“There’s poop”

Forgive me for speaking of poop in this post and for one more Zebu post but I just couldn’t resist.

My mom is living with us now and farm livin’ is well, not her style.  Bless her heart she wants to try to be helpful though.  Tonight the weather report came on and said that there was a cold front coming in and the temperature was going to fall below freezing. 

Crud!  The “original” herd Molly, Neptune, Tonka, Jolly, and Faith were all in the front pasture.  There isn’t any shelter in the front and poor Faith is still so tiny, I was fearful she might not make it through the night in such cold temps.  The “new” cows, Fancy, Silver, and Sparkles (ugh horrible names) aren’t so sure they love the “original” crew and were loving a peaceful state of  separation. 

Mom decided to join me outside to help hold the flashlight while I untied the twine holding the gate shut.

I  stepped over the barbed wire fencing carefully.  She held the flashlight in one hand and with the other hand she started to hold down the top row of wire.  I said “It’s okay you don’t have to come in. You can just hold the light from out here.”  Her reply…

“I’m not… there’s poop”

My laughter almost scared the cows! 

Somehow I managed  pull myself  back together and untie the twine allowing the “original” herd to go to the back pasture and seek warmth in the barn.  The “new” cows  must think I am out to get them releasing the bully herd on them in the dark like that.  Poor things keep getting chased by the bulls and then Molly shoves them out of the way with her horns if they are doing, well, just about anything.  Molly really thinks she owns the place.

Treworlas Farm

Peeking through the trailer gate at our newest additions.

Thursday Rodi and I took Moe and headed to West Virginia.  We were headed there to pick up 3 more cows, Zebu of course.  It was a great day, there wasn’t even any weather issues to contend with.

Moe had a blast!  He has seen snow before but due to his tender age of 3 he doesn’t remember it.  WV had snow on the ground and Moe was amazed.  He made snowballs and threw them at Rodi over and over again. 

Treworlas Farm was a fantastic place for Moe to spend a few hours.  He took the full tour seeing the various breeds of goats, emu, horses, sheep, and cows. 

On the drive over to WV he kept asking if he could ride a horse at the farm.  We told him we were not quite sure that would happen but he was more than welcome to ask.  Moe not being shy asked right away.  Sure enough there was a miniature horse just the right size for Moe to take a few laps on.  He THRILLED!

After a couple of hours we loaded up the trailer with the new (okay very old) cows and headed home. 

Legally the cows are named….. Fancy, Ruth’s Sparkle, and Silver Girl.  The kids aren’t so excited about those names.  I am assuming just as the kids gave lil’ Abner his not so legal name, Jasper, these lovely gals will end up with new not so legal names as well.

Royalty in the Herd

The hay feeder we built last year we felt wasn’t quite doing its job.  Too much hay was falling out the bottom and being wasted.  Plus it was a tad too high for the younger calves to reach in.  Yesterday Rodi lowered the feeder closer to the ground and altered the bin a tad. 

Only problem is now a certain Prince Neptune thinks that it was built as his personal bed.  No more sleeping on the cold ground for him! 

 

There will be further alterations to this feeder… Neptune will no longer be able to claim it as his bed when we are finished with it.    He may have one more day of  the royal treatment since we are on our way to pick up 3 more cows in the morning.

Baby it’s cold outside….

Bubs has a cold weather campout tonight and cold it will be. I think it will drop down to about 16 degrees tonight. Laugh if you will I know there are much colder locations out there. Having grown up in Nebraska I know that 16 degrees can seem balmy at times. I even remember after a long winter one year thinking that 45 degrees felt like shorts weather. Okay I was in 6th grade but still, 45 degrees felt like a heat wave that winter.

Having moved away from that winter wonderland my body has gotten used to warmer weather and tonight I am sure I will have the wood stove going all night long to keep us toasty warm inside our house. Meanwhile my boys Rodi and Bubs will be freezing their noses off. Rodi will be standing watch on board the ship and Bubs will be sleeping under the stars, or at least trying to sleep.

Ahhh but I know I have nothing to complain about. Bubs is going to be out there with great cold weather gear and he will be having tons of fun with his fellow scouts.

Plus he will be lots warmer than our Zebu staying at my father-in-law’s here is the latest picture of Jasper and Whisper…..brrrrrrr!

Where did the sun go????

And I am ever thankful that if I were to step outside this morning my view would not look like the one my sister-in-law (also in Iowa) will be greeted by. Here is a picture of their house taken this week.

Just makes my back hurt thinking about all that work to clear the driveway....ouch!

Still a little too City and not nearly enough Country

So as I said before, our cow Molly had a claf this past Sunday.  My  visions of  bottle feeding this babe were just visions apparently.  Today I went out to the barn bottle in hand to have my bonding time with the Fatih (the calf).  The only thing I did was tick off  Molly and tire Faith out.  Molly was very patient with me as I followed Faith around the pasture trying to get close to her calf.  She kept an eye on me the entire time and I let her know I was aware she was watching.  Every now and then I would go over and let her smell the bottle to show her I meant no harm.  Then I would rub her in that spot she loves behind her ear, before trying a little longer to convince Faith to give the bottle a try.  I am sure I looked like a big goof out there, but then again I have never fed a farm animal from a bottle before (except at the zoo once and I am not sure that counts). 

Finally Faith went into the barn and into the side with the gate.  “WHOO HOO this is finally going to happen”  The kids who had been giving me passenger seat directions this entire time came bolting into the barn.  Allowing Faith to be at ease stressed out even more, I am sure.  Soon Molly came a callin’ too.  She was a tad miffed at me by now and was quite vocal about the whole ordeal.  She paced on one side of the barn while Faith darted from one side to the other trying to avoid me at all cost.

I finally managed to get Faith settled down a bit and even got the bottle to her mouth.  However she didn’t drink a darn drop.  Nope she wanted nothing to do with me or the bottle.  Feeling sorry for her and Molly I let her out the gate where she quickly latched onto her mamma and began to nurse… Go Figure.

*On a side note the kids are laughing because JJ got the whole thing on video and they want me to put it on  the internet.  NOT GOING TO HAPPEN!*

Who Says…….

Happy Cows are in California?……

  Jasper looks quite happy as he smiles for the camera.

  And Neptune sings of his easy life living on the East Coast.

 

Hi, remember me?

Okay I know I have been bad about keeping everyone up to date on what is going on in the land of Rodi.  I had to take a bit of a holiday break I guess.  I hope your Christmas was as wonderful as ours.  I really love being home (in our house) for Christmas.  I know, some love being at their parents house or with other family, but for me there is no better place than our house on Christmas morning.  I am fine with being places before or after, but on that morning I want to be here in my pj’s surrounded by my kids, watching them as they gaze in amazement at what is inside those mysterious packages.

This year I was in my pj’s but sadly this year I had an eye and sinus infection which made my mood less joyful.  Rodi took a picture of me (because he is kind that way *grin*).  It is so sad, me only able to stick my tongue out half way at him, I had no reserve energy left to really razz him.  My glasses are VERY crooked due to close inspections on a weekly basis by Moe.  Then there is the puffy very itchy and sore eye, lovely really, just lovely.

This has been a very crafty, handy sort of month for us.  As I was reading my friend Lammy’s blog I discovered this great blog that led me to this great blog, which led me to yet another fabulous blog where I discovered how to  make this crayon roll for Moe and new pajama bottoms for all the kids.  I only have a picture of the boys pj bottoms as the girls were in the wash when I was taking pictures today.  The pj’s were a HUGE hit Christmas morning.  Bubba even gave them top ranking in the gifts he received.  He has also proved that by wearing them every night since Christmas.  I finally snagged them to throw in the wash today.

 

   

Today was no less crafty or handy.  The boys were outside working magic with used lumber, while us gals were inside stitching up a storm on the ol’ sewing machine.

The boys project…. make a hay feeder for the cows so they (the cows) would stop making such a mess of things in the field.  You know they do the silliest things with those round bales of hay.  They dig their horns right into the center of the bale and start tossing hay everywhere.  Then they do their business (to put it kindly) on the scattered hay.  For some reason they don’t want to eat it after that *not that I blame them*.  Hopefully this will keep the wasted hay to a minimum.  The boys worked hard all day and just as dark began to fall upon us the feeder was ready to be put in the pasture with the cows.  YAY BOYS!  A job well done!  It was too dark for a finished project picture but I will get one on this week.  Oh and for a $$$ moment it only cost us around $2 to build as we used recycled wood from what the previous owner left behind the barn and in the loft.  Hip Hip Hooray!!!!

                                       Here was the only sad moment for me, they were taking apart my “bench”  Well okay so it was just some boards lying across two logs to make a make shift bench.  But it was my spot to put the marshmallows when we made s’mores.  *boo-hoo*

 

My dad would have been so happy to see his grandsons today out there working with their dad.  Both boys showed a bit of their grandpa today.  Bubba was sporting the torn up jean look and Moe had the tape measure fastened to his hip the entire day.  Both of those were looks Grandpa Jones sported daily.  Okay his jean weren’t quite as bad as Bub’s were today but that is only because Bubba made his worse while out working with Rodi today.

The girls projects….. make pj’s for Moe (he didn’t get his under the tree, my eye hurt too bad that night to finish and he was already getting the crayon roll so I knew he wouldn’t mind waiting a day or two), JJ wanted to make a pillow to match her pj’s, and we have a drafty door so we stitched up a “draft thingy” to put under the door.  I didn’t take a picture of that.  Sorry but it just isn’t that exciting.  I take that back, Nina was thrilled to be able to stuff that one.  JJ  did a great job on  her pillow.  Now I have a fear I am going to have to move on to more complex projects for her.  My control issues are really being tested these days *grin*.

 

We were all very thankful for the 70 degree weather we had (sorry I know I shouldn’t have gone there for some of you) today.  It allowed us to get many things done outside and allowed for Moe and Nina to play on the swing while others of us were doing things not as hands on for the younger ones.  I will tell those of you in snowy places….. my kids would trade you.  They really miss those snow filled Decembers and January’s in Germany.  I miss the look of it but not the feel of it * grin*

Oh and for those who are wondering …. Jolly the baby Zebu is doing wonderful.  She is getting more and more playful and is even a bit more friendly to us 2 legged creatures.

She has a name….

So our little heifer finally has a name.

She is the daughter of Jasper and Molly so obviously she should be called……

JOLLY!

Crazy Days

I am still here.  I have been meaning to get on here and blog but now that I am going to bed before 2am it isn’t as easy to find the time.

Life with Rodi is grand!  I love having him home.  Of course he had to go back to work on Thursday *sigh*.  At least he is home at night. 

He has taken over my taxi service and is finding himself very busy taking Bubba to wrestling and scouts.  I have still had to go to wrestling practice a few nights but only for a few minutes and then I get to come HOME.  Moe and Nina are finally back to a somewhat normal sleeping schedule and I LOVE that.

I will try to be better about posting.  I tell you I think I was having withdrawals…..Rodi or blog, Rodi or blog….. it was a tough choice and not that I don’t love you all…. *grin*

Now we are working on our calendar and trying to figure out when we are going to be headed back to the mid-west.  Of course my mom’s latest health scare had me worried I was going to have to go sooner than I would have liked.  I am happy to report she is back home and doing well. 

 Oh and the calf still has no name.  I am going to make a deadline for Sunday night though.  I WILL have a name to report to you all on Monday.

I am Thankful For…..

my husband and the wonderful man and father he is,

my children (even on the not so great days),

my parents and the wonderful job they did raising me,

my sister and the lessons she taught me in sibling rivalry, as it has helped me in my parenting *grin*

my sister and her desire to still talk to me after all the lessons I taught her in our younger years. (yes I am the oldest)

my house and the shelter it provides for me and my family,

my well and it’s ability to not run dry during this year’s awful drought,

my lovable Zebu and the many adventures they allowed me and the children to have this summer,

my friends near and far for the many smiles they have brought me,

weight watchers and the guidance they provided me in order to lose the weight I have shed this year,

my extended family for taking my phone calls *grin*

I am thankful for many many things big and small, but mostly I am thankful for….

my Heavenly Father, for his constant presence in my life and his never ending love and compassion.