well, we did it

OK. So we have had cows since late summer 2010. We started with one bred Jersey cow. We still have her too, Maggie is her name. She will be 10 in October. WOW.
 I've learned so much about dairy cows in the last almost 7 years.
In that time the only way we have bred our cows is through AI. It's really nice, and affordable to do it too. And no worries about a bull. Seems that Jersey bulls are the ugliest, we've been told, by many other farmers. Great! But the company that we have used for AI services decided to double their charges to come to the farm starting in January this year. Ouch.  And then if they don't settle, they have to come back out. Another ouch. Well, we still need the AI tech for a little while longer, unless we don't want to breed cows....
So we decided to try raising our own bull. One that wasn't related to our girls, except his mama. So he can do his job, and no AI services needed. Hopefully we can have him for a couple years and sell him.

And here is Bouvardia "Bravo". He's a purebred, register-able Jersey.

He's only 5 days old here in this picture. He's so little and scrawny looking.  Hopefully he'll give us some nice heifers. His mom is doing really well, and is a nice first time milker.

Have a great day y'all!

i don't think i've ever seen this before

So all day today it has been freezing raining out. It started sometime around 7:30ish maybe, and it has not stopped. It has started to become a little bit of rain, but I can still hear it on the windows.

This picture was this morning during morning chores. Literally getting pelted in the face with ice! Ouch! I covered as much of my face as I could. I warned the kids as they came out to do the same.

And now this was just this afternoon. Actual freezing rain accumulated. I don't think I've ever seen this before. I mean this much freezing rain. This is crazy!
Not to mention that when the plow truck came by he took out my trash and almost buried it under the pile of freezing rain as he went by! 
I filled up all the water buckets for the critters, filled some for the toilet, and some for drinking. Just in case with the colder weather and wind coming later tonight if we loose power.

And here it is in my hand. Freezing rain! Have you ever seen anything like this?!

Have a great day y'all!

ice be gone

We had this...

and this...

And now we have...

A few puddles.
This is what a couple days of 40ish degree weather and rain will do. I'm so glad the ice is gone. Now I don't have to cringe when the cows go out. Not that the pasture was full of ice, but there was some out there. Don't let the sunny looking picture fool you. The temperature dropped considerable, and the wind picked up and didn't help the temperature at all. So cold and windy. But the wind dried up a lot of what the rain brought.

As you can see the pasture is now pretty bare and the girls are all out and happily munching on hay.
Have a great day yall

chorse on ice

Coming to a farm near you is, farm chores on ice! The risks you take to feed and care for the critters you love. Slipping and sliding the whole way to and fro. Lugging water pails, or pushing some hay in a cart to feed them. Or turning them loose in the pasture, or not depending on how the ice looks in the pasture! Oh the stress and fun of the ice! Taking the risk of falling. All for the love of your farm.
Hardy har har.
How was that?! Too much drama, not enough?

Our driveway was a skating rink...

See?!
But thankfully the morning after the freezing rain it was a beautiful day, after the sun burned off all the clouds. It was 40 degrees out! Super nice here!

I thought this was cool. Ice covering the hay.

Some hay and the pitch fork I left outside. Got my mittens wet after feeding the horses.

It's not all work here though! Couple kiddos sliding down the neighbors driveway of ice! Hope they didn't have plans to leave. It was all ice downhill! The dog is up there too!

After the sun came out. I just think it's pretty. Snow covered trees or ice covered trees. Weird I know, but it is pretty. They seem to shimmer and twinkle in the sunlight!


Have a great day y'all!!

thanksgiving

Every other year we have Thanksgiving at our house. I love having it here! It's my favorite holiday too. It was just my family with one of my sisters and her son. Small and homey. Not that I don't love my in-laws, but there is something nice about being home and preparing mostly the whole meal myself. No, I don't even mind all the work and prepping I have to do to get it done either. I love to cook, and now my kids are older and they like to help out with the work too. And it's really not that much more then a regular meal at my house. Only a few more sides and extra desserts! LOL My family is big eaters. I start the prep work the day before. The desserts usually, and cooking the squash and potatoes. The turkey is usually a fresh one that is locally raised. So good!

And here is my drunken turkey!

I found a recipe for Champagne basted turkey. It sounded so good I had to make it. I've made it several times since whenever we have Thanksgiving at my house. And while the boys are out hunting I make myself a nice mimosa while I work on getting the rest of the meal ready.
My sister and her son showed up and we finished getting the meal ready and had some fun and giggles while we worked.

Here are the desserts . We had pecan pie, apple pie, blueberry pie, pumpkin pie, and  homemade chocolate pudding. We had a late dessert after our Thanksgiving meal. Then the next morning the kiddos and I had leftover pie for breakfast!
We had such a nice day!

simply beautiful

Enjoy the view. I know I do.

not your mothers crock pot

I love my crock pot. It's so handy to have around. And not just for the usual meal. You know the kind you start in the morning and eat later that night. Like chicken, potatoes and carrots with a yummy seasoning on it. Like Italian dressing and Parmesan cheese! So yum! 

I had the unfortunate incident of my oven dying one afternoon. I was cooking supper. Figures. No worries though. We got it fixed a couple days later when the appliance man could come and fix it. My sister, who loves to cook as much as I do, told me about a couple recipes that were made in the crock pot. At the time I had lots of ripe bananas. I like to make up banana bread in 9x13 pans and freeze them. Well she sent me a recipe for banana bead in the crock pot. I figured I'd give it a try. I figured the worst that would happen that the crock pot would break. But thankfully it did not. Instead it made a wonderful loaf of banana bread!

Took about an hour and a half, and it's small, but I made some eggs and served that with breakfast, and it filled them up.
I also made some cinnamon rolls in the crock pot.

These took about an hour and a half too. The kiddos said they were the best cinnamon rolls ever!
Look em up on Pinterest and you'll find all kinds of fun things to cook in the crock pot! Just make sure your crock pot is the kind that doesn't need water or liquid in it first. I took a chance, but mine is new, so I figured it was safe!
Have a great day y'all!

Christmas puppy

                             A festive puppy. What a good dog she is. We just love her. Sweet Belle.