The good news is, Kenny found my camera.

The bad news is, Kenny had destroyed the USB cable so I could upload pics. I've ordered another one and it should be here tomorrow. I can't wait because as soon as he found it I went around snapping pics like a madwoman! Poor Kim had come over for a simple ride and I ended up having her pose in front of the barn while on Daisy - the whole time I was saying, "Shoot, it's looking all black. I bet my batteries are dead." Upon further reflection I realized I still had the lens cap on so those pics won't turn out.

Kim's probably at work right now reading that and started laughing. Shhhhh! Get back to work girl!

Poor Moo. That girl is just freaking huge! Her bag is hanging and swinging every time she walks and she's not eating much at all - you can tell she's lost weight around her hips and I'll bet after she calves she looks downright skinny.

No calf yet. This is just unbelievable. Her bag is HUGE! Like full sized and she's swelled so much I can't believe she can get through the chicken coop door, but still no baby.

Remember how I was going to be a horse owner without ever getting kicked? Yeah, well that went out the window yesterday. Brian and Kim took their two riding horses out for the day and that left the herd without their leaders - which meant five horses walked/paced around the dry lot for nearly an hour while we worked in the barn. I decided to take advantage and pull them out to groom. Fire, the two year old stallion, was doing just great. For the first time I was able to get hands and brushes all over his body and he wasn't giving me any reaction at all - until I got to his belly. Lightening quick he spun and got my right thigh with a loud smack! I went down hard but I think my scream scared him worse than me reaching for his belly. I never lost the rope though and I managed to get up to start over. I slowed down and worked with him a little before trying it again (this time, well braced for a kick attempt) and he finally let me - twice. After finishing the barn mucking and moving 500 lbs. of alfalfa (twice) my back and leg are causing me to totally wimp out today. I think it'll be an inside working day catching up on laundry.

I wish I had something more exciting to post, but I just don't. Life is wonderful, fulfilling, busy, and educational but that's about it. I am looking for a good bargain on another digital camera to post some pics but that may take me a while.

No calf yet.

We took the kids to see Shrek 3 yesterday and I think Ed and I enjoyed it every bit as much as they did. If you liked the other Shrek movies, you'll love this one. We arrived home to more rain which seems to have become our standard weather now. Trying to separate the horses out for graining while schlepping through a foot or two or mud and having seven horses spend most of each day doing their business in one large communal area of our barn finally pushed me over the edge. I gave Ed the OK to break down the roundpen and use the panels to create stalls in the barn. I hate losing the roundpen, just hate it. I made him promise that in July or August we can buy replacement panels to put another one back up. But, I will say, he was right. We moved the last 500 lbs of the alfalfa bale and the pallets of grain so we could get all the panels set into place and it looks awesme - sooooo much easier to have stalls for the ones who run others off or need to put on weight and get extra. This afternoon after work I'm going to clean the entire barn floor and then we'll have to rearrange the remaining round bales and grain pallets. I do think it will be so much easier during feeding time and we did create a double stall so there's plenty of room for them all during bad storms. The horses were so cute - they kept poking their heads through the dutch doors and naying at us.

Last night I made fajitas with a flat iron steak. Have you tried this new cut of beef? It's cheaper than other steaks and it is absolutely terrific! I don't know about you, but without our own beef in the freezer our steak consumption has totally stopped when it reached $9.00/lb. With a flat iron I cut it into 1/4" inch slices, marinate it, then grill it or use a cast iron skillet on medium heat. This is a really tender cut of beef and we all love it! It picks up different flavors very well and made the best fajitas I've had in a long time. Give it a try!

I've determined that cows are no fun for midwives or nervous owners. We have no calf yet. Now we do have all the signs of labor -- up and down, up and down, no food, can't get enough food, cranky, discharge, hugely full milk bag, and so forth. I can't say I'm disappointed because the storms have arrived. Again. For two days we've had storms that have left nearly 5" of rain to an already saturated ground. Last night was the worst - at one point the two foot high water tubs for the livestock were only showing about 5" above water. You could see it just rushing through the property. Moo was out though. I think she enjoyed the relief from flies and the bath - heaven knows she needed it. She stayed right under the kitchen window most of the time and would come to the garage door so I could pet her.

Yesterday afternoon I was trying to quickly get my chores down before the storms returned and a car pulled in the drive. The driver was an older man who walked on in after stopping at the cable. "Hi! My name's Ennis Unruh and my dad built this house," were his first words. It's a common occurance when you live in a century old farmhouse that previous owners or their children will show up. Some people may consider this an intrusion, but we relish every minute of it. So off we went, the chores could wait - I've got slickers afterall.

We walked the property and he showed me the old barn locations. He noticed the horses in the front pasture and said that's where he always kept his ponies too. He said he laughed at the cable across the drive because when he was little he turned his cow into a pet and he remembered his father blocking the driveway off so she could graze around the house. Now how funny is that? When I started laughing I think he thought I was making fun of him - until he looked in the chicken coop (which used to be his dad's blacksmith shop parked at the end of the driveway). He admired the pond and looked at all the trees he helped plant. Most interesting to me was the description of the first floor inside the house. The upstairs still has all the original woodwork but the downstairs was "updated" in the 70's so it has modern windows and such. I loved hearing about what the downstairs used to look like. After about an hour of visiting he said his wife's card game was probably over so it would be safe to return home - bridge, I think, was the game. It was such a nice visit.

Then I ran into Goessel quickly for an errand and on the way noticed my neighbor trying to herd his cow back to the pasture. Apparently she'd realized the open trailer was going to transport her and promptly jumped the fence to greener pasture - literally. His son in law was under saddle and the poor man was trying to help get the cow through the trees. I asked him if she'd come when called, follow, or come to a grain bucket and the man looked at me like I was from Mars. But, two of us stopped on the road and the another guy showed up so between us all we herded her back into their pasture. See, this is why you should tame your cow and spoil her with grain! I mean, Moo will come back home at a run when called - just like a dog does! She'd be positively horrified to have a horse and all those people trying to herd her somewhere.

Today is the kids' last day of school - if it's open. I have a feeling we'll have sporadic bus service and mud routes at best. Kenny is devasted with worry because he's due for the "perfect attendance" award and scared to death they'll cancel.

I *think* Moo might be ready to calve! She's been in the chicken coop since early this morning and refused to eat all day. She keeps getting up and then laying down again - she's not interested in food at all. I can't really tell because she keeps wacking her tail all around, but I think there's some discharge and some protruding in that area as well. From what I can see, with her laying down, her bag looks nearly twice as large as it did yesterday. All this is could be nothing though as she often looks quite distorted when she lays down.

Naturally, we're expecting storms all week -- beginning tonight. I had to open the barn up for the horses due to the storms which messed up the original plan of putting her in there as she labored. I'm a little concerned that she won't have room to have that calf in the coop and even more concerned if she tries to lay down in there with it that she'll squash the little thing. There is a history there as she layed right down on a chicken one time after Moo-ing several warnings to it. Poor thing, should have heeded those warnings.

I'm on a list! Granted, I've been on many lists before in my time but I think this is kinda cool.

My internet went down on Friday and I called in to the phone company to inquire. After explaining that I work from home and have 4:59 minutes to spare each half hour before I'm penalized (and go from earning $12-15/hr to $2-3/hr) by having my call routing shut down, she said she'd put my name down as one of the first to manually re-port or whatever the term was. So this morning at 6:15am I start having spotty internet service and promptly call the only person I knew would be up that early - brother in law Nathan - to walk him through cancelling my commits for the day. Since I lost 3 commits on Friday, I'm one away from having my calls dang near shut off for 25 hours of login time. Anyway, around 10:00 I left a message on the general voicemail for the phone company. Imagine my surprise when Kevin called me back within 30 minutes and wondered if I was still having trouble! He said that they added my name to the "must have" list of internet-dependant customers and he personally re-ported (or whatever it's called) me this morning as well as the hospital and emergency units. He also said that if I was still having trouble to call him back and they'd come out with a testing laptop for troubleshooting. Isn't that cool? I certainly wasn't expecting personal attention like that, and on a Sunday no less!

I spent the rest of my morning working while uncommited which means it took twice as long to make my goal but at least if I lost service I wouldn't lose the commit. After that I put BBQ meatballs in a crockpot, BBQ beans in another, and mixed up some cole slaw. That made for a very nice dinnertime since it was all ready to go. I helped Ed mow a little and then we swept some of the grass clippings into the lawnsweeper and tossed them to the horses. The three out front ate every last edible piece and the seven out back couldn't have been any less interested. Strange horses. I wanted to bathe our three but the wind is incredible right now and they've already headed back out to the pasture so we may miss that today.

I noticed in the paper today that one of our local reporters is holding a contest for a $50 dining certificate for readers if they guess the ending to the Sopranos. Some people apparently think AJ will off Tony and take over, but I'm with the reporter on that one -- the boy is clueless and Silvio wouldn't stand for that. Neither would Paulie. The reporter thinks that AJ will turn Tony in and the end will be about Carmella being said for Tony (who ends up in the slammer) but proud of her son for finally getting a backbone. One thing I've learned about this show is that you can't predict it either way but 9 times out 10 I get so irritated and the endings. Now, I love the show and I love it when a story line is neatly tied up, but I just hate the actual "end" of each show - HATE IT! So, I'm mentally preparing myself to be thoroughly in a tizzy at the final episode. Oh well, Big Love returns when this ends so there will still be one show a week I watch.

And back to the farm........ Moo has planted herself in the chicken coop and has hardly come out at all this weekend. I really think she's due any time but Ed says not for another week or so. I can't wait!

We have a coon getting the chickens in the barn and it's really frustrating me. For the past several mornings there's a headless and cleaned out carcass in the corner and, unfortunately, they've all been hens. I wouldn't mind so much if he was picking off the roosters as we have about eight I think, but I hate losing the hens. The bad thing is there's no way to critter-proof that barn without throughly packing each side with a bank of dirt and then doing the same to each stall door - which means they wouldn't open. No way can we do that. I'd thought about grabbing them as they started climbing up the rafters for evening roosting and putting them in the coop but with the cow in there we have to leave that door open. Not sure what we're going to do.

The boys have their last day of school Thursday and then we get to enjoy a couple of short months before I send them ALL THREE back in August! Oh my gosh, I don't know what I'll do without kids around me all day - it's been 11 years since that last happened. I can't tell if Vincent is more excited to start Kindergarten or ride the bus - probably equal. As stressful as the summers can be, I have to admit that I'm looking forward to more relaxed mornings, help with the chores, and spending afternoons with them.

Calf update -- nothing. Although she's spending a LOT of time laying in her chicken coop.

The boys are out of school beginning next week so I'm trying to figure out my new work schedule. I'm thinking I'll do 2 hrs in the morning and then 2 hrs in the later evening but I'm not sure how that will work since I normally go to bed around 8:00. Hey, what can I say? I'm old and need my rest!

I've been watching entirely too much TV in the evenings since I simply fall into a couch or bed from exhaustion. There is just way too much crapola on the tube nowadays. Far be it for me to make a judgement, but honestly, some of these shows are absolutely pathetic. I've taken to watching the National Georgraphic channel to learn about the hunting methods of tigers or mating habits of elephants. Our only real "must see TV" is the Sopranos on Sunday evenings. I'm so disappointed they're ending the series after these next few episodes - it's been a great show. And I will admit that I'm looking forward to Big Love returning but other than than, it all just kinda sucks. I don't know why I'm complaining, I should probably be working or researching anyway but today, today I'm in the mood to complain.

The oats are coming, the oats are coming! The sprouts are about 4" tall now and we only have a few washed areas that I'll hand spread some brome. I can't wait until July when we have a nice tall crop of oats for the horses to enjoy.

I made an executive decision a while ago - I took the day off. Since I'd already taken yesterday off for school meetings and a trip to Wichita, that means two days in a row and I haven't done that in....... gosh, almost a year. The weather is sunny with just a slight breeze and the high is 75' -- I couldn't let the day go by so I gave up my hours and made a list of a few things I'd like to get done today. Wow! I filled a full page! I haven't spent and entire working day around here in so long that the list just kept growing and growing. But, with Vincent's help, we're making quick work of it. I promised that if he helped me this morning we'd get the power washer out to wash the van and patio later today and that seemed to work. So far we've:

• cleaned out the van
• all the normal morning animal chores
• cleaned the kitchen
• changed bedsheets
• cleaned the kids' rooms (this was a major job!)
• burned the trash
• swept all the wood floors and vacuumed the few carpets
• three loads of laundry done and put away

Next we'll work on the garage, barn, a little mowing, and my office. And I need to update my binders and organizer -- geez, what on earth have I been doing around here lately? I'm NEVER this unorganized! I don't even have a meal plan for the week! No wonder I can't find the dang camera.

My goal is to be finished by 4:00 so I can relax a little then work with the horses through the early evening. If I can get the garage straightened and swept I know I'll have high praises from Ed when he gets home!

Yesterday we lined up the horses for a horsewash and it went very well. Considering Thursday's trauma (Smoke flipped over backwards and Fire tried to go up and over Brian) I'd say it was dang near smooth. Fire tried to bolt just once and then calmed down to a near standstill while Brian washed him. I think after another two or three times with the men working them Kim and I would be able to wash them just fine. No, the trauma yesterday wasn't from the hose at all - their feet needed trimmed. Oh my goodness, just when I learned about sheath cleaning for geldings and figured, "there's one job with horses I'll never do!" I watched Brian trim their feet. We left Fire out of the picture completely, even though his really need it, and just did Smoke and Midnight. Watching Brian use brute strength to hold their hooves was enough to add this job to the "I'll never do that" list. Uh uh, aint gonna happen. Poor Brian, his horses are so well behaved they practically held their own feet up for him and then he's having to literally wrestle ours. How he managed it, I'll never know.

Our day was spent grooming all the horses and repairing a fence. But once the work was finished and we'd eaten a meal, they saddled Bull and Daisy for everyone to ride. All the kids just love Bull and we agreed that the only frightening thing about the gentle giant is his height. Once you're up on him, he responds so well and is just a dream to ride. Kim had a lesson here with a trainer the other night so she spent most of her time working on assignments with Daisy before they lead all the kids around. I'm not sure if Vincent was more excited to ride a horse or just spend some time talking nonstop with the girl of his dreams - Kim. Poor girl, I don't think the boy ever closed his mouth once as they circled around.

Ed came through in a pinch and, after reviewing pictures of a farrier stand that Brian was needing, he rigged up two jack stands for him to use. One of them didn't work too well for what he needed - a thick "half smile" to rest their foot in that Ed will use a thick piece of rubber to build - but the idea seemed great. They're sturdy and adjustable so they'll work just fine.

Moo behaved herself with only once sneak into the barn while the horses were out to pasture. After squeezing through the chicken coop door I think she was glad to just walk in and spread out a little.

I was going to do a picture tour of the farm and animals but I seem to have lost my camera. We went looking for it yesterday morning so we could take pictures of the final soccer practice and it's nowhere to be found.

When you think things couldn't possibly get any crazier around here - well that's when they normally do.

From Saturday until yesterday, according to our neighbor, we've had nearly five inches of rain. Combined with the rainfall during the past month or so and we're looking at around 15" or more -- that's a LOT of water. You learn to plan ever minute of every day and every chore around the rain and you really learn to "make do" when your normal routine won't work. It's simply exhausting dealing with that much water. At one point our entire property, except the small area around the house, was literally standing water - you couldn't see a single drop of grass. I woke up nights scared a horse wouldn't get stuck in the mud and break a leg and worrying about Moo going into labor in the middle of a downpour. But the sun always comes out doesn't it? The past two days have seen a little bit of sun, just enough so we're down to mud and not standing water any longer. And the best news is the next three days are expected to be sunny and in the 80's.

On Saturday Brian and Kim arrived for a working day and oh my goodness, did they ever work! Brian, Ed, and Kim's oldest son spent the day cutting boards to hang on the barn where the chickens tore off the insulation. Kim and I spent the day mucking the barn. I gotta say, for a cute little thing, she's one tough lady! If the smell alone doesn't debilitate you, the weight of a winter's worth of waste will damn near pull your arms off. The men had cleared out the maternity stall for the goats and that's where we had their horse, Fizzle, for several weeks so it was the worst. But after a full day, we had it done and the guys had all the bottom layer of the inside neatly boarded off. We finished right as a downpour arrived. After eating dinner they hung around for a while visiting and left in the evening. I didn't know it, but Ed forgot to put the cable up as they left and the next day Moo was gone. I walked around the pond and everywhere looking for her and finally glanced across the road to Howard's house. There she was, enjoying his freshly planted new lawn. I hollered at her and she immediately came trotting back to the drive way and then waited for Ed to entice her on back with a bucket of grain. The next morning I couldn't find her again and this time, started to panic. I began hollering for her and then I started hearing her answer me but I couldn't see her. Finally I realized she was in the chicken coop. I think the boys had left the door open Sunday and somehow that huge cow had gotten in there then shut the door, locking her in. I opened the door and there she was, just laying on the ground literally touching both sides of the coop and damn near filling the entire thing. She always did like hanging around her chickens, that's all the company she had when we got her until the dogs arrived. So I opened the door for her and realized we'd have to leave it open because she took to standing at it and moo-ing at me telling me to open it. Oh well, it's soft and fairly dry in there, so if she's happy, so be it.

I think my coffee just finished so I'll have to finish this later.

It's never as easy as you think it will be.

Our farmer, Gary, called early Monday to let me know I should lock the horses up so he could spray for weeds and prepare the pasture for brome planting. After checking the field and spraying he determined it was dry enough for planting and we agreed on the amount of seed I should run and purchase while he picked up his driller. Well several hours later Gary realized that the super fluffy, light, seed wasn't falling into the drilling tubes. He suggested I ride on the driller and circulate the seed with my hand to help it fall. Two hrs later we realized it wasn't working. We called it a day and then the afternoon was spent finding out that you need a special brome/native grass planter, which the counties will normally rent out. No such luck for us though, one county had switched to grass and wouldn't allow brome to be planted and the other one had theirs already rented out. So I called the big John Deere outfit and just asked if they'd rent one - it never hurts to ask. They wouldn't but the guy told me you can mix 50/50 oats with the brome and the weight of the oats will bring it down. I quickly called Gary and pulled all the oats out of the barn to our staging area. The following afternoon we had nearly 10 acres of a wonderful oat crop planted, with brome coming in after it.

A week later the oats are coming up! Isn't that cool? In July we'll be able to put the horses out for an afternoon or two and they'll clear out most of the oats but leave the brome as long as it's a short turnout. The come spring, we should have a lovely brome pasture -- with a little oats in it for a treat.