Keeping the Baby Calves Warm and Fed!

It seems that we have been going from warm to freezing weather in the blink of an eye!  Jeez - can this really be the south?  A few days ago we had a  "warmish" day and there was a "gillion" things to be done on the farm because single digit night temps were just hours away! 

Bob and Pooh were headed to the Longhollow pasture to cut cedar to sell for posts and to stack brush into a huge pile.  Bring on the marshmallows!!  Wee Bob caught a ride with Bob down to the end of the drive.  I picked him up on the four-wheeler and brought him over to the North pasture.......

  

 

 .......where JR was bush hogging so the cows would not poke their big, pretty eyes as they munched and munched their way down to the grass underneath all the weeds.  Wee Bob caught a ride with JR and made a few rounds around the pasture with him.  And yes, he was secured tightly in the lap of JR so he would not accidently fall off!!    Farm safety is very important!!!!








 

 Once part of the North pasture was bush hogged, we packed up juice, snacks, diapers, snacks, wipes, snacks, etc. (and a few more snacks!!) and headed over on the Mule to the South pasture to give the cows and calves some vitamin sticks...munch, munch, munch!!

 

 

 

 

 Wee bob loves throwing the vitamin sticks out to the cows and calves!  They love "mooing" and looking at him with their dreamy eyes! 

 

 JR had piled up fallen tree logs with the tractor a few days ago.  Now, we gathered smaller logs and brush to add to the pile so that we could make a HUGE  bonfire.    It's aways handy to have your cane and "pick-up" stick along....like Grandfather like G-Grandson! Later on, JR ignited the pile to provide warmth for the calves as the temperatures plummeted.  A good bonfire will smoulder for several days providing there is no frozen precipitation to dampen the logs.  (Snow WAS NOT predicted but more on that later......) 

It takes lots and lots of sticks!  Watch out for the cow poop!!

 

 

 

 

 Keep the sticks coming guys!!  Whew, being the photographer is hard work!!!
 

 That's the way!  One, two, three and HEAVE HO!!

 

 

 With the brush pile finished it was time to head back to the barn.  The temperature had warmed up to the low 60's!!  Time to celebrate with ice cream!



PLAYTIME!!

 

 

 

 Big tractor and little tractor.  Definitely a "John Deere" man in the making!!

 

 

 What's a little dirt when your having fun!!

 

 

After a warm bath and some chicken nuggets it was time to settle in for a bit of reading. 

 

The warm day proved to be productive all around.  As we sat in the late afternoon sunshine it was hard to imagine the polar temps rolling our way.  But roll our way they did with early morning temperatures that dipped down, down, down to the single digit of 4 degrees!!!  Brrrrr!  On the positive side, school was delayed 3 hours so the students would not have to wait for the bus in the Arctic air.  So......we all got to sleep in a bit for which I was a thousand times greatful!!! I was also amazed that my car started on the first try.  Now that was a miracle!!!

 

And true to southern weather, it changed in the twinkling of an eye.  The snow that was not predicted decided to put in an appearance after all.   So.......after traveling to school early and getting a head start on paper work, school was cancelled.  After driving home in the "blizzard" I decided it was best to stay close to the farm for the rest of the day!!!

 

Snow was swirling around and around the car as I inched home!! Double Brrrrrrrr!!  Oh, for a cup of hot chocolate right about NOW!!

 

 

But, there was one "little cowboy" who was enjoying the white stuff!!

 

Wondering where summer went......

Dee Dee

 

 

Snow in Dixie!

Last week it actually snowed in the sunny south!  Those of us in the valley saw a few flakes while those of us that live on the mountain had a white Monday!!  Okay, I know it is nothing like the twelve inches or more of snow that those north of us received but we were excited anyway!!  The only drawback was the temperature that refused to budge out of the teens.  I believe we had some of the coldest days on record.  So cold that even the schools around here were delaying the start of the day by three hours! (Some of us could get used to that!)  And just because we saw a bit of the "white stuff" did not mean that work on the farm slowed down.  On the contrary, the cows and calves had to be checked and rechecked to make sure they had plenty of "munchies" to help keep them warm.  JR also scattered extra hay on the ground to make a warm bed for the baby calves. 

 On the mountain top, Meme T and family woke up to find snow on the ground!!

 While JR and I woke up to icicles hanging from our roof and temperatures hovering at 10 degrees!  Brrrrrr!!

Even with the frigid temps there was work to do down in Pappy's office. 

 "I have to get these drawers aligned just right before we go check out the cows!"

 "Gosh Pappy, when was the last time you did some housekeeping?"

 

 There were lots of mama cows and new calves to check on.

 

 

 Once the cows realized we had "goodies" for them, they rushed on over.

 

 

 Wee Bob reaching in the bucket to pull out a vitamin stick.

 

 

 

 "Here baby cows, come take your vitamins!"

 

 

 Back at the house, adjustments needed to be made to the Big Wheel.

 

 

 

 "Oh yeah, that's much better!"

 

All work and no play does not a happy camper make!  So, after eating, taking a warm bath, and changing into some dry clothes it was playtime!!!

 

 

 

 "I'm thinking about wearing my new hat to the mall!"

 

 

 "Boo Pappy!  Can you guess who this is??"

 

 

 

All I can say at this point is that winter needs to leave and summer needs to hurry up!!!

 

Begone cold weather!!!    I'm dreaming of dipping my feet in a river with rocks made up of flowers and shrubs!! 

 

Dee Dee

A Family Christmas.

 

"Okay guys - I already visited Santa one time - why did I  have to do it again?"

Waiting for Christmas Eve!



"Wee Bob", "Meme T" and "Pooh" baking Christmas cookies!  Yum!  Here come the pounds!!

 

 

One, Two, Three, ....... ROLL!!!

 



"Big A" playing ball while patiently (?) waiting for Santa.

"Oh good, no more clothes!"

"Lets see if Pappy can get this truck on the road!"

Hmmm.  I was pretty sure that this "puppy dog" was meant for Wee Bob!

Looks like this is just what JR needs for his future work shop.

"Shoot!  Two Points!  Hey, where did the goal go?"

"Wow!!!  Look everybody, Duke's been taking vitamins!"

"No, I don't want ham, turkey or potatoes.  I want ice cream!! Pappy knows best!!" 

"Papa G" and "Meme T"

"Papa G", "Big A", and "Meme T".   I think "Meme T" is a wee bit tired!!

Me, "Big A" and "JR"

"Pooh" and "Bob"

 

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas filled with laughter, family, and friends!

See you next year!

 

Dee Dee