Belated Mother's Day and Ducklings

Mother's day was a very busy day.  I woke up and FB rolled over, reached into his nightstand, pulled this out, and handed it to me.

I had no idea he'd bought it.  He was the first to wish me a Happy First Mother's Day.  We then got up and got ready for church.  We went to my brother's church, because my lil nephew was dedicated.  I was expecting a very personal thing for their family, instead it was every family with a baby that had been born since last Mother's Day.  They all lined up across the stage, it's a gigando church, so they filled the stage with families and babies.  It was interesting to see how different churches do things.  After church we went to Mom n Dad's to cook my mom a Mother's Day meal.  

Ducklings

 FB brought theses little cuties home on their second day of life.  They were still wet looking and ran around in a little herd.  They were very freaked out by me and Holly looking in on them.

This is day 3 of their little life.  I can't believe how much bigger and cuter they got overnight!  They're still running in a herd, but less afraid of me.  They realized my hand was the one bringing the water.  Which they loved to get in and splash everywhere.  I had to refill it every couple hours during the evening.  They went back to school with FB yesterday, so his kids could see them and take care of them for a while.  I'm looking forward to watching them grow more.  Plus they will eventually come back to our yard and be really good pest control. :)

Hope you're all having a great week.

Spring has finally sprung!

We have twins!  Well to be technical my neice's ewe had twins, but aren't they precious.  I love the little black and white splotches.  Elvis the goat is not thrilled about his new cohabitants.  He butted one of them, but after being put back in his place by momma he's left them alone.  There is another expecting sheep, so we'll have lots of leaping lambs soon.

This picture doesn't do justice to the color of this wheat.  Wheat always makes me happy, because it greens up so much earlier than everything else.  It makes me think about spring even when there may be snow melting.  Anyway, I love seeing the wheat greening up when everything else is still dead.  Plus I love most wheat products so seeing a plentiful supply makes me happy too.  :)

The first sighting of these Easter delicacies also makes me know spring is finally here!  I LOVE these things.  So far I've limited myself to 2 of them.  Hoping hubby will get some more for me between now and Easter.  If he doesn't take the hint, I may just have to take matters into my own hands. :)

It also is finally warm enough to leave the coat at home!  Today it's supposed to get into the upper 70's, which makes me really happy.  It's not that I dislike winter, it just gets to be too long.  It drags on well past it's welcome.  I get so tired of my sweaters and coats.

So thank the Good Lord spring has sprung!

From spiders to snakes, from baby shower to babysitting

Last time I mentioned finding a spider, well a couple days ago we found a snake!  Luckily he wasn't under the bed.  FB and I had just gotten home from shopping, both with arms full w/ sacks.  He was stepping out of our garage when I saw a ginormous black snake laying across the threshold of the garage door.  Right under FB's feet, I of course scream.  This sends FB flying, then I was shut inside the garage alone, with no way out!  I'm a little panicky at this point, thankfully FB was a little calmer now that he realized it was just a snake.  He calmly told me to open the big garage door.  This provided me a way out, and provided FB a way in so he could take care of the snake!  I'm so not a fan of the country life right now!  Spiders, snakes... what's next??

I got the shower invitations in the mail Monday.  Now all that's left is food, drinks, and decorations... OK wow I've got a lot to do.  I am babysitting all day today and tomorrow.  I was a little nervous that the lil' guy would be cranky or hard to keep happy or any other number of problems.  Luckily day one's almost complete and no major catastrophes.  He's refusing to sleep in his basinet, but he's sleeping just fine with me.  Probably not exactly what his mama would prefer, she's all about the schedule.  Anyway, we're having fun, and I believe it's almost time for a bottle.  So I'll end this blog, and see you again soon.

Oh... My... I really miss the interwebs

Random wedding pic, because I feel like it

I can't believe how long it's been!  I miss checking in on everyone's blogs, facebooking, and emails!  When school starts it should be better, at least I can check emails everyday.  I'm w/ FB at his school today, so I can blog.  But his school blocks facebook and my email.  I'm hostessing a baby shower for my sister-in-law.  Looking forward to that!  I really don't have much new, summer's pretty uneventful in the FB house.  We found a tarantula under the bed.  FB was in the bedroom and said, "Wow, that's big."  He didn't get overly excited or yell or even act that surprised.  I walked around the corner to see what it was, and jumped out of my skin!  It was not just any spider, it really was a tarantula.  FB was taking way too long to squash the thing, but as he pointed out later a flip flop wouldn't have killed the sucker.  Then he thought I'd clean it off the floor... he was sorely mistaken!  Anyway, today we're going into town and investing in some bug killer for around the house.
Our house finally looks put together, there's very few things that haven't found a home yet.  I plan to get that finished up and thank you notes done before school starts.  I have to go back on the 23rd.  I'm really looking forward to having a schedule again.  And see people other than FB on a regular basis.  OK, I think that's all I've got for now.  Hope you're all doing well, stick with me.  I'll start blogging more once school starts and I can have some internet time.

Spring has sprung on the farm

FB's niece got a free bottle calf to show at the fair this summer.  She named it Hearty, because there's a heart on his head.  OK give her a break, she is five.  I'm not sure I'd be much more creative than that now. :)  Isn't he just so little and sweet!  I also got to witness my first ever birthing experience.  I was lucky enough to be at the head end of the heifer.  Thankfully I got to witness it without actually having to witness it. If ya know what I mean.  Anyway I won't go into detail, just to say it was an interesting new experience.  Now momma and baby are doing great, along with two other new additions that came after we left for the day.

Glad the weather is finally starting to look a little brighter.  I'm housesitting/dog-sitting this week for a friend at work, she's on her honeymoon.  Hopefully all goes well with that, the dog is seizure prone.  I'm really really hoping he doesn't seize this week!  Anyway, I write all that to say I will probably be out of bloggy world until Easter.  Have a great week!

The goat meets the sheep

Farmboy's family does a big pumpkin patch every year. Complete with pumpkins, gourds, corn mazes, corn tanks, and animals. This weekend we moved the sheep over from FB's brother's place to the pumpkin patch. Elvis the goat already was there, so we just added Tootsie Roll and Charlotte to his space. Elvis got a little territorial, and the sheep thought he was fun to play with. Here's my first attempt at video uploading... we'll see how it goes. I tried to edit the video with my imovie, but I got frustrated. Instead you get the unedited version, please ignore the conversation I finished with Glamorous Newlywed and whatever else I said. I couldn't help but laugh at Elvis acting all tough and big.

Blonde Moment!

So farmboy and I were driving back from the farm to his house.  We drive the same highway every single trip, so I know it fairly well.  Anyway, I'm sleepily watching the scenery roll by as FB drives.  I broke the silence with "A ZEBRA!!"  FB, of course, used to my tendency to shriek when surprised, said "No it wasn't."  I asked if he'd seen it, and he had not!  I was still convinced it was a zebra.  So today we're driving and I'm intent on proving my case.  Well sadly I didn't get to gloat about being right... The zebra was really a horse.  But in my defense the horse had been dyed zebra print.  Yes that's right, some farmer decided to paint zebra stripes on their horse!  My question to you, blogger friends,  WHY?? Who has time for that?

Parents, pumpkins, and planning

Mom and I went shopping today.  Yay!  I love the opportunity to hang out with either of my parents, especially when it involves possibility of free clothes or food.  I got a little of both!  Mom wanted my opinion on furniture and clothes at the mall.  She also took me to Banana Republic.  I found a really cute outfit for school when it starts back up.

A really fun tshirt that has a cool neckline.  This is close to the same thing.
Mom bought me these pants, she really wanted to get a pair of capris for me too.  She really liked them because they made me look super skinny.  I however, would not let her buy them because the capris hit me just barely above the ankle, not sure who that flatters definitely not me!
I almost bought this one, but decided on the pink instead.  This one did not hang on me quite like it does on this chick.

After shopping I picked up my bff from high school and my 2 nieces.  We went up to the farm to plant pumpkins for their pumpkin patch.  We planted 324 hills with 3-5 seeds in each hill.  That's a lotta seeds and a lotta pumpkins!  Hopefully this will keep FarmBoy from having to make any trips to buy more pumpkins to sell at the patch.  Yes, I realize that sounds silly... but they did it last year.  Hopefully not this year.  

Now I'm planning what to pack for our family reunion.  FB and I leave tomorrow afternoon, so I've gotta get busy tomorrow early!  I'll be at the lake for the reunion all weekend.  I'll be back next week with lots of goofy stories I'm sure.

Have a great weekend!

Artificial Incimination

This week has been chalk full of new experiences... I learned about pulling noxious weeds (musk thistles), driving a tractor, behavior of cow mamas, and AI.  In the past I've only been exposed to AI in humans, when families have trouble having kids.  And in horses for breeding.  A lady I worked with would send her horse to the vet for a week or so for this process.  I just assumed this was the same with all animals needing artificially inciminated....  I assumed wrong.  Apparently you don't need a vet at all.

This is a collection of frozen sperm from various bulls.  Kept in straws and neatly labeled for easy identification all in a semen tank.  You pick the straw from the bull you like, Farmboy picked "Beer for my Horses."

Then you stick it in your armpit for defrosting.
Then ya stick it where the sun don't shine...  They made fun of me for staying on the other side of the pin.  I blamed it on the muddy mess of the pin, but the fact that FB's brother's arm almost completely disappeared didn't make me want to rush over there to get a better pic either.  I'm sure you appreciate that as well. :)  I was amazed at how calm the heifer stayed through the whole process.  She barely moved at all.  

Sometime soon I promise to post a bunch of pictures of all the super cute animals running around there too.  They have sheep, chicks, piglets, and lots of calves right now.

Holly has Fun on the Farm

We took Holly to the farm because I knew we wouldn't be there too long.  This adorable calf was there to greet us.  Several of the cows are having calves right now.  They're so cute and small... well small comparatively speaking.  Did you know cows babysit for their friends sometimes??  I didn't until this week.  There were two calves following one cow.  I really didn't think that they were twins, so I asked FB.  He said that she was babysitting while the other mother grazed a while.  Who knew?  Not me... but really that doesn't surprise me.  I continue to realize just how little I know about farming.  I told FB's 8 year old nephew he knew more about cows than me, and he couldn't believe it.  He should know me well enough by now, but he wasn't in the mood to teach. :)

Holly was running around the house with the kids.  Each one took turns holding the leash while they all ran, and ran, and ran.  
I'm not sure who had more fun, the kids or Holly.  Look at that smile!
She was exhausted when we left.  Also while we were there, I learned what the AI process looks like for a cow.  I'll save that for another post.  I promise no pictures that will gross you out.  Hope everyone's doing well.  So glad to be back reading blogs and keeping up with what's going on!

Easter Fun

Welcome to the world lil' birdies!

The ducklings were hatched from FB's mother's ducks, and the chicks came from FB's niece's preschool class.  

This little duckling is Patch.  Patch was born with just the one eye, so he looks at you with his head cocked way to the side.  I thought you'd appreciate a view of the good eye, cuz the other side's not super pretty.

After two wonderful Easter meals, we took the ducklings to Farm boy's.  He took them to his class to help them learn about the growth process.  They stayed at his house til today when we both had to return to work.  Yesterday, I stopped by his house to see him once more before having to head back to the Big D.  Holly came in took one look at the box of birds and ran backwards, straight into FB's feet.  She definitely was more afraid of them than they were of her.  She spent the entire time wandering near the door, but never quite making it in there without one of us for moral support.  She did get out a growl or two, what a watchdog.

The ducklings will eventually return to Farm Boy's house.  He's planning a little house and run down to the pond for them to swim and play.  That may be a summer project for us, so far he hasn't roped me into that yet. :)  

Spring is here... for real!

I wore a skirt and flip flops today... reason #1 that I can tell spring is here.

Reason #2... Farm boy's mom has baby bunnies and the ducks are a hatching!!  I can't wait to take pictures of them all next weekend.  

The funny thing about reason #2... FB called me and I of course didn't hear my phone.  It's probably bestie's fault, she likes to talk, a lot!  hehe We were out shopping, so FB left a message.  His voicemail went something like this: Hey, we had quite the day here on the farm.  I've got some stuff to tell ya, make sure you don't forget your camera this weekend. Just give me a call. *click* He said all this in a tone that I took to be not great.  I called him right back and when he answered the phone my first words were "Are you OK???"  He being his typical calm self said yep, can I call ya later.  I figured he was probably in the midst of dealing with who knows what kind of thing on the farm.... My mind went to all the different things that could have possibly happened.  Maybe they brought the old barn down, they've been talking bout that lately.  Or maybe the wind did some sort of damage.   Or there's that other building they've been planning on redoing... Should I call mom and see if they've had bad weather?  No, I would've known about that sort of thing.

Two hours later FB calls to tell me ducks are hatching and his mom found baby bunnies in the rabbits' cage.  I hadn't worried exactly... just wondered.  Leave it to me to blow things just a tad out of proportions. :)  Oh well, all is good here and on the farm.  So I'm headed to bed to count my blessings, then call FB for our nightly powwow.  Pictures of the babies coming next weekend!

Feeding Cows

When we started filling these buckets...

The calves come a runnin'

When you bring the hay... the cows get excited.

This one was smart enough to sneak around the tractor to the other side of the bail.

"She's a cutter!!"  Apparently I can't escape tattling no matter how far I run.

Farm Boy

In Love has finally convinced me to blog. I was uncertain on what I should blog about, but after reading "In Love with a Farm Boy" I have come to the conclusion that I should write about In Love when she is on the Farm. I must say that she tries her hardest and is flat honest with me about her knowledge of agriculture. For instance during the break we worked some cattle, which I am sure she will tell you more about. I asked her to bring a bull back so we can move him to another pasture. When I look out there she is standing on a pile of hay looking at the bull, a 1 1/2 ton bull looking at her and then both of them takes looks at me on what to do next. I must say that moments like this make me smile. She has wonderful spirit on trying things she has never done before and then patiently waits on me to help her. We have moments like this often and it is a wonder why she still wants to be with me. In three more weeks she will be back and I hope that we can spend more times like this together.

Fishing

Farmboy and I just tried fishing. I've decided I'm not going to pursue a career in tournament fishing. First, it's super cold that early in the morning. Second, it involved pinching worms in half then squeezing them onto a hook. Can anyone say EWWW! FB was kind enough to do that for me. Until it was time to go back inside, and FB said, "Take your worm off." And he was serious! I told him he didn't really know me, then I whined....a lot. He relented and dewormed my hook, and told me he stopped doing that for people when they turned 10. I told him I wasn't fishing anymore, he just laughed. I guess we'll see. I'm off to eat some breakfast. Happy Thursday Bloggers!

Riding around with Farm Boy

I "helped" FB do chores for his brother, who was out of town for the weekend.  I got to see a lot of things that FB's talked about, but I didn't really have any idea what he was talking about til now.

First I rode with him to sell a bail of hay.  These horses were more excited about the junk on the hood of FB's brother's truck than the fresh hay.

Then I rode with him on the tractor to feed the cows.  I've got a couple bruises from bumping along, but I had fun watching him work.

Last I rode along in the chuck wagon to give the calves their feed.  FB actually let me drive this thing :) Probably cuz there's not much possibility of me messing it up.  

Coming soon... pictures of the cows standing in line for the buffet, and possibly a Farm Boy post.  I'm still working on that.  Well, FB is headed over to pick me up so I can help him redo a walkway at his house.  I haven't worked this much on a vacation since I went to Arizona on a mission trip.

I L.O.V.E. Spring Break!

L: Is for the Left side of my body.  The only side not sore or bruised after a day helping Farm Boy and his sweet sister with chores.

O: Is for Overeating.  Since I drove up the drive, I've eaten!  Mom made french toast for breakfast yesterday, FB's sister made great burgers for lunch, FB took me out for a really delicious dinner (I ate way too much cheesy pasta), then to top it all off Daddy made me omelets and biscuits for breakfast today.  Can anyone say spoiled!  

V: Is for the Very appreciative Holly.  She's super excited to be at my parents.  They tend to spoil her almost as much as they spoil me.  

E: Is for Entertainment.  I've gotten to see a terrific volleyball game my beautiful niece won.  Learned a lot about farm chores, including a whole lot of riding around for me.  I've even had time to see a movie, by the way Employee of the Month is super funny.

Well that's all for today.  I'm having "family day" just chilling with my parents.  Their idea of family fun currently.... Mom in bed with the Sunday paper, Dad upstairs watching car stuff on speed.  Have a lovely Sunday!  I'm off to pull mom out of bed and towards the mall. :)

Gardening Skills

As you can probably guess, I don't have any!  Now I know what to do with the lil forky thing and the mini shovel, but keeping things alive is just not my strong suit.  Luckily this is Farm Boy's garden not mine.  He's made his plant decisions, so I thought I'd share them with you.  I will be enjoying sweet corn, carrots, leaf lettuce, squash, cantaloupe, and watermelon.  I've never eaten squash,  but I hear its a healthy alternative.  Not sure what the unhealthy alternative is exactly, but that's what I've been told.  I'm sure I'll be asking for squash ideas, but I think I'll wait til I can actually pick one before that.  He also mentioned a pawpaw, but I think that's landscaping talk not garden talk.  I've gotta find my pink gardening gloves, and all the other stuff to start packing!  I made it through Tuesday, hopefully can make it through Wednesday too.  I found out we get to leave 2 hours earlier than usual, so that should give me the push I need :)

I want one!!

I was perusing my fav blogs this morning, trying to get myself motivated.  And I came across this!

This is Annabelle, the new member of the Chickens in the Road family.  I love her little face and fuzzy little body!  Farm Boy.....*lovey puppy dog eyes, fluttering eyelashes*... I want one!   

I know FB's response...."I've been there done that. "  Something about waking up every two hours and the possibility of escaping sheep.  I'm having trouble remembering all the reasons he's listed, cuz I'm looking at those ears!  I think this would be the perfect Easter present, or spring break present.  I wonder what Farm Boy would do if I said I was getting him this as a late B-day gift.... Probably expect me to move back to MO to help take care of it.  I believe I could arrange that... this summer.  What springy thing are you craving these days?

"Workin Cows"

Over the weekend I helped Farm Boy, his older brother, and his sister in law work cows.  I've never seen them work cows, or anyone work cows for that matter.  Farm Boy told me that he'd never let me work cows, because it can be hazardous.  Also, apparently they get a little upset with each other and don't speak too kindly while wrangling the lil buggers.  Me, being the city girl that I am, had no idea what to expect.  I knew there'd be shots n togs, but didn't know how they did either.  There were 3 different things that Farm Boy's brother stuck in the neck-ish area of each calf.  He also sprayed each calf's back with wormer or lice protection or something.  Since I was not allowed to help I was in charge of writing tags.  The little plastic things that are really just giant earrings to number each cow.  How exciting!  After I finished that, they deemed refilling the syringe safe enough for the city slicker.  I did realized why they seem to think I should never be allowed in the ring with them.  At one point FB's brother let a calf out of the chute, and instead of being a smart lil thing he crazily shoved his way backward.  Forcing several cows back with it, only problem was FB standing in the way.  Needless to say, FB has a bruise the size of a dinner plate.  All this done in the snow, wearing FB's sister's coveralls.  At the end of it all FB's brother said I was a keeper even if FB and I break up.  Followed by offers to buy me pink coveralls for future farm endeavors.  So bloggy friends.... Do I go for the pink coveralls or the regular tan ones??  I don't want to stand out too much, but I do love pink!