New Life Old Farmers

Benny and Jett were getting very fluffy.

It was time for their annual shearing, but as we’ve only had them for 10 months, it was all new to us. Shearer Tony easily handles Benny.

Benny is quickly thrown to the ground and all four feet are stretched out by ropes. Shearer Terry quickly runs the clippers over thick fleece, pushing it to the side as he works.

It is fascinating to see how densely black Benny’s undercoat is. We gather up the large amounts of fleece surprised at how warm it is. Shearer Tony keeps Benny still by controlling his head and neck. (I’m pretty sure I could do his job…)

Until they start shearing his neck and face…then I’m not so sure.

The alpacas do not like getting sheared. They either prefer a higher caliber spa treatment or they just know how silly they are going to look. Actually, we’re thinking of changing their names to Goof and Goofier.

We have 4 bags of fleece and 2 of the silliest looking animals ever.

We’d forgotten how small these animals really are. No more shearing until next year. We’re already thinking we could do it ourselves….

How hard could it be?

Clearly we’re optimistic….

and blessed.

The smell of burning grass can only mean one thing….Spring. Every responsible person with irrigation ditches gets burning on those days when the wind it light.

The ditches getting burned makes all the moving water work more efficiently. I’ve heard people say things like, “Oh, my neighbors…they don’t burn their ditches”. Enough said, everyone knows ‘those’ neighbors….the slackers. We got our ditch burnt and the pond as well.

…and then the next day it snowed. Seriously!

The cows are home! We picked Agnes and John Boy up from the Prom. We’re told that the Bull was able to get a dance and we are expecting a new little calf for Thanksgiving. Hasn’t John Boy grown?

I took the day off of work today to rest my weary soul. I spent 6 hours weeding the flower garden…oh, be still my heart. No, I am not done yet, but I have really realistic expectations this year. I am not expecting the garden to be ‘weed free’, I’m just working toward more flowers than weeds.

The hens have branched out their laying strategy. They leave eggs in their nesting boxes and various places in the barn. High on hay bales and in between this wall and a few bales of straw.

Every day is an egg hunt.

Spring sings of new beginnings. We’re expecting a new baby grand daughter in another 10 weeks…I am having so much fun sewing for her.

The pond was filled earlier than usual dashing a few of our other pre-irrigation chores, but Gunner and Charlie couldn’t be happier.

Some signs of Spring will always be the same….baseball and my favorite little Dodger fan….

to say nothing of…

Summer….Fall….and Winter,

and we are blessed.

Gunner‘s humans finished up all their projects for Tally-Ho.

We loaded up and set off on a wet Sunday morning for Cape Disappointment. The weather that day for anywhere in the state of Washington was rain. Gray though it was we were delighted to be at the shore…

…very happy to see the waves and hear their roar, as our 4 1/2 hour trip took us 6 hours with Gunner panting at our shoulders the entire way. Luckily for us all Gunner quickly turned into the perfect camping dog.

The first night in our ‘new’ camper went exactly as one would expect. The battery died, which meant not all the stuff worked, so we went to bed. The battery issue gave us the opportunity to see the neighboring town so My Loving Spouse could buy a bit of lamp cord and some clips. His little contraption kept the battery to the camper charging off of the battery in the truck. He ran the truck every 8 hours or so, to make sure it didn’t die as well. The side trip to town also allowed us to ask the store clerk where we could get a burrito. Local knowledge is king and without it we probably wouldn’t have stopped here.

Which is where we got this…

Yes, it was delicious. (No panting dog as we eat or drive as Gunner is now riding in the camper). We got back to our campsite as the day’s rain was letting up, which was the perfect time for a walk on the beach.

Gunner was in heaven with plenty of sticks to fetch….

…a fresh spring to lap up from the base of the light house hill.

Friends who were camping nearby treated us to fresh clams, which Gunner and I enjoyed. My Loving Spouse got out his kites and taught one of their teens how to fly it.

She mastered the strong kite even as it pulled her off her feet a few times…always fun to share our toys with kids.

Reversing our roles, I had promised to do the cooking when we camped. My Loving Spouse’s first plate of my world famous Camping Eggs with a bit of bacon. (Weight Watchers?).

Our first trip was a resounding success enjoying down time together and a few less chores.

We arrived back at the farm to find that Benny has perfected the art of the Alpaca limbo, reaching so far out under the fence for grass, that when he stands back up he’s on the wrong side of the fence. Oh, yeah, we’re on it….

and we are blessed.

One of the best parts of this crazy 2020-21 winter was that it was mild. Even so, the advent of Spring is always a welcome event.

Beau my horse has had a rough time since Sundance died. We’ve been looking for a companion for Beau for sometime. My Loving Spouse found an organization that asked us to foster a rescue horse, just until they found it another home. It was easy to see how that would turn out, and I strongly declined.

Even when you are a horse, friends can be the silver lining in life. We now have a buddy for Beau. Ortega wasn’t here long before the two horses were sharing the same pasture, happily new friends.

Ortega is here ‘rent’ free…sort of. His board is covered by his owner’s willingness to take care of our critters, should we leave town.

Charlie, the Chocolate Runner semi-pet duck, sees the other fowl as his friends. He’d prefer a duck, but he hangs out with the chickens, at least until he’s got water in the pond.

My Loving Spouse had planned to build me a sewing table for Christmas, but then we bought Bess. I had searched “Ikea Hacks” for sewing tables with the machine inset for some time. Seriously, who needs an “Ikea Hack” when your married to someone ‘As Handy As Pockets’.

My new sewing set up is the bomb. Everything flush and just the right amount of room…

…I was feeling ‘spoiled’ until we opened up the hay barn and I was reminded of a few of My Loving Spouses ‘toys’.

It was time to load Tally Ho onto the truck. I’d watched 3 men do this together when we picked it up and I was a tad apprehensive, as it seemed neither easy or fast. My Loving Spouse and I actually had Tally Ho on top of the truck in 15 minutes without incident. Since I was the driver/listener, it could ‘prove’ that I am somewhat equal to two men. Right?

My Best Friend (Loving Spouse) and I are ready to roll. He is beside himself with the thought of leaving town.

…and are we blessed…

A 14 year old boy past student of mine brought us two pieces of chocolate cake to share from his birthday….

You can see it was delicious.

Spring is a wonder,

friends are a blessing.

Thanks for coming along.

When the glass is half full, there is almost always a silver lining. When I had 3 kids and 2 of them were fighting, well 1 of them wasn’t.

When it snows, there is joy in hearing the happy squeals of children as they play with small snow toys.

…and bigger toys as well.

When Covid came and affected our schools, my little school has made many silver linings for the children they love.

3/4ths of our students come to school in a hybrid model just two days a week.

Fact: 2 days is not enough. We have multiple 7,8,9 year olds who have stomach aches and anxiety because there are too many days between being at school.

Silver lining: Those kids who need extra support attend their regular class 2 days and go to Special Ed 2 days. No pulling out from their ‘regular’ day and blossoming social/emotional growth on the other 2 days.

Fact: The health of each student has to be attested to prior to them entering school.

Silver lining: My Principal turned what could have been a logistical and legalistic nightmare into a warm and daily welcome. Each and every child is greeted by name and with smiles and jokes. I watch each morning as the adults return to the office with grins on their faces.

Fact: Our school has been serving students in person since Oct. 4 2020. We have had zero breakouts of Covid at or from school.

Silver lining: Parents are not sending their children to school when they sick or even have the sniffles. We have shelves and shelves of Kleenex we’ve not needed.

Silver lining: With no way to socially distance in our library space, My Librarian removed all of the tables. With no tables we re-examined our plans and our hearts. What did our students really need? We went Old School. Selecting classic novels we began reading to each class. No screens, no bells and whistles, little activity, just the safe constant voice reading books we love to children we love….and it has been magical…for us all.

I get to read to the 3rd graders. It was time to pick new books. I remembered my Mom reading The Swiss Family Robinson to my brother John and I, from this actual book. My mother’s name is inscribed inside.

I set the stage for my 3rd graders, that this is a classic, that the book was written in 1812. I was not sure how it would go over, but they were captivated. Their eyes were round, their bodies were still and everyone in the room (My Librarian included) were eager to hear each word as we started the story.

My heart was full. I wanted to tell my Mom and John so much, but they are gone. I wrote to my older brother Fud. We reminisced…and I am blessed.

What are your silver linings?

PS: The other classics we’ve been reading this year to 3, 4,5 :

Hatchet by Gary Paulsen

My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George

The Witch, The Lion and The Wardrobe by CS Lewis

Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren

Gregor The Overlander by Suzanne Collins

My Father’s Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett

Judy Moody was in a Mood by Megan McDonald

Grab a kid and read to them.

Benny & The Jett’s big day had arrived. We loaded our alpacas and headed to the vet. The plan was for the vet to remove Benny’s cast and to remove Jett’s balls.

Don’t their new halters look fetching?

Jett and I have a moment. The alpacas little nose kisses are a daily thing, such funny animals as they communicate this way with us, but still do not want to be touched.

Jett gets to go first. After he is under, Jett get his excess toenails trimmed and gets his ‘excess’ testicles removed.

(The only intact males we need on the farm are My Loving Spouse and a rooster. It was touch and go for a while there with our rooster, causing us to change his name from Henry to Ru-Paul. However, he has become quite the cock of the walk. We’ll have to think of changing his name again…who knows maybe we’ll call him Hank.)

Benny is moved to the next room over, we’re all anxious and hopeful that the broken leg has healed.

The cast comes off and all is clean. The leg feels good and the x-ray shows that the bad break is in fact healing and building calcification. Jett has now come awake in the next ‘stall’ and is quietly calling for Benny. My Loving Spouse reassures Jett as I wait with the vet tech for Benny to wake up. The vet does not want him to wake up, try to stand and fall on his bad leg. We do get Benny up and support him as he comes around. He begins calling for Jett as well, so My Loving Spouse brings Jett in to help alleviate their anxiety.

Once Benny seems steady on his feet we walk out to the trailer. Benny continues to swing his healing leg.

Two more weeks in the barn for everyone to recover. The boys wander around where ever they wish with plenty of hay to eat nibbling out of 6-7 bales making an almighty alpaca mess.

Benny begins putting the leg down when he is standing still. We are sure in time as the knee stretches out that he will be moving about again on all four legs. He may always have a quirky pace to his gait, but as he’s a quirky guy anyway we’ll certainly not care.

…and we are blessed.

It is time for Agnes to go to the ‘prom’. As John Boy is too young to be weaned, he’ll get to go as well. It reminds me a bit of the scene in Sweet Home Alabama.

“You’ve got a baby! In a bar!”

‘Oh, this one’s on the tit, I can take it anywhere.’

Plan 1…

There are 5 cows in the field and we need to load just 2 of them. I put 3 bananas in my pocket and go out to lure my cows into the loading shoot planning on making the whole process as easy as dropping bread crumbs to chickens. I walk up to my cow, she happily eats the first banana out of my hand, then turns around and takes the entire herd off in the wrong direction.

Plan 2…

My Loving Spouse drives the ‘bike’ and chases the herd around the field, pushing them where we want them to go…almost.

The day is gray and cold and the darn white cows end up where we need the black cows to be.

Agnes finally gives in and decides to load into the trailer and all 4 other cows follow her in. Great,….except we only want to take 2 of the 5 off to the Prom. Using the rest of the ‘cow treats’ we break for breakfast.

Speaking of breakfast…all the Lizzys in Cluckingham Palace are laying eggs like nobody’s business. Got to love how they all want to lay in the same box.

Back to cows…

Captain Jim comes over to help sort his 3 cattle out of our trailer. We work like a well oiled (when your old you’ve got to be clever, because there is no brawn) team.

We deliver Agnes and John Boy to the Prom, they’re home away from home for the next 2 months. Hopefully when they return the grass here will be green and growing and Agnes will be bred.

Yoo-hoo…we’re here!

May you and your herd be blessed.

Bess is here. She’s up and she’s running and she’s going to be a-mazing. My Loving Spouse said, “Your naming it Bessie?”

“Excuse me, her name is Bess.” Kind of like bless, but without the “L”.

It was a good thing we had a 3 day weekend. It took one day to pick it up. ‘Bring a truck’ they said.

The company Headquarters is located in Salt Lake City and we were told, YouTube would be out friend. We watched 2 older gals we called Molly and Betty put it together in 29 minutes.

It took us most of day two to set it up with frequent referrals to ‘Molly and Betty’.

All 5 boxes were very heavy. When getting out the machine, they said open both ends of the box and then slide it out. I stopped for a minute and then used my head. My noggin is an exceptional pushing tool…

All the materials are extremely well made. Seriously, the Allen Wrenches alone will put Ikea to shame.

My Loving Spouse kept saying, “I am so impressed with the quality of these materials. Hand me another screw.”

In case you’re still wondering, Bess is a long arm quilter! My Loving Spouse has been pushing for me to have this machine for years. I mostly didn’t really listen to him, because they are very big and quite an investment.

If it is hard to do nice things for yourself, it is a true blessing to be married to someone, who takes joy from making sure you do.

Day three and we’re ready to tackle the machine itself…and a few more videos. We now refer to the Handi Quilter Video teacher as the ‘Handi Quilter Queen’, hmmm, yep, we’ve referred to her a lot.

In preparation for Bess, I’d made a small dog quilt for Gunner. I’m sure he won’t mind my practicing on his ‘camping’ quilt.

Broken threads, tension trouble, leveling table issues, nuts, bolts…and I can’t wait to keep getting better and more creative and above all…share it with my friends.

….and I am blessed…

to have this tool, and the opportunity to grow this side of my quilting, but most of all to have My Loving Spouse who encourages and applauds my creative endeavors, yes, I am blessed indeed.

We love our dog. Almost all of our neighbors have dogs. Dogs are sort of like spouses. You may like your neighbor’s dog, but you’d never marry that breed. Occasionally, you (me) don’t even like your neighbor’s dog, so you’re glad that as a ‘neighbor’, they’re 1/4 mile away. One of the ‘neighbors’ has heelers. Unfortunately, they are aggressive cattle dogs looking for something to herd.

Friday afternoon they found a ‘herd’. The herd they found was mine. My cows had been ‘wintering’ across the street with a few friends, helping to trim Captain Jim’s hay field. The heelers aggressively pushed the herd into a corner of the field snapping at them. The cattle backed into the fence, putting stress on the gate, which backed up to the highway. Luckily, the gate held as cars stopped to help the cattle being pushed by the dogs.

I’ll not lie, I was kind of ‘hot’.

Captain Jim and I met up Saturday morning to move the herd.

It was a relief to get up close to the cattle and see that they were all okay.

Clarice and her calf Noel, want to check me out as well.

Clarice comes in for a close up.

We quickly load the cattle. Captain Jim works the trailer and I push the cattle down the shoot. Agnes, the biggest and the oldest of the herd, leads the others right into the stock trailer. Loaded quickly like nobody’s business.

Captain Jim says, “Oh, yeah, we’re the beef whisperers.”

The Cattle drive begins….all the way across the street.

The herd is safer in our pasture as it is surrounded by field fencing which the dogs cannot get through.

Benny and Jett are still housed in the barn, while Benny recuperates, so they are safe as well, while we work out the heelers situation with the other neighbor.

I’m pretty grateful to have my cows home and the neighbors cows too…

Happy cows and happy me too.