Night Time Cow Drama

I'm long overdue to make a post here.  We are in the midst of calving and there the latest in an ever eventful time around here.

Oh what a night!  We are calving and I checked the cows late and prayed a simple little prayer that He would wake me up if anything was wrong.  About 3:00 am I heard the dogs barking.  I looked out my bedroom window at them and assumed it was a skunk.  I yelled at them as any good country dog owner would do, got them to quite down and climbed back into bed.  They started up again with a vengeance.  OK, fine I’ll get up.  I mean I did pray for this right? 

I got into my pickup and parked where I could see the dogs in my headlights.  I expected to see a skunk ambling through the field when I heard the cows.  They were going crazy.  They were sounding a “battle cry” like none other I’ve heard out of them.  I raced out as fast as I could without tearing up my pickup.  They were running and the dust was flying.  I couldn’t see anything.  They ended up at the fence line staring off into the darkness.  It wasn’t too much longer and I heard the same level of commotion out the of the neighbor’s cows a few hundred yards off.  They eventually settled back in too.  I was confident that whatever it was had gone on its way so I came back in and crawled into my cozy bed. 

I was just getting comfortable when they started back up again.  Not with the same level of intensity but there was still something wrong.  I raced back out there to find a cow trying to plow her way through the fence to get to her calf that had lackadaisically settled itself in for the night in the neighbor’s field.  I knew I could get the calf back but had a few things consider first.  Was the predator that had been out there still out there?  How could I park my pickup in such a way that I could see the calf in my headlights but there was less of a chance that the herd would get riled up again and smash into it in the dark?  I parked my pickup in what I believed to be a safe location, jumped out and wiggled through the barbed wire fence.  Thankfully my pajama pants bearing the logo of my alma mater were not damaged in this act.  I got the sleepy calf up and pushed, prodded, and directed him to the fence where we could get him back through.

Finally, I was confident that all was well.  I attempted to count black calves next to black cows in the dark.  It was easier thought of than done.  I counted over and over but kept coming up one calf short.  Knew we had twelve calves but I could only find eleven.  Any good mama would be frantically looking for her calf if it was missing and all of the cows seemed to be content.  In my sleep deprived, slightly delirious state I remember we had a heifer and calf in the corrals which brings the count up to twelve calves.  “OK”, I thought, “Mission accomplished.”  I headed back to the house and snuggled back into bed.  As I drifted off to sleep I was thankful that God answers prayers, I still sleep lightly enough to hear when our livestock is in danger, and that He gave cows good instincts for protecting their calves.  I also reminded myself that I should grab a blanket if this happened again that night.  I determined it was going to be simpler to sleep in the pickup in the cow pen than to keep getting up and going out there.  What we don’t do for the things we love.

Christmas

We were blessed this Christmas season to have all of our siblings home for Christmas. That meant lots of time with grandmas, grandpas, uncles and the girls' cousin. For the entire week before Christmas we were running from here to there seeing friends and family. The girls wore their new sparkly Christmas shoes to more gatherings and events that I can count. It seems like we were always leaving the house with a plate of food or a stack of presents in hand. I always got the girls out of the house, even occasionally with their hair done, but what seemed to get left behind was the camera. So, these pictures are about all I have to show for a week of activity.

Once the wrapping paper was done flying for the day we headed outside. Papa Lee brought down a fancy kite to fly for the girls. It was a two person project but we were able to get it off the ground.

There wasn't really enough wind for this big kite, which if you know the area should be shocking. We have had an unseasonably nice stretch of weather with almost no wind. I'm hoping as I write this a snow storm is brewing somewhere near. We really need the moisture so we will have water to irrigate with next year. But to make the best of the situation we decided it was a perfect day to shoot clay pigeons. I would love to make this an annual tradition but I'd rather the weather wasn't nice enough to get it done.

Ben waits...

Mike (my brother) shoots a pistol while Dad provides backup with a shot gun.


Ben took his turn with the pistol. Note the Hello Kitty Bandaid. There was no injury here just a very special Daddy humoring his youngest daughter who just happens to love pink. You gotta love a guy who doesn't mind wearing little girl's bandaids or stickers on his shirt to his board meetings.

Photo by Lynn Tanner

I waited to shoot...

Photo by Lynn Tanner

My Mom even got into the spirit of the moment, in her church clothes no less, and tried her hand at shooting. I played backup but the clay pigeon didn't have to worry. We lobbed four shells it's way and never hit a thing. I've decided I need more practice and better form.


Meanwhile back in the pickup Hannah and Helena have been taking note of how many clay pigeons are hit and who's been hitting them. Mom and I got back into the pickup and Hannah announced that she needed to hand out ribbons for this event. I finished up the chores for the day and Memaw Mary supervised the ribbon construction. When the guys got back to the house we commenced with the ribbon ceremony. You will notice that I'm not in any of the pictures of the ribbon ceremony. Hannah made it very clear that I was not getting a ribbon because I didn't shoot as well as the others. I couldn't argue with her there.

First place went to Uncle Mike!

Second place went to Daddy! Look he's just happy to get a ribbon.

Third place went to Papa Lee!Here's the winners and their judge. We asked her to give her reason for their placings but she just said that Uncle Mike did the best, Daddy did second, and Papa Lee did third. I may see a livestock judge in the making if we can just work on the reasons a little bit.

We finished up the night with hamburgers off the BBQ and oven fries. A good time was had by all.

On a side note, the most entertaining gift giving moment for the day was when Hannah handed me a gift she had wrapped. In the days before Christmas the girls found things around the house and wrapped them up. Hannah insisted that I did not watch her wrap this particular gift. I obliged. Christmas morning I opened up my own copy of Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred. She assured me I'm not getting enough exercise and now I've got to convince her that being a mommy and farmer's wife is helping me burn a good deal of calories. Ah, never a dull moment!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Favorite Picture

I've been going through my pictures lately and I keep coming back to this one as one of my very favorites. I thought I would share it with you. The girls and I are so lucky to have such a special guy in our lives.

Fishing at Medicine Lake, CA

A Little One on One Time

Today I was thankful to get a little one on one time with Hannah, my little crafter. Much of her crafting is self guided and involves paper, glue, scissors, tape, crayons, colored pencils, and markers. She enjoys this type of activity and I'm sure it fosters her creativity but sometimes it's nice to see her make a more advanced project.

She needs to make a presentation at school tomorrow on making or doing something. She likes playing with her dolls so I thought it might be nice to help her make a doll pillow. I figured it would be much easier to talk about something if she had just completed it and it was fresh in her mind.

I gave her the freedom to choose the fabric and thread color. We did have to talk about why we choose a particular thread color. She cut the piece out using my sewing scissors. I pinned it together and she helped me guide it through the sewing machine. I left stuffing the pillow up to her and she loved it. She decided when it was just full enough. I finished off by hand stitching the open with a little bit of help from her. What a joy to spend time with my girl and expose her to a new skill.


She is so proud of her creation. I think I will be finding it in her bed for many nights to come. Hopefully we can remember to get it out and take it with us in the morning!

They are Growing Up

We planted a new field of alfalfa this year and I wanted to get some pictures of the girls in it before they cut it. I just barely made it since they are going to be swathing it tomorrow. I had hoped to get some nice, portrait quality, pictures of the girls but I'm not sure I succeeded.

They were constantly distracted by their hunt for lady bugs..a good sign in an alfalfa field since they eat the aphids that eat the hay.

Being goofy was higher on their priority list than giving Mommy a real smile.

Keeping Helena in the frame of the camera, in focus and smiling was a HUGE challenge, while keeping Hannah out of the picture.

It was fun but I think we will go back out again sometime and try again.

Happy Father's Day:Making Memories

Upon Hannah's request Ben has opened up a playground manufacturing division in the shop to meet their play equipment needs. Last year's request was a tire swing. I'm not sure where she had seen one but she was sure that she needed it. Maybe it's because she lives on a homestead that's over a half a century old and she had seen that there was no shortage of materials laying around. We were happy to get a swing put together so cheaply and they are thrilled to have it to swing on.

This year's request was a seesaw. It has been in the works for months but this weekend the final touches were put on and the girls got to help. Here they are painting the base of the seesaw. I didn't realize when I sent them out with Daddy they would be using John Deere machinery paint. When they finished painting and came in every exposed body part had pain on it. I hoped they wouldn't be putting black highlights/streaks in the hair until they were much older but I suppose the ones they got that day won't last forever.


Old clothes and boots were definitely a requirement. Brushing their hair before heading to the shop was not.


They all worked together to paint the underside of the seesaw. Helena never had a shortage of paint on her brush. Even after my attempt to move the can of paint well out of her way and she still found it, Ben decided he would pain the top on his own later, lest they might not have enough paint to finish.



While Daddy was trying to jam bolts for the handles through holes that had been filled with paint, Hannah gave me a tour of the seesaw. She showed me where her Daddy cut out places for her legs to go on the seat. She showed me where they are going to grease the pivot point once they get it together, amongst other things.


Here Daddy helped Hannah tighten up the handles. All that we have left to do is set in the ground, though they could probably use it as is. I'm pretty sure that these girls will never forget that their awesome Daddy made them a seesaw the color of a John Deere tractor and let them help build it.


Happy Father's Day to a wonderful Daddy!

Happy 4th Birthday Hannah & Happy Easter

Hannah not only gets to share her birthday with her Papa Lee but it was also on Easter this year, which made for a very busy day. Hannah wanted a giant cupcake this year, which I was all for since it was a lot easier to make than some of the other cake ideas she had come up with. I think it even turned out well considering all of the "help" that I had making it.



Waiting patiently while we sang her "Happy Birthday."

She received many nice gifts and was happily trying them out with a cheesy grin.

After birthday cake and ice cream, the girls had an Easter egg hunt in the back yard. Hannah was an expert this year and was beating Helena to most of the eggs. The adults took action and started picking Helena up and running her to an egg so that she could get some before Hannah found them all. We even broke out our best defensive moves to keep Hannah away while Helena picked up an egg. We weren't always successful.

Helena also had a lot of fun trying out Hannah's new gifts. It looks like she's ready for an adventure of bird watching, spelunking, and firefighting.

Happy 2nd Birthday Helena!

We were blessed to spend Helena's second birthday with family and friends tonight. Helena loves BOZ the Green Bear Next Door. They don't make whole lines of party supplies for this guy so I had to get a little bit creative with the cake.


She had been waiting for HOURS to open her presents. I even managed to keep Hannah away from them long enough for Helena to actually open them on her own.


It was fun to watch her open her presents because she was so happy and excited to see what was inside.

Getting ready to blow out her candle. After a few attempts and an adjustment in her strategy she got it done.

It isn't easy to be the older sister at the birthday party but Hannah did well. She managed to let Helena do everything on her own. They got pinwheels today and Hannah was so excited she stood out in high winds to watch them go. Everyone else watched from the house. :)

Daughters After My Own Heart

Hannah loving her Oregon State t-shirt while having a snack and reading a bull sale catalog.

Helena waking up from a nap with curly hair girl bed head.

Grateful

I'm not sure how I'm supposed to focus on making dinner when I have this to look at out my kitchen window. I couldn't be more thankful that I get to live here.


"The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands."
Psalm 19:1 (NIV)

From Their Perspective

It's fun to see how the personalities of each of the girls develops. Hannah still dresses herself in silly things sometimes but now Helena has gotten in on the action. This particular night she was sporting a pair of green and white gingham shorts and an orange corduroy skirt for a shirt. She wanted to wear the orange diaper cover too but I wasn't sure where to put it. Now in retrospect I guess she could have worn it as a hat.


The girls have their own nativity scene to play with. One evening I thought I would help Hannah set it up in a traditional way. We started out in that direction and then Hannah's free spirit took over. Baby Jesus needed a cattle truck in case he wanted to haul his animals around and I guess a hay truck to feed all of the animals present at His birth. Peterbilt, Mack Truck, and John Deere are definitely not brand names found in a traditional nativity but they work for this little farm girl.