New Word: Selenophile

Selenophile: One who loves the moon. People who love the moon and find joy and peace of mind when looking at it.

Last night I decided to go and check out the moonrise. 

Just before I walked out the door, we got a phone call. The caller ID said it was hubby's daughter so I handed him the phone. It was our Grandson Dennis.
Dennis had mentioned in April that he'd like to drive to our place and spend a couple of days with us around July 4th. 

I hadn't thought much more about it since he hadn't confirmed his plans. But there he was on the phone asking to come. 

---- Anyway ----

Back to the moon ---

I decided to drive out to the area where I wanted to see the moonrise. 

It isn't very far, I could have walked, but I wanted to get there and then just get back home.

While still in the car I saw this --->

I saw a herd of about 15 does with fawns in another section of the soybean field that ran once I got out of the car. 

I walked out through the stunted crops to where I knew the moon would rise. I was a bit disappointed to see a cloud bank to the east and no moon. 

I decided to just stand there and wait. After all, it was pleasant out and peaceful. I was the only human in the area for at least a mile radius. I can be very patient sometimes.

I nearly gave up, and then I saw just a hint of color in the sky.

Patience! Wait...wait!

Gasp! It changed color to a brilliant pink! As the skies darkened ...

the moon kept changing its colors...

I walked back to the car and turned around.

Just before I left the ridge, I glanced over my shoulder and...

was stunned once more.

Tonight the moon should be a super moon called the Buck Moon.

If Dennis is up to it, I'll be taking him to a bluff to watch the moon come up directly in front of us. Crossed fingers!

Sunday Surprise

What a morning!

I took a walk up to the top of the lane to see if the deer were down by the mule's mineral lick.
They heard me but stopped so I could snap a shot of them through the trees.

With a flip of their tails, they were gone.

I watched the fog for a while and then the sun broke over the trees.

This sun flare was accidental. I was trying to get a shot of the mules or horse with the sun rim lighting them. But this will do. 

The girls wanted to rotate into a fresh pasture, so I let them into the messy section. Uffda, there are still burdock and stick tights in that section.

Looks like I will be cleaning tails again.

My laptop took a dump on me this morning too. Something about a stopcode error and then bam, it updated and then un-updated. 

I may have to take it the 'puter folks in town.

When I made coffee, the filter folded over and I had uggum-nasty grounds in my first cup.

Gross.

Maybe this was just a signal that I should just turn back the day and repeat Saturday instead of doing Sunday.

I had another creative idea mucking about in my head, so I looked for a big heavy book in the afternoon and went out to look for colorful leaves with Charlie.

I was given this book a few years ago by my neighbor's father. I took it and stashed it away. I wasn't into birds but I didn't have the heart to tell him.

Imagine my surprise when I opened it to put leaves in it, that this was a treasure!

Published in 1904?

The plates inside were gorgeous. 

Which leads me to the next picture!

I wandered the north hillside under maples, oak, and some wild apple trees. This is the first time in weeks that I could just walk through the forest and not be attacked by swarms of mosquitoes.

See? I am in the woods without a head net, though one was in my backpack.

Thank you Auntie Ida from Ludington, Michigan!

The day did get better thank goodness.

I got enough leaves to press and dry. Now to see if I can put some of my summer flowers in a picture frame.

Nothing quite so good as a happy ending.

A sense of wonder

 

The above video is of the Robins singing. It may not be very clear and you may have to listen very hard. I took this so I could play the audio for Rich when I got home. 
My intention was to hike with Charlie along the creek and find a good spot for the Lonely Looking Bear to sit. I brought a Rabbit to be his friend.

When I got to the Ice Wall, I stopped to listen. Birds.
Bird song. Not just the Nuthatches or the Cedar Waxwings...no, and not just Cardinals either. A sound...

gosh

a sound I shouldn't hear in January!

Robins? It could NOT be!

Yet there they were. Hundreds of them flocking through the oak trees in the valley. I called Charlie in close and sat at the base of a tree. 
Just
Sat

and listened. 

You know what? I forgot about the outside world. Whatever was occurring outside that valley was not important. The bird song was important. 

Mindful

Every day
I see or I hear
something
that more or less

kills me
with delight,
that leaves me
like a needle

in a haystack 
of light.
It is what I was born for--
to look, to listen,

to lose myself
inside this soft world--
to instruct myself
over and over

in joy....
~~Mary Oliver

Surprises

Good Morning on

the Ridge

Good Morning

from the

Creek!

I'm never exactly sure what each day will bring. But yesterday was full of one surprise after another.

There was a beautiful sunrise. 

I admit it. I can rarely sleep past sunrise in the summer. Then it is a struggle to stay up past dark in the evening!

It takes about an hour or so for the sun to shine into the valley. I'm always amazed at how I can watch the sun arrive on the ridge and then walk leisurely to the creek and watch it arrive in the valley.

After I settled Lil' Richard and Sven into their grazing areas for the day and moved the mules to their next rotation, I came in and called our hay guy. When the pastures get short and there isn't much browsing left, I feed some hay to supplement their diets. The mules will eat berry briars and do a fair job of cleaning the woods, but I don't want the two hard keepers to lose weight.

I texted the farrier to see if I could schedule a trimming then set out the clippers for doing manes and ears.

Rich surprised me while I was finishing up my work out.

I'd just finished up the WOD or work out of the day. Pictured are my pine cones that I use to mark off how many rounds I'd done. 

70 jump ropes and 10 Rt arm power snatches and 10 Lt arm power snatches.

I'm handicapped by not having those wonderful dumb bells to use like we do in the gym. So my coach has helped me figure out what items I can use around the farm as weights.

This was a 10 lb sledgehammer.

The reason I mention this is not because I want anyone to be impressed that I work out. 

I want to mention that Rich has taken an interest in finding items that I can substitute as weights.

[Working out has helped me regain strength in my shoulders and it actually makes me feel better. I think it is important for me to do this for my physical and mental health. Doing Virtual WOD's has been a bonus for me. If I don't have time to do the work out first thing in the morning, I do it later in the day. I've missed less workouts this way! But I DO miss the gym and the camaraderie.]

Yesterday he found a 12 lb anchor and a 15 lb anchor for me to use as 'Kettle Bells' for weighted squats.

Rich walked over to his skid steer and fired it up.

He decided to work on those old ruts between the busted up garage and the large shed. I did the shovel work and he gave me directions.

That may sound a bit lopsided, but with his lung issues, he gets out of breath quickly. We've always been fairly good at working together.

I shoveled and he directed. When I got the deep holes filled in he was able to drop the dirt and smooth it out.

I'll plant grass seed when he is finished and the 'lane' will be repaired.

For the afternoon I grabbed my kindergarten pad and Charlie's pillow. I sat on the porch with him while Rich slept. I decided to listen to the birds and read a book.

Charlie seems to be the 

King of Relaxation Techniques.

I don't know if I can attribute my home work outs to Rich's increase in activity, but since I ask him to help 'time' me or find items for me to use, it seems he has more interest in life. 

Last night when the hay man came, Rich walked out and talked with him a bit [distanced of course]. Rich hasn't walked out to talk to the hay guy in two years.

Daryl remarked how wonderful it was to see Rich engaged and even more impressive was that he just got in the skid steer and unloaded the hay with no apparent effort.

Since 2017 he has struggled with everything.

Life may suck out there beyond the borders of our farm but I get to see a different kind of hope.

I get to see my husband again. 

An unexpected surprise

Friday was an interesting day, the mail lady pulled up to the house with her 'newer' Jeep and delivered a package. It was a large box.

I opened it and found a letter from my cousin's wife explaining what was inside.

Slides from 1962, 1964, and a vacation that my folks and grandparents went on with my brother to Yellowstone. 

Included in the package was an 8 by 10 of a family 'portrait' of sorts. I found this quite unusual as my father was always the one behind the camera and I rarely recall him being in many photos.

Also inside the box were some items that my Grandmother Pearl had made. I found a spiral notebook that she used to collect her directions on how to make doilies. Samples were included in the book. I imagine she cut the directions our of a newspaper and glued them into the pages of the notebook. 

There are some hand written notes on many of the pages. The pencil notes are nearly faded away, but there were some in pen also.

I found the items perfect for some Still Life on a very rainy day.

The pin cushion is one she made and the pins are still in it from Grandma's sewing days.

Other treasures include some hand towels that Grandma re-purposed from old beach towels. And some of her very famous patchwork potholders. One is not quite finished but now I can see how she did them and perhaps make some of my own.

I'm looking into getting some slides copied onto a DVD. There are photos of my sister and I riding Babe which was my Uncle's horse. One funny and great shot is of my brother sitting on Dusty backwards and my cousin Aaron sitting facing forward.

I've looked at pricing a slide scanner just for that purpose, but there isn't that many in this batch. My brother I believe has a huge box of slides. I'm going to use a local scanning service first and see how that works out.

I don't have the thousands of slides like my brother does, however I am curious and a bit excited to be able to see some of those old photos ... without trying to hold it up to a light bulb!

I need a name

During our family Christmas Meal I noticed Stella the escape artist getting harassed by Belle. Stella was laying down in the fodder we had out and wasn't getting up which was very unusual.
I jumped up from the table and hurried to get my coveralls on. It is amazing how fast I can throw on those insulated coveralls.
LOVE my coveralls!

Ariel was close behind me, she grabbed my farm coat and out the door we went sort of leaving everyone at the table with my parting words "Something is wrong with Stella...!"
Actually I was not believing my eyes. I think Stella was calving. She shouldn't have been, but...we didn't move her out of the pen where we had a young bull until late spring...so...

Oh.
I stepped through the hot wires and Stella stood up and sort of whirled. Out slid a calf. Stella stepped away and I bent down to the calf, pulled off my gloves and cleaned out his nose and throat. I wished I could have seen Ariel's expression although I will bet she watched intently.
My hands were full of the calf's smell and I gently put them up to Stella who smelled them and made a soft guttural sound. She followed my hands back to the calf and she started to clean him.

I sent Ariel to the house to tell 'Grandpa' that we needed to take Stella and the calf to the shed.
By now everyone dressed. Rich and his daughter set up a pen in the shed while Ariel kept the other Dexters at bay with sorting sticks. I ran into the house and tracked snow and fodder over the floor to grab some old towels.

Stella will generally follow me or allow me to push her where ever I want her to go. She is the not a very large Dexter, so I formulated a plan. I'd pick up the calf and she'd follow the calf and I into the pen in the shed.

Rich said the calf would probably not survive in this cold. I said that I'd sure like to give it a whirl. I could not abandon the thought of trying to make this little guy make it.

It was quite the sight I think. I was crouched holding a wet calf wrapped in a towel in front of Stella's nose. She'd lick the calf and I'd crab walk sideways away from her. She'd follow and make guttural noises. Behind me, Rich, Ariel, and Steph all kept Stella on track through the yard and up towards the shed.

We got to the driveway and Stella stood stock still. She had to pee and no one was making this new mom move until she was darned good and ready. It made us all laugh. We even talked to Stella as if she were a person, asking her if she was done yet and did she have any other thoughts?

We got her into the pen with no problems. We put down shavings and hay. Stella seemed starved and ignored the calf.

I went in the house to get on some dry coveralls and more towels.
My mother in law asked me how I got so wet. I explained I was calf-slimed and laughed.
Pretty soon everyone else came in too. Rich said Stella was ignoring the calf and he'd tried to get it up to nurse with no success, that Stella kicked at the calf.

Ariel asked me what we should do. I told her that personally, if it were up to me, I'd get milk replacer and bring the calf in the house. She seemed to think that was a good idea. I took the towels and rubbed the calf dry.
Ariel watched as I pulled the calf close into my lap and hugged him tightly. I willed him to live and to get warmth from me holding him so tight. He shivered and seemed to push into my body.
I don't think that Ariel saw my tears. Perhaps she did. My heart has an extreme soft spot for animals. I hugged him tightly before setting him down in the bedding.

I explained that had we known, we would have had a box stall put together and a heat lamp. The last time I'd had a calf born in this time of year, it hadn't made it. Annie had come to us with calf and we didn't know it. We nearly lost Annie because she was technically too young to have been bred.
Photo from January of 2012. Saving Annie

We did save Annie. I even hand milked her much to her disdain and had tried to save her calf. However both had been so chilled that we lost the calf.

Of course the conversation turned to cattle and the calf...and Stella. I mused that if Stella's calf was half as sweet as she was, he'd make a beautiful steer to have around for petting. It felt bittersweet to talk like that. I wanted the Calf to be fine.

As the company gathered to leave, Ariel went back out to say goodbye to Stella. She was all set to find a dead calf.

She came in the door and her glasses fogged up.
"He's up and walking around!"
Everyone went out to look and they came back with the same conclusion. The calf was up and moving around.

After they left, Rich said he was going to bed. The day wore him out.
The Kenosha Gang folks called...Daryl and Amanda and we talked about our plans for the weekend.

They said they'd bring a heater and we could modify the stall to prevent them from getting too cold during the upcoming weekend sub zero cold snap.

I hung up with a bit of hope in my heart and grabbed my fresh coveralls from the dryer. They were warm.
Snap!
Cha-Ching!
I grabbed the towels I'd just dried and stuck them back in the dryer while I dressed. I had a plan for the next 24 hours.

Heated towels every two hours!
The calf really responded well to that and he even scooted around the makeshift stall while I cleaned up mom poop.

Stella had cleaned up her hay so I fed her more and gave her fresh water.

This was taken at midnight.

I didn't awaken at 2am. At 5am I ran out to the calf laying in a pile of hay and shavings giving me the classic Stella Look.

Stella at 12 hrs old:

So it looks like this Dexter Weebull is strong this morning. I have help to make things even better coming this evening.
I am hopeful enough to actually think of giving him a name.

Any takers?

I had a thought:

Sir Prize

A friend on Facebook said he should be called Zero for the subzero temps.

Let's hear it!