Good Shepherd Farm

June Doings

2009-06-18T20:03:00.018-05:00

Wow, I have not written in such a long time, and I keep wondering, “What have I done that has taken up so much of my time? What have I actually ACCOMPLISHED?” Well, both Don and I have done a HUGE number of little things but nothing actually BIG up to this point.

I have been working on wool. I got some really pretty BLACK WOOL while I was at “Stitches In Time” last Saturday. I don’t know if I have elaborated over “Stitches” in my blog, but Stitches is an event held every 2nd Saturday of the month at the Senior Center in Storden, MN. It was the brainchild of Candy, and quickly passed on to my BFF & PIC Connie, and they were so thoughtful to invite me in on the venture! Thank you so much, guys! I will not let you down! The event is open to ANYONE in the community who: knits, crochets, weaves, rug-hooks, spins…or anyone who wants to LEARN how to do these things! So anyway, this particular wool that was given to me was from a black sheep, and the Shearers will not accept it because it cannot be dyed. BUT! Many spinners really like the black wool because it has such a variety of interesting shades in its locks. Here is the wool. It sort of resembles a Brillo Pad right at this stage!!!:

After washing and carding the wool, I started spinning it. This is only the 3rd project that I have started on Merlin, and I am so astonished at how far I have come in my spinning! Not only that, it is wonderful and so calming to spin the wool. Very satisfying too.

Meanwhile, I was messing around with Arthur’s wool. You remember Arthur, don’t you? Little Arthur Godfrey from last spring, whose mother broke his little leg and killed his brother and sister? Don helped me splint his leg and I bottle-fed him. And he grew. And grew, and grew. He had wool that was SO LONG and SO THICK that he has almost enough wool to have covered 1 ½ or 2 sheep! He lives at Connie and Norm’s Ash Lane Farm.

So I dyed Arthur’s wool. With…KOOL-AID!!! Isn't that awesome?! It was so much fun, and just look at the results:

LEMON-LIME

(OH, THIS COLOR IS JUST SO YUMMY THAT I WOULD LIKE TO ROLL IN IT!!!)

LEMONAID

CHERRY

(Looks like a 'Tropicana Dream', doesn't it?)

GRAPE

(The grape came out nicely mottled, just like I hoped that it would.)

I also made some Berry Blue, and some Pink Lemonaid. These colors are wonderful, and because you heat the Koolaid and the wool, and add vinegar to the mixture, it will make the stain stay, and not wash out. Look it up on Google: "Dying Wool With Kool-Aid."

After I do all of the carding, etc., I will finally spin it into a fine yarn. And after that is done, I will ply some of it with the black, and I think that I will have a really interesting blend. I have found a very interesting project that I would like to knit and felt, and I hope that it will be a money-maker for me. I will keep you posted!

AND, last but not least, I am now going to a Spinal Clinic in Sioux Falls, SD. I am undergoing a lot of therapy. More tests, and possibly some surgery. The head of the program, a Dr. Hanson whom I do not particularly CARE for, has told me that I am a FOOL to have my goats. That was the very first sentence out of the man’s mouth upon entering the room. And further, he asked: do I like beating myself up like this? Carrying water to them in 5-gallon buckets; moving them around to different locations in order to feed them; going out in the wintertime and freezing to death and hauling hay to them; making that hay in the heat of summer; then banging out the frozen water buckets and adding more freezing water in the winter… and just exactly who do I expect my back to heal when I am dong all of these things? Well, it pi**e* me off that he is absolutely right. So, I am forced to sell my goats. And I am NOT happy about it… Here they are. If you are interested, please email me.

The twins Willow and the un-named male, along with their mother, Miri. She is a marvelous milker.

My favorite doeling, Fern Gully. She makes me laugh so hard!!!

Big Daddy Nimrod. He is such a handsome man! I tell him that all the time. He is a very nice buck goat. Very gentle, for a male.

I am very proud of my herd of goats. I love them dearly. This is one of the things that I have to accept with my damaged back: no more lifting, raking, shoving, pulling, or carrying beyond my weight limit. I will miss them awfully.

Fiber

2009-05-26T23:37:00.020-05:00

Don has gone up to the cities, so here I was all alone with ‘nothing’ (ha-ha) to do! I should have been cleaning the barn or doing something on my “To Do” list, but instead, I carded some yarn and sat down to my spinning wheel Merlin to do some spinning of the Miniature Llama fiber that Bill Fisher and his wife had given me to sample. “Merlin” and I have been having a wonderful time together. I LOVE spinning on Merlin! And tonight, while I was spinning and watching TV at the same time, I just sat in wonder and amazement. There I was, with the roving slipping through my fingers, turning into real yarn at the magic moment when the yarn twists and springs away from your fingers and fills the bobbin. And I was thinking: “Why did this ever seem so difficult? This is just as easy as breathing air or drinking a glass of water!!” I used to watch people and envy them that they were able to do this and I tried and tried and could not. But I really do believe that the magic is with Merlin… and that’s my story and I’m sticking to it!

Almost as soon as Don left I pulled out the fiber bags and boxes and went to work! That is (from left) a box of Yak and dog undercoat hair (Yes, I am going to 'spin my dogs'), Arthur the lamb, and Miniature Llama fiber. Hair, hair everywhere!

OH - MY - WORD!!! Either the cat had a massive hairball problem or I have a horrible mess on my hands! I have discovered that the Yak fiber, as well as the Miniature Llama fiber, will mat when washed, even without any sort of 'agitation' or mashing or whatever! It just gravitates towards itself and locks in a massive mess! I have read about folks using a lingerie bag. This is what I will probably end up trying in the future. But not to worry - it comes right out with the drum carder.

A -ha! Now THAT is more like it! This is sheep's (Arthur's) wool mixed with Yak. I have blended one batch with more sheep's wool than the other. It looks like an animal lying dead on the floor, don't you think?

Here is my Merlin, sitting with roving on his feet, keeping them warm. He is an Ashford Kiwi. Ashfords are made in New Zealand. He is very special to me. Sitting next to Merlin is a Picker. It has nails that sort of comb out the wool and help remove debris such as hay and seeds, as well as beginning to straighten it out so that it starts to face in the same direction. After picking the wool, it is on to the carder which super-brushes the wool and makes it ready for spinning! Meanwhile lying on top of the picker is some wool that Connie is letting me try out. It is all ready for spinning! WOW, is it ever soft! It is from a Shetland Sheep.

Here is the drum carder. It belongs to PIC (Partner In Crime) Connie, and she is generous enough to share this spendy little piece of machinery with me. Thank you so much, Connie. I don't know what I would do without you!

OK. PLEASE do not laugh. This is my very first EVER skein of home-spun yarn. It is lumpy, it is bumpy, but it is mine, and I am so proud of it that I just might decide to never make anything out of it and just hang it on the wall of my craft room in some special way to make it look artistic. Maybe Candy can help me with that?! It was spun from Arthur's wool and Heidi's (Don's German Shepherd Dog's) undercoat. I am very happy with my skein!!!

Mr. Blue, one of Don's male Beta's, looks on in approval. He thinks that as long as I am close by, he may just get an extra morsel of food! "Blue" is a very nice fish. He does what I want him to do, as I have trained him by fluttering my fingers and 'tinking' on the glass. He also allows me to 'pet' him, but I always, always wash my hands first. I do not want him to get any fungal diseases or anything like that. Betas are very beautiful and very easy to care for. When they are happy, they blow bubbles on the top of their water! Can you see Blue's bubbles? I just cleaned his 'cage' today, so he is very happy and blowing his bubbles on the top.

The Fox Are Back

2009-05-23T19:13:00.007-05:00

Hello!

I know that it has been ages since I wrote my last blog. Wow. It was before Easter, during my brother's wedding! So, what have I been doing that is fun, and exciting, and taking up all of my time? Well, hmmm..I would LOVE to tell you that I have been on a cruise around the world. Or a visit to California. Or even a trip to nearby Mountain Lake...but, alas! I have only to report that I cleaned the house extensively while Don was gone to Colorado to visit #2 son Bob, who goes to college in Boulder... AND I have been working with fiber and spinning on my new wheel. More on that, later! ALSO, I got a new camera which is a state-of-the-art little machine smaller than a pack of Marlboro's. Which, by the way, I sincerely want to end up smoking every time I sit down and try to figure out how to operate it! This is not just a camera, folks, it is a device which I am even slightly afraid of. If I push the wrong button, I just might: order a pizza from Dominoes, purchase plane tickets to Jamaica, remotely start my car sitting out in the driveway, or detonate a weapon which will start WWIII. Well, not exactly, but I believe that it will take me most of the summer to learn how to operate the thing!

In the meantime, I put a new set of batteries in my cursed old Sony, and took some pictures of the newest family of fox in our neighborhood. They live just down the road from us, right on the side of the highway! Last year, momma fox had 5 babies, and eventually one or two were tragically killed by passing cars. This year, I have counted 4 new babies, but there might have been another hiding down in the hole. Fox are by nature extremely shy creatures, and so I was elated to find that they would allow me to take their pictures! Here they are: Enjoy!

A Joyous Weekend

2009-04-12T18:27:00.044-05:00

I trust that everyone had a wonderful Easter! I hope that you were able to connect with friends and family for the Easter Celebration, and enjoy the seriously awesome weather! Our family had another reason to celebrate, as well. My little brother, Timothy Gerard Bontrager, got MARRIED on Friday, April 10th! He married Diane Clapsaddle at the Shepherd Of The Lake Church at Prior Lake, MN. They got married in the small chapel connected to the large church building. It was a small, intimate ceremony attended by just family and close friends as there were not many chairs inside. But the reception which was held at Dangerfield’s in Shakopee was attended by several other guests, and I would say that great fun was had by all! Good food and great conversation! I love my little brother so much, and I am so happy that HE is happy! He has been alone for so long, and he has found his soul mate in Diane. She has a gentle and peaceful spirit, and is extremely beautiful and graceful as well. I keep saying that she reminds me of Princess Diana. She is a Lab Tech at the hospital where Tim works, and she also plays the clarinet for orchestras. She has two teenage children, Andrew and Marissa. They both play musical instruments, as well. I will not elaborate any further, but I will share with you some pictures that I had taken at the reception.

The reception was held at Dangerfields Restaurant in Shakopee, MN. Tim and Diane live in Shakopee.

The happy couple at their reception. I can almost see them thinking, at this point : "THANK GOODNESS that part is over with! Whew!"

Diane and Marissa. Aren't they gorgeous?! And they BOTH had such LOVELY DRESSES, too!

Tim and Andrew. What a couple of handsome guys!

This is Tim's very good friend, Greg. He met Greg through the hospital where both he and Diane work. Greg has become an ordained minister, and he officiated at their marriage ceremony.

"It's okay, mom. It's a point-and-flash camera, mom. Ya just need to push the button. Go ahead, mom. Push it. WILL YOU TAKE THE PICTURE ALREADY, MOM! GEEZ!"

"See, ma? Just like THAT! POOF! Done!" I felt so fortunate to be able to do mom's hair and make-up for the wedding. She had on a lovely dress, and looked so happy! Of course, that was all due to her little boy getting married...it had nothing whatsoever to do with the make-up!!

And will you look at this! Melissa's dad and step-mom Kelly were there, too! I was so happy to see them when I walked into the church, and they sat with us at the ceremony, as well.

Tim and mom's good friends, Arlyn and Linda. This wonderful couple have 'gone the extra mile' for so many people, including members of our own family. It has been a real blessing having them as friends.

You know, it is just totally amazing who you run into at a wedding! This lovely lady, Jeanette, used to be neighbors with Steve and I when we lived in Jordan. And that was wa-aay back, um, well I won't say how many years ago. But I was pregnant with my 29 year old daughter when we lived next to them. :) Come to find out, she bowls with Diane!

Don looks dazed and confused. But then, WHAT ELSE IS NEW!!!!! Ha-ha! And Lorraine just looks hungry. Lorraine ALWAYS looks hungry!

It's a good thing that the food is nearby! And what a luscious spread it was. I especially liked the little puff pastries filled with spinach in a creamy sauce, served hot. Oh, YUM! Dangerfields really is a great place to eat! If you ever get to Shakopee, Mn, you will have to try them out! (Wonder if Tim can get a discount if I brag them up a bit!??? One can always hope, right?)

Two chocolate cakes with chocolate frosting. See those little tiny flowers? Steve and I nearly ate them! We thought they were frosting, but they were silk!

Tim and Diane are closely supervised during the cutting of the cake. No one was injured during the filming of this incident.

sigh...THAT'S MY LITTLE BROTHER!!! Always a clown!

As Tim was sitting at a table visiting, I 'puffed' some warm, moist air onto the top of his bald pate and began rubbing it with a napkin in order to 'polish' his head. He put on some "Chapstick" got up and kissed me on the cheek. IT WAS LIPSTICK! Oh, I just love my leetle brother SO MUCH!

We had a lovely Easter Dinner at Melissa and Rick's house. Rick did a lot of the cooking. He actually is a wonderful cook. So wonderful, in fact, that you might even think that he was a BONTRAGER instead of a Burmeister!! ;) And, an added bonus: LORRAINE GOT ICE-CREAM WITH HER PEACH COBBLER!

And THIS is my beautiful daughter, Melissa. Did you know that Melissa has started writing Children's Books, and she has asked ME to ILLUSTRATE THEM?! I think that it would be so marvelous if Melissa could be published, and we could work together as a "Mother/Daughter" team!!

I Was Just Kidding...

2009-04-06T19:01:00.014-05:00

No, seriously. I was kidding. That’s what I was doing this afternoon. I was in the barn, helping with the kidding! Miracle (aka: Miri) divided into three pieces today. She had twins!

She had a little doeling, and a little buckling. They are totally adorable! The little female looks so feminine, with her tiny mouth and delicate features. And the little guy looks a great deal like his daddy, only lighter. You can see the Boer goat markings coming in on his face, only his face is cream colored instead of rich, dark mahogany.

They are keepers, that’s for sure! And momma is doing just fine! Her first pregnancy, and she had twins! I tried out a technique called ‘flushing’ before I bred either of the does. This is where you feed them very high quality feed and hay, and just pamper the heck out of them. After about 2 ½ months, I bred them to Nimrod. ‘Flushing’ supposedly causes the female to produce more eggs. Well, I guess it worked! Happy Birthday, ‘Willow’ and ‘Kid Karate – Chop’!

Momma checks out these strange little creatures. Now, where did they come from???

Willow says "Grandpa brought us his brand-new quartz heater to use, 'till he hooked up a heat- lamp. What a nice grandpa we have!"

The little Karate Chop has some pale markings on his face; he is trying to copy his daddy!

We have located the cafeteria!!!

Gee, our grampa is really good at holding twins! He says: "Just ask Bob and Dan!!!"

Ahhh.! This is just like basking in the sun in hawaii! Ummm...what is 'hawaii?'

Palm Sunday

2009-04-05T15:53:00.013-05:00

Sunday April 5, 2009. Last night we had sideways-snow. It hopefully will be the last major snowfall of the 2008-2009 winter season. As I took pictures of our near-blizzard conditions, a Robin chirped miserably in the Ash tree branches above my head. I wondered if he wanted to go back to his ‘winter’ headquarters, in some warm, balmy part of the world.

Silent Sentinels

Today is Palm Sunday, and I took a few pictures of our old Blue Spruce trees next to the road. They’ve withstood many storms, even a few tornadoes. And still they stand: tall, silent witnesses of time passing. And while they watched, I made my way to the barn to check on ‘the ladies.”

Miri and Rosie are due to have their very first babies soon. Miri, in fact, was due yesterday. She shows signs of being very close. She eats like there is no tomorrow. I believe that she will be having twins. She is very wide, and I can feel at least two kids in there. But this is her first pregnancy, and so I am fairly certainly that there is not three!

Miri from the top side.

On the other hand, Rosie has always been thin, and I have to fight to keep weight on her. I was concerned that she may not even be pregnant at all, but after palpating her sides, I am positive that she is carrying one kid.

What is this? Another fat, pregnant goat???

Ah, no! It's only NIMROD! The DADDY!

All the kids are active. I am excited to see what they look like. I bred my Saanen does to a Boer-cross buck. My dad named him “Nimrod.” It seems to fit his personality.

The miracle of birth is has always fascinated me. I am so excited to see these new babies and have them frolicking at their mothers side. But that’s not the ONLY miracle forthcoming…

My “Leetle Brother” will be getting married this week! He and his lovely wife, Diane, will be flying to California for their honeymoon. They will visit with dad and his wife Betty, and do some driving and sightseeing on their own. I am sure that Tim will want to show Diane his old ‘haunts,’ as Tim lived in California for well over 20 years. He still misses the mountains, and Yosemite. And although I never lived there, I do miss the ocean. I once spent an entire week there. We were on the beach at Montana de Oro. Jade washes up on the shore there, and ‘Sea Glass.’ I still have some in a bottle of sand. That was a very special time for me. And I am sure that Tim and Diane will bring back many good memories, as well.

Asian Beetles!

2009-03-28T20:50:00.006-05:00

Asian Beetles are the scourge of the Midwest! They are the bane of my existence! They stink, they bite, they die all over my house, and I HATE THEM!

Asian Beetles, dead in my hand. Swept off a window sill. :(

Asian Beetles were imported to the United States as a “Biological Control Agent.” Some of them (gasp!) escaped, and they have now invaded the entire Midwest and are rapidly spreading. Just think…some of those killer Asian Carp escaped, and now they are whacking people right out of their boats up and down the Mississippi River! And they are making their way up here to Minnesota, too. There have been reports of killer fish sightings in a few lakes in the Twin Cities area. Great. Just great. Not only do we have to contend with mosquitoes big enough to pick you up and carry you into the bushes to eat you, we now have to carry a weapon to fight off the fish!! Only in America.....

These blasted beetles were brought over here to eat aphids, an act, which I am told, they are actually good at. Studies show that they can consume from 90-270 per day. I would not know. I kill them just as soon as I see them. As a means of self-defense, I purchased a mighty expensive spray to spray around my windows and doors in the fall. Well, it didn’t work. They got in here, anyway. And I killed and killed and vacuumed and swept. And then winter happened, and all things slept. Until now. And here they are again, in full force, crawling across my windows and pooping all over everything. Have you ever squished one of those things? They STINK! And all the times I have tried vacuuming them, my sinuses would get all clogged and I would get sick feeling from the stench. I kept telling myself to just knock it off – it’s just a bug, for crying out loud! Now I read on the Internet that people have actually been found to be allergic to them, and most people get “sinus irritations from the smell”. Well, go figure! The reason that they smell is because they have a “foul-smelling defensive chemical” which they release if annoyed. They bite me in the face in the middle of the night and I am the one that gets annoyed! Darn it anyway.

What do we do about them, you ask? Well, there is the terribly expensive SPRAY that I mentioned earlier; there are GLUE STRIPS, which you may place at every window (EVERY WINDOW in the house??? I think NOT, thank you very much!!!); a foul smelling REPELLANT that you can mix up yourself (no idea on this one); and, of course, VACUUMING, which I have already tried, and nearly died.

This is the window in the entry way, south side of the house. This is two days worth of Asian beetles. Deceased. This is how every window in the house looks. Cleaning the window sills is almost a daily occurance around this place!

From past experience, I have found that they usually just sort of ‘peter-out’ when the warmer weather gets here. And they end up outside, where they make millions and billions and trillions of other Asian Beetles, which end up in my house again, come fall.

I wish that the government would stop importing all these INVASIVE SPECIES and just leave things as they are!

On a lighter note, I finally finished my 2nd sockie, so both of my feet are very happy! And warm. Note: See the Geraniums? They sit in front of the patio window, on the south side of the house. And they are very anxious to get their feet in the dirt outside again, soon!

Another Day, Another Sock

2009-03-25T17:40:00.009-05:00

Or something like that. I finally finished my first sock: for me! So I have been running around all day with one sock on and the other foot bare just so’s I will be reminded to hurry up and get that other sock done! Since I have purchased dozens and dozens of skeins of sock yarn and have them all groaning out of containers upstairs in my craft room, I guess I had better follow through on my promise and start in on socks for everyone else pretty soon! At the rate I am going, it surely will take until Christmas to knit them sockies…too bad they have to come in pairs!

I also went to class last Saturday and completed another painting – yea! This time, we did a mountain! Now, Bob Ross’s favorite subject was Mt. Hood in Oregon, and that is what our picture consisted of. Bob had entitled it “A Spectacular View” and it certainly is lovely. The only thing that was holding me back from practicing on my own here at home was the fact that I did not have any paint thinner for cleaning my brushes and I kept forgetting to go out and buy some! But Don has located a can for me, and I am excited to be able to get started now. We went on a wonderful vacation to Yellowstone a few years ago, and took some awesome pictures, there and back. I want to print a few of those pictures and then paint them. I wonder if any would sell at the Laura Ingalls-Wilder pageant in July? You know, it is hard to determine these things, with the economy and all. What do you think?

First, we start with the sky. And then, we add some fluffy clouds. My very first fluffy clouds, folks! I was so happy about my clouds!!! (Yea, I know....doesn't take much...)

Then, we add our mountains! In this case, Mt. Hood in Oregon.

I apologize that I don't have a close-up of the picture! But it has a small cabin and some large pine trees.

AND! Ta-da!!!! MY SOCKIE!!! I did a basket-weave pattern. My left foot is nice and warm.

Since The Last Writing….

2009-03-13T23:25:00.012-05:00

I realize that I have not written in some time. My arthritis has been acting up and my back has, as well. So I have not felt like sitting down and writing. However, I am amazed at all the things that I have accomplished since I wrote last, considering how I feel...

First of all, I would like to introduce you to Keira (pronounced “Ky-Rah”). She was actually the little runt of the little when she was born. As of today, she weighs 25#, and she is 10 ½ weeks old. She looks small, but she sure is SOLID. Believe me, she is NOT lacking for affection. She is very smart; goes potty outside, does the stair steps up and down, knows that “NO” word, and knows her name. She chases the BALL, which she seems to have inherited from her mother, and both of her ears are nearly up. She is RED and black, and will have a wonderful standard coat. I love her body structure….she has that typical GSD ‘stance’ and she has the true German ‘roached’ back, not that American ‘low-rider’ style, where they look like they are either dragging their hind-end around behind them or ‘sneaking’ up on things. The AKC has tragically wrecked several wonderful dog breeds, in the name of ‘style’. Nightline just had a spot on that this week, hi-lighting the Boston Terrier, the poor, deformed English Bulldog, and the Dalmatian. Look it up on Nightline ABC News at: http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/story?id=7055788&page=1

Here is our little Keira, proudly wearing (almost) her new ears! Hmm, I see that we STILL don't have the trim put up under the cupboards :(

Next, I am glad to report that I finally finished that second sock for Mr. Don, and now he has my very first pair of hand-knitted wool socks! Too bad they did not turn out the same size. Oh well…his toes will be less scrunched on one side, that’s all.

Then, I did my second painting in the Bob Ross style. It is called “Barn at Sunset”. Now, I do not care for it as much as the first painting. Maybe because there is a man-made structure in it. I am not sure exactly why... But it was great fun participating in the class, anyway! As usual, the instructor Judy was FULL of information….and ENERGY! I swear that woman eats coffee beans for breakfast! :) She can run circles around me.

This is a young man in our art class, just turned 18. He is an accomplished artist!

His older sister, also a wonderful artist, did her own rendition of a Scottish glen, painted from a photograph taken by a friend while in Scotland. These kids are wonderful, polite, home-schooled kids, and I so much enjoy working with them in class!

The finished painting, in one of Judy’s beautiful frames.

I have two more classes coming up in the next two months. I can’t wait!

And finally, I managed to finish a project that I started almost one year ago. I got around to completing the upstairs bathroom-painting project. I have discovered that it takes me an entire week to complete what I used to finish in one single day. I just don’t have what it takes anymore. But this project is nearly done, and I am satisfied.

Don’s old garage-sale vase ($1.00); Peacock feathers from the auction ($1.00); wallpaper border on sale at Menard's ($1.50); and grapevine from Don’s place in Carver (free). The result: a warm, Tuscan/Mediterranean-style bathroom. Much nicer than the WHITE and red that it was once painted, with the ‘modern-looking’ border all around it.

EVERY BLOG should have a picture of a toilet, right? Well, I am proud to show you DON’S NEW TOILET DEVICE which he got from the VA. If we had one of those arm-devices in every room in the house, it still would not be enough. Because Lorraine and I need one, as well. It comes in very handy.

We also have a ‘shower chair’ and a handrail for getting OUT of the bathtub. And that other object is mom's old whirlpool-device. She gave it to Don for his legs, feet and ankle pain. GOD BLESS YOU ALWAYS, dear mother, for giving Don this wonderful gift! He uses it EVERY TIME he takes a bath.

Well, that’s it for now. I hope you all have a relaxing weekend. I am going to iron the curtains for my newly-finished bathroom, and put them up. I just love finishing a project, and then standing back to admire it. Don't you?

Just Stuff

2009-02-26T18:24:00.010-06:00

I got up early this morning so I could enjoy the pace and quiet before the day got started. I sat in the kitchen, doing paperwork, paying bills, balancing checkbook. This blog is really interesting so far, right???? NOT!

So I took the dogs outside to potty. It was snowing so hard it was almost as if there was a fireman up on the roof with a big fire hose spraying wet, heavy snow just as hard as he could get that thing to spray. I mean, there was force behind that snow! “Someone” would not go potty, so I took her inside the house and just then the phone rang. Our neighbor was in the ditch just outside our Yak pasture. They had slid right into the path of an oncoming car, and the vehicle was totaled. The Sheriff came along, and took care of everything. But there were 3 cars in the ditch, all just outside our place. I guess it must have been a bad stretch of road!

Here is the view right now at 6:00 p.m., 02/26/2009. You can’t see across the road! It looks almost like another blizzard, doesn’t it?!

Meanwhile, I am knitting my VERY FIRST SOCK, EVER!!! Good friend Connie showed me how to ‘turn the heel’ which is the most difficult part of knitting a sock. Connie is also the one that showed me how to knit using those 5 little double-pointed bamboo needles, and I am thankful EVERY DAY that she gave me that gift. I absolutely love knitting in the round and making mittens, gloves, and now SOCKS! So DAN, TIM, BOB and BRIAN: CLOSE YOUR EYES and DON’T READ THIS, because this is what I am making all the guys for Christmas 2009! They are 80% washable wool, 20% acrylic. So they will be nice and warm!

Don is modeling my first ever pair of knitted socks. I only have a little left on the foot and toe area left to do.

Well, there is not much left to report, so that’s it for now. I hope that you are keeping warm, safe, and healthy. Remember: WINTER IS ALMOST OVER! HOOORAY!!!!!!

Lorraine, My Mom, and the Flying Wallendas

2009-02-17T19:25:00.008-06:00

For those of you who are too young to remember, the Flying Wallendas were a traveling circus troupe consisting of acrobats, jugglers, clowns, aerialists and animal trainers all in one family. They became known for their expertise in the art of flying trapeze. If you are interested you can Google them – I found the write-up on Wikipedia to be quite interesting. Lorraine and my mother remember them quite well. In fact, we were discussing the circus Sunday night, right before this whole thing began.

We went to Shakopee this past weekend to deliver the 'babies' to their new parents. I am so pleased that they all got such good homes. That made it so much easier on me! And during most of the time in the motel room, Lorraine (age 88) would lie on the bed with her eyes closed and her hand pressed against her back, with a look of dreadful pain on her face. If you remember, Lorraine did not fall, but suddenly was in incredible pain back in January that required a trip to a spinal clinic in South Dakota. The only thing they did was order her to wear a truss during her waking times, and they gave her prescription pain killers for when the pain gets too bad. Which seems to be most of the time.

Anyway, on Sunday we went over to mom’s house to visit just prior to driving down to Storden again. We had just eaten a wonderful dinner consisting of mother’s homemade chicken noodle soup and the biggest apple pie I have ever seen in my life, both of which were absolutely delicious. Don and I were sitting at the dining room table, looking through a catalogue when Lorraine announced that she had decided to get up and walk into the livingroom to sit in the recliner because it was “more comfortable than the dining room chair”. We said fine, go ahead and continued pouring over the catalogue. Suddenly, we heard a loud “OH! OH! OO-OOH!” and then a loud BOOM! I whipped around in my chair, and there laid Lorraine on the livingroom floor with her feet straight up in the air. I screamed “Lorraine!” And then…you will not believe this…Lorraine grabbed herself by the backs of her knees and just flipped herself into an upright position, threw up her arms, and shouted, “I’m OK! I’m OK!”

Don and I were speechless and just sat there for a few seconds with our mouths wide open trying to comprehend what we had just seen. Well, by that time Lorraine decided that she could not make it to her feet by herself, and started to holler for us to help. So I went over there and got her underneath one arm and started to pull. At which point Don offered “You’d better grab ‘er by both sides, otherwise you’ll bust an arm, sure as heck.” Oh gee, thanks a lot, Donald. I appreciate all the help! I felt it imperative to ask "Lorraine, WHAT IN THE WORLD were you trying to do just now?" To which she replied "Oh, there was a BUG! A BUG! And I was just trying to STOMP IT and I lost my balance and FELL OVER BACKWARDS!!!" I glanced down trying tolocate this "bug" and next to my big toe was a teenie-weenie piece of sock lint, barely visible to the human eye, lying on mother's cream colored living-room carpet. I moaned "It's SOCK LINT, LORRAINE! You nearly killed yourself over a piece of SOCK LINT!!!" "OH!" she said, and she started to laugh...

And I pulled and pulled and Lorraine tried and tried. And we got absolutely nowhere. By now, we both turned to Don and pleaded for help. Twice. “I’m doin’ the best I can!!!” he explained, in exhasperation. It’s true: due to his advancing polyneuropathy, Don can barely get up out of a chair by the end of the day. Finally, he made it up and over to where we were on the livingroom floor. Don got down on his knees and had Lorraine by the waist and was heaving and shoving upwards, I had Lorraine underneath both arm pits and was heaving and pulling upwards, when Don felt that it was imperative to ask: “Lorraine. Can you explain to me, please, WHY IN THE HECK do you do these things all the time???” To which Lorraine replied “WELL, I JUST THOUGHT IT WAS TIME WE HAD A LITLE EXCITEMENT AROUND THIS PLACE.”

That did it. I started laughing and laughing. I could not take anymore! By the time we got her up onto her feet, I had to make a mad dash to the bathroom because I was afraid I would pee my pants. I sat in the bathroom laughing and laughing, tears streaming down my face. My stomach hurt so bad I could barely breathe.

I finally got myself under control long enough to calmly (somewhat) walk back to the livingroom. Mother was sitting there on the couch looking at another magazine. Don and I started playing with little Keira, the German Shepherd pup that we had kept from this litter, and I was trying to tell mom about Lorraine being so 'flexible' at her advanced age. And mom piped up “Why YES! Just because we’re older doesn’t mean we’ll snap in half!” And she jumps up off the couch, lays down on the floor, and whip – nearly does a backwards somersault. “See?” she asked, with her butt up in the air and her feet back beyond her head. “It’s not that difficult.” Don and I both stared with our mouths open. Totally speechless. I mean, there was absolutely nothing that we could say at that moment. Here is mother, seventy-something, and she is as spry as a spring chicken. And Don is barely 60, and I am just over 50, and we can hardly make it out of bed most mornings. It was so humiliating!!!

So we limped our way back home again to Storden, with our canes and our walkers. And I would like to add that Lorraine has not said ONE SINGLE WORD since we got home, about being in pain! Not even once. She sits in the livingroom on the couch and when I vacuumed today she pulled her long legs up onto the couch and held onto her knees and grinned just like a little 4-year-old. Oh, they both make us feel so old! It's downright embarrassing to be outdone by our elders! Well anyway, Good for Them! And I hope that they can stay this spry for a long, long time.

Lorraine relaxing in our motel room. She must have taken one of those pain pills...

My mother in one of her more 'lucid' moments.. Seriously, though, Keira just loved my mom. And it looks as though the feeling is mutual!! Isn't this a sweet picture??

It’s Been Fun and Busy, But Sad, too!

2009-02-12T23:55:00.015-06:00

This is the week that I always dread when raising puppies. It’s been a journey; in a way it seems like such a short period of time, and in other ways it has been a long journey. I think back to Halloween of 2008 when this whole journey began: Torii was here ‘visiting’ with Heidi. And Heidi was very sad to see her new friend go back home. Then two months later, we had this sweet little family to begin caring for. And now, seven more weeks later, our little family is leaving and going away. Oh, I know that we absolutely have the most wonderful people that we could ever ask for to adopt our little babies! I cannot stress that enough! But no matter how many times I do this, I know that THIS week will always be a little sad for me. I will not say anymore…I will just show you the fabulous pictures of our sweet little babies. They go to their new homes on Valentines Day, February 14th, 2009. And I may be a little prejudiced, but don’t you think that they are the sweetest Valentine's gift that anybody could ever receive???!!

This is the pup we called "Red" because she wore the red necklace. Don is keeping her. The name he has chosen for her is "Kyra." She was actually the 'runt' of the litter to begin with. She looks smallest in comparison to all the other pups, but she is solid packed, and only weighs 1/4 pound less than the other females.

This "little" guy we called "Tank." He wore the Bright Blue collar. His new mom and dad have told us that they will stick with the name. And he weighs 15-1/4 pounds at 6-1/2 weeks...he really is a TANK!

This is the largest female. She also has THE MOST gorgeous red color coming in on her legs. She will be a real looker, that's for sure. We called her 'Big Bertha' or Lime Green, for the necklace color. Her new family has named her "Ginger Ale!" I think that Ginger is a great name for this puppy!

This 'little' man we call "Tug." He wore the Forest Green collar. He is wonderful! Layed-back, and also a big puppy. He has wisdom beyond his years. He is sooo smart.

Aaaah...Here is tiny Anjelika, which is German for "Like an ANGEL." She is going to a very special home: one of my college friends who is now a Certified Veterinary Technician will get Angelika. I am anxious to find out what her new name will be! Becky will take extra special care of little Angel, with her fantastic nursing skills. YOU GO, BECK!

And here is our little Sweetie Girl, or "Lavender." I have never met a more layed-back puppy in my life. She just oozes comfort, patience, and LOVE. I swear this dog has read and memorized all of the "Fruits of the Spirit"

And there they are, "The Gang." Our sweet little family! Nope, I just cannot think of a more meaningful, wonderful Valentines gift than a warm, snuggly, healthy German Shepherd puppy. Just think of all the love packed inside these little guys!

I can't wait 'till the NEXT litter!!! :)

Sasha's Happy Birthday

2009-01-29T16:15:00.010-06:00

Sasha Lynn is now officially 14 years old! She was born on January 28th, 1995. She was origionally purchased for Melissa by her dad, Steve, but she has lived with me since Melissa left home after high school. Sasha's son is Jeremiah (short for "Jeremiah was a Small Dogg!" - his registered name) and he will soon be 12 years old. Yes, my little doggies are getting old, now. But they are still in very good health, and I attribute that to my intensely paranoid care, premium quality dog food, and good veterinary care, including: teeth cleaning, yearly vaccinations, and visits to the vet when the doggies don't feel very good. And, keeping the HERSHY'S CHOCOLATE BARS up out of reach!

Here is a Happy Birthday of Sasha and her 14th Birthday Cake - a homemade baking powder biscuit with sausage gravy - YUM!

Meanwhile, the puppies keep getting bigger and bigger. And I love them to pieces! I could just kiss on them all day long!

As you can see, they were terribly difficult to weigh!!!

Yes, my life has really gone to the dogs. But that is ok...I like it that way!

"What's That Again?"

2009-01-23T17:46:00.009-06:00

Don is bi-polar. For those of you who already have had the experience, ‘nuff said. For those of you who don’t know what that is, you’ve been blessed beyond measure.

For example: At 4:30 this morning, I started to roll over while still sleeping, and while half-way done with my turn, Don said, in a loud, clear, wide-awake voice “How would you like for me to read to you a few chapters about rare and unusual trees?” I halted in mid-turn, opened my eyes, and demanded “WHAT????” And Don repeated himself, word for word. So I completed my turn onto my other side before replying, “Donald, I think NOT. I am STILL SLEEPING.”

This is not a rare occurrence. This happens about once every week, before I have even become ambulatory. But yet another thing that disturbs me about the bi-polar thing in the morning is that once I have finally dragged myself out of the bed, staggered into the livingroom, and propped myself into an upright position against the back of a chair, Don presses a steaming cup of coffee into my hands and begins an immediate tirade of lists of chores that he is thinking about doing that particular day. While I am still staring at the cup of coffee in my hands trying to figure out what to do with it. I mean, I have trouble struggling to the surface enough just to remember that I must: 1. Place the cup to my lips, and; 2. Swallow. I’m serious. I have had, for most of my life, great difficulty shaking the cobwebs out of my head when I wake up in the morning. And most of the time Don gets upset with me when I stare at him with that blank look on my face for the longest time before finally asking him what it is that he has been rambling on and on about for the past half an hour. I do this by pulling my gaze away from the coffee cup just long enough to utter "Whaa-aaaaa...?"

While it is true that Don is on medication for this hereditary ailment, there seems to not be one single pill for “Not Being Able To Wake Up Immediately” syndrome. However, I remember the Easter Morning Service at the Lutheran Church in Jordan, and how, if you were not aware of what was going to happen next, you would be sure to wake up REAL QUICK-like.

We would have live piano music being played while folks filed in, smiling and nodding to one another as they found places to sit. It was usually jam-packed on Easter Sunday morning, with extra chairs even sitting out in the entryway. And as people were shifting around in their seats making room for a few others, pulling out their hymn books, pulling off their coats and in general not paying attention, a lady would stride purposfully towards the front of the church, holding a pair of cymbals, turn and face the congregation, pause for the signal, and C-R-A-S-H those cymbals together with a sound that would wake the dead! I mean, it was nearly enough to make you jump clean out of your skin if you weren’t prepared for it. Which I was not. And at that very same instant, the black silk shroud that draped the giant cross suspended above the alter would fall to the ground as if by magic! I’m not kidding you! And there weren't any strings or wires atached, either!!! And then the whole congregation would rise and begin singing "Christ our Lord has risen to-da-ay..." It was real dramatic, and heart stopping, besides.

Sometimes in the morning, I still wake up confused just as I did that first Easter Sunday morning when Marilyn nearly gave me a heart attack right in the Hope Lutheran Church in Jordan Minnesota. Only these days, it is Don and his loud wide-awake morning ramblings instead of cymbals.

But it still has the same effect, on me.

Chicken Man: "He's everywhere! He's everywhere!"

It's Another Blizzard!

2009-01-12T19:12:00.010-06:00

And not the Dairy Queen kind, either! At 9:30 this morning, the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) Weather Alert Siren went off on our little radio that sets on top of the television in the living room. It said that we would have a Blizzard Warning until 9:00 tonight, after that we would have a Winter Weather Advisory. And, it stressed, NO TRAVEL IS ADVISED!!! We need to have a radio like this, because we live (and I quote my mom) “in that GOD-FORSAKEN part of the world where the tornadoes rip through!” Only this morning it was notifying us of a blizzard. This makes the third blizzard that we are having down here this year. We live on the prairie in the southwestern part of the state of Minnesota. It's not the end of the world; you just need to make sure that you always have plenty of food and water on hand, you stay in your house and don’t drive anywhere, and you keep warm with the wood stove and either watch TV, sleep, read, play card games, or sit down in a cozy chair and knit. Which is what I plan on doing right after I post this blog. This afternoon I baked peanut butter cookies and made marinated chicken breasts on the George Foreman grill, and baked some home-made French bread.

Well, here is a little glimpse of the world outside right at 3:00 CST. You are looking at the same view as the picture on the top of this page, only…there isn’t much to see!!!

Life is very breezy down here on the prairie. I simply cannot imagine how Ma and Pa Ingalls, and Laura, Mary, Carrie, and Grace survived the winters in those days so long ago. Those pioneers were cut from a different cloth than most of us are, these days. They were tough! They HAD to be, in order to survive the untamed wilds of North America. I have been to the remains of the actual sod shanty that the Ingalls family lived in back in the 1800’s in nearby Walnut Grove. The remains of their ‘Soddy’ rests near the banks of Plum Creek. The TV series “Little House On The Prairie sort of ‘jazzed things up a bit’ and made the TV show about the Ingalls’s when they lived in Walnut Grove, when in reality, when they actually DID lived in Walnut Grove, they were On The Banks Of Plum Creek! The actual “Little House On The Prairie” was in DeSmitt, SD.

The view from the malbox. Under NORMAL circumstances, you would be able to see our little Amo Lutheran Church in this photo.

If you want to see an actual video of the blizzard, get on ASH LANE FARM's blog (see my blog list of friends) and watch. So, that’s it. Keep warm, till the next blog…

Goodbye, 2008

2008-12-31T17:16:00.005-06:00

I let the big dogs out to potty just at sunset tonight, and I was privileged to catch this sunset in action. It reminded me that this is the last sunset of 2008, so I captured it, just for you!!!

So as we say Goodbye to the old year and Welcome, 2009, please try to Forget the Bad Times, Treasure the Good Times, and remember this little ditty that I always say:

"Yesterday is History

Tomorrow is a Mystery,

Today is the PRESENT...

That's why we call it a GIFT"

God bless you, all.

p.s. drink sensibly, or have someone else drive...puh-leeeeze!

Tink and Tank

2008-12-31T11:50:00.011-06:00

Do you know the difference between a Tink and a Tank? Well, look below and see!

Tinkerbelle is the smallest puppy in the litter. Some people might call her a ‘runt’ but since I do not appreciate that word I will just say that Tink is small for her age, but she is strong and determined! She will be just right for someone who wants an AKC German Shepherd who is 'smaller in stature' than most. On the other hand, there is Tank. He is enormous, the largest puppy in the litter! He already seems to be a big, loveable, cuddly mass of puppy love that just wants to eat and be held. He is very strong, too, but moves in a very easy-going manner. Just a big, bumbling sort of a guy.

These two are my favorite puppies out of the litter (in case you haven’t noticed.) This is a terrible thing, really, because I swore that I would not get attached to them so that it won’t be so hard to let them go when it is time. Why, I even crocheted little necklaces to tell them apart, so we could just call them “Green” and “Red” and “Purple” etc. Not ‘real’ names, just colors. (sigh)

Oh, well, I’ve gone and done it again, I guess. I just have to keep repeating “FOUR DOGS IS ENOUGH…FOUR DOGS IS ENOUGH….!”

Can't ya just smell that puppy breath???

Don is a GRANDPA!

2008-12-28T16:15:00.009-06:00

It seems like only yesterday that little Heidi was destroying our home and tearing me to little shreds with her tiny, razor-sharp teeth. And here we are today, December 28, 2008, and Heidi has little puppies of her own!

It all started at 11:00 this morning, when Don left to take Lorraine to the Emergency Room in Westbrook. Lorraine has been yelping and screaming since yesterday morning, when she mysteriously ‘broke another bone.” This has been happening off and on for about a year now. She never shows any broken bones on an X-ray, her heart is in better condition than teen-agers, and her blood-work is fabulous. However, you would think that she was dying by the sounds of it. Amazing how this happens whenever somebody else in the house is hurting.

Shortly after they left I heard a tiny noise at the foot of the bed, and a licking sound. I have been spending most of my time in bed since Dec 20th, when I injured my back again. I tripped while carrying a bag of Christmas gifts, caught myself before hitting the ground, and smashed what is left of my discs together and crushed the nerve. I am on muscle relaxors and prescription pain meds and don’t get out of bed much. But today, I was up and turning on lights in a hurry.

What I found was Heidi, looking all embarrassed and curled up in a tiny wad in the POMERANIANS TINY BED, while the displaced Pom Sasha stood looking around in amazement and Gretchen stood over a tiny, dark, wriggling mass on the bedroom carpet. Her look of astonishment went from the ‘mass’, to Heidi, and back to the mass again, and said: “NOW look what ya did, ya NINNY!!!” And poor Heidi was trying to turn herself inside out with embarrassment.

So I hauled out several old bed sheets and towels, and got her ‘uncurled’ from the Pomeranian bed and shooed everybody else out of the bedroom, and showed her what to do with the little dark screaming thing. And from that point on, all went quite well. Heidi was due to have her puppies on New Year’s Eve, so she is 3 days early. But that is perfectly normal, as parturition can range 3 or so days either side of the due date.

I had gone up to the cities for an early Christmas at mom’s (see Christmas slideshow, below). I met up with a college chum whom I have kept in contact with. Becky and I used to study together, and spent many Tuesday nights commiserating over Applebee’s "PERFECT" Marguerittas, bemoaning our homework load, teacher’s expectations, and life’s other great tragedies. I don’t know as if we ever solved any imperative problems that way, but we sure had loads of fun, anyhow. So, Becky graduated and works as a Certified Veterinary Technician in Eden Prairie now. She made it to the big time! And I am so proud of you, Beck! And Becky brought us in for an ultrasound and an X-ray to see how many babies there were. The Vet –whose name, by the way, REALLY IS Dr. Doolittle – determined that there would be SEVEN puppies for sure, and possibly EIGHT. Well, as of this minute, there are SEVEN and we have FIVE GIRLS and TWO BOYS. Grandpa is very, very pleased!!! And, BTW, Lorraine is fine as well. She just needed more of those ‘happy pills’ again.

Christmas 2008

2008-12-25T20:01:00.002-06:00

Trenches

2008-12-18T17:54:00.006-06:00

I received an email the other day entitled “Silent Night.” It told of a true story, an event which occurred in 1914 during WWI in “No-Man’s Land” in Germany. This incident has been dubbed "The Christmas Truce of 1914".

In order to improve morale, the German High Command sent out a Christmas tree to every unit. It seemed like such a small thing, this gift of a tree. But this ‘small’ gift inspired the hearts of the German soldiers. When the British and French forces saw the lights of the trees, they thought that an enemy attack was eminent. But this was not to be the case.

In some areas, the Germans came over towards the enemy’s’ side and asked if they would join them in a concert that night, provided that there would be no shooting. The Brits met them halfway, and they shook hands in the middle of the field. In other regiments, the Germans held up signs reading “No Shoot” and began singing Christmas songs. Soon, both sides were swapping Christmas Carols in the cold, starry, night air. And in yet another area, the Brits and Germans engaged in a soccer match in the icy mud of No Man’s Land, after the German’s came out and offered them hand-shakes, drinks, and cigars. In every one of these cases, someone had to be brave, lay aside their differences and make the first move towards Peace.

I started thinking about Don, and the stories he has told me of the trenches during Vietnam during the war over there. His trenches were filled, not with snow and ice, but rats, snakes, and swampy water. But then, I realized that ALL trenches, no matter where you are, are filled with these same things: self-doubt, sorrow, and fear of the unknown. And that some trenches are visible only to those who are entrenched in them.

Yes, we have ALL been in a trench at one time or another during our lifetime. Sometimes, we have needed a helping hand to lift us out. At other times, we have been that ‘helping hand’ for someone else. But no matter where we are in our life’s journey, we must remember that we are NEVER ALONE. At this time of year, we remember The One who came to earth to assure us of that. Our friend and brother, Jesus Christ. He went to the ULTIMATE trench for us when He willingly took our sins and nailed them to the Cross.

We may not be able to personally reach our young men and women in the military who are in real-life trenches this Holiday Season. But we can reach our friends, family, and loved ones who are all around us. There just has to be one brave person, who can lay aside their differances and make the first move towards Peace.

Our wish for you this Christmas is plain and simple: we wish you the PEACE which passes all understanding. No matter which side of the trench you may be on.

Sincerely, Don and Jody

Gretchen's Big Adventure

2008-12-12T14:31:00.007-06:00

I am beginning to wonder about this dog. Seriously. It seems that she is always getting into some sort of snafu or another. And I am afraid that one of these times, it will be her last big adventure.

Gretchen went with Don to the Cities this past week as he was having two more VA appointments, and we both thought that Gretchen would benefit from the change of scenery. Gretchen has been acting very depressed lately, and we can only attribute it to the fact that Heidi is going to have babies, and she is not. When Heidi went into heat awhile back, it triggered a chain reaction in our house that was just wild. First, we had Heidi running around, leaving red splotches everywhere she sat. We brought a red and black (saddle back) AKC male German Shepherd down from the cities, and we kept him for a week while they got ‘married.’ And within two weeks, we had Gretchen doing the same thing. Except, without the same end results. BUT WAIT!!! That’s not all! Little old Sasha, who is 13 years old and who will be 14 on January 28th ALSO went into heat! And she was far worse than the other two, combined! Sasha, who is a tiny Pomeranian, has had two pregnancies in her lifetime. Each pregnancy resulted in the birth of 5, large, healthy puppies, one of which is my little Jeremiah. “Jeremiah is a small dog, he is a good friend of mine….” Well, being the veteran and Grand Dame that she is, Sasha was actually running BACKWARDS up to the other dogs, and drove everyone in the house nuts for almost two weeks! So I told Don, “See, there IS hope for Lorraine, after all!” Lorraine is Don’s 88 year-old aunt who lives with us. (Tee, hee, hee). So anyway, Heidi is preggers, Gretchie is not, and Gretchen is now very, very depressed.

So Don went up to the cities and did the VA thing, all without incident. And then, he made the trip home.

They pulled into the McDonalds at St. Peter shortly before midnight last night. Don put his order in at the squawk box, and in the process or driving forward to pay at the first window for his food, Gretchen reached up with her head, and turned on the passenger-side light on the mirror. Don says that she wanted them to see how pretty she is, probably in order to get a dog biscuit. They get excited at the bank drive-thru also. But this is the first time she has ever turned the light on. So they got up to the window to pick up the food, and the guy waiting on them said “Hey! I’ve got a dog just like that at home!” To which Don replied, “Cool!” And then, Gretchie shut the light off again.

No, just kidding….

Don shut the light off, and they headed down the road. When they got to Mankato, Don’s intent was to stop at Cub food in order to purchase some cooking items for the Christmas baking. When he went to get out of the car, he noticed that his bootlaces were untied. So he hung his feet outside the door and tied one boot, and in the process of tying the 2nd boot, he felt a dog flying over his back from the passenger seat, and into the parking lot. Another customer was just coming out from the store with his cart full of groceries. Gretchen ran over near him. He immediately looked fearful, but Don called out that she is gentle, and would not hurt him. So he assisted Don in trying to catch Gretchen, who was racing all over the parking lot like her typical idiot self, totally ignoring them. Normally, the parking lot at Cub foods in Mankato is totally filled with cars, and the highway going past the store is a very, very busy street. Fortunately, at this time of night it is fairly quiet. Don was not seeing any humor in the situation, as he was trying to figure out just how he was going to explain to me that my dog got creamed in Mankato on the way home. Gretchen then turned around and ran toward the other guy, who was calling her by name. And when she got almost up to him, she raced around the car, and came over towards Don. When she got up close to Don, she darted around him and headed towards Cub Foods. Evidently, she had some shopping to do. She was on a mission. She went up to the entrance door, which opened just as it should. (This evidently is also a “doggie-door” besides being a human door.) She went inside the cart area, grabbed a cart (no, just kidding..) and then went to the inside entrance door, which also automatically opened. And then, Gretchen went inside Cub foods.

Don and the other guy looked at one another and headed into the store after her. Guess what department she headed for? You got it – the MEAT department! She had heard that there was a great sale on beef and pork… So, the other guy got on one side of the aisle, and Don got on the other side, and since she was in the middle of the aisle she had to go towards either one or the other. And she chose to go towards the other guy, who grabbed her leash and gave her back to Don. Meanwhile, there was an employee washing the floor, who was watching this whole event with interest, and laughing.

Don then took the detainee back out to the car, where she immediately sat down in the driver’s seat so that she could pick him up at the door when he was through shopping. NOT!

The proceeding story is all “According to Don” who was witness to the whole event…. And other than the places where we have said “just kidding’ these events are ALL TRUE. Folks, you read it here, first. Meanwhile, Don is taking reservations for those who want to take Gretchen shopping, THE NEXT TIME.

Christmas Decorating!!!

2008-12-01T10:43:00.004-06:00

Ya know, I don't mind helping 'ma' out around the house and stuff, but GEEZ, this is rediculous!!!

Lotza Llamas!

2008-11-24T13:40:00.005-06:00

Hey you guys! Since you are out cruising around on the internet anyway, why not take a look at another link on my page? It belongs to two wonderful people from Heron Lake, just south of us here on Good Shepherd Farm. Bill and Shirley Fisher raise Miniature Llamas, NOT ALPACAS or REGULAR SIZED LLAMAS! Yes! These sweet little creatures are as gentle as little doggies, and they did not even SPIT at me when I played with them! Take a look in my archive section at "Miniature Llama Play Day." These are the folks that I mentioned in that blog. I did a little research about Miniature Llamas, and this is what I found out:

The miniature llama has been developed from various llama bloodlines from Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Peru, Canada and North America. In llamas’ native climate of South America it is believed that small llamas may have been products of surviving harsh natural climates. However, today with the knowledge of genetics it has made the possibility of breeding specifically for size a reality. Some of the most well known herdsires in the llama industry from years past continue on in miniature llama’s genes today.

Miniature llamas were bred from many different small llamas with various types of fiber. Today in the miniature llama industry you will still find minis of all fiber types including suri, light, medium, heavy and silky fiber. Miniature llamas can be found in a rainbow of colors.For the last couple of decades breeders have been selecting for llamas that resemble a standard-size llama in every way, but remain small in size. In 1999, several breeders across the United States decided to come together and form the American Miniature Llama Association (AMLA).

Currently, I am washing and combing some Llama fiber from Bill and Shirley. I hope to be able to spin it and do it some justice! The llama that I am working on is from their "Toby" and it is gray, white, and chestnut. The fiber is so soft, and so beautiful. When I am done with all the Christmas rush, I will try and get it done. AND, I will have pictures of the work in progress on my blog.

I hope that you enjoyed learning about Miature Llamas! They are so cute! And so friendly! Drop in on Bill and Shirley on thier blog! They EVEN HAVE SOME FOR SALE!!!!!

Something To Be Thankful For

2008-11-21T23:31:00.019-06:00

About this time every year, we look around us and note all of the things that we may be thankful for. Our health, our home, food to eat, bills getting paid, clean air to breathe, room to run, the list goes on and on.

But this year, we have even more things to be thankful for. Last Saturday, November 15th, some very good friends came over and helped us with some projects here on the farm.

Friends/neighbors Norm and Connie came over to help out with making wood for the winter…we keep our home warm by supplementing the electric heat by using the wood burner in the basement. Connie donated her wonderful homemade French bread and helped by setting up the food situation in the basement. Meanwhile, Norm helped cut the lengths of wood into more managable pieces and ran the wood splitter. He also helped pile the wood onto the tractor loader and haul it into the basement and stack it.

Norm running the wood splitter.

Norm and Don stacking the wood.

The growing stack in the basement.

Connie sets up the serving table.

Look at that lasagna! JO made it! Read on...

ALSO, Darrell and Harry, both former teachers and coworkers of Don’s, installed the kitchen floor tile. Yes, folks, I am no longer walking on a TAR FLOOR! It has been such a source of embarrassment for me all summer long. And it has been a tiresome task, scouring tar off of all the other floors, washing the floor itself, the chair legs, ripping the chairs up off the floor when they attach themselves, etc. And I need to mention a great big THANKS to Darrel's wife Jo for donating a huge, DELICIOUS pan of lasagna for our dinner. I don't know how she knew, but lasagna is my most favorite food on earth. God bless you, Jo!

Darrell and Harry mix the mortar.

The tar is covered with the cement board, the 'underlayment.'

Darrell and Harry start laying down the tiles.

The finished product: My kitchen floor. I used Mocha colored grout.

Even Gretchie likes the floor!

Aunt Lorraine, age 88 supervised the whole thing!

Yes, this year we have two more things to be thankful for: wood in the wood room and a new floor in the kitchen. But more importantly, we have good friends that we are very thankful for. When you think about the BIG picture, it all boils down to family and friends. For these things, we are very grateful.

What An Exciting Day!

2008-11-08T21:51:00.005-06:00

Today, Saturday November 8, 2008 I discovered that I had a special talent! I spent the entire day – from 10.00 until 5:30 - at a painting class in Windom. The painting we created was a copy of an original by Bob Ross of PBS fame. He had a show called “The Joy of Painting.” He developed a technique called “Wet on Wet” which allows you to complete a painting by adding layers on top of layers, without needing to let the painting dry in between. The painting that we studied today is entitled “Bright Autumn Leaves.”

We had nine people in our class, with ages ranging from a 10th grader (whose work was awesome) all the way up to a lady in her 80’s. Although we all copied the same painting, every completed painting was different from all the others. And they were all very beautiful.

When we completed our paintings, the teacher pulled out a box of beautiful frames. They were all different colors. And she would match a frame to every one’s work, which would actually pull you right into that painting. When I saw my picture up on her easel in that special frame, I almost cried! I could not believe that it was mine!

The teacher told everyone that I had not painted since 10th grade, and everyone applauded. I was so pleased with my painting. And the teacher hugged me and said I gave her GOOSEBUMPS because she loved my excitement over my work. I like her so much and I will take other classes from her. We have one coming up in January!
But, in the meantime, THIS painting is TOP SECRET. Because… It is Don’s Christmas present. I told ya I was making all my presents this year!!!

Claire and Matilda

2008-11-04T10:02:00.009-06:00

I want to introduce you to two of my very close friends, Claire and Matilda.

Matilda Ashford came to live with us earlier this year. I just call her Waltzing Matilda.

She was born in New Zealand. Actually, her family was created in Christchurch New Zealand, and she is made out of New Zealand Silver Birch hardwood. Her family history dates back to 1938 and a man named Walter Ashford. She is my Traveller Single Drive Classic Castle Spinning Wheel. One of her unique features is called the Scotch Tension Flyer, which is an idea that Walter came up with. This allows her drive-belt to be left on her flyer whorl whenever her bobbin needs to be changed. She folds down with ease, allowing her to be placed in a vehicle and carted off to a friends house, where one can spend a lovely winter’s afternoon sipping Earl Grey and spinning away. Matilda and I have had great difficulty learning how to dance together properly, but I think that I am finally catching on. She has been patient with me: at least, she doesn’t yell at me when I mess up!

And this is my newest friend, Claire. Claire d’ Loom. ;)

Her maiden name was Claire Leclerc. Her family history dates back to 1876 and a man named Nilus Leclerc. She was created in I’ Islet, Quebec, Canada. The modern loom which may be used in individual homes (vs. a factory) was designed in 1924. Claire’s family line was created in 1936. She is crafted of kiln dried, Hard Maple (Canada-go figure!). She is a tabletop model. So far, she is a TV-tray top model, but as soon as I get the card table up here, she will be sort-of a tabletop model at last.

Claire is helping me make my Christmas presents this year. She and I have gotten to know one another quite week over this past week, thanks to my friend, Connie. I will have to check with Connie’s mother, but I believe that Connie may have been born with a spinning wheel in one hand, and a loom in the other. Probably had a bunch of handspun wool outfits and blankets, as well!

When Claire, Matilda, and I perfect our skills, we will show you some of our craftsmanship. But for now, everything is ‘under wraps’ ‘till Christmas. Shhhh!

The New Shed

2008-10-30T21:20:00.021-05:00

The new shed is nearly finished. All that it needs now is: the roof cap to be completed, the electrical work done, and the large, overhead doors to be installed. The cement work in the shop/garage is finished, and Don is already making plans as to what tool goes where. I know that he will like his workshop once he has things in place and he can actually work in there.

This empty space is where the shed is now.

Holy Cow! Is it Noah's Ark?

Yes! I think it is Noah's Ark! It even looks like it from the inside!!!

Taken near the barn, facing the shed. This is where the tractor and Don's vast assortment of vehicles will drive in.

Taken from the back of the house, looking directly at Don's workshop/garage. This picture was taken before the cement was poured.

Don's workshop floor being poured.

Every crew that has come out to our place to work on this shed has been simply amazing. From the truck driver who delivered the rafters, to the 3 guys who built the frame and screwed in all those hundreds of screws, to the cement crew...they have all been courteous, very efficient with their time...I cannot say enough about them. And I do think that Don agrees. Both of us would highly recommend RAM BUILDERS for your next building project. They are THE BEST that money can buy!

The Fugitive

2008-10-15T12:31:00.021-05:00

Look closely at this face, folks. It might be the next one you see on a milk carton.

This dangerous criminal escaped imprisonment a few days ago, along with her ‘sister', Heidi. After 3 ½ hours of searching in vain and visiting all the neighbors in a 4-mile radius. a neighbor called and said that the two culprits were spotted cavorting on the highway 3 ½ miles south of the farm. I got in my truck and raced down there, and sure enough, they were play fighting in the middle of the highway, while trucks slammed on their brakes and went around them. They were oblivious to the fact that they may well have been creamed. Since creamed German Shepherd is not on the future menu around here, we have felt it best that we invest in a shock collar to put a little fear of God into the both of them. As a matter of fact, last week when they got loose they ran over to the Amo church and were discovered playing in the empty parking lot. Apparently, they did not get religion that time, either. Hence, the needed shock-treatment.

Who, me? You talkin' bout ME? I'm INNOCENT, I swear to you!

This dangerous criminal (aka: Gretchen) has also been known to eat toilet seats.

My friends, THIS is what guilt really looks like.

Keep on the lookout for future sightings of this detainee She may be seen in a neighborhood near you. Hopefully not!

*Truthfully, I will not enjoy using the collar on my baby, but it is a last resort and it may be a means of saving her life in the long run. This time, the Sheriff was involved. Thankfully, he was nice about it. She becomes 'deaf' when she bolts out the door, and is gone down the highway in a flash. I will try to show her the boundries of the yard (again), and what can and will happen if/when she runs out of bounds again. :(

This n' That

2008-10-12T17:37:00.010-05:00

Well, it certainly has been a long time since I was able to add to my blog! I have been having a GIANT hassle with my Sony Cyber-shot camera, and it has taken since August 27th to get it all figured out. I sent it to Sony twice, and the ‘repairs’ cost me $91.00, which I do not have (to spend in that manner). My bff Connie reformatted my memory-stick on her computer. And it still did not work, so I brought it over here to my computer and reformatted it –two more times- and the camera still said the stick was ‘corrupted.’ Hmmm. Well, after fighting with Sony and Precision Camera Repair all this time, I got on the Sony website, and read the instruction booklet (which I do not physically own) online and figured out how to format my memory stick by using the camera, itself. And Viola! The stupid thing now works! Now, I DID do all of this before sending it in the first time, so I am inclined to believe that there really was a circuit board problem initially, as I hate to think that my $91.00 and my precious time were in vain. So if you ever hear of anyone having an Error C:13:01 on their Sony camera, have them call me FIRST, before they go and send the thing out to Sony!

Meanwhile, our shed is finally going up! Hooray, hooray. I might actually be able to stop paying all that money on storage up in Shakopee! I am sure that they will miss me over at Canterbury Storage. They know my credit number by heart, bless them anyway. The shed will be 40x112. Here is what has been done, so far.

Last week, I took some Community Ed. Classes in Windom. I am learning the Norwegian art of Rosemalling. It is very intricate, precise, and time consuming. And frustrating. The idea is to load only half of your teeny tiny paintbrush, and allow other colors to gently blend in, allowing them to be somewhat opaque. If I am ever able to grasp the control of my loading and my brush movements, it should be more pleasurable. Right now, it is something akin to plucking the leg-hairs off a gnat.

And then my bff Connie was roped into teaching a mitten-knitting class, so I felt sorry for her and went along. :) She was teaching the 4-needle knitting technique, which ends up every once in awhile using 5 knitting needles all at the same time. Connie, why isn’t it called 5-needle knitting???

So that’s it for now. I will send more pictures of the shed as it is being built over this next week. They tell me that the roof will be on by Tuesday!!!

Miniature Llama Play-Day

2008-09-28T18:10:00.018-05:00

Last Saturday (the 27th) my friend Connie invited me to a farm near Windom to help demonstrate weaving while she wowed the crowd with her marvelous job of spinning llama fiber on her beautiful, double-treadle spinning wheel. I think that her theory was “If Jody can do it (weave), then anybody can do it!” I enjoyed the weaving very much. Connie brought her little two harness loom, already strung with the white and brown ‘warp’ threads. My ‘weft’ threads were brown, and the design was quite bonny, indeed! Poor Connie! She has the patience of a saint, I swear to you. But I only broke the loom one time, and my table runner actually was beginning to look pretty decent towards the end of the day.

But the day was not all spinning and weaving. I got to spend quite a bit of time with the miniature llamas and ‘their people.’ Wow, are they ever cool! They have the most beautiful, enormous eyes with long lashes, and their little llama lips are just so kissable! And besides falling in love with them, I learned a lot of llama facts. Did you know: that llamas are pregnant for 11 ½ months and they only have one baby (while standing up!?) They ‘hum’ as a means of communication, they can be used as pack animals, they make great guard animals, they can live up to 15-20 years. And (last but not least) their fiber may be used for spinning and weaving. It is incredibly soft, and it does not itch at all!

And no, I did not get spit on, but I did hear one of them ‘hum!’ I got to lead one of them around through a small obstacle course, and pet many of them. I even got to feed a beautiful appaloosa stud a cob of corn. Take a look at the pictures of the Miniature Llama Play-Day, taken by Connie. I was so absorbed the whole time that I did not even know that she was taking pictures! Thanks again, Connie, for a fabulous, fun day!

Hey everybody! Look! I'm actually 'looming!"

Doesn't Connie take amazing pictures? Take a look at everything going on in this next photo: I am kneeling on the ground in front of a miniature llama, getting a lesson in 'llama raising' from Bill (owner and breeder of award-winning miniature llamas); other people are leading llamas through the obstacle courses; Bill's wife is taking a picture of Laura, owner of the 'kushing' (kneeling) llama in front of me; and in the background is the beautiful cornfield, a grain storage bin, and the wonderful blue sky that shone above us all day. What a perfect fall day in southern Minnesota!

And here is the most beautiful male llama of the day, as far as I am concerned. Look at his little spotted legs! He is the stud of this farm. Can you just imagine what it would be like to take that (shaved), spotted fiber, and spin it into naturally colored buff- and brown- yarn? How cool is that???

FOOT NOTE: I just looked at friend Connie's blog (Ash Lane Farm, at the top of this page on the left) and she is showing a picture of the little table runner that I made on Saturday!!! I was amazed that it took such a small amount of time to do it, and yet I accomplished so much. I feel like I spent most of the day goofing off with the minature llamas! Weaving on the loom goes very quickly. One could whip out a rug, or a table runner, or a set of place mats in a day. The part that takes the longest amount of time is putting on the warp threads. I am keeping my fingers crossed until 2:00 today, as I am so hooked on weaving (I prefer to call it looming!) that I bid on a loom on ebay, and I am the only one that has bid, so far!

Oh, well (Again)

2008-09-16T13:43:00.007-05:00

Life on the farm, it seems, is not always the way that we expect it should be. Especially when it comes to life, itself.

We woke up Monday morning to find that our wonderful tame chickens, Ruby, Tuesday, and Friday, were missing. Upon further investigation, we also found that two of our half-grown Guinea keets were gone, as well as my best friend’s brooder hen – the one that has hatched and raised all the little baby Guineas.

We found a pile of buff-colored feathers (that would be Connie and Norm’s Buff Orphington, the momma hen) and a pile of Guinea feathers. But after searching hi and lo all day long, and calling periodically for the chickens, we found no ‘bodies’ to go with the feathers. It remains a mystery as to what happened to my beloved chicken-pets. Lord, how I miss them! I picked beans yesterday, all by myself. I didn’t have the hens pecking at my clothing and remarking oooh! and ahhh! over the bugs that I stirred up amongst the plants. We worked together as a team, those chickens and I. And I loved them! Who would a’ thunk it; me falling in love with those chickens?! Especially knowing that, when their time was up, they would end up in a bubbling pot, surrounded by homemade egg noodles! Yes, I am very sad about the disappearance of the chickens.

After conferring and commiserating with Connie, we have decided that the most logical explanation is that the family of fox that live just down the road from us made a midnight raid on the hen house. Though, how they got my beloved pets and not those worthless, white, non-laying Leghorns is beyond me! That would explain how all of the chickens would disappear all at once, and the bodies could not be found. If it were an owl or a hawk, there would come up missing only one at a time.

I will not buy any more chickens this year. Winter is sneaking up on us, and I should just wait until spring when I can start out with new little baby fuzzy chicks. I am leaning towards the Buff Orphingtons, but I may settle for those Gold Stars again. They are the friendliest chickens I have ever had, ever. If I get them in the spring, they can grow big over the summer (if nothing eats them, that is) and they would start laying in the fall. Meanwhile, Connie has said that I can get some of those wonderful blue and green Americauna eggs from her.

And, my thumb is slowly recovering. I will take the stitches out either tomorrow (Wednesday) or the next day. I keep getting these little ‘electric shocks’ when I accidentally bend it, so I am trying to keep holding it straight all the time. It is hard, but once you have experienced those ‘shock’ things, you just learn really fast how to do it. I believe that it may be because the nerve was severed. It should heal, over time. And I guess my heart will heal, too. But none of us will ever forget those funny, friendly chickens; our very first chickens on GOOD SHEPHERD farm. They were truly 'one of a kind.'

'Ruby' and 'Tuesday,' working hard on the farm

'Friday' looking pretty for the picture

Oh, Well

2008-09-09T10:47:00.003-05:00

I got a new paring knife, as mine were so dull that you could slide to China and back and never suffer a scratch. Remember that little poem that says: "Monday's child is fair of face, Tuesday's child is full of grace..." Well, that is just WRONG!!!! I was born on Tuesday. And I have been known to walk down hallways, get my feet tangled up around my neck, and fall flat on my face. Yes, just ask my mother, it's true.

Well, last night I managed to attempt chopping an onion with my new paring knife, and severed an artery in my thumb and sliced a nerve. Except, for slicing a nerve, the darned thing sure hurts this morning! So, I probably won't be writing in the blog for awhile . The stitches come out in 7-10 days, and maybe after that happens I will write more. I am keying with my right hand and the going is very slow. I have taken a Tylenol for pain, and will go and lie down again. Enjoy this day...the sun is shining, there is no wind, and the excavation guy is here digging up the spot for the new shed to be built (thank you, Lord, for small favors).

Holy Tomato

2008-09-03T23:21:00.019-05:00

I cleaned house all day yesterday. Washed 8 loads of clothes, washed floors, vacuumed, changed bedding, yada yada yada. All those things you do after company leaves you know the drill. Then, I went out to the garden. And that was my mistake.

I thought that I had spied a few red tomatoes when looking out from the bathroom window. I hadn’t been in the garden for 3 days, so I should have known better. What I found was: hoards and hoards of red, ripe tomatoes. Now, let us get this straight first and foremost: I am very grateful for the bountiful garden this year. It is by far the best garden I have ever grown. But I was quite unprepared for the first BIG picking of the year.

We have only 8 tomato plants. We bought one of those little 4-packs, and each little tray had 2 dinky little tomato plants in it. They looked sickly. I caught some carp down at the waterfall in Windom and brought them home. I dug 8 holes for the tomatoes, placing a carp deep in each hole. I planted the little plants, and watered them. I placed a cutout plastic milk carton over each one. Then I did my customary prayer over each individual plant. Well, whatever it was, it must have worked. One tomato plant gave me 40 enormous red, ripe tomatoes. Another plant gave me 32, and yet another gave me 30. In all, I picked 222 huge Beefsteak tomatoes, lugged them in boxes to the trunk of the Toyota, drove them back to the house and then lugged them inside. HOLY COW! They were sure beautiful! No cracks, no rotten spots. Just red, round, firm, HUGE tomatoes. I was so psyched!

Today, I made 6-1/2 gallons of spaghetti sauce. I only used up a little less than half of the tomatoes! I will try and get up early tomorrow and finish the others. I should end up with over 12 gallons of spaghetti sauce and a few more packages of whole tomatoes. Then, I can sit back and relax...

For 3 more days!!!

A sink full of tomatoes

A double batch of spaghetti sauce cooking on the stove

Finished spaghetti sauce cooling, and one of the three boxes of tomatoes

Look at the size of these Beefsteak Tomatoes!

Labor Day

2008-09-02T12:15:00.026-05:00

I looked up Labor Day on Google, and clicked on the Wikipedia site. (I love Wikipedia!) For those who do not know the history of Labor Day, here is the (condensed) story:

"Labor Day is a US holiday observed on the first Monday in September. The holiday originated in 1882 as the Central Labor Union (of New York City) sought to create "a day off for the working citizens". Congress made Labor Day a federal holiday on June 28, 1894, two months after the May Day Riots of 1894. All fifty states have made Labor Day a state holiday.

Traditionally, Labor Day is celebrated by most Americans as the symbolic end of the summer. Today, Labor Day is often regarded as a day of rest and parades. although events held by labor organizations often feature political themes and appearances by candidates for office, especially in election years. Forms of celebration include picnics, barbecues, fireworks displays, water sports, and public art events. Families with school-age children take it as the last chance to travel before the end of summer." (Wikipedia)

THIS Labor day was extra-special for me, as my family came down to the farm to spend the long weekend. My mother, my brother, and his girlfriend, Diane spent their time visiting, eating, fishing, eating, having an enormous bonfire, helping out around the farm, resting, and eating. A marvelous time was had by all, and it was especially exciting to get to know Diane, the newest member of the group. She works with Tim at the hospital, and she is an incredibly sweet person. I look forward to seeing her again, soon. Here are some pictures of this past weekend:

My "Leetle Brother" and I

Tim and his girlfriend, Diane. They appear to be looking at mother.

I think that Mom is having a good time!

Yes, she definitely is having fun! We ended up coming home with 64 bullheads and 4 sunfish. Wow, did it take a long time to clean all those fish!!!

Typical family shot, for us! (Tim is eating the fish, mother is groaning...)

Our hu-normous bonfire! (Don in the foreground)

We each planted our own tree, in honor of the event.

We each planted a Crab Apple tree which will bear mounds of beautiful red flowers each spring. What a wonderful way to remember our special Labor Day weekend!

Everyone Is Hurting!

2008-08-24T13:43:00.013-05:00

It has been quite a trying week here at Good Shepherd Farm.We got up late yesterday morning because we had entered a Karaoke contest the night before, in Tracy. I was in place for 3rd, because of singing in a previous qualifying round. But there were REALLY AWESOME singers there, and I did not make the cut. That is fine with me, because we had a great time listening to the singers and visiting with friends Blanche and Paulette. Aunt Lorraine came along as well, thus getting her out of the house for a while. Lorraine fell last Monday night and got hurt. Lorraine just turned 88 years old this past week. She was coming out of the bathroom and she got her foot hooked in the hallway runner rug and down she went. Her leg and pelvis is hurting her pretty bad, and I am afraid that she cracked something again. So, there will be a trip to the doctor for Lorraine this coming week!!!Anyway, when we finally crawled out of bed yesterday, Don decided that we were going to move some of those big round hay bales to another place here on the farm. They weigh about 1,000 pounds each. My job is to stand behind the bale as he is lifting it with the bucket on the tractor (it is Arnie’s big tractor, and it does not have forks). I get my back up against the bale and push with all my might so that the bale does not just roll out and bounce ahead of the bucket, thus causing us to starting all over again. Well, it is really hard on my back. I have 2-ruptured discs, and 1 or 2 that are bulging. I have deteriorating discs in my back and I am limited as to what I can do. So, during this whole operation, Don got one bale started up in the bucket and it was in such an awkward place that the bale came out and started rolling and pushing me to the ground. When I landed, I was half-twisted and flipped over and started to “belly- crawl” as fast as I could. The bale did miss me (praise the Lord) except for my left leg, which I managed to pull out while crawling. But I lost my shoes in the process and twisted my back pretty bad. Didn’t find the shoes ‘till later on near evening. After this incident, I decided to go off and pick a bushel of tomatoes and YET ANOTHER bunch of summer squash. We will go no further on that subject, thank you!Towards evening Don took the borrowed tractor back to Arnie’s house and I followed him in the Toyota so I could bring him home again. We were sitting in the living room visiting and watching the Vikings on television (they eventually lost – as usual), and Don looked out the window and exclaimed, “The neighbors steer is in your yard, right by the bay window!” I thought he was just joking, and stood up and- holy cow! - There stood the largest bovine I have ever seen in my life! I swear it to you! He was huge and RED, and had little horn buds on his enormous head.I still do not know why, but for some reason I got up and ran outside, and and started calling to him and talking to him. Well, he threw up his head, and started running at me! And I tore around the Toyota and got inside and slammed the door, just as he made it around the car - and started licking my window.Weird! I thought, and rolled my window down a little bit. He stuck his tongue in the window and uncoiled it, and tried to lick me. “Well” I thought, “he’s kinda friendly after all.” So I rolled the window down some more and petted him. He seemed to really like that and put his head down further so I could scratch his head. So then I decided that maybe he would follow me if I started up the car and backed out the driveway and tried to ‘lead’ him back home again. ‘Home’ was down to the corner, and just down the next road to the right, maybe ¼ of a mile away.So I backed out and started heading out the driveway, and ‘Big Red’ thought this was a real fun game and started sort of bucking and bouncing around, and then he got behind the Toyota and started PUSHING ME DOWN THE ROAD!Holy Cow!After a few false starts, and Arnie and Don getting in Arnie's pickup and driving ahead of me, we managed to lead ‘Red’ home again. Then the fun started. He did not want to go back to his pen, and Don went over beside the pen and started calling to him. But (as we find out later) ‘Red’ thinks that he is a great big dog, and he decided at this point that he wanted to ‘play’ with Don in order to avoid going into his pen. He went over to Don and he started out by pushing Don against the fence with his head, but suddenly, he started ramming him. And he rammed Don right down into the ground. (Later, Don stated that he thought that his life was over at that point.) I was parking the Toyota, and jumping out and running towards him. And then, everything started happening in slow motion. I just could not get my legs going fast enough. I noted that Arnie was blowing the horn on his pickup and charging that Chevy right towards the beast. Don was pulling himself up on the bars of the pen, and trying to lift himself, only to be bashed into the ground again. The beast was still pummeling him, but strangely enough, backed off for a few seconds. Don managed to take that opportunity to pull himself upright, and make another attempt to pull himself up the fence. He started pulling his legs up in order to climb the fence (sometimes he cannot lift his legs, due to his paralysis – he has to manually ‘lift them’ with his hands) and he got halfway up and the steer again rammed his head into Don’s legs, crushing them and pinning him against the fence. By this time I had managed to reach them and started screaming at the beast and charging towards him. And Don was screaming, “Stay away! Stay away!” And I climbed the fence and started swatting at the steer’s head and continued yelling, and finally he allowed Don to climb up the fence and get over to the backside where I was.Meanwhile, Arnie's wife had called the owner of the steer on his cell phone, and after an eternity (after maybe 40 minutes of trying to convince ‘Red’ to go back into his pen) the owner, Barry, arrived. It took him awhile to get Big Red – actually, his name is CHESTER – back into his pen, and then we all talked for a while before everyone left to go home. It turns out that CHESTER weighs in the neighborhood of 2,500 pounds. Last time he was weighed, he was 'only' 2,250, but he has ‘grown’ since then.We got home, I pulled Don’s pants, socks, and t-shirt off and got his pajama tops on, and stuck an ice bag against his leg, gave him a Vicodin and a muscle relaxer and some warm supper, and went outside and cried for awhile. And then, I took a muscle relaxer too, for my own back. Don fell asleep in the recliner. And this morning (it is after 11:30) he is still sleeping peacefully. I would well imagine that he will be very sore today. Last night he told me that he once rolled a truck 1-½ times, and he felt like it had happened all over again. I am sorry that I do not have a picture of Chester at this time, but I will include one in a future post. He is truly the largest steer that I have ever seen in my life. And I thank GOD that Don managed to live throughout the whole ordeal. He seems to have more than nine lives. I just hope that, one of these days, his luck does not run out. So keep praying for Don – he really seems to need it.

Letter To The Dog

2008-08-15T15:48:00.007-05:00

I have some wonderful friends in Wisconsin. I did not meet them here in the United States: I met them in London while we were doing a tour of England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland. What a wonderful trip! And I have been blessed to meet such wonderful friends!

Laurel seems to share my twisted sense of humor over certain things, one of them being our pets. Here is a 'letter' that she sent to me this morning. It is so cute and shares my sentiments exactly, so I wanted to share it with all of you:

TAPE THIS LOW ON THE REFRIGERATOR DOOR

Dear Dogs,

The dishes with the paw print are yours and contain your food. The other dishes are mine and contain my food. Please note, placing a paw print in the middle of my plate and food does not stake a claim for it becoming your food and dish, nor do I find that aesthetically pleasing in the slightest.

The stairway was not designed by NASCAR and is not a racetrack. Beating me to the bottom is not the object. Tripping me doesn't help because I fall faster than you can run.

I cannot buy anything bigger than a king sized bed. I am very sorry about this. Do not think I will continue sleeping on the couch to ensure your comfort. Dogs can actually curl up in a ball when they sleep. It is not necessary to sleep perpendicular to each other stretched out to the fullest extent possible. I also know that sticking tails straight out and having tongues hanging out the other end to maximize space is nothing but sarcasm!

For the last time, there is not a secret exit from the bathroom. If by some miracle I beat you there and manage to get the door shut, it is not necessary to claw, whine, bark, try to turn the knob or get your paw under the edge and try to pull the door open. I must exit through the same door I entered. Also, I have been using the bathroom for years -- canine attendance is not required.

The proper order is kiss me, then go smell the other dog’s butt. Rather than the other way around. I cannot stress this enough!

To pacify you, my dear pets, I have posted the following message on our front door:

To All Non-Pet Owners Who Visit & Like to Complain About Our Pets:
1. They live here. You don't.

2. If you don't want their hair on your clothes, stay off the furniture. (That's why they call it 'fur'niture.)

3. I like my pets a lot better than I like most people.

4. To you, it's an animal. To me, he/she is an adopted son/daughter who is short, hairy, walks on all fours and doesn't speak clearly.

Remember: In many ways, dogs are better than kids because they:

1. Eat less

2. Don't ask for money all the time

3. Are easier to train

4. Normally come when called

5. Never ask to drive the car

6. Don't hang out with drug-using friends

7. Don't smoke or drink

8. Don't have to buy the latest fashions

9. Don't want to wear your clothes

10. Don't need a 'gazillion' dollars for college

And finally,

11. If they get pregnant, you can sell their children.

Sasha and Jeremiah, 'looking pretty' on mom's couch at Christmas time.

It Will Never Be Quite The Same

2008-08-12T17:57:00.013-05:00

As many of you know, the Minnesota Renaissance Festival is an event that I attend each and every year. I have been attending since the mid-seventies, and in that time, I have only missed 2 years. Ren Fest is in my blood - it is a part of me. I have worked there, and loved every minute. It is my own personal "Brigadoon." It appears for only a short time every year (August thru Sept, 7 weekends, including Labor Day), and then disappears again... vanishes, into the mist. And the very first show that I attend, each and every year, is the comedy duo of 'Puke and Snot.' Today – August 12, 2008 – I received some very sad news. Yesterday, Monday August 11, 2008, 'Snot' (aka: Joe Kudla, of northeast Minneapolis) apparently died of a heart attack while at home. He was 57 years old. Ren Fest begins the 2008 season this coming Saturday.

I have been watching Puke and Snot since the mid-seventies. I can remember watching their show when Hubert Humphrey was touring the Ren Fest grounds. My brother shook Senator Humphrey’s hand! Every year, for over 30 years, I sat in the stands watching as some lucky lady received “the rose” during their show. But three years ago, I was the one that got that rose! I have carefully dried it, and that rose will go into my casket with me when I die. I made my family swear to it!! It was a most memorable day, one that I will never forget as long as I live. (I might add here that my daughter went to see the show all by herself one year, and she got that rose on her very first try!!! Brat! ;)

I will take my mother to the Renaissance Festival again this year, along with my daughter and my very good friend, Kenny Schmitt. He may be what some folks call 'handicapped,' but he is a lot smarter than many people I know that supposedly are 'normal.' And the four of us will go to all the familiar booths for all the familiar food (spinach pie, oh! to die for!!) and all the familiar items. But it will never be quite the same, without the familiar face of one of the funniest men we've ever known.

Thanks for all the good memories, dear friend...May you rest in peace.

Mom, me, and Melissa, 2007 MN Renaissance Festival

Joe Kudla as his character 'Snot' onstage, 2007 (White shirt)

Mom, Melissa, Kenny, Dan (Don's son), and Don

Kenny and the Scottish tortoise

Mom and Kenny beneath an archway of branches. I want to make one of these!

Summer Squash!

2008-08-10T22:31:00.002-05:00

I have just one thing to say.......

FINALLY!

2008-08-08T17:49:00.020-05:00

Don has finally chosen a building design, and signed on the little dotted line. The building should begin in about 4 weeks, if everything falls into place.

We are putting up a 40 x 112 storage shed. The workshop will be insulated, and the shed will have 3 service doors and 2 rollup doors. We need a building this size, because (in case you have not yet met him) Don is what you call a hoarder. He hates to throw anything away. Seriously. His most famous phrase is: “ I could possibly incorporate that into a metal sculpture.” And so, it gets saved. In yet another pile, someplace. You see, he does metal sculpture with a welder and scraps of metal. Sometimes he adds braise - his work is beautiful. He is a retired Industrial Arts teacher, and has taken up the sculpting as a hobby. Last year, he won 2nd prize at the VA Hospital in Minneapolis... in his very first time in a contest! I was so happy for him! Once we get settled, we will offer his sculptures for sale at various craft fairs nearby.

We were fortunate enough to meet a highly capable young man while attending Amo Lutheran church, just ¼ mile away. His name is Kody (I so much like his name :) and he is 13 years old. He is so capable and strong that he is able to load the bucket on the tractor with very heavy rocks, and then drive the tractor across the barnyard and dump the rocks into the rock pile! He is so careful when he drives, so as to not run over those crazy chickens who try so hard to help him as he works.

Meanwhile, the flowers that I planted just this spring are happily blooming. Everything at the farm is at its peak now, just about ready to BURST due to its fullness. The corn, the blooms in the gardens, even the grass. I saw a few fallen leaves from the Cottonwoods today. Summer looks – and feels – like it is starting to wind down. It makes me a little sad. I love summer so much! But, like everything else in life, we enjoy it while we can. And then, move on.

It's A Boy!

2008-08-06T20:43:00.014-05:00

Holy Cow!! Did we ever have exciting news when we got home from shopping in Windom today. We drove into the barnyard, and THERE HE WAS! Right alongside his momma, already dried, standing, and walking, was this teeny-tiny little baby yak!

Momma (aka: Starlight) let us come right up and stand and watch. He walked all around his mom, and ate his lunch, and then laid down right underneath her and took a little nap. Don called momma into the pen to have some pellets and a long drink of water, and then - after locking the gate! - we went over to inspect the little guy. And at that point we found out that he was actually a little boy. Don was hoping so badly for a little girl, but, as you can see, he is delighted with his little boy:

Here are more pictures of our 35-pound miracle:

Have you noticed something odd about the shape of the spot on his little forehead?

Remember when we had a Red Dawn this morning? It really did act like it was going to be stormy for awhile, but no bad weather actually happened. Just a little wind, and some gorgeous clouds. You know, I have never been to Hawaii, and I hear the sunsets are beautiful there…but I don’t see how any sunsets can compare to the ones that we have out here on the prairie. I’ll share with you tonight’s sunset:

The view from our front steps of the Amo Lutheran Church just down the road. See the rainbow next to the church? Cool, huh?!!

We hope that you have a wonderful day tomorrow. Blessings to you all….

…from Good Shepherd Farm!

Red Dawn

2008-08-06T10:48:00.010-05:00

This morning at 6:05, I looked out the window and saw the most beautiful sunrise! I ran out next to the dog run, and took a picture of the sky. I thought that “red sky in the morning” meant it was supposed to be a stormy day, but the weather forecast is for sunny and clear. We’ll just have to wait and see, I guess

Only a few things of interest to report today, but this one is so exciting! On Monday morning, we had the Rainsoft Reverse-Osmosis water purifier refurbished. The man, all the way from Spirit Lake, IA, replaced a cracked canister, all the filters, some hoses, and I had to buy a new faucet as well. All in all, the bill was a little over $300.00, but that is OK, because the unit itself is $1,590.00 new. And it came with the house!!!! And it is guaranteed forever. Now that it is registered to us, we will get free parts, and if we die and the kids buy the house, they get free parts forever, and so on. It is SOOOOO nice being able to drink reverse-osmosis water from my own faucet! My dear friends Connie and Norm (see her blog on the right-hand column of this page-cpthegreat) have been supplying me since April, and I am most grateful for their generosity. Thanks, Connie!

Speaking of Connie, I also need to say a great big THANK YOU for helping me set up my blog. Connie is a computer wizard. She is one of those people that need to drive around town in a little black and white Volkswagen with “Geek-Squad” written on the side. When I rave about her computer prowess, she contradicts with “Someone once taught me! I had to learn once, too!!” But learning, and retaining, and being able to teach are three different things, my dear friend! And so I publicly and officially THANK YOU for being so kind as to share with me!

Also, I purchased a yearling Boer buck goat on Saturday. He was just one year old in July. He is an absolute sweetheart! They called him “Little Billy,” but since we already have a Billy, I want to change his name. I have not thought of anything yet. Have any suggestions?? If so, write them in the comments for this page!

We had fried green tomatoes for dinner – Lord, have MERCY! I thought I had died and gone to heaven! Oh, how I love fried green tomatoes!!!

Don and I had a wonderful bonfire last night. The stars were out as well, and you even could see the Milky Way. Lovely!

Y'all have a wonderful day!

This Year's Garden

2008-08-05T14:38:00.006-05:00

I don’t know the real cause behind the growth of this year’s garden: could be all the weeding I have done, or the few times I have watered during the few dry periods. Could be the prayers I say over each plant just as I put it into the ground. But whatever the reason, I hope we can duplicate it next year. This has truly been the most phenomenal garden I have ever grown. Now, I am 51 years of age, and I have been gardening since I was 19 years old, so… that is 32 summers of gardening! Holy cow, that should be grounds for some sort of worthy notice!!! Well to tell you the truth, Don has been tilling in some very old pig-pooh from a pile that has been sitting out near the grove for at least 5–10 years, as well as some cow-pooh that has been in the barnyard for about the same length of time. He has kept on adding pooh twice yearly, as well as tilling every few months for the past two years. This has kept the weeds tilled under and the pooh turned over and over. So, by the time we planted the garden seeds this spring the soil was well worked up and wonderfully fine, crumbly, and fertile. That man is a master gardener if there ever was one!

We promised both the kids and one another that we would “CUT DOWN” on the garden size this year. We have worked far too hard on the gardens the last few years and gotten little else done. So, with that in mind, we purchased only 4 teeny-tiny tomato plants in a little tiny 4-pack. Problem is, there were two tomatoes in each little square, and so we ended up with 8 tomato plants. OK. So here I am, standing next to ONE (mind you) tomato plant…

It nearly comes up to my shoulders! Now, multiply this times 8!!!

And that is not the end of it! Here is just one small section of what each and every tomato plant is producing:

I don’t know how many bushels I am looking at for canning, here, but I have a feeling that it is going to be unreal. It is just amazing what a little crap will do. Speaking of crap, Don is giving me crap all the time anyway. Why, just the other day I was checking out the corn, and I found this staring back at me:

Scary!

This is broomcorn:

These are squash and pumpkins:

And the darned summer squash and zucchini have gone crazy…

So much for "CUTTING DOWN!!!" If anybody wants anything from the garden, please, PLEASE feel most free to come on down and partake of the garden’s abundance! And if you do, you may want to lock your car doors upon your arrival… otherwise, you might return home just to find a trunk or back seat full of zucchini and summer squash!!

(Year-old raspberries, and broom corn)

Here’s hoping you’ll have a great day!

Those Crazy Chickens

2008-08-03T15:42:00.008-05:00

I don’t know what to think anymore about those chickens.

I have always known that my animals are weird. From cows that let me ride them, to dogs that understand what I am telling them without having to utter a word, to sheep that run into the house and leap on a specific chair and ask to be fed…you name it, they are weird. And the chickens fit right into that category. Our Gold Stars run right up to you and ask to be picked up or petted. They enjoy being carried around, and ride ‘shotgun’ on the four-wheeler. They peck at your shoes, and fly up on your shoulders for a ride.

We have a total of five hens. Three Gold-Stars, and two Leghorns. The Leghorns are getting to be over a year old now, and their production days are over. I have not seen a white egg in over a month. This past Friday night I went into the hen house to collect the eggs. I found only the brown variety. I looked at the two Leghorns sitting on the roost, and asked, “Has either one of you ever heard of dumplings?” One of them issued a very loud “ba-GOCK!!!!” And flew down off the roost and tore out the door. I just laughed.

Well now the Gold Stars have started acting weird, in the egg-laying department. I don’t know if this all has to do with the hot, muggy weather, or they all think this is just one big, happy joke…

On Saturday night I went in to gather eggs and shut the chickens in for the night, and when I reached into the nest box I found a surprise waiting for me…

A regular sized egg, and an “Eggus humongous”

And right beside the Eggus humongus was this:

Is it their idea of a JOKE???

Even Don is astonished.

My friend Connie has Americana’s. They are the rainbow-colored egg layers. She gave me some of her fertilized eggs (totaling eighteen) to put in our new incubator, and I added eleven Guinea eggs as well. Yes, I know. I AM a glutton for punishment. I am hoping that they are mostly all females. Enough of that “Kung-Fu” crapola…

Well, I hope that you all have enjoyed the weekend and are refreshed and ready for the week ahead. Here on the farm, it will be more mowing, hauling round hay bales for the winter, and adding a string of barbed wire to the top of the goat fences. Somebody - won't mention any names - keeps getting out!

Y’all have a good one!

Don’s “Up-Lifting” Experience

2008-07-26T01:24:00.003-05:00

In most cases, life with our Tibetan Yaks has been….educational, to say the least. But the other day, Don had a most unusual experience. One that neither he – nor I - will soon forget.

He was out doing the chores, and stopped by the bullpen to see what “Billy” was up to. Billy is our beautiful Yak bull. He truly is a “Yak,” for the females are actually referred to as “Naks.” We also have a little yearling bull, but Billy really has a formidable-looking set of horns, and is a magnificent-looking specimen.

When Don got to the pen, he noticed that Billy had entangled himself in an old electric fence wire. He may have somehow pulled it off the side of the old steel shed. He had it wound around his hind leg, and was in such a panic that he was actually falling on the ground, trying to get away from the terrible-awful creature that was gripping him.

Don went over the fence and pulled a tool out of his pocket, as he was planning on cutting the wire to set Billy free. But as he got closer to Billy, he decided that this was probably not a wise decision. Our Yak have not been handled, prior to moving to our farm. Therefore, they are a little flighty and extremely unpredictable. And Billy, being a bull, is even more of a threat. So Don began to back away from Billy, and before he got to the fence Billy yanked free from the fence wire, and spun around. And charged.

Now, I was walking away from the chicken house on the other side of the barn. I had no clue that Don was even outside, let alone in any kind of trouble. But then I heard Don yell “YOU…(I’ll leave this part up to your imagination) …” and it did not sound like his normal voice. It was more like: a shout of pain, of shock and disbelief…and maybe even a little bit of fear thrown in there, somewhere. I don’t remember doing it, but I must have sat the egg basket down, as I noted afterwards that none of the eggs were broken. All I really remember is running as fast as I could (not easy with my back problems, let me tell you) and peeling around the corner of the barn. I started shouting his name before I even got there, and when I did, I couldn’t see him anyplace. But then he answered, and all he said was “STAY AWAY! STAY AWAY!” But I climbed the Yak fence, and saw Billy with his head/horns lowered, facing Don who had his back against the inside of the fence. He was sort of crouched, and he was holding his leg. All I knew was that he was hurt – and trapped. And then I did something that I never would have though possible. I decided right then and there that I was going in. There was absolutely no fear. All I knew was that I had to save another human being, and there was simply no fear at all. So I started going over the fence.

But Don starting shouting “NO! JUST STAY WHERE YOU ARE! DON’T COME IN!” never taking his eyes off Billy. I trusted his judgment, realizing that Billy probably would have, at that point, gone for Don. And it would have been all over with. So, I picked up weeds, twigs, rocks, clods of dirt, whatever I could find. And I started throwing them out at Billy. He was so far away from me that nothing actually came into contact with him. But, he did turn his head and look at me and at the objects that were landing several feet away from him. This did the trick, as he was now distracted. And Don was able to make it back over the fence. I still don’t know how he managed to get over that fence. Because Billy had gotten him with his horn just inside his left thigh, yanked it all the way up to his groin, and thrown him 2-3 feet up into the air. He scraped and bruised the whole inside of his thigh.

You know how bull-headed (pardon the pun) that Donald is, but he finally did agree to come into the house and sit down in the recliner. I took out a pound of frozen hamburger, wrapped it in a dishtowel, and had him place it on the (ur, um) most tender area of the encounter. And he came out of the whole ordeal with nothing but scrapes and bruises. And I think the bruising might - or might not - include his pride. And, needless to say, we both have a great deal more respect for Big Bad Billy. I can still call him over to the fence and scratch inside his ears and lull him to sleep by rubbing his forehead and his big, lovely eyes. But there will always be the memory of that fateful day, and Don’s close encounter. I guess that you could say that he had quite an “up-lifting” experience!!!

Billy, just waking up from one of our "ear-scratching" sessions!

Kung Fu Guinea

2008-07-24T08:03:00.003-05:00

It’s a sad tale, ‘tis true, but the fact is that the animals here on the Good Shepherd Farm have begun to fight back.

It all began back last spring, when the female Guinea decided to start a family. Now, the male Guinea was gung-ho for this idea. In fact, in his enthusiasm over being the MAN of the house, he abruptly began attacking everything and everyone that came anywhere near his cage, and his ‘wife.’

The wife laid over 20 eggs, and showed no sign of wanting to sit on them to hatch them, or keep them warm, safe, or dry. By this time, we were well into summer, and the eggs had begun to emit a decidedly sulphur-like odor. So, we carefully removed them from the nest and disposed of them out in the far end of the field. I checked each one, and none of them had begun to develop into the little baby Guinea keets as we had hoped. However, the female was not deterred from her business of starting ‘the little family,’ and so when she had deposited 9 more eggs into the nest we moved them over to Connie and Norm’s Ash Lane Farm. They have an old Buff Orphington hen that was decidedly ‘broody’ and she took over those little foster-eggs as though they had been hers to begin with. Oh, happy day. I would like to tell you that, if you want a hen to hatch out eggs, you can usually count on a either a Bantam hen or a Buff Orphington.

Now, for those of you who have no clue as to what a Guinea really is, the best way for me to describe one is this: it is a bird somewhat the size of a chicken, having a naked neck, and a sort of ‘helmet’ on the top of it’s head. They originated in Africa, and come in a lovely variety of colors, ranging from buff to chocolate, soft gray to lavender to dark gray, solid or pied. We have the Pearl variety, which has dark gray feathers, and each and every feather is covered with the most perfect little polka dots. They really are quite remarkable. However…..Except for the fact that they eat myriads of small bugs - including wood ticks - I cannot for the life of me understand why on earth anyone would want to keep them. For, a guinea emits a noise that could easily break the sound barrier. It is somewhat difficult to describe, but it is similar to a metallic rattling, horn bellowing, roaring, throbbing screech that appears to begin at their toenails and thereafter emits from their screaming beaks. This is called a ‘warning sound’ and can be set off by various dangers, such as: an airplane, flying high above the farm; a semi driving down the highway, ½ mile in the distance; a Yeti just passing through; one of us walking out to do chores; the television going on inside the house….

Well, the old hen hatched out 7 of the little guinea keets, and has successfully taught them how to speak ‘chicken.’ They understand her clucks and clicks, and I am sure that they love her with all the love that their little bird hearts can hold. It is all very sweet. But, going back to the Guineas…..

Don took pity on the pair, being cooped up in their little ‘chicken tractor’ all the time, so he decided to turn them loose this past Sunday. As luck would have it, Sunday was also the day that I decided to do all the mowing around the Yak pens and the barnyard. Soon into my mission, I became aware that each and every time I came close to the MAN, he would rush towards the lawn tractor, screaming his warning noise, and would try attacking either me or the mower. I yelled at him, but to no avail. Then, he began making dives at my foot and leg, and at one point I even took off my Croc sandal and shook it at him menacingly. This only made the situation worse.

It happened in the late afternoon, when I was nearly done with the mowing. I was driving alongside the hog pen, trying to miss the garden hose that was stretched out towards the garden. As I looked down and to my right, I could see my shadow. As I watched, mesmerized, another shadow flew up from behind me, and came directly towards my shadow-head. At that same instant, a powerful force nailed me right in the back of the head and nearly slammed me into the steering wheel. In fact, David Carridine-Guinea had sailed up off the ground, delivered a swift karate kick to the back of my head, and then karate-chopped both of my shoulders with his powerful wings.

I was stunned, to say the least. I just could not believe that this little sawed-off turkey wanna-be had attacked me. After all, I am about 30 times bigger than he is. At least. So I yanked off my Croc sandal again, jumped off the lawn tractor, and started chasing him all over the pig yard, yelling things that I will not dare to write down in this blog. And once again, this only made the situation worse. In fact, the situation is so bad that now, whenever I go out to do the chores, I have resorted to slinking alongside farm buildings and peering around corners before running across the open areas, feed bucket in hand. I can almost hear the “Mission Impossible” theme song playing in my head. I keep hoping that Guineas do not have a very long memory.

Ah well. There is always hope.

Magic Moment

2008-07-21T11:05:00.002-05:00

Tonight I had a really neat experience, and I thought I would share it with you...

I worked hard again today. I crawled around in the muddy garden, cutting the 'suckers' off the broom corn, pulling a few weeds, etc. I mowed one of the Yak pastures, which had burdock and thistle growing in it. I helped move the guineas, and set up their pen in the taller grass. I tethered the goats out under the trees, as I am now "flushing" them, getting them ready for breeding later this fall. I tried working on my 'Yard Man' trimmer, as it has a leak in an 'O' ring, and I got the oil and gas added to it, and the belt back on. And I also had to add gas and oil to the riding mower. The gas can had a 'little' problem, and I ended up with gas all running down my legs, making rivers of mud through the dirt caked on my legs, from the garden. And, I did the chores. Twice. I was pretty grubby after all this was done, and I looked forward to a nice, warm, bath.

Came into the house waaay after dark, and Don said there had been an alarm going off downstairs. It was the alarm for the outside septic tank. Meaning that, due to the heavy rain we just had, the septic tank was full. Meaning that, no one can flush the toilets. And, no one can take baths!!!

Well, earlier in the day had I noticed that the little purple wading pool had blown out into the back pasture during the rain/wind storm. And, it was nearly 1/2 full of water. Clear rain water! I had dipped my hand into it, and teased Don about skinny dipping in the pool because the water was so warm. He had declined.

Well, it was 11:00, I was sweaty and dirty, and I smelled like gasoline from filling the mower and working on the trimmer. And my hair was dirty. So....

I made my way through the darkness, out to the little wading pool in the back pasture, carrying soap, shampoo, and a bath towel. I hung my towel over the goat's fence, and I laid my dirty clothes over the fence, as well. I washed my hair first, and then slid into the pool.....Oh! it was quite a bit cooler than it had been earlier in the day! But I didn't care! Because the moon tonight is FULL, and it was a big, creamy-yellow ball in the southern sky. And there was no breeze... just the refreshing coolness of the evening. And the fireflies were dancing all over the back pasture and the lawn! Just like Christmas-twinkle lights! Oh, they are so beautiful!! And there was not a sound to be heard, anywhere. Not a single car passed by on the county hwy., down from our gravel road. It was the most magical, beautiful little kernel in time. And it was just too remarkable to not share it with YOU!

I hope that you find a magical moment, too.