Meanwhile at the Farm

Here is hubby with his new spring haircut and beard trim visiting with his mom who is in rehab for a fall she had at the beginning of the month. The staff a Vernon Manor have been stellar. She's had intense Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy along with decent meals and her meds have been monitored.

The difference from before her fall to now is pretty amazing. Yet the woman of course is set in her ways. She is set to be released on Good Friday. I am of the opinion that she needs 24 hr supervision. Mostly because we've discovered that her mobility is still and issue [but good enough for Medicare standards] and her memory is a huge issue [but not 'bad' enough to warrant skilled care].
Medicare will only pay for up to 30 days in a Skilled Nursing Facility, thus the other reason for her release.


That is all on that front.

Hank is now a confirmed steer. He and his mom Stella will be moving to a larger pasture on Good Friday. They will share a fence line with Stella's old pasture mates. Hank will be 3 months old tomorrow. He and Charlie share a birthdate.

After a few weeks of being reacquainted with a fence in between them, they will go into the larger dry lot to await pasture rotation once the woods pastures begin to green up.

I've spent the past few days removing worn out soft braid wire and replacing it. All five of of pastures now that are in rotation have been 'Dexterized'. The Dexters clean the woods of berry briers and brambles along with eating ragweed and burdock.
The mules eat what the Dexters don't and we end up with a great way of keeping the woods and noxious weeds under control.

The 'other' usual suspects. The red headed sisters, the bay horse we call 15 and Fred hovering in back. Missing is the grey mule, Mica who was over eating hay in the feeder. I'd just finished up a session with the shedding blade and I am again their best-est ever friend.
Sundance is on the right, she is the younger mule who will get her education this year.

I worked with Charlie in the cold wind to string new wire and test the fence. I needed one lower line for the Dexter cattle.
Charlie is a very distracted helper. He was more interested in the mud he could get into and chewing on clumps of grass.

I had his new super-light weight cord on him so he couldn't just take off.
He made multiple trips with me to the large shed and back to the pasture. The cold wind didn't seem to bother him as he was 'busy' discovering the world.

The pastures had been set up for equine. I'd come up with a rotation plan and my husband actually agreed to it.
Since his stroke last May, I've been left to more and more of the decisions.

The remainder of the Dexter herd will be trucked out and sold at local auction. The two large bulls we have will be sent off for meat and sold.

I found a new cord for Charlie. It is super lightweight. However he doesn't seem to mind dragging it or allowing me to guide him with it as a leash. The new cord is a piece of my clothesline. It works very well.

However, Charlie is a master at getting into small places and thinking it is a game.
He is still very young so I don't get too upset with him. He is still a pup. The outdoor world is a huge adventure and his acute sense of smell leads him astray...well, astray in only human terms. If I had his sense of smell I'd probably have to investigate every mouse, deer, rabbit, and squirrel smell I came across too.

This weekend ought to be a wild one. My Kenosha Gang is coming up Thursday night to spend the weekend. We'll be coloring eggs and doing some farm work. I don't know what I'd do without these helping hands!

Charlie always seems to come up with a good solution for busy days. Cuddle up and take a nap!

Not Sad, let's smile today.

I have some long time fellow bloggers out there.

Lori Skoog is one of them and this is for her.
No sadness in this post Lori!

It is safe to read without a Kleenex at your side.

These are some shots from the amazing run off from the 20th.

The last 3 shots are from what we call 'dry runs' in our area. These areas are deep crevasses in the landscape. They are filled with mossy boulders and are normally dry. During heavy rains the water rushes down from the ridge top above and creates a Run of Water that empties into the creek below.
The sound is thunderous as the water navigates over the boulders. The leaves from the fall, sticks, rocks, broken branches, all move with the water. By early spring the Dry Runs are clean again and ready to explore.

It is indeed awe inspiring to watch from a safe distance.

While it is raining or sleeting, I retreat to "The Creative Room" and mess around with some Still Life.

My Granddaughter Ariel gave me a few trolls on her last visit. I used to collect them when I was a girl.

Here are some marbles on an old table cloth along with a carnation. I used some Christmas lights behind marbles in the back round to create the 'bokeh'.

Driftwood and Pearls...
I added the cracks afterwards. It just seemed fun to do. The driftwood came from an adventure with my friends from the Kenosha area last year. I think we visited Lion's Den along Lake Michigan. I found this and brought it home. It was part of my flower garden last summer. This winter, it made for an interesting back drop.

For this shot I used some old black material and draped it on top of a plastic container. I put a painted branch I'd kept from my winter decorations on the material. I added some flat marbles to reflect the little lights and stuck my favorite blue cup in the middle.

I rarely get these things right the first time and I have to constantly rearrange the items. But it is good to practice and enjoy the challenges of something completely different.

Here is what everything looked like before the shot.

The magic ends up being what you don't see and what the camera allows you to see.

And last but not least. Hank and Stella.
This is their out door pen. It faces south. Hank gets to learn about hot wires and runs circles around mom.

...and now to go off and start my day....

Have a wonderful weekend.

Hank update

From...this wet shaking cold little thing....

to

But the clean up every day!

At least it is all frozen stuff.
I have a wheelbarrow, but the 'carcass' sled is much easier on the snow.
The little apple picker doesn't work on cow piles so I've resorted to the shovel.

Hank makes a bed out of any new hay in his pen and Stella has to eat around him.
This weekend it is going to warm up so the heat lamp will go off and I will take the sides off the makeshift pen.

I've got to figure out what to do with the pair after a month or so. Stella was always 'picked' on by the other girls and I don't want her and Hank pushed around. I may rewire a pen near Little Richard and put them in there. I'm not exactly sure what I'm going to do yet.

However. Hank is doing fine. He is running laps around Stella and kicking up his heels.

Stella is being a good mother and very patient.

Stella is also really good about me being in the pen with her and Hank, of course I have to watch her, but she allows me to capture Hank and hold on to him.

And that is your Hank Update.

Hank, Hankster,...The Hank, the Dexter Calf

So 'the calf' who was born in the cold during our Christmas Supper ... remained days without a name.
I am often hesitant about giving a name to a critter that ... well, simply put, should not survive.
Yes we already established that this young heifer had been penned with a young bull and had not been separated before what we felt would be active breeding time.
Well, we were very wrong!

I did not feel confident that without bringing the calf into the house and giving it milk replacer that I'd be able to keep it alive. The little guy was cute. All animal babies are cute.

My Kenosha Gang showed up Friday evening and we put together a heat lamp and made the little pen a bit cozier by putting plywood around it to keep the heat in and the cold air out. Well, that was the idea.

The little guy seemed okay but would sleep in one corner or another and would shiver a bit. When he was up and nursing he seemed fine.

Well I bedded them heavier with shavings, I have been cleaning their little pen each day and putting in fresh pine shavings.
I'm sure Stella would say thanks, but she is more interested in water and in hay. She does stop occasionally to pull my gloves off my hands.

The heat lamp and bedding really helped a lot. Mother Nature took its course and Stella was nursing him very well. He found the best way to nurse was to go directly under the tail.
I tried to tell the calf that perhaps one day he'd not want to do that.

He didn't listen to me at all.

While I was cleaning the stall and making arrangements on Friday before our next house guests arrived, I found myself talking to the calf and Stella while working on their little pen.

I called the calf 'Hank'. He looked like a Hank. And it stuck.

Welcome to the farm 'Hank' The Sir Prize little Dexter!

The temperatures were forecast to drop well below zero on New Years Eve. Daryl had brought a small heater and he set it up. New Years Eve we'd thought we'd do all sorts of fun things.

But Hank ended up as the main attraction. With the temperatures falling well below -12 F and the wind chills a sinister -33 or so, ... we opted for no night hike. However everyone took turns checking on Hank.
It didn't matter if it took several minutes to wrap up and put on facemaskes, heavy gloves, boots, coveralls,.... we all had to see Hank.

Yes. The Hank has defied the odds and continues to grow like a little weed.

He sometimes thinks he is a Big Boy...well, not quite yet!

However, he is doing great.

What a wonderful thing to happen on our little farm to give us hope and and joy for the New Year.