Tour of the Neighborhood and the Gangs that inhabit it

My husband finished the cow fencing! Yay for him. This is a project he has been trying to complete since the snow melted. The fence looks great and it is nice to see our cows from our kitchen window.

The funny thing is that his cousins dairy cattle are now out in their pasture and it is adjoining to ours.

Every day they all congregate at the fence for a moo-off. So funny. It's Dairy vs. Meat cattle. Neither herd knows what to make of the other.

They were running to the fence line so I decided to run out and take a picture. My own gang in tow of course. One without shoes and one in a dance outfit.

Robert the Steer and Henry the Llama could not care any less about the Dairy cattle. They were just happy to be munching new grass. Little does Henry know that we are going to try to catch him next weekend and sheer him. Enjoy the peace Henry.

Here are the cattle at the fence. It is seriously funny. At least I think so.

After crossing the road home I decided to take a picture of what I see. This is me standing on the road at our front lawn. This is how far our cattle are from us. That white building is his uncle Norman's garage. You may recognize this picture

Over two years ago, standing on this very spot I posted this.........

That was the barn up in flames. That's when we switched from Dairy to Meat.

Anyway, for fun I took some more pictures for a 360 view of where I was standing.

My house on the right, tomato's for sale at my mailbox, ditch in need of clearing. Whatever. There is only so much time in the day.

Turning to the right there is our east lawn, the chicken coops are under those cedar trees. The back shed has a bunch of junk in it that we have yet to bring to the dump. In front will be my vegetable garden as soon as we put the chain link fence up on Monday to keep the chickens out of it.

OH, and those are tiny bushes I stole from my in-laws and transplanted here. I am trying to line the property with flowering bushes and trees. In time they will grow as long as we stop running over them with the lawn mower.


Neighbors separated by a cedar tree fence and my transplanted lilac bushes.

Continuing to turn around to the right...

And across the road there are the cows again....hello

Turning to the right a little more....
And a little more to the right....This is the Dairy barn owned by his cousin. It used to belong to our house.

And back around to our house. Thrilling I know.


This is the view of our house from the driveway. I LOVE the maple trees. They offer the most amazing shade in the heat of the summer. Before the end of the summer we are going to plan some more trees so they can begin to grow. This way we will have some trees started in case any of these old ones become rotten or fall down. We already have one that appears to be hollow. So sad. It will be hard to cut it down but better than having it fall on the house or one of the children.




Thanks for stopping by...

Robert Remembers he is a Cow

So...Robert the calf I've raised for almost 6 months now is down the road with the other Bovine.

I suppose it was time.

He has been chained to his hut for a month now since the Llama's are afraid of him, and he was just not happy.

A not so happy calf that tries to push over a pregnant lady is not such a good idea.

So....Adam walked him down 2 days ago.

At first I think he was pretty scared, so we left in the calf pen until he felt safe. So far the other cows leave him alone. Except for Princess the runt of the litter. Man, she is NOT happy there is another calf around.

Here he is. I feel kinda bad, because when we walk by the electric fence he moos and follows us. Sorry little fella.

He also now knows that running through the fence is not such a good idea....ouch!!

Here he is next to Daisy...another CALF!!! O.k seriously....He looks so malnourished next to the beef calves. It is kind of like looking at your 2 year old when the new baby arrives. They go from being babies to GIANTS!!
Poor little fella. I hope you do o.k.

I hate my cow, or steer, or whatever the Heck he is.

My romantic idea of having a cow wander my yard to eat my grass and to be raise for beef is coming to an end.
O.K it has past.

This stupid cow has caused me more trouble!!

Not only have I had to tie him up so he stopped running after the Llamas and forcing them to jump the fence, but he POOPS on, or destroys EVERYTHING!!!

I felt bad that he was on such a short chain, so I've slowly been attaching him to longer ropes.

All that dummy does is break into the chicken coop, wrap himself around a tree, or poop all over the rope. This morning I found him mooing at me through the gate (because he knocked it down, and he broke my cute hanging plant that was on the chicken coop!!

Sooooooo frustrating.

Down the road he is going with the other cows. He can fight with THEM there!!

And don't tell me to tie him up somewhere where he can't do all that, because there is NO WHERE I Can put him where he can't destroy SOMETHING!!!!

Have I mentioned that my Llamas only poop in one spot all the time, keeping the yard clean???

Oh how I like Llamas.

Sunday Farm Pics.

My father is law built a smaller pen for the calves. It has a little opening for the calves to get in and eat their grain and hay without being bothered by the older ladies. Apparently Henry my Llama has figured out that he too can fit through the gate. He spends most of his time here now. I think he finds it peaceful.

Only male with a bunch of females...I get that. I guess he has just sprawls out on the hay. John thought he was dead he was so relaxed.

Does not make much of a petting zoo animal though. He kept walking away from me. I think soon I will bring him to this house. He'll just have to learn to love me.

Here is a pic of Robert with his new collar. Doesn't he look handsome? Yes I'm still going to eat him.

He is a hungry little fella. Fatten up little boy....(insert evil laugh here).

Farm Stuff.

Robert the Calf is officially getting bigger.

We bought him a new collar.

When I was dragging his wayward butt across the lawn the other day the other collar was chocking him.

So we bought him a proper calf collar.

Oh, and we also (we being not me at all), did manage to load 8 calves onto the trailer and sell them. Lots of gates and a few cows that really jump!

Henry the Llama managed to escape capture. I'm trying to get a collar on him as well so I can bring him up to our yard. I want to re-domesticate him so we can shave him in the spring and give him his shots. Again...'we' not being me at all ;)

My Life

Nothing like Dragging a 300 pound Calf out of a Chicken Coop...Twice at 7am to Combat morning sickness.

IF ONLY THERE WAS A VIDEO CAMERA

I was heading outside to let Robert my baby calf into the part of the yard where there is more sun. It's cold and I figured the sunshine would warm him up. y'a know?

Anyway, at the base of the deck was who?

Robert.

Apparently he had the same idea, and took it upon himself to push past the gate and head towards the open yard.

He was also feeling playful and thought it was jolly fun to make me chase him around the house twice to get his furry butt back in his pen.

He is lucky I'm a runner....actually I think I am lucky I'm a runner.

And I thought Peyton was the only toddler I was going to have to chase around the house!!

Before The Chase....Robert on the Loose thinking he's just hillarious

Me trying to coral him...of course what Peter did not capture was the full on sprint around the house....Woman Vs.Cow. Woman won.


And here he is the after as I'm dragging his butt back into the pen.

My Life....At the End of 2008

You know you are getting old when you say to yourself....Really? It's 2009???? I remember the Leon's commercials when they were telling us that we could hold the payments till 1989!!!!

Ah well.

Life is good. Different anyway.

As much as I laugh at myself these days, I think it is my friends and family of past that get a kick out of what has become of me.

I mean really....How funny is it that I got REALLY excited today when I looked out my kitchen window and saw THIS!!!!

Robert our baby calf lounging in the leaves on this balmy December 29th day....Surrounded by curious chickens.

I LOVE IT!!!!

I can't figure out what was funnier though.....

Robert Chasing the Chickens.......

Or Peyton trying to hit them with a stick.

Yes I've gone crazy.

Have a great New Year. I think I will spend it with amazing friends.

HOW TO HUMILITATE A BABY CALF in -20C WEATHER

O.K... So it was -20C last night and windy. At least the sun came out today but it was still pretty incredibly cold. My poor baby calf Robert was shivering!!! So what is a mommy to do??

Tie him to the tree in the sun, and wrap him in an old coat with a bungee cord to warm him up.

I know I know...You really don't have to say what you are thinking. Although I have no doubt Dad will come up with something.

oh...and he has more cord so he can move...he was just trying to eat the cord when I took the picture.

To Clarify Things

My appologies to farmers in the area ONCE AGAIN...

Robert is a BULL CALF (baby boy calf)...soon to be a STEER (castrated bull).

So... to clarify things....He won't be used to MILK, OR REPRODUCE.

We are raising him up for 2 years or so. Then he will be in our freezer.

So get attached as you want, and then come over for some roast.

Do I have a problem with that? Nope. He will be well taken care of and I will be eating some grass fed, free ranged,yummy beef.

I just won't be around when he 'disapears'.

MEET ROBERT THE COW

This is Robert, my new calf. Isn't he cute? The white thing is his little hut that he will spend the next 6-8 weeks in. He is attached to it for now until he gets used to it. Then I'll let him come in and out as he pleases.

Robert needs 2 bottles of 'formula' a day.

He lets me pet him.

I like that.