HO, HO, HO

Christmas was celebrated today, the day after Christmas, at our house. The kids have other families and it just seemed to be stress free for everyone to wait until today. Dinner was served at 1:00 and I think I had my head on straight this year as I remembered things I had forgotten I even owned for a number of years. Everything was ready on time and the menu turned out great. We used real dishes, and clean up took only about 15 minutes as all the girls jumped in and got the job done. As usual, we ate too much at dinner so pies had to wait for later in the afternoon.

The kids had decided a number of years ago that they would not exchange gifts, only giving gifts to the children as they came into the family. John and I give to the kids and they to us. I love hunting for the perfect gift and I think I payed attention throughout the year to little suggestions and there were a few perfect gifts that weren't expected.

Our oldest son and his wife visited her doctor earlier in the day and gave us the good news, their baby is a boy. Little Oscar Andrew is expected to arrive on May 23rd and the ultrasound showed a healthy baby who apparently likes to suck his thumb. Everyone is excited about the baby and there was even an early gift for little baby Rinderer.

Peyton likes the idea of new toys and helped to open the packages. She tried to eat the tissue paper but found the new toys were fun to play with. She even had to check out her new clothes.

Peyton enjoys her first Christmas

Daddy and mommy (Chad and daughter Erin) help Peyton open her gifts

Peyton is so excited to get new toys

Our oldest son, Dan

Our youngest son, Jeff

New Calf

Patsy had her 9th calf on Saturday. She is half Charlet half Hereford and sometimes her calves are a bit unusual in color. The new arrival is a strange dark red/gray color with a white face and red/gray around the eyes. The calf's hair is curly. Baby is very different from the other typical Hereford red with a white face calves that we have. Patsy usually has a big calf and this one may be one of her biggest. She is a good cow, and shows no signs of problems at her age. Patsy's sister, Daisy had a gray calf with a white face and another related cow had a black with white faced calf (Bruno). All the others have the famous Hereford look. Another baby is due soon and we expect the usual red and white. Things are going well at the farm. Cross my fingers we don't have any problems this year.

Kitties

Bubbie has been such a help with the decorations. It seems I don't get them exactly right and he takes it upon himself to redo them. Now all of the decorations are on the high cabinets. Poor Bubbie has to look only and not play. Bobbie is a little more reserved and leaves most things alone. But if Bubbie is playing, Bobbie is there to join in. They are so cute!

Bubbie just being Bubbie

The golden-eyed cat, Sweetie Pie, with Bobbie

Pinkie with his arms around Bobbie

Christmas Fun!

I have gotten into the Christmas spirit this year. The last few years I have not gotten excited over decorating and the house didn't look very festive. This year, though, I have a new grandbaby and consider it a practice year for the big excitement to come next year when she realizes what is going on. Cookies are bakes, packages purchased and wrapped, and tomorrow decorating will begin. I have to be somewhat conservative though, I have Bubbie and Bobbie. Bubbie thinks whatever I put out is his to play with. I bought a small 3 ft tree with lights already on it. I put it on one of the side tables and added a few small ornaments. One was destroyed and four more have been knocked off. I think it will be transferred to a higher location. I will have to pay attention to what goes where this year. Hope he is past the destructive stage next year. Cleaning and decorating are scheduled for tomorrow!

Last week when the weather was nice I finished putting the bulbs in. Hope the moles, voles and mice stay away. Then I purchased an electric leaf blower. The gas ones are too heavy for me and Sears had this one on half price. What a buy! It is the most fun, I cleared the deck and the patio and then looked for more things to blow. On Sunday I showed it to my son and he had some fun with it. It is amazing what enjoyment I had with a silly leaf blower.

Bruno is in the weaning process. I have cut his milk down 1/3rd. My husband feels sorry for the little calf and thinks he needs milk for a while yet. I have to make a trip to the farm from our house each morning and night and I am getting a little tired of doing it. He is just over 2 months and it is high time for him to be weaned. On icy or snowy mornings I will not be going over - Bruno must be weaned.

The little kitten, Bobbie, had a bout with worms and at first it didn't know what the problem was. She was wormed earlier but I guess they came back. This time she threw up many dead worms and is feel much better. I changed their food to an indoor variety and I think that will improve things also.

I finished a memory quilt for a baby to be. The clothes used was from her great grandma. The pink hearts and border is from pajamas. The light lavender is from a suit jacket. The materials aren't perfect for quilting, but they worked up better than I had imagined.



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Tulip Bulbs

The weather has been beautiful for the past week. Since I have been so busy with the quilt, I could only enjoy it when I took the milk over to Bruno and then a few glimpses out the window of the sewing room. Today I did spent some time outside. I have bulbs to plant. I only had time to get the tulip bulbs in the ground today. Maybe tomorrow I can finish the others. I can't believe the number of leaves on the ground. I don't remember there being so many other years. I am praying for a good, strong wind to blow them away so I won't have to rake so much. I think the next quilt will have to wait a few days so I can enjoy the outdoors before old man winter arrives.

The T-shirt Quilt is Finished!!

It was a long drawnout effort to get this quilt finished. Being my first T-shirt quilt, it took awhile for me to cut up the shirts. Cutting is permanent and I didn't want to mess it up. Then there were the dozens of interruptions. I thought I had a full week of quilting but I only had a couple of days when the week had ended. With all this, I finally got the quilt finished, just in time for the lady's birthday and her daughter was just thrilled with the quilt. Another one is in the works, and I have already cut the T-shirts, it isn't scary anymore. I think I have an April deadline so I'm not worried about finishing in time even though there are several projects to finish before then. Here's the quilt, see what you think.

The letters in the word 'Shameless' are outlined with stitching as well as Garth himself. Stars are stitched also.

Machine applique is used on the quilt where there was an open area. The name "Betsy' is an example.

Each block is stitched with a different pattern. I decided how to stitch each block when I started it.

Updates.....

It has been a while since I last posted. Bruno is doing fine. He is starting on calf starter and drinks some water and munches on a little hay. He still calls when he hears me coming. Some of the cats are his friends now as they stay by his pen throughout the day. I guess he needs a little company.

Our cat, 'Blackie', got very sick last week and we had to put him down. It was sad to lose an old friend. He always came to the bed when I was getting dressed and would sit on my leg for a good rub down. I will miss him. With one less cat in the house we decided that Bubbie and Bobbie would stay with us and not go back to the farm. I'm sure they appreciate it, although they didn't even know their time was limited living with us. They are the only cats that will sit on my lap for cuddling. John has his Simon but I never had any. I am thrilled to have them stay even though I was the one so determined to send them back to the farm.

The weather has been rain, rain, rain and more rain to come this week. The trees are beautiful in the yard - not only the yard, but everywhere! Maybe fall is my favorite time of year. I have a few bulbs to plant in the yard. I am waiting for dry weather and some warm sunshine. Things are settled for the fall. I will plan the new bed next spring.

The quilt is nearly finished. I am so happy with the way it turned out. I hope the lady likes it as much as I do. My son said I put so much work into it they should be thrilled. I will have it finished and delivered next week. Then I will start on the next one.

Bruno gave us a scare!

When I open the door for feeding time Bruno gives a little "Maaa" when he hears me come and is standing, ready to get his milk. On Tuesday morning, he was asleep at the far end of his pen and I had to call him to wake him up. He seemed a little bewildered but came and took his full bottle. I hear a sound, was his belly growling or was that the cat beside me. He took all the milk and wanted more so I guessed he was OK. His area was a little dark with all the rainy weather so I left the light on so he would think is was daylight out. That evening I met John at the gate and told him about Bruno's actions in the morning. He said when he looked in he had to wake him up also. When I got to the pen with the bottle, there was Bruno laying on his side with his legs stretched out and just lifting his hid when I called. I yelled loudly for John and he came running. He hopped into the pen and got Bruno up and walked him around a little. Bruno took most of his milk, but would drink a little and stop, then drink some more and stop until most of the bottle was finished. I left and John said Bruno went poo and then flopped on the floor. He added some straw around him and even covered him partially with straw. The next morning we expected to find a dead calf, as things seem to go in that direction usually. Next day, Bruno was up and waiting for his bottle. He has been fine ever since. We are having problems with our water at home and had some bottled in jugs. Some of it may have gotten stale or we mixed the formula too rich. We are ever so careful making his bottle now and he is doing great. Keep my fingers crossed!

Bobbie and Bubbie go back to the farm

Sunday is the day planned for the kitties to return to the farm. I feel happy that they have progressed this far, but sad to see them go. Bubbie is in the crazy kitty stage. He is a little demon, terrorizing everything - other kitties, toys or anything that moves or doesn't move. Bobbie is a quiet little sweetheart unless she is at the feeding dish. Nobody gets food until she is finished. Bobbie can handle herself when roughing it with Bubbie now. Before she would just squeal until he would stop. Bobbie was at the farm when she was little so she should remember, I think. Bubbie has never experienced it. He is tough though so he should do OK. His human mommy may be spending a lot more time over there the next few weeks until she is sure they adjust to things. Both kitties have been more sweet and attentive to John and I recently - as if they know something is going to happen.

Bruno!

Buckeye is the old cow in the herd. We probably should have shipped her last year, but when we weened her calf we figured she was pregnant so we kept her, keeping in mind we would ship her this year. Over the summer Buckeye developed mastitis in her udder. Her udder wasn't very good anyway, and the vet said she would not be able to raise a calf. Last Tuesday, Buckeye delivered a little black and white baby. When we discovered the new arrival we gave it a bottle of the special milk replacement for newborns. We put him in a pen and would need to feed him from then on. Heavy rain was predicted for Thursday so Wednesday night we made a pen in the hayshed for the baby. As I fed the little calf, "Bruno" came to mind, and that is his name. He is a little small so that makes him extra cute.

The cows take a little walk - and a new baby!

On Wednesday evening I went over to the farm. John drives his car to work but wants to put chopped grass on the truck for the calves at the other farm. While John chops grass for the cattle I drive over and switch vehicles. He forgot to leave the keys in the car so I waited around for him. Then I heard the distinct sound of a newborn calf. From the fence I searched the herd and toward the back I saw DeeDee and her new little baby. It is getting dark when John gets back and sometimes he doesn't see everything very clearly. I told him of the new calf and he had to take a look for himself. I keep a loose schedule of calving as the bull is with the cattle and DeeDee is right on time.

On Thursday I headed over to the farm a little early. When I got there John was signaling from the field road so I followed the light. When I got close, he shown the light over to the clover field. There were the cows. We are not sure when they got out, but I'm sure their bellies were full of corn and clover - no grass tonight! I got behind them with the truck and John walked along beside them. They made a bee-line back to the pen. The electric fence gate by the water trough was on the ground and when John tried to hook it up he noticed the loop wire was worn through. A new wire and we were back in business. It is always a little scary when you come up to the pen and realize they are GONE!

Baby Kitty has a friend.

Baby kitty has a name - Bubbie. My husband started calling him that and it seems to fit. He also has a friend - we thought he would have a problem adjusting when he returned to the farm so we found this little one who was so thin we figured she wouldn't make it. She took to the bottle, the house, Bubbie and everything so well. They sleep together in the playpen (an overturned clothes basket with a small litter box at one end and a towel at the other) and are allowed to romp around the house sometimes during the day.




Bubbie's little friend also has a name - Bobbie!

Filling Silo

I don't know where the "the" went in Filling Silo, but that is just how we say it. This job was a lot of hard work some years back, but today the wagons unload themselves with the help of the tractor. Another machine shoots the silage (ground up corn, stalks and all) to the top and over into the silo. A tractor powers this operation also. The only manpower needed is making sure everything works OK and there are no breakdowns. My job was snacks and lunch. The most important job of the day. Last year we had lasagna and brownies for dessert. This year was not so good. We had Little Caesar's pizzas and assorted chips, cookies and crackers to munch on. There were breakdowns - only a few and they didn't take long to fix. We are small and the neighbor has older equipment that we use. It is a nice time for the guys to get together and talk shop - cows, equipment, repairs, who got the best deal, etc. They were talking for a few hours after they finished and my spouse got home about 9:30. I don't know when my son got back but it was past 11:00 and he had a half hour drive to his house. They say women like to talk but I think the men can top us. We are glad that job is done. We had a nice cool day for the work and it didn't rain. What more could we ask for.

The garden's quiet beauty

The cottonwood tree is sending a shower of leaves over the deck and the yard. The first sign of fall in the air. Cooler nights have slowed growth and now is a nice time to view the quiet beauty of the last flowers to show before winter comes. An aster appeared. I thought it was gone this year but now I notice the beautiful deep purple and I feel a little thrill that it has remained in the garden. Impatients are outdoing themselves in the cooler weather. Roses are blooming again. Those Japanese beatles have not defeated them this summer. The crikets and cikadas sing and it is peaceful.

Rain, the baby and other things

Friday night brought two inches of rain. The ground was beginning to crack and I was having difficulty pulling weeds in the dry soil so this rain was really needed. We have had so much rain in the early summer but the last month has been a little dry. I'll give it a day or so to settle and then back to lawn mowing and pulling weeds.

Yesterday evening my sister and brother-in-law from Arizona were by for a visit. We met my son and his wife for dinner and then off to my daughter's to visit and see little baby, Peyton.

Here's a picture of Peyton and her mommy

Peyton loves her Grandpa John

Great Aunt Donna met Peyton for the first time

Uncle Jeff and Aunt Nina enjoyed feeding and playing with Peyton


With all the rain it's too wet to work in the yard, the baby kitty has been fed and is sleeping and the quilt is needing a lot of work. This afternoon will be spent quilting. It is really fun working each block. I'm not sure how it will stitch it until I begin.

Baby Kitty is getting so big!

Baby kitty is getting really big. He knows what to do with his potty-box. He is starting on solid foods and seems to be hungry all the time. He likes to explore and play, play, play!

Cool Weather!

The weather is really cool for August. Almost need a jacket and it is going to be cooler tomorrow. Sure feels like October.

Today was a trip to see my grandbaby, Peyton, and I didn't get a chance to work in the yard much. Took a walk around to see what's going on. The beauty berry bush is really pretty. I'll post a picture tomorrow. I pulled a few weeds so I guess I did something, but mostly I admired the few things in bloom and how some of the plants are putting on fall growth and the roses for a few blooms late in the season.

Tomorrow is reserved for quilting in the morning and afternoon and gardening in the evening. It will be a busy day.

The Yard Gets Tired This Time of Year

I went outside to take a few pictures of the finches. I heard them and saw them at a distance but knew that walking up for a picture might scare them away. I sat on the deck steps and took some pictures as I saw the yard from that location. The yard is finished with most of it's blooming season. The plants need to be cleaned up a little and given a chance to rejuvinate for the long winter and next year's bloom. It is still pretty in it's own way, with an annual here and there to brighten things up. Another area of the yard has blooms, but cannot be seen from this vantage point. It is mostly shade and that garden has a variety of greens and textures. Next time I will venture closer to present it's beauty. The brightness in the background is the sun shinning on a soybean field. My shade sure makes a contrast to that sunny area.

The Quilt is in the Frame!

Well, I have the quilt in the frame. It has been in for about three days now and I am busy working on the borders. I'm almost finished and ready to start with the T-shirt blocks. Each one will be stitched as I decide, upon looking at it. Here are a few pictures to show you how it looks.

These are the two borders on each end, the outside border goes around the entire quilt and between the blocks.

This is the story of the lady's life - on the far end, her son was in the Navy, on the near end, she was a cancer survivor and participated in many of the Relay's for Life. The quilt blocks represent important events throughout her life.

Once the quilt hits the frame, I get excited about stitching it. It will be interesting and fun as I do each block differently.

Peyton comes to visit

Our first little grandbaby, Peyton, came to visit on Sunday. Some people get their grandchildren at an earlier age, but we finally got our little Peyton and are busting at the seams with pride. Needless to say, things stayed quiet in the yard, the farm and with the quilt on Sunday. Here are some pictures of our little one.

Monday's Here!

I worked on the lawn on Saturday but the mower ran out of gas and it was parked a little away from the house. I asked hubby to put some gas in it and I would finish the lawn. That is tonight's task. It won't take long and then I will work on the weeds in the beds behind the house. The weather is still pleasant although it should get hotter this week. I don't work well when it is hot so I hope hot doesn't mean really HOT!

A new sun bed is being worked out in my head right now. Location was an issue but I think I have that figured out. Planting will be next spring, preparation will be this fall. Some daylilies need to be moved because they have too much shade. But until then, I will stay with the lawn and the weeds.

Kittty's getting big and other things

Little kitty is getting bigger every day. He's not ready for solid foods yet, but getting close. I snapped this picture this evening as he scurried across the couch. His new box is a clothes basket turned up-side-down over a folded towel. Works really well as he can see what's going on around him.


Besides little kitty I need to comment on the wonderful weather. Feels like late September, but the leaves aren't turning color yet. I spent some time in the yard - not enough as I would like, but I did need to work on marking that quilt. I have all but the border on the two sides done. That shouldn't take too long. If I would have stayed with it I would be finished already, but my eyes were starting to cross and I felt a need to do something else. Should be ready for the quilter tomorrow.

Cardinal, Finches and a Humming Bird

We had a nice rain yesterday evening so I spent some time this evening weeding in the yard. Weeding is so much easier after a good rain. As I relaxed by the shade garden I observed a cardinal taking a dip in the birdbath. I never see birds at the birdbath so this was a treat. Then followed the finches - a male and two females. They were enjoying seeds from the cone flowers and didn't seem to notice me at all. They spent the whole evening. As I finished so I could get supper ready I stopped on the patio and sat in the swing for a bit. It wasn't long and a humming bird helped himself to some nectar at the butterfly bush. It was such a pleasant time in the yard - I just love to watch the birds. It's a nice way to mellow after a busy day.

The T-Shirt Quilt

At the present time I am working on a T-shirt quilt. I have been working on it for over two months now, although I should be finished with it already if I didn't have so many interruptions and delays. This is the first T-shirt quilt I have done and I am very pleased with the way it is turning out. The top is assembled, pressed and now I am marking the stitching designs. Many people are starting to do the machine quilting but I believe hand quilting is so much more beautiful. I am going to hand quilt this piece. I again was interrupted today and didn't get the marking finished. It is a little time consuming and I didn't get very far today. I will set a goal of getting it into the quilting frame (I call it the 'quilter' and my sister laughs at me since she says I am the quilter and it is the frame.) tomorrow so that I may begin the hand quilting process. I plan to post a picture when it makes it to the 'quilter' and you can see how long that takes.

I am making this quilt for a lady's mother and it is a story of her life, when she was young and her T-shirts were quite small to now when she is older and a grandmother and her shirts have gotten much larger. She had three children and I have appliqued their names on the quilt. I have appliqued additional information to fill in T-shirts that have open spaces. The quilt has been fun to lay out and work on and I am anxious to finish it and see how the lady likes it when it is done.

I have another T-shirt quilt to do after this and sometimes my mind gets ahead of itself and I am thinking of the next one before the present one is finished!

Kitty has teeth now!

Baby kitty has been chewing on everything lately - my hands, my face, the towel - just about eveything. So finally I checked in his mouth and there were his 12 little front teeth and his four fangs - he looks like a little Dracula! He loves to sit on my lap or my shoulder or my neck. I just can't get anything done when he is sleeping on me. Here is a picture of him taking his bottle. He is still little, but growing fast!

Farm introduction

The farm is really my husband's family farm. My sisters and I have a farm that we rent to other nearby farmers but we do not farm there. We have a herd of approximately 30 hereford and mixed-hereford cattle. We raise corn, soybeans and clover hay. We usually put out a few acres of wheat and bale that when the seed is at the milk stage (the seeds are just beginning to form) and the stalks are still green. We also have an acre that we plant in oats, grass and clover each year. We also bale that when the oat seeds are at the milk stage and the grass and clover have put on some growth. We later bale the grass and clover again. Below are a few pictures of the farm that we took last fall. One shows the farm buildings from a distance, the other shows fields that we work.

My husband has been getting ready to fill our silo in a month or so. We need to wait until the corn has matured enough so there is some drying to the stem and leaves but still some green exists. We feed silage throughout the winter months along with bales of hay that we have harvested throughout the growing season. Some of our hay is in large round bales and some is in smaller square bales. We feed the small bales to the young steers and to the cattle when the weather prevents feeding outside the barn.

We have had two new calves born the first part of August and two other mama cows are expecting any time. Baby calves are always so cute. Earlier we had one mama cow give birth to twin calves. As you can see in the picture, they are cute as a button. They are a little smaller than another calf that was born a few days later and we are waiting to see if they will catch up as they get older.

The Baby Bird

Yesterday evening I was weeding one of the flowerbeds - the one with the tall grass, daylilies and menarda plus a few other things. As I was busy pulling weeds and grass I looked up and saw a baby bird sitting on a piece of the grass. It had all it's feathers and the notch on the top of its head was beginning to form. It's feathers were tinged with red - it was a baby red bird! It said, "cheep, cheep" and hopped away to the other side of the bed. I was nearly finished and there weren't many more weeds to clear away so I decided to leave this bed for awhile so the baby bird would be able to get stronger and fly away. A few days I guess - in the meantime, Simon, the cat will not be allowed outside the house.

The weeds never stop growing.

It has been some time since I have been able to work in some of the flowerbeds. I had been sick and with just a week or so away from the yard things really got away from me. I spent a few hours this evening and last evening pulling weeds around the perimeters of two of the beds. I am fortunate that leaves fill the inner portions of the beds in the fall and winter and it has helped keep that area weed free. I just allow the leaves to stay in the beds and the weed seeds don't germinate. It has been wonderful since I have a problem weeding in those areas. Most of the perinnials are finished blooming. Coreopsis - that last forever - and some annuals make up most of the borders of the beds. I always feel good when I see what I have accomplished.

Kitty gets sick

Two days after kitty visited the vet his people mommy slept in and waited too long between feedings. Kitty had an infection, was on strong medicine and became dehidrated because of the long wait between feedings. His body temperature dropped and he became listless. I thought he was dying. I put a heating pad around him and finally got him to take a little warm milk. After a half day of holding and caring for the little guy he was back to normal. He did get his box moved to the living room where we could keep a close eye on him.

He is growing fast and takes twice the amount of milk in a feeding now. He can walk around with his tummy off the floor but has not started to play with toys yet. He loves to look at his people mommy when she talks to him. I wonder what he understands.

Baby kitten

About three weeks ago I rescued a newborn kitten - the mother had abandoned it and it was about thirty or more hours old. This little baby is a real tough guy. He managed to stay alive for this unbelievable amount of time without a mother's care. I gave him baby bottles (kitten size) of newborn kitten milk and he was thriving.

This past Friday I noticed a lump beginning to form on the back of his neck. It grew and grew and finally on Monday I got him to the vet. It was an abscess about the size of the kitten's head. The vet drained it and gave me an antibiotic to control any more infection. Today kitty is doing much better and I have been draining the neck several times a day.

Kitty started biting me after I fed him and I finally figured out the large container of kitten milk was going bad so I mixed up a batch of powdered kitten milk and we are back to our old kitten self again. This little kitten is as much work as any baby, requiring a lot of attention. He loves to look at his mommy since his eyes opened a few days ago.