside the barn into their yard, with a little enticement of some cantaloupe melon rinds. A favored pig treat. Once they did that they discovered that there was a little pig wallow. What is a wallow? It is a depression in the dirt that is generally muddy, where they roll, and splash and root in the mud. The whole area used to be covered in grass, and now is nothing but turned dirt and mud. Pig Heaven!

Pigs and the wallow — Mud caked pigs and the wallow

This is what they spend the time doing when not eating or sleeping. Yesterday they had mud from the ears to nose at lunchtime. We are feeding 3 times a day, now. Mostly because as pigs they pollute the food… by stepping in it, sitting in it, or playing with the bowls. This way more food goes into the pig, and less wasted. From the pond, we can see the pigs when they are outside. Today we watched them playing in the wallow and running in circles and then into the barn and back… and then all over again!!! Such fun!

Pig rooting with face in mud — What a pig does in the mud- Rooting!

Dog News

I have been holding off on the dog news. Goldie is doing fine. She has a bit of aggression toward Patton. We don’t know where it comes from, but she jumps him out of the blue! They are currently living separately. In the meantime, Patton developed a limp and was squeaking quite a bit. A visit to the Vet, an x-ray, and some medication along with advice to keep him calm and confined for a few weeks. So he was doing well, the pain was under control and he was kept calm. Medication was done about 2 weeks ago and then on Wednesday, the limp came back. The Vet thinks he may have elbow/shoulder dysplasia, and the x-ray says it is not the operable type. We will be seeing a specialist for advice on how to proceed. Patton is just 9 months old and currently weighs 90 pounds. He passed the large dog stage and is now considered extra-large. He has been a wonderful puppy I hate to see him in such discomfort.

Patton being coy in clover — Look at cute me!

There you have it… in the Other things going on… we have a vegetable garden and working on re-landscaping the front of the house.

More Later-Beth

Guests and New Residents

Posted on May 22, 2020May 22, 2020 by ihaveanotion — 4 Comments

We have guests and new residents. They all have 4 legs but they make different sounds. A short update on the K-9 residents too.

The Guests

Our neighbors have 3 nanny goats and that kept escaping from their enclosure. We offered our pasture to them until their pen is fixed. Of course, we had an ulterior motive. We were hoping they would make a dent in the growing pasture grass. Unfortunately, those 3 goats just couldn’t keep up. So we had to mow it.

The new Residents

This property came with some livestock areas already in place; a barn, a paddock, the pasture, and a small area for pigs complete with a wallow.

One of our neighbors had a lead on some pigs at just the perfect time. He was getting some for himself and offered to pick up 2 for us while he was at it. He got himself 8! Four females and 4 males. On Tuesday our 2 pigs arrived. Aren’t they cute? They currently weigh about 30-35 pounds, are about 6 weeks old The pigs are Yorkshire Breed will remain pink, and will grow to about 300 pounds each. Not that we need 2 pigs, but they like to have company so 2 it is. The male is Iggy Piggy, and the female is Piggie Ann. They should be at about 300 pounds by late October. UMMMM can you say bacon!!!

Lets Eat — Giving them a taste of the good life

They’ve had a bit of difficulty adjusting to the good life and stayed in the barn for the first couple of days. The pigs eat grain mix along with some kitchen scraps…They seem to currently be a bit picky. That will change as they get a bit older. The chickens sacrificed a few leaves of romaine… They were coaxed out of the barn into their yard. In the yard, the pigs discovered the mud -it was hog heaven. The only thing they are not too pleased with is the hot wire along the fence. They are learning about it in spurts!

The Canine Residents

I have posted about the cats and chickens, I haven’t posted much about the dogs. Mostly there wasn’t much to tell. Patton has been growing like a weed. Not too long ago, Patton was a big floppy footed puppy. The next thing we knew, he was bigger than Goldie. In April he began limping. A visit to the vet, an x-ray, and some meds. Patton has stopped limping after a week on the medication. His diagnosis was incomplete. We are hoping it is just a strain, and not something much worse, which the vet hinted at. At just 9 months old he weighs in at a solid 90 pounds. Goldie is just a bit shy of 3 years old and only weighs 60 pounds. When the big dogs play rough in the house, we know it!

Patton pup 9 months — he likes to lay like this- a bit like a pretze.

This is one of Pattons favorite ways to lay on the floor.

Now the new residents have been revealed. Is that the end of the fun? Nope. We have another new resident arriving soon!!! Anyone care to leave a guess?

More Later- Beth