Gino and I

Yesterday we had some pretty amazing cloud-cover.

It even made the sprayer look cool.

Like, totally.

OK, now remember this here picture?..

It's OK if you don't.

I don't expect you to.

No, really it's OK.

You got an F on the pop quiz.

But it's OK.

Now, look at zeeeeeesssss.....

Half-full.

Ta-dizitty-Da!

A view from the bottom-end...

Kind of puts it in perspective.

We still have the left side to fill, but it is much smaller than the right.

And by "we" I mean me and, the mouse in my pocket, Gino.

He says "Howdy".

Not really.  I mean the corporation...Tim, Eddie, the Dictator Bossman, and I.

We won't start chopping and filling the other side until Monday, so guess what?

I'm leaving early today.

Wooooooohooooooo!

I can hear the Angels singing.

I am so flippin' tired.

For realzzzzz.

Chuck and I get to spend some time together..and I will tell you 3 things we will NOT be discussing...

1.  His job.

2.  My job.

3.  The economy.

OK, the 3rd one was a gimme.

We are hoping to get some lake time in before the rain..that would be super, amazing, fantastic.

Maybe I won't burn random parts of my body this time!

Anything is possible.

But before I can leave I have a bunch of work to do.

I spied a baby out in the field earlier so I am off to check on it..

I'm sorry, I mean Gino and I are off to check on it.

He is so sensitive.

In My Place

FIRST of all lady, YOU are not my mother.

AND you scared me when you walked up.

I was just layin' here very still, like my mom told me to, and BAM! There you were.

Now, go on back up there to the barn and we will act like this never happened.

OH, and tell my mom I'm hungry.

KThanks!

It's All About the Dew

Yesterday morning was a magical, magical morning.

70 degrees, some sun and clouds and dew.

That's right...dew.

It felt like a cool, fall morning and it was...amazing.

Never mind that the remainder of the day I sweated my butt off and had it in overdrive.

The morning was awesome.

So awesome that when I went to check my dry cows I took some pictures...

This is a beef cow.

I just wanted to point out the elephant in the field.

She is a "Tim project", taken from our beef herd and put out in the dry cow lot.

I'm almost positive that she is the oldest beef cow on.the.planet. 

It's OK my dairy cows aren't snobby, they respect her.

Moving on...

See..told ya they are pretty laid back.

They are enjoying the dew as well.

You have to say "dew" like you are going to put it with something like...

Dahhhhhling you will absolutely ruin your hem in the dew.

Just sayin'.

These two were discussing something private when I popped up.

It was about me.

I can tell.

3799 has it written all over her face.

Well, excuse me for livin' ladies.

Pfffffttt.

Moving on...

This is Bob.

He's pretty chill.

'Sup Bob?

 He has that look all the time.
We named him Bob after Bob Marley.
I don't think I need to explain.

And around the corner what is this????

It's Mama-P and Chicky-P...

...and side together, criss-cross, ball-change....

...and again...

They practice their choreography in the mornings before it gets hot.

...Walk like an Egytiannnnnnnn...

..Ch..chchChhh....chchChhhh...

Moving on...

How My Babies Roll(Video)

Do you ever have those days when something happens that puts things into perspective?

I mean, you didn't realize things were even out of perspective to start with.

This happens to me each and every time I have a new baby.

So, basically every day.

You think I'd learn.

There is just something about that little creature, all slimy and googly-eyed, that keeps me on track.

Keeps me from using my mouth more than my ears.

Shows me I'm not in control.

Sometimes these babies are born with my assistance but a good number are on their own.

Assisted or not they are living proof that instinct is taken for granted.

It is often overlooked, or put on the back burner in favor of logic.

That's not my point though.

Yesterday morning I headed out into my dry cow lot to check on my mamas.

I had a cow that had calved early early that morning as far away from civilization as possible.

That's how much they love me.

The ENTIRE journey to the end of the earth all I could think was:

I don't know why I didn't bring a tractor.

That baby is too young to walk.

It's just gonna lay there and I'm going to have to walk ALL the way back to get a tractor.

This is such a dumb idea.

Goh, that cake was SO good last night.

But I kept walking because I was too lazy to turn around and go back.

That's the truth.

I found her and her baby girl all alone and enjoying the morning.

I didn't want to disturb them but I knew it was going to get hot and they were entirely too far away from water.

Mama immediately recognized the "devil lady" and jumped up, but baby kept snoozing.

Super.

I should have brought a tractor because I don't feel like carrying 75 lbs of baby back.

But if I did, I could eat more cake...

Choices.

I got baby girl to stand up and, keep in mind she is less than 12 hours old, she took off after her mom.

Good girl!

Now, watch the video and tell me this doesn't brighten your day...

OH, yeah I dunno why it's sideways, or how to fix that...but you can still see it....

Every time this happens I think about taping it because it's SO cute!

I mean, legs everywhere!





Back, and Forth

First, you must look at the cake...

Oooooooooh, Aaaaaaaah

Now, we will discuss this.

The picture above is all I saw yesterday.

It's the view from the "cockpit" of the Valtra front-end loader.

I could die.

You know what you get when you are caught milling around, taking pictures of the silage pit, evidently "appearing" to have nothing better to do?

You get a "new" job.

That's what you get.

Early yesterday morning that is what happened.

I was headed to do something else, terribly important mind you, and Tim caught me snapping pictures.

Tim: "Hey cutie what are you doing?"

(He calls me "cutie" when he wants something. It makes me throw up a lil in my mouth.)

Me: "....uh...taking pictures?"

(I phrased it like a question...I'm not sure why.)

Tim: "Good. Then you can pack silage today."

He said it like I was the 8th caller and I won tickets to a concert.

Me: I actually couldn't talk. I was struck with dread...like "butIDontWanna" dread.

The rest of the day was spent going back, and forth across the pit pushing loads of silage.

Back, and forth...

Back, and forth...

I HATE driving tractors.

Back, and forth..

It's sooooo boring.

Back, and forth..

So I planned dinner.

Back, and forth..

And it turned out really good!

Back, and forth..

I made stuffed banana peppers, which was basically stuffed shells only I used peppers instead of pasta.

Back, and forth..

But since I'm such a lo-carb fanatic I made angel hair pasta to go with it.

Back, and forth..

And garlic bread.

Back, and forth..

And sausage balls.

Back, and forth..

And a 6...SIX....layer chocolate cake.

Back, and forth..

Irish cream ganache in between each layer.

Back, and forth..

Dark chocolate ganache as icing.

Back, and forth..

And chocolate chips on top.

Back, and forth..

I'll tell you more later.

I gotta go take Chuck to work so he can get his fancy-shmancy Durango....

Some guys have all the luck.

They Grow Up So Fast

The silage is dry,
I think I might cry.
The wind picks it up into the sky,
Oh why oh why is the silage so dry?

I'm a poet.

But see for yourself..it is dry!

Dry is not good.

But we(YOU and I) will deal with it, right?

...hello.....?

That's my big ol' hand holding some of the freshly-chopped corn silage.

I know it's mine because of the pink HK silly band.

And it's ugly.

Ew..look at the wrinkles!

I have wrist-rolls!

Yuck.

Actually my hand is angling the silage towards the camera...yeah that's it.

But if fat ankles are called "cankles" then would fat wrists be called "helbows" or "elbands"?

There's something to ponder.

You'reWelcome.

I'm going to take more pictures of the chopping today because I hear what you're screamin'....

You want to see the action.

OK. I get it.

Here is the "before" picture of the pit...

I made it black and white because..dirt is ugly.
It's a trench..which means it is in-ground as opposed to an upright(tall, above ground).
You have seen them..they survive floods, tornadoes..nuclear war.

It also has a wall down the middle.
I helped build that wall...that's when I discovered my personal hell.

It takes me approximately 37 pings! of the hammer before I hit the nail.
It takes all kinds, I tell ya.

Ill take more pictures of the wall. Don't worry.

I made my own bolognese sauce last night..which I will take pictures of as well.
I LOVE homemade meat sauce....Heaven!

It was my own recipe too!
I am going to use it on my stuffed banana peppers tonight..my own recipe as well.
If they turn out great I will post the recipe..
If they don't, you may not hear from me for a couple of days.

Today is also Chuck's first day at Norfolk.
I did what I could.
Packed his lunch, signed his papers, wiped my lipstick off his cheek and sent him out the door.

They grow up so fast.

Exhibit A

So I never claimed to be the most patient person in the world.

Generally speaking, in any rational, logical situation I have some extraordinary patience!

It's true!

Unfortunately "rational" and "logical" are only said with an eye roll around here.

Expect the best, heck even fool yourself into thinking it will happen..that's how I roll.

BUT prepare for irrational and illogical..because that's how it goes.

Especially when the people who work for you don't speak English..and you don't speak stupid their language.

Exhibit A:

The best way to describe our Bobcat skid steer is by thinking of it as a "boil on the butt of humanity".

(Great quote, great movie.)

There is always something wrong with it.

It's "Claudie's Bobcat".

It's called that because Claudie found it and instead of going with the nice, used, still under warranty machine I picked out, the Bossman went with Claudie's..cuz it was cheaper.

And cheap is what he got.

About a month ago we had to start plugging it up to the charger EVERY time we were finished using it.

If we didn't it would not start..and I would kick it.

And it still wouldn't start.

I know you know this, but the battery on one of these worthless pieces of equipment is in the back..

So you don't see it right off.

But you SHOULD.

You know, when you are walking around it realFast to check the tires...which you SHOULD always do.

Ahem....

We have a JD skidsteer as well but I refuse to get it out and run the risk of having both of them out of service at the same time.

I'm a hoarder.

When we started pluggin it up I told Tim that if he ever sees it plugged up, to make sure the extension cord is wrapped across the front, spider-web style, just in case.

He looked at me like I had two noses...

Then remembered how many times he has seen the ding-dongs around here drive the Bobcat around on flat tires.

Those are always good times.

Last week the guy who does most of the Bobcat operating and manual labor around the dairy barn exhibied an inordinant amount of stupidity.

So I cut his hours down a bit.

ICanOnlyHanldeHimForSoLong and there aren't enough hours in the day to fix what he breaks.

He had just come back from his hour break before the pm milking, and when he clocked-in I informed him of the change in hours.

He thanked me 14 times...

I cut his hours....and he thanked me.

(I just needed to break it down for ya...)

Maybe he can only handle me for so long.

After offering me his first-born, he shot out of the office, jumped ON the extension cord IN the seat of the Bobcat, took OFF and all I heard was KA-BAM!

Everything happened so fast.

I don't even remember leaving the office, or when exactly the insurance adjuster from ADM pulled up....

But I DO remember saying "thwtuawrf! WHATisWRONGwithYOU????!!!! thejbauyklw!!"

And how my worker S.M.I.L.E.D and shrugged and said "I sawy"..

THEN I turned, looked at the innocent bystander from ADM who was there to look at the crops and said..

OK, yelled...

"YOU don't need to be up HERE! YOU are looking for TIM! TAKE the FIRST gravel drive on your LEFT and TimWillBeDownThere!"

He smiled. WHY is everyone smiling?

Evidently my mind erased the "intensity" of the moment, so the next day I asked Tim if the guy found him.

Tim: "Yeah, he found me. Said some little blonde gal was PO'd and yelled at him"....

About that...