Friday, February 27, 2009
Chris Ledoux tribute
Okay it's a tad early but I felt like doing it! For the first time on March 9, 2005 I actually cried when I heard that someone not related to me or my friends had died. Most of the time I hear that such and such celebrity has died and I'm sad for their family and friends but am not sad myself. When Chris Ledoux died it was different. I grew up wanting to be a singer. I was told that I couldn't do that, that I would never make it and I was set up for failure. Unfortunately I let that stop me, but I guess that's okay because I wouldn't have the life I had now if I had been a singer. NEVER tell your children they CANT do something! (no I'm not criticizing my family, they raised me well) Anyways Mr. Ledoux was a hero to me, he did everything I'd ever wanted to and so much more. He lived and worked on a ranch while still writing and singing good old fashioned country songs that meant something. He declined a record label for many years and made his career on his own. He had a wonderful wife and five children and lived a family life. Best of all he was from podunk Wyoming! YEAH!! I never got to meet the man or even see him in concert :( but I still adore his music to this day and miss him terribly. I put a video over on the right. I wanted to find "song of wyoming" but unfortunately cant get it without paying for it and don't know how to put them on a blog off a CD. So we go with a video I found and his biography below...
CMT Biography
Singer-songwriter and former rodeo champion Chris LeDoux died Wednesday (March 9) in Casper, Wyo., following a lengthy battle with liver ailments. He was 56.
LeDoux was admitted to Wyoming Medical Center in Casper earlier this week after experiencing complications from his cancer. He and his family lived on a ranch near Kaycee, Wyo.
LeDoux underwent a liver transplant in October 2000 after being diagnosed with a rare liver disease, primary sclerosing cholangitis. In November 2004, LeDoux confirmed he had been diagnosed with cholangiocarcinoma, a slow-growing cancer of the bile duct.
Commenting on LeDoux's death, Capitol Records Nashville president and CEO Mike Dungan noted, "In a world of egos and soundalikes, he was a unique artist and a wonderful man."
LeDoux had already recorded and marketed 22 albums on his own Lucky Man Music label before signing to Capitol Records in 1992. In large part, the major label deal was due to the support of another Capitol artist -- longtime fan Garth Brooks -- who had immortalized LeDoux in his 1989 debut single, "Much Too Young (To Feel This Damn Old)." Through the years, Brooks would openly acknowledge that his concerts were in many ways inspired by LeDoux's high-voltage live shows.
Born Oct. 2, 1948, in Biloxi, Miss., Chris LeDoux was raised in Austin, Texas. His father was an Air Force pilot who moved the family throughout the U.S. While spending time in Texas and Wyoming, LeDoux gained an interest in music and the rodeo. In 1976, he earned the title of world champion bareback rider from the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA).
LeDoux began dabbling at songwriting while in high school and started recording and releasing his own albums in 1973. With titles such as Old Cowboy Heroes, Rodeo Songs and Wild and Wooly, LeDoux's music was aimed directly at the rodeo and cowboy subculture. Selling the tapes at rodeos, LeDoux built a devoted fan base that would continue to support him for more than three decades.
Capitol eventually reissued virtually all of the titles from LeDoux's Lucky Man catalog. His first Capitol album, Western Underground, was released in 1991. His second Capitol release, Whatcha Gonna Do With a Cowboy, featured Brooks on the title track. Peaking at No. 7 in 1992, it was LeDoux's only Top 10 single. LeDoux would later perform duets with others, including a 1994 pairing with Toby Keith on "Copenhagen" and a 1999 collaboration with Jon Bon Jovi on "Bang a Drum."
With career sales of almost 6 million albums, LeDoux is the subject of numerous compilations. Among the most comprehensive are American Cowboy (1972-94), a three-CD set highlighting his earliest work, and The Capitol Collection (1990-2000) , featuring six previously-released albums and bonus tracks.
Living with his family on a ranch in Wyoming, LeDoux was a soft-spoken man who often seemed uneasy in discussing his formidable accomplishments. During a trip to Tennessee in 2003, Capitol Nashville presented him with a plaque for his career record sales. In accepting the plaque, LeDoux told the group, "I couldn't have done this without the help of a lot of people. They gently nudged this lazy old cowboy along to get out there and do this for a living. If it weren't for them, I'd be singing to the sheep and the cows still."
CMT Biography
Singer-songwriter and former rodeo champion Chris LeDoux died Wednesday (March 9) in Casper, Wyo., following a lengthy battle with liver ailments. He was 56.
LeDoux was admitted to Wyoming Medical Center in Casper earlier this week after experiencing complications from his cancer. He and his family lived on a ranch near Kaycee, Wyo.
LeDoux underwent a liver transplant in October 2000 after being diagnosed with a rare liver disease, primary sclerosing cholangitis. In November 2004, LeDoux confirmed he had been diagnosed with cholangiocarcinoma, a slow-growing cancer of the bile duct.
Commenting on LeDoux's death, Capitol Records Nashville president and CEO Mike Dungan noted, "In a world of egos and soundalikes, he was a unique artist and a wonderful man."
LeDoux had already recorded and marketed 22 albums on his own Lucky Man Music label before signing to Capitol Records in 1992. In large part, the major label deal was due to the support of another Capitol artist -- longtime fan Garth Brooks -- who had immortalized LeDoux in his 1989 debut single, "Much Too Young (To Feel This Damn Old)." Through the years, Brooks would openly acknowledge that his concerts were in many ways inspired by LeDoux's high-voltage live shows.
Born Oct. 2, 1948, in Biloxi, Miss., Chris LeDoux was raised in Austin, Texas. His father was an Air Force pilot who moved the family throughout the U.S. While spending time in Texas and Wyoming, LeDoux gained an interest in music and the rodeo. In 1976, he earned the title of world champion bareback rider from the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA).
LeDoux began dabbling at songwriting while in high school and started recording and releasing his own albums in 1973. With titles such as Old Cowboy Heroes, Rodeo Songs and Wild and Wooly, LeDoux's music was aimed directly at the rodeo and cowboy subculture. Selling the tapes at rodeos, LeDoux built a devoted fan base that would continue to support him for more than three decades.
Capitol eventually reissued virtually all of the titles from LeDoux's Lucky Man catalog. His first Capitol album, Western Underground, was released in 1991. His second Capitol release, Whatcha Gonna Do With a Cowboy, featured Brooks on the title track. Peaking at No. 7 in 1992, it was LeDoux's only Top 10 single. LeDoux would later perform duets with others, including a 1994 pairing with Toby Keith on "Copenhagen" and a 1999 collaboration with Jon Bon Jovi on "Bang a Drum."
With career sales of almost 6 million albums, LeDoux is the subject of numerous compilations. Among the most comprehensive are American Cowboy (1972-94), a three-CD set highlighting his earliest work, and The Capitol Collection (1990-2000) , featuring six previously-released albums and bonus tracks.
Living with his family on a ranch in Wyoming, LeDoux was a soft-spoken man who often seemed uneasy in discussing his formidable accomplishments. During a trip to Tennessee in 2003, Capitol Nashville presented him with a plaque for his career record sales. In accepting the plaque, LeDoux told the group, "I couldn't have done this without the help of a lot of people. They gently nudged this lazy old cowboy along to get out there and do this for a living. If it weren't for them, I'd be singing to the sheep and the cows still."
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Coyote tale
I know...lots of posts tonight...I just don't know when to shut up ;) Shiloh's post made me think of our coyotes though and had to post my story. It was fall of '07 and I was pregnant with Lilly. I'm skipping vital info though...when I was younger I wasn't allowed to go hunting with my family, they only allowed the boys to go. Consequently I always wanted to go, soooo...when I met my hubby and could go hunting on the ranch I went. First year I shot a itty bitty buck up on the mountain but Tim had to spot it for me. Second year, Fall of '07 and I'm pregnant, I wanted to be able to spot my deer (doe this time) by myself. So I took the gun, informed him I was going hunting without him and hiked up to the ridge behind his parents house (probably about a mile hike) alone. Well I get up there and I'm being really quiet of course, and I see this group of deer going down into a dip in front of me. So I sneak around the direction they're headed and go a few ridges and sit down to wait for them since I figure they'll go that way. I wait...and I wait some more...and I wait some more..... Two short ridges away a coyote trots out and lays down. I watch her for a few minutes, still waiting on the deer. Pretty soon another trots out and rolls around in the dust by her. I decide to get closer so I slink down through the dip and over to the next ridge, I crouch down behind a fair size rock and am about 3 feet away from it, so that I'm in it's shadow. The coyotes and still down there relaxing. I'm still waiting for the deer.
I start thinking about how my mother-in-law is always complaining about the coyotes and about how they kill the calves. I know they're on the predator list and I can legally shoot them but I'm still waiting on my deer darn-it! I finally decide my deer went another direction and wonder if I should take a shot at the coyotes. I brought both my .22 and the .243 with me to the ridges but I had left my .22 back where I first saw the deer, knowing it would do me no good on them and just slow me down. So I have this monster of a gun (I know I know .243s aren't bad, but compared to a .22 they're a monster) and I'm debating about taking a shot at the coyote. I finally figure, oh what the heck, the ranch wants them gone and I've got an OK shot, if I miss they'll just run off.
So I get the gun up and ready, I aim and BOOM! I miss! The previous year I shot my buck beautifully in one shot. I had forgotten how much of a kick that .243 has! I'm sitting there stunned watching the coyotes run off. Out of the corner of my eye I see a movement on the ridge line to my left. I turn that way and a coyote shoots off at the movement. I'm starting to think...okay, the coyote just went the wrong way when he ran, I'm hidden in the shadow of this rock he couldn't see me. "Reload the stupid gun," does not cross my mind. A flash from the valley behind the rock on the right, I turn that way and see another coyote dissapear. What on earth is going on here?? Suddenly there's one trotting down the slope in front of me heading straight for me...I panicked (I hate to say it but I did). I threw a shell into the gun and aimed it at the coyote coming down the slope in front...I can't shoot! I'm freaked out about the darn kicking gun and can't shoot! AHHH....coyote gets closer, and closer, and closer (jumping up and waving my arms and screaming does not occur to me) I finally decide that this coyote is going to have me for lunch if I don't shoot the gun. BANG! Down it drops, shadow vanishes on the right of me again, I jerk towards it and there goes the tail. I forget the gun has to be reloaded (my .22 is semi-auto and the .243 is borrowed) There goes a coyote on my left again I raise the gun quickly and "click." More panic! I'm thinking "oh, my Gosh! I'm being surrounded and hunted by these coyotes and they're going to eat me and my little girl!" (keep in mind people I have hormones going on at this time!) I throw another shell into the gun, another coyote coming down the slope in front to investigate the dead one. I vaguely aim and shoot BANG! (no gun shy this time) There's a yelp and the coyote takes off running. I reload quickly.
I sit there glancing furiously all around me...nothing, not a thing...they're gone. I stand up, gun still loaded and ready...knees shaky...I wobble down to the dead coyote...yep, it's dead...hmm no blood trail from the other coyote...I'm going the heck home...I have to walk back and collect my .22 though and that's the direction they've gone. I walked slowly back to the .22 watching carefully the whole way. I get to my .22 and unload the .243 and load the .22, less powerful but I can shoot quicker and it doesn't beat me up with every shot. I'm dreading walking the mile back to the house and wishing I'd brought a vehicle, digging out cell phone to call hubby...here comes my brother-in-law Rick in the Kawasaki Mule! He pulls up with his oldest in the passenger seat. "what'd you get??!" he quirps happily. I have never been that happy to see my brother-in-law!
I did make $15 off of that dead coyote though. I learned that there's a bounty for them here and we went and picked it up. Next day, I decided I'd seen my deer and I was NOT going alone. Hubby took his pistol .44 and went with me, we got my deer, after hours of searching, but that's another story.
I start thinking about how my mother-in-law is always complaining about the coyotes and about how they kill the calves. I know they're on the predator list and I can legally shoot them but I'm still waiting on my deer darn-it! I finally decide my deer went another direction and wonder if I should take a shot at the coyotes. I brought both my .22 and the .243 with me to the ridges but I had left my .22 back where I first saw the deer, knowing it would do me no good on them and just slow me down. So I have this monster of a gun (I know I know .243s aren't bad, but compared to a .22 they're a monster) and I'm debating about taking a shot at the coyote. I finally figure, oh what the heck, the ranch wants them gone and I've got an OK shot, if I miss they'll just run off.
So I get the gun up and ready, I aim and BOOM! I miss! The previous year I shot my buck beautifully in one shot. I had forgotten how much of a kick that .243 has! I'm sitting there stunned watching the coyotes run off. Out of the corner of my eye I see a movement on the ridge line to my left. I turn that way and a coyote shoots off at the movement. I'm starting to think...okay, the coyote just went the wrong way when he ran, I'm hidden in the shadow of this rock he couldn't see me. "Reload the stupid gun," does not cross my mind. A flash from the valley behind the rock on the right, I turn that way and see another coyote dissapear. What on earth is going on here?? Suddenly there's one trotting down the slope in front of me heading straight for me...I panicked (I hate to say it but I did). I threw a shell into the gun and aimed it at the coyote coming down the slope in front...I can't shoot! I'm freaked out about the darn kicking gun and can't shoot! AHHH....coyote gets closer, and closer, and closer (jumping up and waving my arms and screaming does not occur to me) I finally decide that this coyote is going to have me for lunch if I don't shoot the gun. BANG! Down it drops, shadow vanishes on the right of me again, I jerk towards it and there goes the tail. I forget the gun has to be reloaded (my .22 is semi-auto and the .243 is borrowed) There goes a coyote on my left again I raise the gun quickly and "click." More panic! I'm thinking "oh, my Gosh! I'm being surrounded and hunted by these coyotes and they're going to eat me and my little girl!" (keep in mind people I have hormones going on at this time!) I throw another shell into the gun, another coyote coming down the slope in front to investigate the dead one. I vaguely aim and shoot BANG! (no gun shy this time) There's a yelp and the coyote takes off running. I reload quickly.
I sit there glancing furiously all around me...nothing, not a thing...they're gone. I stand up, gun still loaded and ready...knees shaky...I wobble down to the dead coyote...yep, it's dead...hmm no blood trail from the other coyote...I'm going the heck home...I have to walk back and collect my .22 though and that's the direction they've gone. I walked slowly back to the .22 watching carefully the whole way. I get to my .22 and unload the .243 and load the .22, less powerful but I can shoot quicker and it doesn't beat me up with every shot. I'm dreading walking the mile back to the house and wishing I'd brought a vehicle, digging out cell phone to call hubby...here comes my brother-in-law Rick in the Kawasaki Mule! He pulls up with his oldest in the passenger seat. "what'd you get??!" he quirps happily. I have never been that happy to see my brother-in-law!
I did make $15 off of that dead coyote though. I learned that there's a bounty for them here and we went and picked it up. Next day, I decided I'd seen my deer and I was NOT going alone. Hubby took his pistol .44 and went with me, we got my deer, after hours of searching, but that's another story.
Premios Dardo award
Well Claire tagged me and I posted that I would do it when I had more time so here it is!
(now who the heck am I gonna tag??)
So, the rules that go with the award are...
STEP 1: Respond and rework. Answer the following questions on my blog, replacing one question that I dislike with a question of my own invention.
STEP 2: Add one more question of my own.
STEP 3: Tag eight other bloggers.
1) What is your favorite day of the week? Mondays most of the time, Lilly goes to daycare the most on Mondays (I love my little one but a break is nice, even though yes, I do miss her while she's gone lol) also Mondays are safety meetings at Tim's work and since he's officially laid off right now it's the only garunteed time without him (love him too but hey, men can drive you nuts!)
2) What is your biggest fear? hmm I have to think about that, I hate spiders...I guess my biggest fear is that one of these darned rattlers we have in the summer would bite my daughter :"(
3) What was your worst subject in school? History, growing up in Wyoming most of what we learned about didn't happen here and was very boring, I didn't get into history at all until I moved to Va and got to see Gettysburg.
4) Who is the last person you hugged? Lilly! Right before I put her to bed! (Ellie the goat was before that lol)
5) What websites do you visit when you go online? hehe, I have no life, I blog and I play all the games on facebook :) that doesn't leave much time for other sites.
6) What was the last item that you bought? umm...natural medicines for the three of us.
7) If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go? Africa! I'm like James Patterson in "the Ghost and the Darkness" I've been waiting my whole life to see it. I'd love going everywhere else too, Australia's next but Africa definetly tops the list.
8) If you woke up tomorrow and were the opposite sex what is the first thing you would do and why? I would stare at the toilet roll holder until I figured out how to put on a new roll. (how do you beat Claire's answer??!) hmmmm...stare at the sink till I figure out how to wash a dish or two??
9) If you couldn't have your current job, and money were not an issue, what would be your second choice? I would kill for a vet clinic here to work at, I miss my vet days terribly
10) Has a celebrity's hair cut ever influenced your own hairstyle?
Nope I've always been me and boring lol
11) If you had a whole day to yourself with no work, commitments, or interruptions, what would you do? Go for a long walk hunting rabbits and coyotes with just my dog (not the other two, they make too much noise and I miss "us" time with her), write my story (it'll be published about the time I'm 90 and too old to use any money from it), read someone else's story while in a nice hot bubble bath eating strawberries dipped in chocolate...
12) What was the last movie you watched?
What's a movie? LOL! (GO CLAIRE!) I don't have any idea what a movie is either...Truth be told it was Wiggles dance party. (does that even count?)
13) If you were to win the Powerball, what would you do with the money (besides invest it)? Buy our own land and a better house that isn't a too small trailer (No, I don't want a huge house either), make the farm of my dreams (pigs, chickens, goats, cattle, sheep, horses, ducks, pheasants, I'm sure I'm forgetting something) with a great big vegetable garden and berry patch and orchard and pantry and canning cellar and...(oh wait there's other questions...)
14) What is your favorite plant or flower and why? Tulips, although I don't know why...maybe it's because they were always the first to come up at my mom's house which meant that summer was on it's way
15) What do you do to try to make the world a better place? Good question, everything I'd like to do I seem to be inhibited in some way. And I recycle for selfish reasons (Yeah...Lilly's college fund is growing).
16)If you could be friends with anyone who would it be and why?? I recently connected back up with one of my childhood friends and I missed out on so much that happened in her life. I wish we could have stayed connected. I guess I really didn't answer my own question though...James Harriet, I love a man who's willing to strip down and lay on a freezing floor for hours with his hand up a cows rear all for the sake of saving the baby and mom :)) awwww.....
Now, who can I tag that hasn't been tagged...(is that a rule?) Those who are tagged below - please feel free to join, if you wish, but no obligation! I like Claires idea of seeing if they notice...dah dum
1. Farm Dreams
2. Hidden Haven Homestead
3. Melissa's Ramblings
4. A Dairy Prospective
5. A Homesteading-Neophyte
6. A View From the Green Barn
7. Woodland Tracers!
8. Our Family, Our Life
I had to add one! Can't believe I came up with enough to nominate!
9. Goats in the Garden!
(now who the heck am I gonna tag??)
So, the rules that go with the award are...
STEP 1: Respond and rework. Answer the following questions on my blog, replacing one question that I dislike with a question of my own invention.
STEP 2: Add one more question of my own.
STEP 3: Tag eight other bloggers.
1) What is your favorite day of the week? Mondays most of the time, Lilly goes to daycare the most on Mondays (I love my little one but a break is nice, even though yes, I do miss her while she's gone lol) also Mondays are safety meetings at Tim's work and since he's officially laid off right now it's the only garunteed time without him (love him too but hey, men can drive you nuts!)
2) What is your biggest fear? hmm I have to think about that, I hate spiders...I guess my biggest fear is that one of these darned rattlers we have in the summer would bite my daughter :"(
3) What was your worst subject in school? History, growing up in Wyoming most of what we learned about didn't happen here and was very boring, I didn't get into history at all until I moved to Va and got to see Gettysburg.
4) Who is the last person you hugged? Lilly! Right before I put her to bed! (Ellie the goat was before that lol)
5) What websites do you visit when you go online? hehe, I have no life, I blog and I play all the games on facebook :) that doesn't leave much time for other sites.
6) What was the last item that you bought? umm...natural medicines for the three of us.
7) If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go? Africa! I'm like James Patterson in "the Ghost and the Darkness" I've been waiting my whole life to see it. I'd love going everywhere else too, Australia's next but Africa definetly tops the list.
8) If you woke up tomorrow and were the opposite sex what is the first thing you would do and why? I would stare at the toilet roll holder until I figured out how to put on a new roll. (how do you beat Claire's answer??!) hmmmm...stare at the sink till I figure out how to wash a dish or two??
9) If you couldn't have your current job, and money were not an issue, what would be your second choice? I would kill for a vet clinic here to work at, I miss my vet days terribly
10) Has a celebrity's hair cut ever influenced your own hairstyle?
Nope I've always been me and boring lol
11) If you had a whole day to yourself with no work, commitments, or interruptions, what would you do? Go for a long walk hunting rabbits and coyotes with just my dog (not the other two, they make too much noise and I miss "us" time with her), write my story (it'll be published about the time I'm 90 and too old to use any money from it), read someone else's story while in a nice hot bubble bath eating strawberries dipped in chocolate...
12) What was the last movie you watched?
What's a movie? LOL! (GO CLAIRE!) I don't have any idea what a movie is either...Truth be told it was Wiggles dance party. (does that even count?)
13) If you were to win the Powerball, what would you do with the money (besides invest it)? Buy our own land and a better house that isn't a too small trailer (No, I don't want a huge house either), make the farm of my dreams (pigs, chickens, goats, cattle, sheep, horses, ducks, pheasants, I'm sure I'm forgetting something) with a great big vegetable garden and berry patch and orchard and pantry and canning cellar and...(oh wait there's other questions...)
14) What is your favorite plant or flower and why? Tulips, although I don't know why...maybe it's because they were always the first to come up at my mom's house which meant that summer was on it's way
15) What do you do to try to make the world a better place? Good question, everything I'd like to do I seem to be inhibited in some way. And I recycle for selfish reasons (Yeah...Lilly's college fund is growing).
16)If you could be friends with anyone who would it be and why?? I recently connected back up with one of my childhood friends and I missed out on so much that happened in her life. I wish we could have stayed connected. I guess I really didn't answer my own question though...James Harriet, I love a man who's willing to strip down and lay on a freezing floor for hours with his hand up a cows rear all for the sake of saving the baby and mom :)) awwww.....
Now, who can I tag that hasn't been tagged...(is that a rule?) Those who are tagged below - please feel free to join, if you wish, but no obligation! I like Claires idea of seeing if they notice...dah dum
1. Farm Dreams
2. Hidden Haven Homestead
3. Melissa's Ramblings
4. A Dairy Prospective
5. A Homesteading-Neophyte
6. A View From the Green Barn
7. Woodland Tracers!
8. Our Family, Our Life
I had to add one! Can't believe I came up with enough to nominate!
9. Goats in the Garden!
Phase one: rabbit hutch
Well, I was right I didn't get any other projects done, I didn't even get the hutch fully done. I did get most of the inside areas done though. I still have to cut out the holes in the floor for the scrape out area, the holes in the floor for the nesting box, and cut the doors and put hinges and latches on them. Then I have to build the outside area. It shouldn't take as long though since it it basic 2X4 construction and wire and staples (I love my stapler!).
My pics of the mountains from this morning.
Oh...I also managed to get a picture of the cats...this is an everyday thing...Boots is orange and white, Romeow is just orange.
And finally...since I had the two rabbits living elsewhere at the moment I had to get new rabbits to test the new hutch. My new rabbits:
My pics of the mountains from this morning.
Oh...I also managed to get a picture of the cats...this is an everyday thing...Boots is orange and white, Romeow is just orange.
And finally...since I had the two rabbits living elsewhere at the moment I had to get new rabbits to test the new hutch. My new rabbits:
beautiful morning
Well I got up this morning and the clouds are hanging low over our mountains and it's absolutely gorgeous. (will add pics later today) This is one of my rare days that I get to spend without my daughter and even half a day (this afternoon) without my hubby. He has a mandatory safety meeting at work so he has to go sick or not. The company told he he could be excused from it if he brought in a note from his coroner. Arn't they funny? Anyways, lovely day for me. I'm headed out and I'm going to spend the entire day out with my goats building the new rabbit hutch (it goes in the garden, easy for carrot tops and things to be disposed of ;) ). If I have time I may build them a hay rack or build the ramp for the milk stand. But I doubt I will, the rabbit hutch is promising to be complicated with every feature I want to put in. I'd like to put in a hole in each indoor compartment for scraping shavings out of, built in nesting boxes that slide in with rails under the bottom of them, and easy access doors for me but not for them (thanks Peter!), and I'd like to figure out a sliding door for the inside/outside hole so that they can be trapped into one or the other, and finally I'd like to give them lots of space but still have it mobile so I'd like to build the wire outside cages seperate and make it attachable/detachable. See I do custom housing lol. Wish me luck I'm off to work on it!
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Vet blog...
Okay you guys are driving me nuts with the outstanding number of comments on my vet blog, I just can't find the time to get them all read...
Am I wasting my time with that blog?? Or does someone actually like it??? What does there need to be more of??? What needs to be less??? Suggestions??
(link is on the right side at the top)
Am I wasting my time with that blog?? Or does someone actually like it??? What does there need to be more of??? What needs to be less??? Suggestions??
(link is on the right side at the top)
A walk on the farm/common names
Well, this morning was so beautiful that I thought I'd take the "girls" for a walk. Tim is sick with the flu now so I let him sleep in. That meant of course that Lilly and the dogs had to go with me. Lilly woke up this morning looking like her bright beautiful chipper self and I thought a little fresh air (well bundled of course) would do her good. The dogs CAN'T stay home from a walk because they'll just die (ask them, they'll tell you). Oh, and my two outdoor cats have thought that they have to go on walks as well ever since we adopted them at the shelter. So there I am holding Lilly on my hip, walking through the pasture leading Ellie by leash (she's the easiest of the three to control and there's no outer fence yet) with the other two goats dancing, jumping, and skipping around me, occasionally dashing by crazily when one of the dogs comes tearing through. Not to mention the two orange things slinking around in the grass behind me, pausing only to stare at whichever other animal is trying to challenge their right to go on the family outing. One of these days I'll have to have my hubby take pictures of the procession when he's feeling better. I'm sure it's a site.
Names are a wonderful thing. Without them no one would come when called, or answer the teacher's questions, or anything. Sometimes they can be confusing though...for example...I've been looking at so many pictures of Claire's lovely little black and white, itty, bitty, goats that I walked out to feed my girls yesterday and promptly yelled at Sue to quit chasing Stuffin' around! LOL Another example, when I was younger it was not uncommon to have 3, 4, or even 5 other Jennifer's in my class at school. Imagine the confusion when the teacher says "Jennifer, can you answer this question?" and 5 of us answer at once, often with different answers. I always knew I wanted my daughter to have an uncommon name so that she wouldn't have that confusion. Not anything spectacular or plain odd and weird like Mercedes or naming your kid after a state or some other car. Just a good solid name that has been around but isn't normally used. So we named her Lilly Hope Baker. The kicker...in the year that we've had her we've probably been asked what her name was by some lady at a store somewhere about 30 times. Only to hear, "oh! I have a granddaughter named Lilly!". *sigh* We blew that one didn't we...oh well, I survived and she will too!
Names are a wonderful thing. Without them no one would come when called, or answer the teacher's questions, or anything. Sometimes they can be confusing though...for example...I've been looking at so many pictures of Claire's lovely little black and white, itty, bitty, goats that I walked out to feed my girls yesterday and promptly yelled at Sue to quit chasing Stuffin' around! LOL Another example, when I was younger it was not uncommon to have 3, 4, or even 5 other Jennifer's in my class at school. Imagine the confusion when the teacher says "Jennifer, can you answer this question?" and 5 of us answer at once, often with different answers. I always knew I wanted my daughter to have an uncommon name so that she wouldn't have that confusion. Not anything spectacular or plain odd and weird like Mercedes or naming your kid after a state or some other car. Just a good solid name that has been around but isn't normally used. So we named her Lilly Hope Baker. The kicker...in the year that we've had her we've probably been asked what her name was by some lady at a store somewhere about 30 times. Only to hear, "oh! I have a granddaughter named Lilly!". *sigh* We blew that one didn't we...oh well, I survived and she will too!
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Lonely days
Okay, so I can't stay quiet for long. lol I sometimes feel like I'm the only woman in the world. We only live about 10 miles from town but sometimes it feels like 200. My husband grew up here with his brother and we can go to town and all I hear from alot of people is "hey are you related to Rick". Rick (Tim's brother) has been married for about 15 years and his wife, Trish seems to be into everything here in town. Sometimes it feels like there isn't anyone left for me to be friends with because they all already know Rick and Trish and I'm just an extension of the family. It would be nice if my husband and I could go somewhere and be recognized for us and who we are. We are looking at joining a church here and we are getting a bit of that there now but even there his brother and sister in law come up often. Sometimes I'd like to pick up and move somewhere where no one knows them and we can be just us. My husband is rather quiet and shy though whereas his brother is really outgoing. Tim tends to blend into the background whenever he goes anywhere and consequently is liked by everyone but doesn't really have any close friends. Me...I'm bossy, pushy, and a lot of times come off as being a know-it-all even though I really don't try to be. So I tend to turn potential friends away without even trying or meaning to. All my life it's felt as though animals were the only real friends I would ever have and that no one else on earth understood. Raised in the city I always felt out of place and a bit of an oddball. Reading the other blogs on here, Goats in the Garden, Farm Dreams, Whispering Acres , and getting to be more every day, I don't feel so alone, I only wish you all were closer to where we are and that I could be friends with people like you in real life. (sorry, this isn't meant to sound down in the dumps either cause I'm really not, nothing ever sounds the way I mean it too :( )
Beautiful nights
Have you ever been out feeding your animals after dark and looked up at the clear sky filled with stars and thought about how little and insignifigant you are and just felt incredibly lucky to be alive and to have all that you have?? *sigh* Thank you Lord for my wonderful family and the oppurtunity to care for your creatures. (See I can do short posts ;) )
Monday, February 23, 2009
Tour around a redneck wyoming farm
First a thank you to Christy for teaching me how to get the pics in the right spot ;) Something so simple...
Isn’t it appropriate that a Redneck farm post would start with a redneck trailer house. This is the back of our plain jane three bedroom too small house. Note the lovely skirting, that is our universal building project cheap weathered plywood, bought used at auction.
Next we move on to the front of the domicile. Our house was just moved onto the area of land last March. Everything is dirt (actually bentonite clay). When it gets wet it is a muddy, goopy, slimy, slippery bog. One of these days when all the animals have their needs met I intend to build a mudroom on the house and plant grass. I’m also hoping that this summer we’ll have a little extra money (hahaha) and can gravel the driveway.
Next on our tour is the shed. What kind of redneck has an air-conditioned shed but hasn’t gotten it painted yet? My husband primed the shed while I was pregnant over a year ago. Then calving season came and work went on hold. One of these days we’ll have to re-prime it and paint it. It’s going to be barn red.
Then of course we have to start the animal housing. This is the cat’s house (private quarters deluxe). We’ll tour the inside in a minute. Small kitty door placed on the side to allow cat access only, also can be locked to allow easy access to kitty’s who need to take road trips. Note the lovely recycled tin roof, these guys have high class digs around here. Next to the cat house is one of two portable hutches made for different purposes. They were made to house turkeys over the summer and to also allow the guinea pigs (gone now) and rabbits to have somewhere cool to munch fresh grass in the summer.
And on we go into the tour of the inside of the cat house. All of the animal houses around here have been “personalized” to suit their occupants wants and needs. We have a cat tower (picked up at a garage sale), litter box shelf and storage, underneath we have three hidey holes for snuggling and keeping warm in the winter (some have carpet squares in them, some are filled with clean wood shavings), above the litter box shelf is the feed shelf with recessed bowls for low spillage. There is also a miniature black cat tower placed on that shelf. Then of course there are lots of built in shelves and scratching posts. And although they don’t play with them much there are toys available on the floor. The house wouldn’t be complete without it’s plexiglass windows, one on each of three sides. Available views of the countryside without setting foot outside.
This is the milking stand that we built for the girls. It is two feet high and will have a ramp up to it soon, Ellie is starting to have problems jumping to it. It will also have a new barn to house it in later this year. For now it either sits outside or for really bad weather is placed in the shed for milking. The girls are used to both. Some of you may question the bars on both sides, it was built with Ellie’s friend in mind when we had her. She wasn’t a pleasant milker.
This is the garden/goat yard. The exterior fence for our area of land can just barely be seen past the snowbank and tractor on the left. When the exterior fence is finished the girls can move out to that pasture area and will be out of my garden, now being fertilized rather well. The pile of dirt to the right of the tractor is my future dirt for my raised garden.
The east side of my garden houses my strawberries, fenced off from the goats of course. They live in the tractor tires and although most did not survive the planting of them last summer (I ordered late, planted late) hopefully we will still have a few this year. Behind them you can see our pallets of used plywood, only three and a half left. To the left under the silver tarp are the hay bales for the girls.
This is the old rabbit hutch, it featured two cages complete with indoor and outdoor areas with a sturdy roof. As you can see though it is rather long and lacking in width. It was an easy thing for the bulls to shove their heads under and roll it out of the way. Due to that there is one nonfunctional side now. Peter lives in the other side. New hutch plans are in the making and should be constructed soon.
This is Mopsy’s house, it used to be the guinea pigs house. Thankfully the guinea pigs were both gone and this cage standing empty by the time the bulls played demolition with the hutch. It will stand empty as a back up again after the new hutch is built.
The dogs have their specialized area as well. Since my hubby drove a mixer truck last summer we got leftover concrete at a reasonable price (free) and piecemealed the kennels together. So the dogs have concrete kennel floors. The main kennel is 20X20 and is wire mesh. At our old house we only had a 10X10 so they love the extra space and being able to all be in it together. They have a water dish, automatic feeder, and two dog houses (one private and one shared). The second kennel to the right is the isolation kennel. It is also concrete and has wire over the top of it as well to prevent breakouts. It is used for isolating sick puppy’s that don’t get to come in (haha), keeping strays in temporarily, or taking care of foster dogs (haven’t had that opportunity yet but would like to soon).
The pups show off their dog houses.
This is the current goat house. It was built for bum calves in case the ranch needed somewhere else to place them (sometimes we can have a few too many in the main part of the ranch). While being designed for bum calves the girls think that although a touch small it does them nicely. All three of them are able to cuddle cozily against each other in the back room and stay quite warm on cold winter nights.
This is the interior of the calf house. It features a separate back sleeping area and a dining room. The dining room comes complete with three holes for pans and buckets. The hole closest to the sleeping quarters contains the grain pan for the calves (on the milk stand for the goats). The middle contains the night time water bucket, and the left holds the loose mineral and baking soda pan. To the left of that an area has been blocked off to provide a hay rack (which the girls have busted and I haven’t fixed yet). The house features multiple windows for fresh air flow on nice days.
This is the playhouse that was given to us free. Before being placed against the shed it was rolled by the wind several times and several pieces are now broke. It is up for debate as to using it for a playhouse now or a nice weather proof area for wagons and toys. Next to it is our pile of treated 4X4’s for our building project skids (in case you haven’t noticed almost everything here is portable and will remain that way until we own land of our own, we live on ranch land) The shed next to it is used for baby item storage and animal feed.
Some of our building projects left (I bought this lumber in the summer while we had money for it) Under the tarp is the pig house and the framework for the outside chicken pen.
This is my trees (buried in snow) I put up a windbreak of pallets to protect them and they got buried. I’m thinking I needed to put up the pallets the next tree line back that doesn’t have trees planted yet. On the left is the second portable hutch. The rabbits clean the grass out of this area when there’s no snow.
Ta dah! My redneck chicken coop! We traded a contractor labor on it for an old vehicle that needed repaired and our door (laying in front of it, found by dumpsters) wasn’t good enough for him ;) so he bought a brand new door and window for our shabby plywood construction.
This is the inside of the chicken coop. The chickens will have their nesting box on the first level, the two roosts the next level up (are 2X2’s too big for them?) then I have a storage area for the spare rabbit and guinea pig cage right above that. The storage platform comes out farther than the others so the chickens shouldn’t be able to get up there. This is my first chicken coop and first chickens…advice please, what needs changed before we get them? They will have a small chicken door that opens into an outdoor pen.
The redneck wood pile. We haven’t figured out where to stack our wood in this big mud hole and we needed to try out new chainsaw so we cut up some branches.
finally, the nicest part of outside our redneck home. The front stairs. Aren’t they pretty? (my parents built them not us lol). And yes I need to pick up my garbage around the steps, one of these days when it’s warm I’ll clean out and stack all those buckets and take the trash to the dump.
Well that’s the official redneck tour of our Wyoming farm, we hope you enjoyed it and stay tuned for more…
Now a word from our sponsors… (LMAO)
Isn’t it appropriate that a Redneck farm post would start with a redneck trailer house. This is the back of our plain jane three bedroom too small house. Note the lovely skirting, that is our universal building project cheap weathered plywood, bought used at auction.
Next we move on to the front of the domicile. Our house was just moved onto the area of land last March. Everything is dirt (actually bentonite clay). When it gets wet it is a muddy, goopy, slimy, slippery bog. One of these days when all the animals have their needs met I intend to build a mudroom on the house and plant grass. I’m also hoping that this summer we’ll have a little extra money (hahaha) and can gravel the driveway.
Next on our tour is the shed. What kind of redneck has an air-conditioned shed but hasn’t gotten it painted yet? My husband primed the shed while I was pregnant over a year ago. Then calving season came and work went on hold. One of these days we’ll have to re-prime it and paint it. It’s going to be barn red.
Then of course we have to start the animal housing. This is the cat’s house (private quarters deluxe). We’ll tour the inside in a minute. Small kitty door placed on the side to allow cat access only, also can be locked to allow easy access to kitty’s who need to take road trips. Note the lovely recycled tin roof, these guys have high class digs around here. Next to the cat house is one of two portable hutches made for different purposes. They were made to house turkeys over the summer and to also allow the guinea pigs (gone now) and rabbits to have somewhere cool to munch fresh grass in the summer.
And on we go into the tour of the inside of the cat house. All of the animal houses around here have been “personalized” to suit their occupants wants and needs. We have a cat tower (picked up at a garage sale), litter box shelf and storage, underneath we have three hidey holes for snuggling and keeping warm in the winter (some have carpet squares in them, some are filled with clean wood shavings), above the litter box shelf is the feed shelf with recessed bowls for low spillage. There is also a miniature black cat tower placed on that shelf. Then of course there are lots of built in shelves and scratching posts. And although they don’t play with them much there are toys available on the floor. The house wouldn’t be complete without it’s plexiglass windows, one on each of three sides. Available views of the countryside without setting foot outside.
This is the milking stand that we built for the girls. It is two feet high and will have a ramp up to it soon, Ellie is starting to have problems jumping to it. It will also have a new barn to house it in later this year. For now it either sits outside or for really bad weather is placed in the shed for milking. The girls are used to both. Some of you may question the bars on both sides, it was built with Ellie’s friend in mind when we had her. She wasn’t a pleasant milker.
This is the garden/goat yard. The exterior fence for our area of land can just barely be seen past the snowbank and tractor on the left. When the exterior fence is finished the girls can move out to that pasture area and will be out of my garden, now being fertilized rather well. The pile of dirt to the right of the tractor is my future dirt for my raised garden.
The east side of my garden houses my strawberries, fenced off from the goats of course. They live in the tractor tires and although most did not survive the planting of them last summer (I ordered late, planted late) hopefully we will still have a few this year. Behind them you can see our pallets of used plywood, only three and a half left. To the left under the silver tarp are the hay bales for the girls.
This is the old rabbit hutch, it featured two cages complete with indoor and outdoor areas with a sturdy roof. As you can see though it is rather long and lacking in width. It was an easy thing for the bulls to shove their heads under and roll it out of the way. Due to that there is one nonfunctional side now. Peter lives in the other side. New hutch plans are in the making and should be constructed soon.
This is Mopsy’s house, it used to be the guinea pigs house. Thankfully the guinea pigs were both gone and this cage standing empty by the time the bulls played demolition with the hutch. It will stand empty as a back up again after the new hutch is built.
The dogs have their specialized area as well. Since my hubby drove a mixer truck last summer we got leftover concrete at a reasonable price (free) and piecemealed the kennels together. So the dogs have concrete kennel floors. The main kennel is 20X20 and is wire mesh. At our old house we only had a 10X10 so they love the extra space and being able to all be in it together. They have a water dish, automatic feeder, and two dog houses (one private and one shared). The second kennel to the right is the isolation kennel. It is also concrete and has wire over the top of it as well to prevent breakouts. It is used for isolating sick puppy’s that don’t get to come in (haha), keeping strays in temporarily, or taking care of foster dogs (haven’t had that opportunity yet but would like to soon).
The pups show off their dog houses.
This is the current goat house. It was built for bum calves in case the ranch needed somewhere else to place them (sometimes we can have a few too many in the main part of the ranch). While being designed for bum calves the girls think that although a touch small it does them nicely. All three of them are able to cuddle cozily against each other in the back room and stay quite warm on cold winter nights.
This is the interior of the calf house. It features a separate back sleeping area and a dining room. The dining room comes complete with three holes for pans and buckets. The hole closest to the sleeping quarters contains the grain pan for the calves (on the milk stand for the goats). The middle contains the night time water bucket, and the left holds the loose mineral and baking soda pan. To the left of that an area has been blocked off to provide a hay rack (which the girls have busted and I haven’t fixed yet). The house features multiple windows for fresh air flow on nice days.
This is the playhouse that was given to us free. Before being placed against the shed it was rolled by the wind several times and several pieces are now broke. It is up for debate as to using it for a playhouse now or a nice weather proof area for wagons and toys. Next to it is our pile of treated 4X4’s for our building project skids (in case you haven’t noticed almost everything here is portable and will remain that way until we own land of our own, we live on ranch land) The shed next to it is used for baby item storage and animal feed.
Some of our building projects left (I bought this lumber in the summer while we had money for it) Under the tarp is the pig house and the framework for the outside chicken pen.
This is my trees (buried in snow) I put up a windbreak of pallets to protect them and they got buried. I’m thinking I needed to put up the pallets the next tree line back that doesn’t have trees planted yet. On the left is the second portable hutch. The rabbits clean the grass out of this area when there’s no snow.
Ta dah! My redneck chicken coop! We traded a contractor labor on it for an old vehicle that needed repaired and our door (laying in front of it, found by dumpsters) wasn’t good enough for him ;) so he bought a brand new door and window for our shabby plywood construction.
This is the inside of the chicken coop. The chickens will have their nesting box on the first level, the two roosts the next level up (are 2X2’s too big for them?) then I have a storage area for the spare rabbit and guinea pig cage right above that. The storage platform comes out farther than the others so the chickens shouldn’t be able to get up there. This is my first chicken coop and first chickens…advice please, what needs changed before we get them? They will have a small chicken door that opens into an outdoor pen.
The redneck wood pile. We haven’t figured out where to stack our wood in this big mud hole and we needed to try out new chainsaw so we cut up some branches.
finally, the nicest part of outside our redneck home. The front stairs. Aren’t they pretty? (my parents built them not us lol). And yes I need to pick up my garbage around the steps, one of these days when it’s warm I’ll clean out and stack all those buckets and take the trash to the dump.
Well that’s the official redneck tour of our Wyoming farm, we hope you enjoyed it and stay tuned for more…
Now a word from our sponsors… (LMAO)
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Goats, dogs, and rabbits.
What do all these things have in common? Nothing but pictures lol. I thought it was about time I posted pictures of the crew. Forgive my disorganization, one of these days I'll have to have one of the more talented bloggers teach me how to get my pics exactly where I want them within the text. The pups are Kady (black and white), Sarah (red), and Nick (gray).
I just realized I'm missing cat pictures, guess I'll have to get them another day. The rabbits are Peter (orange and white) and Mopsy (gray). Mopsy should be due the 21st! Yeah!
The "girls" are Sue (white Saanen), Ellie (pregnant Nubian), and my newbie Cookie (Nigerian). Cookie's moms name was Oreo, can you guess why?? lol More about the girls for this post, Sue was bought here in town from a college kid who doesn't have time to work with all his goats anymore. She is shy but the bully. She wasn't worked with at all before I got her and was chose because she was the least scaredy yearling of the three. She now jumps on the stand for grain and will allow touching and loves while eating. She is still shy about loves other times but will come check your hands for grain. She wasn't bred this year so will be a two year old first freshner next spring. She is also starting to grow scurs :( will have to see what I can do about that. Should be lovable and sweet by first freshning and will be milked but I doubt she'll ever lose her shyness (I like bottle babies better!).
That said, onto Cookie. Cookie is five months old and just left her mother. She walks around the pen bellering for her when I'm out there but is fairly quiet when it's just her and the other girls. Sue wants to play with her but doesn't want to let her eat. Cookie was also not worked with and is far more shy than Sue ever was, I'll be happy with taking her babies and bottle feeding them, she won't get milked. We are still working with her though and can get her to eat a bit of grain out of your hand about 50% of the times it's offered. She'll eventually come around some.
Finally, my experienced child. Ellie is a two year old second freshner that is due on the 23rd of March YEAH!. This will be my first kidding although I did get to milk her buddy that she came with a bit before she was sold so some experience milking. Am very excited and looking forward to learning more about milking and making all sorts of fun things out of the milk. Also have already had a request for her doeling if that's what she has. :) All her kids will be up for sale as well and can be papered. She may only have one though she isn't very big. How many do you think she'll have? lol
Saturday, February 21, 2009
adventures in mothering and forgetfullness
Well alot happened this week. On monday I forgot that it was presidents day and tried to take my daughter to the health department for vaccinations. Also stopped by vet and paid bill so that I wouldn't owe them anything anymore. Saw ad for Nigerian Dwarf goat for sale, went and saw and bought new goat :)
Tuesday I spent updating computer stuff (post pics for doting grandma), catching up on my computer games, and cleaning the house (kitchen). Also walked out to the kennel and noted that one of the dogs had bloody diarrhea, checked tails to figure out who. Took dog to vet after new goat dropped off.
It really stinks when you look at your cupboards one day and realize they're disgusting looking. So I spent tuesday in my kitchen with a bucket of bleach water and a rag. I have a sparkling beautiful kitchen! I need to do the rest of the house now, it looks worse by contrast lol. Front door first! Maybe next week....
Wednesday was spent by getting up and realizing that my bunny is finally old enough to have babies!!! Breeding session number one...Take female to male's cage, block off indoor area using house, leave that door to hutch open, release female in outdoor area with male, watch female run around madly grabbing male and humping him, get disgusted and tired of watching this go on and on, grab female and hold down by scruff of neck, watch male have fun, return female to her cage, shut outdoor section of male's cage. YEAH! babies due in 31 days. (29 now). New project on list, build new rabbit hutch before new arrivals.
Look at calender, realize that today is a daycare day and I have the whole day without my daughter, run inside and get her ready hurridly and take her into town. Waste an hour in town doing odds and ends because she has an appt. to go to before daycare. Take daughter to appt. only to be told that it's next week not this week. Not only that, but I pull out the appt card to show the lady (whom I'm sure is wrong) and note that it says the 25th on the card. *sigh* Take daughter to daycare. Drive home. Walk in the house and say good morning to hubby, let him sleep in. Look out window towards back yard. For those of you who were following carefully, Yes I left the second door of the rabbit hutch open! Look out window and see hutch door flapping in the wind and male bunny running around on the ground for the second time in his short life! Following with my pattern of forgetting things I had thankfully forgotten to let the cats out of the shed for the day. (They spend the night in there due to current coyote probs) and the sick dog (the only rabbit chaser) was conveinently locked in house for monitoring. So rabbit is running around yard while the other two dogs watch amused. Hubby and I chase rabbit around, without trying to chase, for 1/2 hour. Finally manage to grab him, rabbit returned to hutch. Release cats and let dog out to go to the bathroom (Which thankfully my hubby forgot to do when he got up). Why are we forgetting everything???!!! Worked rest of day on tidying house. Hubby grumbles that it isn't dirty. I told him it may not be horribly dirty but it's very disorganized when he dumps all his stuff in one place ;). Pick up daughter from daycare. Forget to pay. Owe daycare...
Thursday...run around madly tidying house while hubby hums and hahs over what we're going to do that day. Finally decided at noon that we will not have time on Saturday when we go to Casper for the accountant that shopping will have to be done today. Run to Casper in afternoon (45 min drive) by grain for goats, forget calcium supplement, vitamin A, and protein meal. Buy groceries and come home.
Friday...Get up and feed animals, take daughter to Dr. appt. for one year check up! Happy Birthday Lilly! Find out she's not gaining weight like she should be (not a surprise) only 17 lbs. and get to feed her pureed food again for the next month then recheck on the 20th. Daughter also running slight elevated temp. Get groceries and ice cream for party after Dr. Go home and put little girl to bed for nap. Make cake (very first bday cake ever made and I made a double decker! I'm so proud of myself). Just don't ask me to do designs on them. Finish last minute cleanings up. Hubby volunteers to clean guest bathroom (*very surprized*). Go hubby! Daughter wakes up early, fussy, and is tired and fussy all afternoon. Mommy cleans closet and takes baby toys out to shed (excersaucer and swing) and finds rocking horse in bottom of closet. Places daughter on rocking horse and rocks for awhile. waste some time in the afternoon just being a happy family together :). Feed animals early and put to bed, make supper and woof it down, clean dishes and wait. Don't have long to wait, guests arrive. Grandma and grandpa arrive, then friend and son, and then uncle and aunt and cousins. Eat cake and icecream, open presents. Start to play with presents, Lilly crawl over and make mommy's legs a pillow. Guests take hint and go home. Lilly promptly crashes.
Finally, Saturday...Dog running around yard and fighting with other dogs, declared back to normal. New goat, Cookie, running around yard and bellering for her mommy while naughty Sue butts her away from food. Now feed in two locations. Cookie jumps up on food table and poops in water bucket, now change water 3 times a day. Cookie getting on my nerves lol. Ellie, our Nubian, starting to look pregnant (finally), due the 23rd of March. So...Lilly dr. appt on the 20th, baby rabbits on the 21st, and baby goats the 23rd...sheesh. Go to Casper for acounttant. Find out we don't have to be back right away and play the day away in Casper; okay, not quite. Lilly woke up this morning with fever of 101.9. Cranky, tired, and fussy. Ate very little breakfast and drank a little milk. Slept all the way to Casper. Slept at accountants office. As we were leaving woke up and drank a little milk. Driving to Target for more baby tylenol we hear funny noises in back. Realize Lilly has vomited all over herself we get dropped off at front door and hubby parks. Big crowd blocking restrooms. Some lady looks at me and tells me that my daughter has stuff all over her, she gets snapped at and told that "that's why we're going to the bathroom!". Clean daughter, hand to hubby, clean carseat, another lady in restroom kindly fetches plastic bag to put clothes in, says she's "been there". Mommy smiles, nice to know I'm not the only one, feels guilty for snapping at other lady. Find Baby tylenol and supplies needed and pedialyte. Daughter throws up again at check out counter, much to checkout teenager's dismay. Looking back now the gals face was kind of funny. Put stuff in car, clean up daughter again and give medicine. Walk around mall for 45 minutes to make sure she's done since it's easier to clean up when not in car. Give pedialyte bottle in car, get the bottle chucked back at us. Go home, Lilly sleeps most of the way. Make ramen noodles for dinner and give daughter some broth and just a few noodles. Mommy takes nap in case she has to get up in the middle of the night with Lilly. Daughter keeps broth, noodles, and about 1 oz of milk down. Will not drink pedialyte. Given tylenol and put to bed. No church for us tommorrow. Pray she gets better soon. Will try to update more next week so that it's not so long. Listening now, Lilly crying, am hoping she'll go back to sleep...
Tuesday I spent updating computer stuff (post pics for doting grandma), catching up on my computer games, and cleaning the house (kitchen). Also walked out to the kennel and noted that one of the dogs had bloody diarrhea, checked tails to figure out who. Took dog to vet after new goat dropped off.
It really stinks when you look at your cupboards one day and realize they're disgusting looking. So I spent tuesday in my kitchen with a bucket of bleach water and a rag. I have a sparkling beautiful kitchen! I need to do the rest of the house now, it looks worse by contrast lol. Front door first! Maybe next week....
Wednesday was spent by getting up and realizing that my bunny is finally old enough to have babies!!! Breeding session number one...Take female to male's cage, block off indoor area using house, leave that door to hutch open, release female in outdoor area with male, watch female run around madly grabbing male and humping him, get disgusted and tired of watching this go on and on, grab female and hold down by scruff of neck, watch male have fun, return female to her cage, shut outdoor section of male's cage. YEAH! babies due in 31 days. (29 now). New project on list, build new rabbit hutch before new arrivals.
Look at calender, realize that today is a daycare day and I have the whole day without my daughter, run inside and get her ready hurridly and take her into town. Waste an hour in town doing odds and ends because she has an appt. to go to before daycare. Take daughter to appt. only to be told that it's next week not this week. Not only that, but I pull out the appt card to show the lady (whom I'm sure is wrong) and note that it says the 25th on the card. *sigh* Take daughter to daycare. Drive home. Walk in the house and say good morning to hubby, let him sleep in. Look out window towards back yard. For those of you who were following carefully, Yes I left the second door of the rabbit hutch open! Look out window and see hutch door flapping in the wind and male bunny running around on the ground for the second time in his short life! Following with my pattern of forgetting things I had thankfully forgotten to let the cats out of the shed for the day. (They spend the night in there due to current coyote probs) and the sick dog (the only rabbit chaser) was conveinently locked in house for monitoring. So rabbit is running around yard while the other two dogs watch amused. Hubby and I chase rabbit around, without trying to chase, for 1/2 hour. Finally manage to grab him, rabbit returned to hutch. Release cats and let dog out to go to the bathroom (Which thankfully my hubby forgot to do when he got up). Why are we forgetting everything???!!! Worked rest of day on tidying house. Hubby grumbles that it isn't dirty. I told him it may not be horribly dirty but it's very disorganized when he dumps all his stuff in one place ;). Pick up daughter from daycare. Forget to pay. Owe daycare...
Thursday...run around madly tidying house while hubby hums and hahs over what we're going to do that day. Finally decided at noon that we will not have time on Saturday when we go to Casper for the accountant that shopping will have to be done today. Run to Casper in afternoon (45 min drive) by grain for goats, forget calcium supplement, vitamin A, and protein meal. Buy groceries and come home.
Friday...Get up and feed animals, take daughter to Dr. appt. for one year check up! Happy Birthday Lilly! Find out she's not gaining weight like she should be (not a surprise) only 17 lbs. and get to feed her pureed food again for the next month then recheck on the 20th. Daughter also running slight elevated temp. Get groceries and ice cream for party after Dr. Go home and put little girl to bed for nap. Make cake (very first bday cake ever made and I made a double decker! I'm so proud of myself). Just don't ask me to do designs on them. Finish last minute cleanings up. Hubby volunteers to clean guest bathroom (*very surprized*). Go hubby! Daughter wakes up early, fussy, and is tired and fussy all afternoon. Mommy cleans closet and takes baby toys out to shed (excersaucer and swing) and finds rocking horse in bottom of closet. Places daughter on rocking horse and rocks for awhile. waste some time in the afternoon just being a happy family together :). Feed animals early and put to bed, make supper and woof it down, clean dishes and wait. Don't have long to wait, guests arrive. Grandma and grandpa arrive, then friend and son, and then uncle and aunt and cousins. Eat cake and icecream, open presents. Start to play with presents, Lilly crawl over and make mommy's legs a pillow. Guests take hint and go home. Lilly promptly crashes.
Finally, Saturday...Dog running around yard and fighting with other dogs, declared back to normal. New goat, Cookie, running around yard and bellering for her mommy while naughty Sue butts her away from food. Now feed in two locations. Cookie jumps up on food table and poops in water bucket, now change water 3 times a day. Cookie getting on my nerves lol. Ellie, our Nubian, starting to look pregnant (finally), due the 23rd of March. So...Lilly dr. appt on the 20th, baby rabbits on the 21st, and baby goats the 23rd...sheesh. Go to Casper for acounttant. Find out we don't have to be back right away and play the day away in Casper; okay, not quite. Lilly woke up this morning with fever of 101.9. Cranky, tired, and fussy. Ate very little breakfast and drank a little milk. Slept all the way to Casper. Slept at accountants office. As we were leaving woke up and drank a little milk. Driving to Target for more baby tylenol we hear funny noises in back. Realize Lilly has vomited all over herself we get dropped off at front door and hubby parks. Big crowd blocking restrooms. Some lady looks at me and tells me that my daughter has stuff all over her, she gets snapped at and told that "that's why we're going to the bathroom!". Clean daughter, hand to hubby, clean carseat, another lady in restroom kindly fetches plastic bag to put clothes in, says she's "been there". Mommy smiles, nice to know I'm not the only one, feels guilty for snapping at other lady. Find Baby tylenol and supplies needed and pedialyte. Daughter throws up again at check out counter, much to checkout teenager's dismay. Looking back now the gals face was kind of funny. Put stuff in car, clean up daughter again and give medicine. Walk around mall for 45 minutes to make sure she's done since it's easier to clean up when not in car. Give pedialyte bottle in car, get the bottle chucked back at us. Go home, Lilly sleeps most of the way. Make ramen noodles for dinner and give daughter some broth and just a few noodles. Mommy takes nap in case she has to get up in the middle of the night with Lilly. Daughter keeps broth, noodles, and about 1 oz of milk down. Will not drink pedialyte. Given tylenol and put to bed. No church for us tommorrow. Pray she gets better soon. Will try to update more next week so that it's not so long. Listening now, Lilly crying, am hoping she'll go back to sleep...
Monday, February 16, 2009
Valentines Day
Well after spending a fairly uneventful week with my grandma in which I learned to crochet I'm back at home. I drove home on friday since I'd made plans with the babysitter to babysit our daughter saturday night so my husband and I could go out. I had called her cell phone on thursday night to confirm the time and had left a message on her machine. I packed the vehicle up thursday night and was in the GMC and on the road by 4:45 am mountain time friday morning. I left so early because they were predicting bad roads and snow for the last 3 hours of the trip and most of the time in Wyoming that means it will take you twice as long to get anywhere if they dont just close the roads. so I was expecting to do the first 7 hours in bliss and do 6 afterwards through snow and ice :(. Luckily that didn't happen. I was down out of North dakota and in Eureka South dakota before the sun even tipped the rise and was on my way through Pierre by 8:30. Oh what a glorious morning, the sun was shining, the snow was sparkling, the deer were grazing the cornfields, the pheasants were waking up and hoppin gout of their trees, the sunflower stalks stood silently waiting to be cut. By the time I hit mile marker 110 on Interstate though dark clouds had indeed filled the skies and snow was blowing and falling. The passing lane was solid ice. The driving lane though had two clear tracks all the way along it and was only icy in patches. The snow plows were out scraping dust off of the interstate and dropping sand. After 40 miles of this we made it into Rapid city. My daughter slept the entire way from Pierre to Rapid :). The roads out of Rapid were icy on only one side as well and there were snow plows here as well. After turning at Hot springs we made our way towards wyoming through the Buffalo Gap National Grassland (which if you ask me doesn't look any different and spectacular than any part of wyoming). Here the road was icy in patches all the way until the wyoming border, I crossed from the South Dakota bare, clean road to a Wyoming sheet of ice...where the heck are the plows people! I hate wyo's road system, miles and miles of road and none of it plowed lol. They must have cleaned off the highway between Lusk and Newcastle though for after I finally got there it was smooth sailing the rest of the way, the sun even showed it's face again before Lusk and everything again was bright and beautiful instead of gloomy. Anyways...to make a long story short (too late) I called the babysitter when I got home since she hadn't bothered to call me back (a pattern of hers) to find the excuse that her and her husband were sick. Now if they were actually sick I understand and feel sorry for them, but since I've heard this the last three times who can tell??? So after searching all day for a new babysitter and having to take hours to haul my hubby out of a snowdrift that I was going to cook our wonderful dinner in we finally found someone at 6 pm. Well, these people were recommended by another friend we knew but we didn't know them so we spent the next hour and a half at their house meeting them. The woman, Daisy, says she completely understands. Being a mom herself she would have thought it weird if I'd just let our daughter go with them without seeing. Her and her husband have two boys of their own, one two year old and one 10 month old. So after properly meeting them we made plans to have them watch Lilly on the 15th. Of course I was nervous still like I always am when I leave her with someone new lol. So after church and a potluck we piled back into the car sunday morning and dropped her off. I went home and kicked my hubby outside to work on the gate in our fence and finish it so I could go through it and promptly proceeded to squeeze lemons for lemonade, cut up chicken and fry it, and make pasta salad. Not to mention the carrots I cut up and the bread pieces I cut and buttered. Then I get this brilliant idea that it's only 29 degrees outside, the new chicken coop is just built never used, and I can take the heater out to it and prewarm it and we can have our "indoor" picnic out there. So after my hubby comes back in he went back to the office and I hauled the two heaters and the plug in extension cord up to the chicken house, I plug in one of the two to see sparks flying and it blows the fuse. Darn mice chewed up the cord while it was in the shed (where are my cats???). Not to be daunted I plug in the other one and figure it will be enough after all it's a small coop. I haul the blankets up, then some candles and a light, for now it's getting dark. After finishing all the food I collect my hubby from the back room and we carry the covered dish and covered basket out. We get there and he looks doubtfully at me and all he says is, "I'm going to go get the big heater from the house that your mom sent". I LOVE this man lol. So he troops back to the house and I set up the food on the paper plates and blankets. We then proceed to spend the meal thinking the builder who finished the coop for us is an idiot, and it's too cold for chickens until some modifications are done to it. It was a happy meal though as we ate fried chicken in the chicken coop (take that future chickens! lol) but we packed up after the main course and headed back to the house for dessert. After heating up the first batch of chocolate for the strawberries we laid in the living room laughing and feeding them to each other. The second batch followed us to the tub, which ends my narrative. :D After months and months of one adorable little girl in everything we did my hubby and I finally got some time for us....what a WONDERFUL life! lol (oh, and needless to say, my little girl was just fine and happy as a lark when we picked her up).Monday, February 9, 2009
North Dakota
Well its a gloomy day here in ND, I went to visit my grandma. She's 93 years old (will be 94 the end of the month) and still in good shape (all things considered) and still living at home. Well she gets lonely. She has 6 kids, 3 of which live no where near home. Of the other three one visits every other weekend, the boy occasionally calls, and the third is in town every day since she delivers the mail here but never calls or visits. My grandmother wakes up early sometimes in the morning trying to figure out what she did to the one to make her never want to see or talk to her. :( I wish I could go and shake my aunt up and make her see that she doesnt have too much time left and that she should at least call but it isn't my place to do so and it will be only her hurt when grandma leaves this world. On a lighter note my grandma likes to joke that she lives on a deadend street. The snow plow piles all the snow up on the corner and cuts the street off from the others. She thinks it's pretty funny that the only two people on this "dead end" street are two old ladies. Everyone else has either moved, is away, or has died. The whole community is a dying community. When I was younger I can remember going to church here and every pew being full, right up to the pews in the side wing. Now they close off the side wing and have church in there so they dont have to heat the big sanctuary. 95% of the people who attend are old (60's +) you walk down the street or go to the grocery store and the ratios are the same. Every one who lives here now has lived here "forever" and no one new moves in. It's kind of sad. I got thinking on my way up to visit that this may be one of the last times I ever drive these roads. At least I can bring my daughter and bring some joy into an old womans life while she's still here
Friday, February 6, 2009
99 things
Stealing from "is this Heaven, no this is Iowa" blog (she told me too!) lol
Things I've already done: Blue
Things I want to do: Peach
Things I haven't done and don't want to - plain font
1. Started your own blog.
2. Slept under the stars.
3. Played in a band.
4. Visited Hawaii.
5. Watched a meteor shower.
6. Given more than you can afford to charity.
7. Been to Disneyland/world. I've been to the San Diego one, but I dont remember it
8. Climbed a mountain. How big of a mountain? I've climbed our "sheep mountain" here
10. Sang a solo.
11. Bungee jumped. (Not a chance...)
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea. I watched it from the coast though
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch. What classifies as art?
15. Adopted a child. (No, but adopted lots of animals!)
16. Had food poisoning.That was NOT a fun night
18. Grown your own vegetables.
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France.
20. Slept on an overnight train.
21. Had a pillow fight. Who hasn't?
22. Hitch hiked. (Not a chance...)
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill. Nope never! *innocent look*
24. Built a snow fort They work great out of packed snowplow snow!
25. Held a lamb. Does a kid count?
26. Gone skinny dipping. What if someone saw me??!
27. Run a marathon. (Not a chance...)
28. Ridden a gondola in Venice.
29. Seen a total eclipse.
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset. (Seriously now, who hasn't done this?!, ditto)
31. Hit a home run.
32. Been on a cruise. carribean, would do it again as long as people quite dissapearing from ships...
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors.
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language. Learned German in school, live in a state that gets a lot of hispanics though and wouldn't mind learning Spanish
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied. (What does "satisfied" mean? (I'd be happy to have my bills paid off)
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing. Vedawoo! Yeah!
40. Seen Michelangelo's David in person.
41. Sung Karaoke.
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt. Every year when I was a kid
43. Bought a stranger a meal in a restaurant.
44. Visited Africa. If there was one place I could visit...
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight. Does the beaches of Cheyenne count?
46. Been transported in an ambulance. (who would write that they want to on this??)
47. Had your portrait painted.
48. Gone deep sea fishing. Rock Bass.
49. Seen the Sistine chapel in person.
50. Been to the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling.
52. Kissed in the rain.
53. Played in the mud (OHHH TRACY!!!!)
54. Gone to a drive-in theatre. I'm too young, they all went out of business around here :(
55. Been in a movie.
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business (depends on you're definition of starting one)
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen (I volunteer with animal charities instead)
61. Sold Girl Scout cookies.
62. Gone whale watching.
63. Gotten flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood. (it isn't as bad as you'd think.)
65. Gone sky diving.
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp.
67. Bounced a check.
68. Flown in a helicopter.
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy. (the problem I'm having is whether or not I want to pass them on and risk her breaking them)
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial.
71. Eaten Caviar. (Nope but I've eaten Escargo and can't believe it's "gourmet")
72. Pieced a quilt.
73. Stood in Times Square. Not a big deal
74. Toured the Everglades.
75. Been fired from a job. LMAO, one of these days I'll write in my blog how I got fired for not sniffing poop!
76. Seen the Changing of the Guard in London.
77. Broken a bone. Yeah but just a chip
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person.
80. Published a book. Give me a few more years I may have the time to finish it (when Im 80)
81. Visited the Vatican.
82. Bought a brand new car.
83. Walked in Jerusalem.
84. Had your picture in the newspaper.
85. Read the entire Bible.
86. Visited the White House.
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating. Unfortunatly yes, and eaten it too, not my favorite job though
88. Had chickenpox. (when I was little)
89. Saved someone’s life.
90. Sat on a jury.
91. Met someone famous. Whoopi Goldberg
92. Joined a book club.
93. Lost a loved one.
94. Had a baby.
95. Seen the Alamo in person.
96. Swum in the Great Salt Lake.
97. Been involved in a law suit.
98. Owned a cell phone.
99. Been stung by a bee. Wasp actually
sleep in?
well, it's almost 10 A.M. here and I still havent done anything lol. My hubby let me sleep in this morning (rare) and I didn't drag my butt out of bed until 8:30 (even rarer). Normally even when he lets me "sleep in" I'm up by 7:30. The goats were standing around their hay bucket wondering if they were going to starve to death. Everything's a drama with them. It doesn't matter if I'm two hours late or five minutes, they're sure they're going to die. My dogs sit in the kennel and patiently wait for me to open the gate but not the goats. They're standing on their gate bellering "ohhh help, we're wasting away" You walk over to the gate and they're rubbing their noses on you as they beller in your face "you took long enough". I think I could probably be 30 minutes early though and they'd still be "starving" :) Planning on spending most of the day in front of the computer learning about affiliate marketing. One of these years it may make enough that I can buy a stick of candy lol. But it's easy to watch the little one while doing it and she doesn't worry about "helping". When I go to fold my clothes she has to help unfold them or pull them out of the basket for me. She doesn't hand them to me though she takes something that will be tangled up with something else and starts streaking across the floor with them dragging everything else behind her. My hubby hasn't been told that his "clean" clothes really aren't. And we won't even discuss the various places of clothing that end up in her mouth, which of course has just found a nice lump of dirt on the floor and made it mud with her saliva. We NEED an add on for the shoes! *giggles* Right now she's "helping" rearrange the office bookshelves and "picking up" her toys which really involves standing over them, pulling an item out and pitching it behind her as she reaches for one with her other hand just to pitch that out too. My hubby went to work the other day on the ranch and was asking about lunch. I told him that he could eat up there because I probably wouldn't be very hungry. He came home at 2 and I was munching on a piece of ham. He says "I thought you werent hungry or I'd have come home and eaten with you." Now I know he's trying to be loving and nice but having to rack my poor pitiful mind that just learned to cook 2 years ago to come up with something to make to feed us instead of him eating at his mothers while I munch on stuff isn't my idea of fun. He, of course, doesn't understand since he takes the opportunity to sit in the chair and read his book. I've tried to suggest that he should make a date night with his daughter so that they can have some fun time together (so mommy has time to do something she enjoys) and he says that would be a great idea and when he has more time??!?!?!! he'll do that. He goes through a book in three days as well as 2 movies while I'm working on the house and he says he needs more time?? Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to criticize him I'm just desperately trying to understand male logic. He does normally vaguely watch her while he's reading, watching, or playing a video game and he plays with her all the time and is great with her, and I have to admit that he's been doing most of the "putting to bed" routine lately. I just don't quite understand the logic that makes it so I cant have a peaceful night without the two of them. I'm going to run away lol. My mom always told me when I was younger that I was more than welcome to run away but I wouldn't have anything if it weren't for her so I could leave their house with what I came with. I never had the desire to run away butt naked so I never did. :) I suppose this has been a whole lot of rambling for absolutely no reason. *shrugs* oh well, you guys are the ones wasting your time reading it, although I'm very glad you do. More updates from the lazy days farm tommorrow!
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Another day
Well after a day of doing nothing even though I meant to do something I have to stop and ask what did I get accomplished today?? hmmm...I got my daughter dressed, no wait, my hubby did that...ummm I fed the goats, dogs, cats, rabbits and watered everyone. Went to MOPS (mothers of pre-schoolers) and hung out with "the girls" all morning; then again...I held babies that weren't mine all morning. Came home and made lunch for my hubby and vaguely got some resemblence of a kitchen back from the dishes and dirt, which took till 2:30. Then of course I had to check my internet stuff, darn addicting thing. Then went to town and had an early dinner with my truck-driving uncle who happened to be passing through. Then to the library before it closed to check out the all important books that I don't have time to read anymore (there was a time in my life I did and I haven't gotten used to the fact that I don't now). Then home. Put my daughter to bed, again with my hubby's help. Then do some more "work" on the internet. Then refeed and water the animals...the final answer...I've done absolutely NOTHING today. AAAAAAAAHHHHHH. My husband wonders why I don't feel like I get anything done; I don't. *sigh* maybe tommorrow will be better. My goats stand outside and beller at me "come play, come play" and I look at them and wish I could. Anyone know any tricks for teaching a stubborn spoiled (beautiful, wonderful, adorable, charming) little girl that it's okay to play in the dirt, not just in the house??
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Tracy
These are for you Tracy...I'm hoping they'll take your breath away a bit and maybe make you feel a tad bit better.
Friend's Dad
Well I didn't get back to write the other day. I found out a friend of mine's dad died and was trying to think of some way to give my condolences even though I haven't seen them for fifteen years. I was just thinking of how sad life is when circumstances take you away from someone who could have been your best friend for life and how even sadder circumstances can bring you back together again. I've thought about her a lot over the years, wondered where she was, how she was doing...I'm sorry I wasn't there for her while her dad was fighting the cancer that he lost the battle too on the 27th. I'm sorry I couldn't make it to the funeral and give my condolences in person. Again circumstances got in the way, but at least I was able to give a small token, even though it may not mean much I hope it let her know I was thinking about her and her family. It's awful to know that something so sad may be the start of renewing a friendship that was lost but I can only hope it will. I wish it were under better circumstances though, please pray for her and her family if you get the chance, let them know the peace of God's love is with them. Thank you.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
