Garden Pics & Happy Cows!

Sugar & Oreo enjoying the grass I pulled from the garden this afternoon. They're eating out of one of the troughs Jeff made from the hollow tree he cut down. He's made 2 planters from pieces as well.

Here's a picture of the baby turkey we hatched in the incubator-SHE'S getting so big!

Broccoli plants growing!

Cabbage plants growing!

The carrots are in the lower right side bed-The squash-Jordan & Suzanne planted the seeds-are in the upper left-and the snow peas are growing up the fence at the top!

Well-no baby rabbits, yet. I forgot to add the extra days-I only added 28 days. One has pulled fur-so hopefully tomorrow.

We had Homecoming at Church today-we had well over 100 people-had to pull out a few folding chairs to seat folks! It's always great to see some of the older people-but sad to think of the ones we've lost this year. We had one couple come "home" from Missouri-it was great to see Danny & Linda! And of course-LOTS of good home cookin'!

We are planning to take the Youth Group to see the movie "Courageous" on Tuesday night. Minnie & family tried to go see it tonight-the Texan Theatre is showing it for free-but they couldn't get in. We had plans for Wednesday-the last night-but decided we might better try for Tuesday instead. It'll be hard for me to get from work-and picking up Hailey from Drill team practice-on time to leave. Gonna try not to worry about it!

Have a great week!

Fast Week!

My camera doesn't zoom in close-but if you look hard enough-you can see a deer in the middle of this pic! Her and a buck with velvet on his horns walked out right in front of us on our way out to Coldspring on Tuesday. Probably part of the ones that ate up the garden!

We spent a good part of the week getting Hailey back and forth from drill team camp. They had a show off on Thursday at the end of it. She on the right-and did a really good job especially for someone who's never had any dance classes in her life!

Vacation week at the beach may have gone by calm and slow-but-this week at home has just been a blur. Jeff had a Doc appt on Monday-then I went shopping for work clothes on Wednesday and shopped for shoes yesterday and Samamtha cut and foiled my hair last night-thanks again! We got the walls put up in the utility room and bought shelves for it yesterday-so that room is finally coming together!

Jeff's been setting the traps again and caught a baby coon the other night-we just took him for a ride and let him loose at a creek several miles from us. But that little sucker was BAD!! You would have thought he was full grown with all the fuss he was making! And we're on calf watch still-Sugar should be due anyday now-I think I made 3 or 4 trips out to check on her yesterday-1 already this morning! You can tell she's ready-just a matter of time. And the dog did get several of the hens-so we are down to 5 and the rooster-and 2 of them are setting again-the same 2 that hatched out bitties earlier this spring. So we are only getting 2 eggs a day right now-1 of the hens is really old-so I don't think she's laying at all.

Seems Tropical Storm Don was no help to anyone. Can you believe how that storm just fizzled out? I know we got some really need rain last week-but it's already getting dry here again! Everything looks so green-but with 100 dgree days-it won't last long without rain.

February Update

Where has this month gone to? Seem like I would almost have to get out the calendar to keep track of where we've been and what we've been doing! The weather has finally warmed up nicely-we still have had a few cool mornings-and a few cooler days are expected for this next week-but things are beginning to bloom-the redbud tree in the front yard is beginning to turn purple and a few of the spring bulbs have been showing their beautiful colors!
We spent more than a few days hunting down a u-joint that was needed for Shorty's tiller that goes behind the tractor-only to find out that it had to be bought from the dealer in Mississippi-Then when it got here-it had been redesigned-so the one at Tractor Supply would have worked all along! But the garden is all worked and tilled-Best of all-the potatoes have been planted-this last week along with carrots and beets.

And-sorry for the double pictures-but this is the new member of the farm-Lucille-or Lucy-for short. She is 11 weeks old and will hopefully become our next brood sow-in time! The pictures aren't to good-due to the cloudy weather-but wanted to get a good starting size picture.

The hens are picking up the pace-ever so slightly-we have now gotten 3 eggs a day-a few times! We also have the incubator going with 19 eggs-and 1 turkey egg-thrown in by our good friends-Bob & Viv! Hoping it hatches too!!

Fozzie bred Glory this past week, too. (Do you see a pattern of Spring here on our farm?) So we'll keep a close watch on her in 3 weeks to see if she took and we can start looking for a new calf in November!

Jeff and the cows-Glory is looking for any extra cubes he might have in his hand!

Alana and Ricky bought a log cabin yesterday and it should be delivered tomorrow or Tuesday. It is just a shell-so they have lots of work ahead of them. Their goal is to be in it before the baby gets here-but it'll take alot of work! I'll get pictures when it gets here and set up.

Got lots more to add-but it's time to leave for Sunday School. Get back with the rest and try to stay on top of the blog better!

Last Week

Fozzie Bear-he is filling out and looking great-just wish I could get his papers in order!

Glory & Diesel-he is getting so big-we had him cornered up in the barn this morning-almost talked ourselves into banding him-but I don't know that Jeff & I can handle him by ourselves-better wait until we have more help!

The broccoli is starting to make heads-can't wait to see how big they'll get! Yummy!

Our BIG weekend project!! Jeff had pulled EVERYTHING out of our closet when I got home from work on Friday. I had been putting this off for WAY too long. Our closet had never been completed when we moved in on Dec. 23, 1983 and I think the last time I had everything out was in 1998 when Julie married and moved out. I had my reasons for not wanting to go in there too far-I really was scared of it!! No, really!! Well-it now is sporting paint-for the first time-a new closet bar and shelves-it looks so good-gotta take some pics of it!

We had some really cold weather this last week. Then it got all rainy and cool. The sun was supposed to come out today-and finally did-an hour and a half before it was time for it to go down! The pasture is So wet and soggy. Jeff did butcher the last hog this week-150 lbs of sausage plus pork chops and ham steaks. The freezer is stuffed-I can't even put in a loaf of bread-but what a wonderful feeling-so blessed! We are currently looking for more pigs-though. We thought we'd look into getting GOS-but they are going to be out of our budget level. We did go look at some hampshires yesterday-but he wanted a little more than we were willing to pay. We are finding out really fast that they aren't as easy to find as in the past. Jeff has just about decided that he is ready to get a sow and boar and start raising them again ourselves! The feed stores don't even seem to know who has any anymore!

I weaned a litter of 5 bunnies today-the other doe is due in about 10 days. The hens still aren't laying-Jeff let them out a few times this week-but a neighbor dog has his eye on them-so we have to almost sit outside and watch them to keep them safe.

Julie starts her college classes this week-her Thursday class got canceled-so she'll only be gone on Wednesday nights now-the other class is online. The girls will have to stay us on those nights. Alana will find out on the 28th what the baby is-we are all hoping for a boy! And Randy has started doing leather work and has purchased a building to work out of. He's doing some really nice work and is enjoying it! Have a great week!

Farm Pictures!

The garden still looks pitiful-but the buttercrunch lettuce and broccoli is trying to make a go at it-it just got so hot again after we planted it. It should really enjoy the weather we're expecting the few days! Rain tonight and tomorrow-HOPEFULLY!! The change has sure given me a headache and wrecked havoc on Jeff's back!

Back view of Glory-is that side sticking out or what?? Backside is getting pretty floppy, too!!

Glory, Fozzie and Blackie enjoying a new roll of hay-sure hate to start feeding it now-we still have some grass-and can move them across the road-just trying to space it out as much as possible until it rains (hopefully tonight-did I mention that already?)

Here is my rooster-isn't he beautiful?? Mady noticed him crowing for the first time this morning-she couldn't figure out what that noise was! Julie had to be at work at 6:00am-so she's not used to being over here that early-then she thought it was SO funny that his job was to wake everyone up!!

Jeff put the other doe in with the buck today-so hopefully that means another litter in a month.

It is just so hot and still outside right now-sure hope that means the rain is on the way! Julie has Hailey at the Dentist now getting another tooth pulled-some fillings and some of the stitches out of her tongue. She just got in-she's good for 6 months now-and they'll let the rest of the stitches dissolve.

Don't forget to go vote tomorrow!!

Hereford Cow and calf

We got the cow and calf from Shorty last week-both are stunted and look like minis. It really is sad-but we'll make sure that they get plenty to eat and lots of love. Shorty had traded 2 of his calves for the 2 heifers-not knowing that this one was already bred-and she had such a little calf! He's been supplementing milk by bottle because it just doesn't appear that her mom has enough milk. Jeff made a deal with Shorty and they are going to trade our last black heifer for the other hereferd and give Shorty back the calf that she should be carrying now. Our black heifer just looks HUGE around the Dexters!-She just doesn't seem to fit in anymore!

The garden was looking better-but it just got SO hot and it hasn't rained-although we did get a little-small-shower Saturday night-it wasn't enough to make it through the trees-but the grass sure appreciated it! The hogs are growing so nicely-sausage is in the near future! It's been really windy the last few days and we have front on the way-dropping the temps into the high 40's to low 50's-I can't wait-90 degrees in October is just too much!

We have spent the last 2 nights at Mom's-Shorty had his 2nd eye surgury yesterday-and Jeff is on his way to the VA with him for follow up-he seems to be doing well with it. We might go home this afternoon-just depends-Bubba is supposed to help him get some wood split when he gets back. They set the deer feeders up yesterday-Bubba's been seeing 2 really nice bucks in the horse pasture.

Well-I need to get ready for work-lots going on there!

Rough Week-so Far!

Well-I'm still sick! I finally gave in and went to the urgent care clinic yesterday and got 2 shots and 2 prescriptions. I really don't feel too much better today-but I did get a little bit of my cooking done today. Christmas Eve is tomorrow-no stopping it!
We got the check from the sale barn yesterday, too. What a HUGE disappointment!! Mama cow only brought a little over $100! Total of only $739 for all 3 of them. It will pay our taxes for the year-but nothing left over to repair the fences and buy the goats. :( I weaned the pen of bunnies this morning and bred another doe. This is the last day to turn the eggs-they sit now for 3 days before hopefully hatching!
We are supposed to have rough weather over night-another cold front coming through. There have been some tornados way north of us.
Kaytlynn lost one of the caps off her front teeth yesterday-so Alana had to get her in to the dentist this morning to get it fixed before the holidays. Randy works half a day tomorrow-Julie works the whole day-but does have an earlier shift. I believe everything is in place and we are ready for Christmas!-as ready as we're gonna be!
Merry Christmas everyone!!

Rough Weekend

Well-the cows are gone. :( Jeff took them to the sale barn on Friday afternoon. I came in from work sick and running fever-so I didn't go with them. We still have the 3 calves-the heifer will go to Jeff's brother-in-law. We've had a pretty good cold snap around here-it was 29 degrees this morning. Jeff tried to run the saw for a few minutes yesterday-but it nearly killed his back! He suffered all night with it. I'm not much help at the moment-feeling like I do-the flu got me good! I do feel a little better this morning-but still have a little fever and coughing. Jeff's been taking care of everything and says if I'm not better tomorrow-I'm going to the Doc-I'll be better! I have all my Christmas baking to do!

Another Week Goes by!!

Our visit with Granddaddy on Saturday morning-It was Kaytlynn and Jordan's first visit to the Nursing home-they did great! And he was SO glad to see them! Does his 95 year old self good!

We have had WAY TOO MUCH rain, drizzle and fog-I have had enough-thank you!!! I don't even mind the cold as long as the sun is shining. Everything is just saturated around here!

We separated the calves on Sunday-so it was a pretty noisey night here last night! The cows bellered more than the calves-Randy has gone to spend the night at a friends-he said he was about ready to get a gun last night! He said it sounded like they were standing over his bed-hehe! The eggs in the incubator are doing well so far! Less than 2 weeks left-Jeff has been the mother hen this time!! He gets to turn the eggs!

Jeff went to Houston last Friday for the annual Work Comp visit. It went well-it is only an evaluation visit. We have been filling out SO much paper work! His case is now in the hands of the group in Austin-we sent more papers to them today. He goes back to his Doc on Wednesday-I'm taking the day off to go with him this time. We have so many questions to ask!

Jeff's company Christmas Party was Saturday night. They served bbq-it was really good. We had a great time visiting with friends and Jeff actually won a prize this year!

We have decided to go ahead and take the cows to the sale this weekend. We will keep the calves for the freezer-but our hay isn't good and at this point in time-we really cannot afford to keep them. We will be really sad to see them go. We have also been trying to sell the boar and sow-but no takers yet. Our plans are to use some of the money to fix the yard fences and get a few goats-they will be easier for us to handle. Rainbow got in the garden the other night and ate everything and the brocolli was finally starting to make heads!

Well-that's enough for tonight-gotta check on the deer in awhile!

Cameras, Cows & Casinos!

Jeff-checking out the camera-Hey-do you think it's working now??

Some of the cows-why won't they stay out of the hay??

Here's the picture from Friday-don't know what was up with the site that day!!

We had just a really great day yesterday!! We drove our friends Sheila & Alfred to Sulpher. LA to pick up their truck-it had to be put in the shop while their son had it over there for work. Once we picked it up we drove the next few miles to Isle of Capri-figured we just spend a few dollars and play the slots for a minute before coming back home. Jeff & I haven't been in quite a while-we never win anything anyway! We walked around for awhile-they'd already lost the money they's brought-when we sat down to play. I put a $20 in and played $7 of it and won $480!! I was so shocked-I NEVER win anything. That was enough for me-I cashed out and was ready to go home!

We stopped in Beaumont on the way home and I got Jeff a game camera for our anniversary. He's been wanting one for awhile-His brother has been seeing some deer signs at the back of our pasture-so we hope to get some pictures of something besides us! Jeff got me a beautiful anniversary ring. We also bought ourselves 2 new fishing rods.

Mom is still in the hospital-so we'll head to Conroe in a little while to check on her. They are worried about her knees now where she fell last Sunday-I just don't know!

We've had quite a bit of rain-the sun is coming out a little now-we've got alot of outside work -including work in the garden-that really needs to get done! The yard needs to be mowed and the pastures, too. Oh, well-there's always something to do!

Hot Tub & New Truck!

It took me a week-but I finally took a pic of my new truck! And got a pretty bad one of the new deck-sorry-I'll try again later!

We're heading to the beach this weekend for the long holiday-but there is a pretty good chance of rain. I just would like to go and sleep for awhile! I'm just so tired!! Ready to relax for a few days! Jeff is taking tomorrow off, too and him & Tim are going fishing! Hope they catch some!

The cows have been drivivng us crazy this week! All they do is beller constantly-so that leads us to believe they have started coming back into heat again. And our livestock trailer is up in Coldspring at Mom's. We've got to remember to bring it back home with us and get them loaded up and back to Mom's and to the bull for next years calves!!!

Have a great Labor day Weekend!!