Patience is a Virtue

If someone asks you what patience looks like would you be able to tell them?

I would.

And here she is...

Her name is Rowdy but I should have named her Patience.

Probably woulda come out ahead if I had.

Hindsight. Pffffft. 

Then again she has lots of names..Rowdy-Roo, Roozie-Dooz, Roozer, Dingie, but most often just Rowdy.   But you won't get it right unless you say it with your teeth clenched.  And trust me, you will want to.

I have never been considered especially patient..I do well to sit and eat a meal.

Multitasker I tell ya.

But I am learning and this little jewel of a dog is my teacher.

Roozie was not born blind..she just got that way after a tragic fall 3 years ago.

Pre-disability she was mean, no-nonsense, "please-say-sgitttem"...mean.

Just like me.TrueStory.

She is a true cattle-dog at heart and if she even hears "ssss.." she is out for the first nose, hoof, or now blade of grass she can find(or run into).

No weed stands a chance with Dingie on the loose.

Sometimes I feel sorry for her..I really do. 

She has run into EVERYTHING. 

But..and this is when I know The Big Man is smiling..she still chases cats and tries to bite them.

We used to fuss at her. 

Then it occurred to me...

If the cats..who can all SEE her coming..allow her to catch them then I believe they deserve it.  Don't you?

After the fall I did have her on a leash..but she really didn't like that and seeing as she would follow me to the ends of the earth if I asked, I let her run free into whatever tickles her fancy.

She's 7 so she spends the days lying where it's cool and barking at my mom.

The Heat LOVES Roozie and Roozie LOVES licking the Heat's feet.

I.Can't.Stand.A.Barking.Dog.

This is where the teeth-grinding comes into play.

I don't know why she has to bark..I'm standing right there..she knows this..yet she barks..and barks..

..and barks..

..and the more she barks the more that if-I-open-my-mouth-I-will-explode feeling wells up inside me.

Patience.  Remember?

Rowdy-Roo and I have had some great times though.

She used to come to school with me when I was in college..the only problem with that was that she is one of those dogs who only hears nature's call when she is standing on tile..or in the middle of the road...

I have stopped many a car by standing -in the road- beside my blind dog who is doing her business.

I'd catch a grenade for you little girl.

One time she pooped an eyeball. 

True story.

That's how we figured out what was happening to all the Christmas ornaments.

Good times.

Roozie-Dooz was meant for me.





Sundays Here

On Sunday we all work.

Some may appear to be relaxing..but are really allowing unborn babies to grow big and strong and ready for the world.

 

The crops work as well.

The corn grows in rows..

..until it almost reaches the sky.

The dogs await their commands..

..even disabilities don't stand in their way to do what they love.

The cows make milk..and practice looking annoyed.

 Though on the outside looking in it may seem like we go on like it's just another day..

...we never forget our Maker.

God Bless Sundays and honest work.

Nope.No Superpowers..Yet

Whew!
I don't know about you all but I am STILL tired from yesterday.  Mucho mucho work-o.
You know you're worn out when you can feel your pulse in your knees..ugh. 

I woke up this morning with two immediate thoughts:
1.) OUCH..my head hurts..
2.) Still no superpowers..
(Yesterday was eventful...)

First thing's first..my noggin..
I came back from lunch..my 1-hour hiatus from this joint..to find that I had a cow that needed to be IV'd.  She had milk-fever and the best way to get the calcium and ABunchOfOtherStuff in her is via IV.  No prob.
I have gotten so good at this I could do it in my sleep.
Did I mention she was a Jersey?  No?  That's important.
Jerseys are like the red-headed step-children of the Bovine world.  They are the sole reason those little hand-held hot-shot things were made..you must be prepared to deal with the most ridiculous situations when you deal with them. 
But rachael that's a little over-kill isn't it?

She kicked me in the head.

I was going to IV her in the neck..she was in a chute..and she kicked me in the head.
Nothing further.

ON to the second thing that I thought upon waking this morning(see #2 above)...
When I told you we were robbed the other day your first thought might have been why didn't they take a tractor instead of a hay spear and fork-lift attachment?
Why?  WHY?  I'll tell you WHY!
Because they would have to be Houdini to get one STARTED around here!
Equipment is expensive..think big big car..so most of ours is old..antique if you will.

To give you an idea of the age I believe a timeline would best describe it..

Beginning of time==Something=Something=My dad was born=Something=First plow was invented=Something=My dad bought the plow AND WE STILL HAVE IT.

I start the flush-pump tractor every.single.day. at 1:30pm.
The sole purpose of this tractor is to run the flush-pump for the barn..it NEVER MOVES..just sits and runs..
Or doesn't.
Went to start it yesterday, turned the key..nothin..WiggledSomeStuff..nothin.  No click.  No nothin.
Uuuuuugggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
So I called the Dutchman.
Tim told me to get another battery, hook it up and try it.
So I did..it was around 97 degrees out and my internal temp was about 115 degrees..FYI.
Hooked it up. Nothin.

So I got the bright idea to put the charger on the battery cuz..I'm not real sure I just did.
Now normally I will put the positive cable on before the ground then plug it up..but for some reason, that could only be described as a brain burp, I did negative then positive...
ZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzZZZZZZZ POP Sizzzzzzle..

My teeth hurt.
Did I scream?  I screamed.
Did I wet my pants? No. I'm good.

As soon as I picked myself up off the ground the very next thing that ran through my mind was..and I'm not even kidding..
What if I get superpowers now?

(I bet you felt sorry for Chuck just then.)

Seems pretty logical...I'll keep you informed on my progress.

3 Generations...and Hinky-Dinky

 When I got up this morning I thought it was gonna be one of those days.  You know the kind.  When you just can't seem to get it together?

For some reason it took me more than .3 seconds to decided what ratty over-washed tank top I was going to wear today...and I kinda panicked.LikeItMatters.

I thought this is it...looks like its gonna be that kind of day..

Sometimes I jump-the-gun a bit.

Then I got to work and saw that I had a new baby!  It happens almost every day but I still love it.  Since it has been ridiculously hot the past week I put my two closest-to-calving cows in the calving barn instead of leaving them outside.  Trust me, they are under enough stress as it is and a heat-wave does them no favors.

They also happen to be a mother and daughter pair of Jerseys due days apart....and guess what? 

The daughter(an '07 model) calved last night and had a girl....

Daaaaaawwww..Isn't she a doll?

These are the 3 ladies..grandma, mother and daughter

I don't know why granny has a single horn..but it gives her character.

There are a few animals who call the farm their home but aren't really considered "ours". 
Hinky-Dinky is one of them. 

Hinky-Dinky is a coyote..with a limp..who lives in the woods adjacent to my dry cow lot...WHERE MY BABIES ARE BORN..

This makes me a tad nervous I will admit..however he has never done anything to make me wanna put an extra hitch in his giddy up.

And if he did I would.

This is him..I took this yesterday..can you see him?

Ok, how bout now?  Better?



Our resident mechanic and knower-of-all, Tim, named him that..he also calls my hominy "harmony" and when he can't think of a name he says "ya know..yookey ma-dookey". 

He's different.

He's Dutch(this means he is from Holland..not Dutchland. Yeah,really, people have asked).

He's Tim.

It's gonna be hot today and I already have 3 million things to do so I'm gonna sssssgit.

Wish me luck that I don't die of heat-exhaustion!

Then again who needs luck when you're wearing Hello Kitty underpants;)

I'll Just Stay Right Here

Yesterday we were robbed.
Actually yesterday we discovered that we had been robbed more than likely on Sunday...yeah it's probably because I took the day off.  You're right.  Shame on me.

Whoever the low-life scoundrels were took a hay spear and fork attachment for the Valtra.
Big whoop right?
Wrong..like $2500.00 whoop.
Psssshhhhh.

Ugh..sigh..now we have to worry about that business.
I have already talked to Saigon(Chuck's dad, remember?) about some cameras for a couple of reasons..
1). Security(Duh) and 2). I'm nosey...for reals.
I would love to know what goes on around here when Blanca Diablo has flown the coop.  And in time I will find this out..mark my words.

But you know what gets me about all this?  People are mean!
They are!
And hateful and..mean!

Chuck knows this first-hand and it has also become painfully evident that he knows I.Can't.Handle.The.Truth.
My world is full of animals..they act on instinct they don't conspire.  They don't have ulterior motives..generally speaking. 
I once had a heifer who would seek me out and try to way-lay me..but maybe I'll talk about that in the blind-dog post.

Chuck has to deal with the riff raff of Blount County..and some quality riff raff it is.  Sometimes he mistakenly tells me things that go on..not that he isn't supposed to..he just normally doesn't wanna shatter my glass house.
This is how it goes:
Me:  "Hey honey how is your day going?" (normally a "good" or "bad" is sufficient).
Chuck:  "Ok, just dealing with a dead body call"
Me:  "Oh really, what do you want for supper tonight?"

See.  Oblivious.
On that particular day I realized what he said about 5 hours later.

So I'm fine..really.  I'll just stay here in the land of wildflowers and baby calves.
Can you blame me?
I mean I got to work this morning to find my twin heifer standing..ON HER OWN..and trying to nurse the pole in the barn.
Their names are Rosie and Lamar by the way.

Welcome to my world.

The Plague

Sunrise This Morning

(Those are my calf hutches..or CalfTel's as they are called)

You know what it means when it's already light at 5:45 am?

When you start sweating as soon as you walk out the door?

When the sun is RED as it comes up?

It means it's gonna be hot today.

The heat isn't so bad..it's the jeans-sticking-to-your-butt humidity that gets me.

I get old-man-saggy-tractor-butt.

That's yucky.

I went to the grocery store like that yesterday..and by golly dared anyone to look for more than a second, because by the time I made it to the store I was OVER the day.

Yesterday was fairly 'normal' though...some breeding, some treating, some retained placenta pleasantries..oh and taught my twin heifer to stand and drink a bottle.  Victory!

The thing that put me ova the top was the plague of cicadas, or locusts, or devil bugs as I call them...(they came OUT OF THE GROUND people...helloooooo).

I am about tired of people saying "oh, well I haven't even heard them..are they bad?" or "we don't have them here..what do they look like?"..sigh.

They are big, have red eyes, scream and have a kamikaze flight pattern.

They are EVERYWHERE.

I feed my dairy cows in the afternoons and something about the equipment (tractor, loader) must attract these demonic creatures because they are on me like white on rice.

Pre-plague: 1 hour and 15 minutes feeding time.

Current:  2 hours feeding time.

It takes me an extra 45 minutes to feed.  This 45 minutes is spent strategically driving the loader so that I can dodge the death-bombs as they come at me as well as swatting them OFF OF ME.

I.Can't.Stand.Bugs. (Even the small ones). Ew. Step on it.

I have had them in my hair, on my eye and mouth.  I have got to learn to keep my mouth closed when I concentrate.

I don't know what YOU did to cause the gates of the underworld to open up and turn these loose..but take.it.back.

My dogs can only eat so many.

Just My Luck

Did you read my blog yesterday?  Remember how I said my new baby heifer was too weak to stand? 
No?  Well, read it cuz I did.

Anyway, as it turns out she was a twin.  Yep.  I saw her twin when I was walking down to my mom's house to tell my brother, Mercy, about the new calves since he would be feeding that evening for me.  (His name is not Mercy I just call him that.  Maybe I'll explain that later..when I talk about my blind dog or something).

Yeah, so, walking beside the dry cow lot and I saw a white lump in the field...I didn't have to channel Nancy Drew to figure this one out.  Sigh...back-of-throat axasperated-noise...Twin...Yay.  Ask ANY dairyman what they think of twins and they will all give you the same answer.  They don't like 'em. 

Lemme break it down for ya:
Boy+Girl= Girl cannot reproduce(called freemartin)...This.Is.My.Luck.  Every time.  Like having a chocolate cake and not being able to eat it...bad analogy..but what's a female to me if she can't reproduce?
Boy+Boy=  Pfffffftttttttt!
Girl+Girl=  MONEY.  But this never happens to me.

Before you get all riled up I will grant that some people like my dad will swear up and down that a freemartin is not always a freemartin and you shouldn't assume so....What.Eva. 

Apparently the cow had one calf..the boy..beside the fence, then got thirsty and went to get a drink..after her refreshment she took the notion to lay down right.there and have baby number two..the girl. 

Funny how they do that.  I once had a cow have 3 calves in a 24-hour period.
Two boys and a girl. 
Why does fate tease me so?

I know right?  Did it ever occur to me to check and see if there was another in there?  No Yes.  I just hadn't gotten around to it..that's all. 

Here are my current cuties:

The boy

 The girl (I couldn't resist showing you here knock-knees!)

 And the two of them...already acting like brother and sister.

I love 'em.
Useful or not I love 'em.
Stubborn as snot..I still love 'em.

I find at least one 4-leaf clover every.day.  No joke. 
So I didn't luck out on the whole twin thing this time around but maybe I really am lucky!?
I get to do what makes my heart content each and every day..that's pretty lucky.

At least I think it is:)