Busy Busy Busy

Summer is defiantly here, as well as the hectic busy summer schedules. Baseball practices, getting ready for the fair, and working in the garden…it just doesn’t seem to end at the moment.

Both boys are rockin at baseball! J’s game has improved a lot. He’s only struck out once so far this year, and until then had hit the ball every time he was up to bat. I don’t think he ever had a hit last year. T is doing well too. His very first game he caught 2 pop flys and hit the ball every time he batted. He did this all while wearing a pretty pink mitt…we got 5 minutes from Kinsley and he announced that he had forgotten his mitt, so he had to borrow one from the couch. He is still a little uncomfortable playing on the field, but is still learning the rules and where to throw the ball. He loves playing though.

Both boys have started thinking about what they are doing for our county fair. I think T is going to start his woodworking project this week. We always say we are going to start early, but never seem to get it done. However, this is a lot earlier than last year. I think J and D were working on J’s shelf up to the night before we had to take it to the school.

We had an exciting day last week…D and I got to hear our rooster, Jack, crow for the very first time. He’d been practicing and gearing up for it, but we just happened to be out there when he did it. It was pretty pathetic. Kind of reminded me of an adolescent boy whose voice has started to change, but he’s getting better. Now he does it over and over again till around 10am. I guess he’s gotta get the kinks worked out.

The calf project has been going for a bit over a week now with lots of ups and downs. We did lose one—Jersey—the one we thought was in the best of shape. I think he must have had sort of infection or bug. He had a bit of blood in his poop one day, so D and I talked about calling the vet, but the next day we didn’t see any trace, so we decided to hold off on calling. He died later that day. He had been eating all his bottles and was acting playful hours before he died, so it was a bit of a surprise he just died suddenly like that.
Paige is doing a lot better. She’s put on some weight and her coat has shined up a lot. We’ve finally got her sucking well and she’s eating all the milk we make for her. However, I’m not sure if she’s just dumb, or just a stubborn cow that’s been babied too much, but she will NOT get up to eat. She runs around chasing after her bottle and takes walks with us, after we get her up, but she just flat refuses to get on her own. She makes someone come over and lift her to her feet. I was worried that she was just too weak to get up, but after watching her chase D around the barn this morning to get her bottle, I’m not sure that’s the case. D wants to go out and show her the bottle and tease her a bit, and then leave if she doesn’t get up, then come back in an hour, to teach her a lesson, but we just got her eating good and that makes me nervous to mess with her eating schedule. I'm just not sure what's gonna happen with her.
Chewy is doing wonderful. He’s going to be a pain in the ass when he gets bigger. He already acts like a stubborn pig headed bull. He’s a lot of fun to walk on the lead rope as he’s just like a big ol’ dog. I love feeding him as he sucks his bottles down in less than a minute, with his eyes rolled back and foam dripping from his mouth…he’s in calf heaven during bottle time. He’s eating hay here and there and we just started him on creep feed.
It’s funny to see this little guy chewing on his cud like big bulls you see out the pastures.

After Mel posted her pics about her new water feature with the old fashioned water pump, my dad casually mentioned he had one I could have….out in the JUNK PILE!!!!! I couldn’t believe my dad would put something as AWESOME as that out in the JUNK pile! (I can see my mom rolling her eyes as she reads this, by the way!!) Anyway, we went and snagged that baby and I think I know where I am going to put it for now. D was suppose to work on it today, but came down with a bit of a stomach bug so I am not sure. I have had my eye out for one of these for a couple of years now and then I find out there was one at the farm, waiting on me, needing to be rescued from the junk pile! You never know where you might find a treasure!! Anyway, I have this old milking bucket with some plants in it that I think will look just perfect with it. I am excited and can’t wait for D to get it done so I can get it just right!!