You Hear it First

(Taken last week before the rainslaught)

The rain that is. Of course you know that it is going to come. Even the weather gurus are getting it right this time, rain, rain and more rain.

But when you are outside trying to get something...anything...done.... the first sign of its arrival is a soft patter, like the rustling of dad's newspaper back in the day.....just before he got up from his chair to give you what for.

And then it sweeps across the land, giving you what for again. What for you tryin' to work out here? This is my land, I have taken it and I am keeping it.

And it has and it is. It has taken over all our ground and turned it into fresh churned mud, and it hangs on and clings and drips and droops and bothers all day every day. No let up from the gloom, not a single ray of sunshine.

It is ever needful to keep a fire going to dry the clothes we wear out in it, hanging over every register, dripping and drooping.

In fact that is what I was doing when the latest rain laid claim...building a fire so things would dry...while my latest set of dry things got wet...again...at least polar fleece sheds rain real well for a while at least.

Can you imagine? Polar fleece in May?

Corn Planting and Emergence Report

I found this article, which I stumbled upon while working on the Farm Side, to be really interesting. First of all corn work is way, way, behind the five-year average this year. Way behind.

And 23% of the entire 2011 crop was planted in one week (the only week of good weather we have had). It is projected that total US corn acreage will surpass 90 million acres. Can you imagine that? That is just plain hard work.

Substance Abuse

We got it. Nick went out this morning and rolled in something.

On a farm there is no lack of something, by the way.

My nose is curling up like a leaf in winter. Talk about nasty. I wasn't going to make him spend any time out in his kennel run this summer. He is getting old and has discovered being a good boy in the house...pretty much. However......

And look what is on the heifer barn roof! I think they smell him too.

(Actually there is a dead deer down on the road somewhere.....)

Thinking and Planning

Orange Upstart

As far as the cardinal is concerned this is HIS feeder. He is picking up sunflower seeds and shelling them, before tenderly feeding them to his lady love. What's up with this orange guy hanging around slurping up oranges with his girl friend? ******Photo taken through kitchen window so not too clear...and I can't stand very close to the window or they all fly away in a huff.****

Much excitement in the barn last night. Bama Breeze (still with us, FC, and a big, sweet, pet) had a gorgeous half-shorthorn heifer calf and brought it right down to the barn. The new baby is the color of rich, dark, mahogany with lots of bright, white bling to flash on feet and flanks. Right about now I am kinda wishing I hadn't given Bama to Alan.

Of course pseudo-mom and hard-working calf thief, Zinnia, decided that it was hers and raised holy Hell. Wouldn't come in the barn, charged the boss when he brought the baby in. Thrashed around like a fool in a frenzy running around and making us crazy, while Bama calmly followed her baby into the barn and behaved herself.

Then big Z began to bellow.

And bellow.

And bellow.

She stands in my string and is one of the first two cows I milk, so I got the full force of it...and you can hear a cow calling for miles. You can hear one real well for feet too....and I have to actually lean on her flank to put the milker on, so there weren't even feet between us. Ow, my poor ears! She cocked a leg at me menacingly when I went in to milk her.

And bellowed some more. Normally she really likes me (can't stand the boss) and is gentle as a great big dog. Last night it was hard to even get her attention so she wouldn't kick me. She really wanted that stolen calf.

She bawled all through milking. We tried playing Sherry, but even that didn't help...although when Liz sends me the cell phone video of the boss dancing to it in the barn aisle you are in for something...I am not sure exactly what...but something for sure.

By the time milking was over my head felt as if it was going to explode and it seemed as if we had milked a thousand cows.

Twice.

If the federal government needs a good substitute for water boarding, all they have to do is come to the farm with a sound recorder and show Zinnia a calf. Add in Chrome, Liz's calf, who screams to be fed whenever she isn't eating (and she can eat as much as three full-grown cows I swear) and alleged terrorists would be falling all over themselves to confess..

Sunday Stills...High and Low

This time of year I can find all the high I want just standing on the back porch waiting for the dog. It is so green, the air is redolent with the scent of lilac bushes the size of a semi, and rings with the calls of dozens of arriving migrants....however, I don' think that is quite the high Ed is looking for, so here is a blossom high up in the winesap apple tree and a lowly dandelion lurking in the lawn. I threw in some of those lilacs too so maybe you could enjoy the whole experience.

For more Sunday Stills.......

The Easiest (and best) Macaroni and Cheese

That you will ever eat. Imagine not having to boil up the macaroni first!

First dump two small or one large can cream of mushroom soup into a large, oven-safe bowl. Add garlic powder to taste.

Take a pound of your favorite cheese and chop it up or shred it and dump it in. We use super sharp Cheddar, but about any cheese will do.

Add 4 or 5 cups of uncooked pasta, elbows are fine, but we love shells or bow ties.

Stir it like you mean it.

Add 6 to 8 cups of milk and give her another healthy stirring...you want everything coated really well.

If you have it on hand you can toss in some diced ham (cooked). This really gives it a kick.

Then cover with foil and bake for 2 to 3 hours at 350 degrees. We like ours just a little soupy, so keep an eye on it and take it out when it looks to have the texture you like.

We love this stuff! This is a huge recipe as it is even better warmed up the next day, but you can adjust the proportions pretty freely. Credit goes to Becky for taking a simple recipe from an old ADADC flier and making it much, much better.

High Gear

Yeah! We are in it. And hoping and praying that the rain holds off...all week if it wants to.

One field is ready for the seeder and the Sudex is waiting to be planted. Another field is started.

New bull is home after an all day trip for the guys to bring him. New pen was built for him in the new woodshed so he can be quarantined for a bit. He is way too friendly and is going to need to learn his place in the grand scheme of things. Nobody needs a friendly dairy bull. Probably a ring in his nose will help.

He is a son of the milking shorthorn bull, Logic, out of a show cow from a herd up north of here. Not as pretty as Promise was when we got him, but he has a half sister that is real nice and we loved his dam when we looked at him last spring (took a long, long time to get him bought.) His name is Hot Fudge......hmmmm.....guess I will call him TNB for short...The New Bull that is.

World Series of Birding is on today in New Jersey. I cannot wait to see the lists of what birds are counted. Cornell fields amazing teams and they have been scouting and posting photos and making my little heart beat apace all week. Field guides can't compare to the pics they put up when it comes to identifying obscure birds. I am confident that I will know some warblers now that I never even tried to look for before. Best of luck to teams Redhead and Anti-Petrel.

*****Can you find Keebler the Shuttlecat in the third photo?

So Yesterday's Post is Gone

And Blogger is acting very weird. I am just grateful not to have lost the whole shooting match. It went away for a while once and I felt like I had lost all my friends.

That would hurt.

Ah, well, I still have the pics of the robin wars and if anyone wants to see them I can always put them back up.

Meanwhile the guys went to pick up a new shorthorn bull, the skid steer is back from its axle surgery, the 4490 has gone to have its injectors rejected or some such thing and me, I am just trying to get a fire going so we can have showers. Wet wood doesn't light too well.

Also potting off plantlings. And recycling an over grown flower bed.

Plus marveling at the spectacular array of arriving migrants and their frantic rush to nest, nest, nest. Yesterday I saw a fight among a robin, a blue jay, a grackle and a cardinal. Wow, that was some blaze of color and some racket too. I try to spend a little while every day sitting out on the sitting porch with the camera. Better than a National Geographic show on the television.

Fight

In this corner, weighing at not very much, Robin Redbreast

And in this corner, weighing in at about the same, Harry the Harbinger of Spring

And the winner is......Robin Redbreast (click for a better view of the action)

Mike Rowe Speaks to Congress

Yellow warbler

About the importance of skilled workers...and our disconnect from the jobs they do.

The Graduate

His truck

Today our youngest baby took the last final of his college career. Thus for the first time since 1991 none of our offspring is in school (and nursery school started before that.)

I gotta tell you...you can spot a farm kid a mile away. He came home from that last test, changed his clothes, and got on a tractor for the first field work of the season.

Congratulations Alan, we are darned proud of you.

Spring Book Sale

At my folks place.

They have rare and collectible books about guns, hunting, fishing, Colt, Savage, Stevens,Winchester, Derrydale, New York State, US Navy, Adirondacks, NY State and much more.

Check it out at Tryon County Book Shop.

Triple Decker Robin Condo

And all day cafeteria

So of Course

On day two of out to pasture the cows were just awful. Several crawled under the gate to get into the barnyard, where the gate down to the road was open as it was tanker day. Then they ran around like loons rather than go back where they belong. I think it took me a hour to hang up one load of laundry because of chasing the fools.

The day was just one interruption after another, with silly cows, phone calls, and assorted other events keeping me hopping. I did get about half the Farm Side written.....

On the bright side the Baltimore orioles are back, as are the chimney swifts. We were just talking about putting oranges out for the orioles and not half an hour later I heard one and then another. Then while I was chasing rude show cows around the barn yard I saw a couple blazing across the sky. So lovely!

Hopefully over the next few days the cows will get the idea and start staying where they belong. At least Gracie came in the barn for morning milking quite nicely and barely bothered at all at night.

Cows Out

Yesterday was the day. The girls went to pasture for the first time this year. It was peaceful compared to some years. Instead of keeping them in the barnyard while we let them all out of the barn, one by one, we opened the gate to the temporary field before we started.

At first they congregated in the barnyard, fighting off their grudges and wandering around. Then they saw that gate and all but the dumbest young ones were gone.

They didn't mess around with their usual running up and down the hill either, but just fell to grazing like it was their job....oh wait ...

When time came to put them back in the barn all that petting and fussing and calling them Boo Boo all winter paid off. Although we never did get wild and crazy Gracie back in the barn (she will probably come in on her own this morning and be glad of the opportunity), the other youngsters came in real well and let us talk them into their stalls without fuss.

Even Egypt (Boo Boo) and Carlene, who stand side by side, went right to each other's stalls and waited to be locked up. A little talking and pushing and they went back where they belonged. Lucky gets the gold star though. She ran right to her stall and started eating. I couldn't believe it.

For a few weeks it will take a crew to bring them in, as we stall train all those youngsters, but they sure did have a nice time yesterday and came in all fat with green grass and shiny with sun polish.

Here's hoping the grass in the other pastures gets going so we can start rotating and turning out yearlings...the temporary field has only single strand electric and the babies aren't fence broke. Thus we prefer to turn them out in the big heifer pasture, where there is both barbed wire and electric, for the first few weeks. Then they are sure to see the fence before they crash through.

Hurry Up

The rain has let up for a couple of days so fencing is going on apace. Cows go out today if we get the electric fence working right. Always an exciting moment.

Nick took off this morning and went way up in the old horse pasture and wouldn't come to a call. He will be spending some hours in the outside run to remind him how very lucky he is to be a house dog with yard privileges.

Meanwhile, i would not have been outside in this lovely light if I hadn't had to go looking for him, but don't tell him I am grateful for all the birds I saw and the amazing contrasts and shadows.

Yesterday I took my little bit of Sunday morning off/Mother's Day down time and sat out next to the garden pond where the bird feeders are. I was astonished by the variety of birds that came right next to me to eat. I only got photos of a few, as they flew away if I moved to focus the camera, but tufted titmice, gold finches, white-breasted nuthatches, song sparrows, and of course my good buddies the chickadees came right up about six feet from me to eat. They were closer than the chickens will come.

It was cool.

Happy Mother's Day

Sunday Stills....Doors and Door Knobs

For more Sunday Stills......

Tarda Tulips

Remind me of Linda