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txbikergirl
3197 Posts
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 Posted - Dec 18 2018 : 11:35:52 AM
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HAPPY HOLIDAYS Y'ALL!!
Longtime no chat from the Texan. Everything is good here, just can never quite get ahead like i think i will... i am sure y'all can relate.
I just got back from 1.5 weeks in California for work, and spent the week prior gearing up for that with the kids. Mother-in-law was here, so hubby had backup, and they all survived in my absence.
Sorry to hear about the cows getting loose maryjane. nothing like a loose gate latch.
our cows are doing fine, but no calf from sally o'mally. the reality is that we haven't done the pregnancy testing nonstop like we planned to, so can't pinpoint what/when happened. she was positive in july, but that was our vet testing... we really need to get back on top of this calving/pregnancy thing so that will be my goal for 2019 ;>
A few photos of the youngest around Thanksgiving. We intended to take some photos of them around the farm for christmas cards, but eldest totally melted that afternoon and was in her room sobbing ... so we took youngest two out in their "pretty dresses" and had some fun.
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_(199x300)_(66x100).jpg?v 93697001) Firefly Hollow Farm , our little farmstead. Farmgirl living in the green piney woods of East Texas on 23 acres with a few jerseys, too many chickens, a pair of pugs and my Texan hubby (aka "lover boy") |
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maryjane
7072 Posts
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Posted - Dec 19 2018 : 4:10:49 PM
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Always good to hear from you, Cindy. I miss you!!! But you DO have a lot on your plate. Let me just say that again, a lot on your plate.
Sorry to hear about Sally. Big drag. Is Elsa pregnant?
Nothing like pretty little girls in pretty little dresses to make your heart go pitter patter.
I've spent most of my day digging through insurance policies and finding lots I can cancel and/or make right. Gotta love it that our store in town still has liability coverage (we moved the store/building out here several years ago).
We'd had plenty of rain lately. I sure am grateful for wood chips, otherwise, my girls would be knee-deep. Most of our snow left yesterday, just a few patches here and there.
We opened a 13-month old wheel of Parmesan. It is unbelievably divine, best yet. One year does the trick. It crumbles easily, has strong flavor and is just all around better than any Parm I've ever tasted.
Well, it's getting dark and time for me to foray outside to feed the bovine contingent. |
MaryJane Butters, author of Milk Cow Kitchen ~ striving for the stoicism of a cow standing in the rain ~ |
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txbikergirl
3197 Posts
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Posted - Dec 21 2018 : 5:25:25 PM
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good evening maryjane, and all out there!
i miss you too maryjane - a lot!! i keep thinking i am finding my groove, and then one little thing comes up and it apparently steals that extra 10-15 minutes of private time a day to check in online, etc. i am sure everyone can relate. i have mastered the ability to not feel bad about it anymore ;> i still haven't gotten thank you notes out for everyone's kindness last year, and we are just about starting another year.
i hope everyone is settling in for a nice long holiday weekend. i am finding the fact that christmas is on tuesday such a joy, almost a luxury. we stopped work at 1pm today as the girls had a half day at school, and then we have 3 full days to prepare for christmas - amazing!
that cheese sounds divine maryjane, i can almost taste it. my plan for making aged cheeses is pretty much out the door right now ;> but we are still milking daily and enjoying that so i cant complain. the milk from bea is just wonderful, even more creamy right now. she isn't due until april so not sure how much longer she'll keep twinkle calf nursing on her, but as long as she'll do it that lets us have a day off from milking now and then.
sally and elsa are doing great. i am just enjoying them and not worried too much about the pregnancy thing. we found another farmer that has a full jersey bull that would welcome elsa out there for a couple of months, but they just dont feel very concerned about biosecurity - its almost like we are more concerned about our one cow than they are their entire herd! so that makes us hesitant...
our middle daughter (9) asked for a typewriter for christmas. seriously, not a computer - a typewriter. so i ordered an old refurbished brother typewriter off etsy. this is right up her alley. she is the one with more trauma, and a little bit in her own world, so i think this will be a fantastic gift for her. she can type and write her little mind out and just enjoy whatever she wants. some times she sits at her desk and cuts and glues paper for hours that turn into things that dont make any sense, but it works for her. one night she took three boxes of kleenex and a bottle of water into her room and spent the night making little bitty spit bombs to use as toys for the pugs. crazy, but what a little creative mind.
we only do four gifts each for the girls. we use the rhyme "something you want, something you need, something to wear, something to read". the oldest and youngest (12 and 7) wanted lincoln logs! they have a set of patrick's from his youth that they love, but it is a very small set. so i got them both the new large anniversary set.
and for the girls as a group we bought them an old "view master" projector from ebay. you know, the kind we held in our hands and looked at those little reels of photos? they have the projector version that shows it on the wall, and i found a couple hundred of the little vintage photo reels for them to play. everything from classic books, cartoons, 50's tv shows, travel around the world, national geographic, etc. i think it will provide them with hours of fun, and being they dont have laptops/tablets they truly enjoy the simpler things in life.
well, thats an update on whats going on in east texas. hubby and pugs are good as well. take care and merry christmas y'all!
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Firefly Hollow Farm , our little farmstead. Farmgirl living in the green piney woods of East Texas on 23 acres with a few jerseys, too many chickens, a pair of pugs and my Texan hubby (aka "lover boy") |
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maryjane
7072 Posts
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Posted - Dec 23 2018 : 12:58:04 PM
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Thanks for such a thorough update, Cindy. I can certainly picture your daughters' glee as they play with their View Master. And Lincoln Logs. Flashes from the past, but that's the whole idea, right? Those silly handhelds sure are capturing our children, even babies these days. I like your Santa list breakdown: something you want, something you need, something to wear, something to read."
Mia still spends hours with her legos and Stella still prefers the outdoors over the indoors. She's out there in the falling snow right now, talking with all her imaginary friends like she's on a stage performing.
I've been getting tomorrow's brunch started. Stella wants to make shirred eggs, so I rounded up some of what she'll need. My job will be the hashbrowns and waffles (topped with canned peaches, thawed raspberries, maple syrup, and whipped cream--Alina's favorite topping on waffles).
Ashley is with her sister today because her third child, a boy, was born at home, which is how Ashley had Alina and Adria. Mother and child are fine--no complications. They named him Loke Allen.
Before I milked today (easier to do with a full udder), I gave Miss Daisy and Maggie a shave and trim. Their udders get so hairy in the winter (for warmth no doubt), but the reason you get shaved before any kind of surgery is because it's difficult to get hairs clean (too many nooks and crannies).
In this photo it looks like I shaved her entire udder, but it's wet so it looks bald. No doubt they need hair to stay warm. In the winter, I only shave at the base of the udder right above the teat so that when my EZ milker sucks the teat into its base, it's not grabbing hairs along with it. Anyway, they were both very sweet about it. I use an electric trimmer first and then do the close-up work with a little WAHL battery-powered trimmer.
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MaryJane Butters, author of Milk Cow Kitchen ~ striving for the stoicism of a cow standing in the rain ~ |
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Week of December 17
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