A Big Blue Surprise

This was a thrilling week here on the funny farm.  Remember Blue, our milk cow?  Well we bought her open, meaning that she was not bred.  No babies in the future.  After milking her and raising calves on her throughout the summer and into the early fall we decided to let her go dry (stop producing milk).  We were going to sell her because there was no need to have her around if she wasn’t going to produce milk or raise babies.  Unfortunately, the weekend before the sale she got her hoof caught up and hurt herself enough that she limped pretty bad when she walked.  We decided to wait until she was healed up before we brought her to the sale.  Time passed and she was finally starting to get better so we started talking about the sale again.  Oddly enough about a week before Christmas she started making milk again.  I am not talking about a little milk, her bag got full!  We had an older calf in with her and thought maybe he started nursing on her again but surely it wouldn’t bring her into milk like that.  Then she started showing signs that maybe she wanted to have a baby.  Things were getting even stranger!  We watched her closely through Christmas and then had New Year’s come and go and things were still fishy.  The sale barns had been closed due to Christmas and New Year’s so we thought that at the next sale we would get rid of her.  Things were not looking right, she had been hurt and now maybe she had some other strange things going on.  Tuesday (Jan. 8th, the day before the sale) Michael went to the pen to check the water and he was greatly surprised (to say the least) to see Blue standing over two brand new twin baby calves.  What a surprise that was!  We had written off pregnancy given that she has shown signs for so long we thought she was having other issues!  We were shocked.  Did not even have words for what had happened.  Better yet they are twin heifer (girl) calves!  In the dairy world if they aren’t a heifer they are worth next to nothing.  Not only did we buy a cow that wasn’t supposed to be bred but we got to use her all summer and then got 2 baby calves out of the deal!  They are gorgeous fraternal twins which is great in the twin calf world as when they are identical there are frequently genetic disorders. 

2013!

Happy 2013! What a year 2012 was!  I wish someone could tell me where all of the months went because they FLEW by in what felt like record time.  It was a year I will never forget!

 The holidays in this neck of the woods were fantastic.  Michael and I had the treat of having my parents come and visit from Abu Dhabi.  They arrived the week before Christmas and left today so it was wonderful to have them here for so long!  I changed jobs in November and with the new job I got to have time off to celebrate the holidays!  This was probably the longest I have spent with my parents uninterrupted by school or jobs since I graduated high school.  We took full advantage of the time!

We had visitors come through on their travels from Nebraska to Arizona so they helped us prep for Christmas.  We had a lovely snow on Christmas morning and enjoyed the time opening presents and eating the egg casserole my mom makes every year.  In the afternoon Michael’s parents, his sister and her husband and family all came to our house for a big ham dinner and fun.  We played some great rounds of Catch Phrase that may just turn into a tradition we had so much fun. 

Wednesday after Christmas we decided to jump in the car and drive to Nebraska to visit my grandma who had broken her hip after Thanksgiving.  I had not seen her in ages and Michael had not met her yet so the trip was long overdue.  It was great to visit and show Michael around Nebraska (it was his first time there).  We visited Grandma all day and then went into Lincoln for the evening to eat Indian food at my favorite restaurant and to show Michael around the UNL campus.  Thursday morning we stopped by to see Grandma again and then headed home.  It is about a 12 hour drive so we did a lot of traveling for a little bit of visiting but I would have done it again in a heartbeat!  It was a very cold and snowy trip but fantastic! 

 

The rest of the break was spent feeding the cows out at the ranch and staying on calf watch, keeping water from icing over, built a new chicken house, cooking fantastic food, indulging in delicious whisky (the boys) and wine (the girls) and just enjoying every minute we could with each other.  I am now back to work and sad to see my parents head back across the pond but it makes me even more excited for our next time together.

A Few Pictures from Recent Months

First there was pie baking!

Then a wedding!

(Showing off my custom boots that were made for the wedding. More about that later!)

 

Followed by an amazing reception in our backyard (the orchard)

Off for a honemeymoon!  Into Seattle and...

Down the coast we went!

Back to the grind with one of our many harvests.



Chickens getting so big!

And a double yolker to boot, what productive girls!

A happy dog in his new house!

 

 

Bottle babies no longer on bottles, just growing like weeds!

My first ever trip to balloon fiesta!

An amazing experience!

What in the world has been going on?!?

To say that things have been busy would be the understatement of the century.  I am well aware it has been MONTHS since I have written but I haven’t forgot!  If I posted as much as I think about posting this would be filled with updates multiple times a day!  So, shall I begin with a brief summary of life as of late?

1.        I got married!  The wedding was the most fabulous and best day of my life.  Everything went perfect (in my eyes at least).  We were married in the small country church that we attend and had the reception in our backyard.  Which also happens to be in the middle of the pecan orchard.  We had a massive tent in which we sat 250 of our closest friends, a dance floor and food that was fit for a king.  It was very important to us to contribute and make the wedding something of our own.  We both feel we succeed in that.  We served rib-eyes that came from cattle I help produce, squash from our garden, potatoes that one of the groomsmen grew, rolls that some of the ladies from church made from scratch, different flavors of roasted pecans from the orchard, cake made from a wonderful friend and pecan pies made by my family and the ladies from our church and the area.  The food was to die for.  With me being from so far away I had expected that the turnout of my friends and family might be lacking due to the expenses and hassles of travel.  WOW am I a blessed gal!  We had friends and family from all areas of the country!  If I remember correct we had 10+ states represented at the wedding.  The outpouring of love from our friends and family was overwhelming.  We are loving married life and having fun joining our lives together!

2.       Big gardens produce LOTS of food.  We have been overrun with produce from our garden all summer and it is wonderful!  While the hubs and I were on our honeymoon my parents stayed out the house to look after all the animals, etc.  They stayed busy by putting up corn.  They put up (prepared and froze) almost 200 bags of corn.  The measured out each bag in different amounts so if we need 1 cup, 2 cups, etc. to cook with we can just grab it from the freezer!  The best part of it?  They wrote notes to us on almost all the bags.  Besides corn we had an extreme over abundance of squash/zucchini for a long time.  Then it moved into the pepper stage.  We are still harvesting peppers as a matter of fact.  We planted from seed directly into the garden and it turned out to work great.  Maybe even to great.  We eat peppers in everything now.  The one thing I want to have more of next year is onions.  I still had to buy a lot of onions so I would like to remedy that.

3.       Flowers worked!  I planted a row of different kinds of flowers in the garden and they grew and made me so happy!  We had a large variety of sunflowers, xenias and a few varieties of marigolds to help keep bugs away.  I am usually not a fan of marigolds but we had multiple varieties that were so joyous!  Some grew as tall as 3 feet and had blooms the size of baseballs!  They bloomed ALL summer and most of the fall and were one of my favorite things we had.  Another success I had was I got a few blue bonnets to come up!  It was kind of a joke planting them but it worked!   If I had done better in the weed control department it would have gone a lot better but now I know for next year!

4.       The chickens are laying!  We had a few chicken casualties but our numbers are still strong and they are really getting down to business laying eggs.  They started slow with just 3 or 4 eggs a day but production is in full swing and I am now getting at least a dozen and a half a day.  We are being overrun with eggs!  I can only make so many angel food cakes from scratch (which take a dozen egg whites) and the dogs are starting to run away when I bring out the eggs because they don’t want to eat anymore either. 

5.       Moving is a hassle.  Combining 2 houses is not easy.  This has probably been one of the biggest consumers of time.  I have moved in with the hubs into his new (2011) but established house with all my “treasures” and making it all go together is a task.  We are slowly making progress and everyday it gets better and better!

So really a list of 5 things is a pretty sorry excuse for why we have been busy but let me tell you it has been insane.  Combine the above with working 80+ hours, involvement in the community, taking on new work endeavors, traveling for various events/functions and trying to live life makes for a busy time!  I am confident that things are going to continue to settle and life will take more of a regular tone.  I can’t wait to post more about what we have been up to!

Did I Forget to Mention?

Did I forget to mention that I bring baby calves home in my car?  They like to look out the windows and watch the world go by.  Diesel is way to high to drive my truck to take home these little cherubs.

This little gal was especially curious.

Did I also forget to mention that I am getting married to this guy in less than 2 months?  I am just a teeny weeny bit excited!



Honcho the Unlucky Dog

I have a Jack Russell Terrier named Honcho.  He is a chubby mess and I love him to pieces.  Honcho has had some unlucky moments in the last few months.  The poor guy just can’t seem to catch a break.  A few months ago Honcho had a sudden disappearance.  We could not find him anywhere.  He has been staying down at the orchard with Michael so he can run and play and be a dog all day long.  Michael called and said he couldn’t find him.  I went down and looked and couldn’t find him anywhere either.  We looked everywhere.  And then we looked some more.  He was still nowhere to be found.  The next day he still had not been discovered and I was going hoarse from calling for him so much.  I continued my search to no avail.  Michael has a hill built up around his water pressure tank for his house so I thought I would crawl to the top so I could have a lookout point in search of my 10 inch tall white dog.  I climbed to the top and realized that the lid was open on the access door.  For some odd reason I looked in and wouldn’t you know, there was Honcho staring up at me wondering where I have been!  He was within 30 feet of the front door of the house the entire time!  He must have barked so much when he first fell in that he couldn’t bark anymore for us to find him.  Thank goodness we found the sweet little guy!

                This past weekend Honcho went missing again.  He had been spending lots of time out with Blue and the babies so we thought he may have been out there.  We looked all afternoon and evening on Saturday to no avail.  I was getting nervous.  With the disappearance of two other dogs of the family I had the worst in the back of my mind.  Sunday the search continued.  Michael decided it was time to start thinking like the dog – what space could he possibly get stuck in?  That’s what always happens with him so why would this time be any different?  He checked the water tank house and no Honcho.  Suddenly it dawned on Michael – we had been moving around and unloading the trailer Saturday afternoon and he kept running in and out of it.  Off Michael went to the trailer parked by Blue and the horses.  He peeked in and what did he find looking up at him innocently? Honcho!  How this dog is so unlucky to get trapped everywhere I do not know.  I am thinking I need to get an orange bike flag like little kids get and tie it to him so we can always keep track of him.  This little guy is going to get into some serious trouble his he doesn’t start watching out for himself!  Thank goodness he was found because I am not sure I could take losing another dog!

Cheese Making

We sold all of our baby calves on Saturday so we have had Blue (the milk cow) giving us lots of milk with no babies for it to go to.  I have started drinking it like it is going out of style but there is no way I could ever keep up.  I finally got to give a go at cheese making and I had a blast!  Saturday I made one batch of mozzarella and it was good although I forgot to add the salt and it desperately needed it.  I got to try it again on Sunday and made two batches and they were like heaven in the form of cheese!  They were simply amazing!  With the whey from the mozzarella I also made ricotta.  Another delicious and creamy treat!  With the extra whey we have been able to feed it back to the dogs and the horses.  It is a wonderful source of protein so it is a big addition to their diet!

For a mother’s day treat for Michael’s mom we made a special supper for her.  I have never been able to make a supper like this and am proud to say it was pulled off well.  I used the fresh mozzarella and ricotta in lasagna.  The lasagna had both ground pork and ground beef in it so I was able to use beef that I got from work, another fresh product!  The lasagna turned out to be the best lasagna ever.  I cannot put into words that flavors that erupted from this dish.  The cheese truly and honestly made a difference in the entire dish.  We had a green salad with leaf lettuce from our garden and topped in with pecans that Michael had grown.  We slipped in canned pineapple and garlic bread that was not sources from us but it was necessary to compliment out the meal.  For dessert Michael got out peaches that he had froze last year and we drizzled them with fresh cream from Blue.  Once again, words can’t describe these flavors.  We were so proud of our meal and it was even more special because it was truly appreciated by all that shared the table.  I have 8 more gallons of fresh milk waiting for me at home tonight so I better get to some more cheese making!

                                             The table set and ready for everyone to "sit up"

The amazing lasagna - I can't wait to make it again!