RUG HOOKING BLOG

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I'm a mother of four grandmother of seven and great grandmother of three. I live with my husband in the house that we built with the help of my brothers and will have been married for 57 years this February.

Friday, January 13, 2012

YEAH, MY TREE IS DOWN ...BOO-HOO MY CALVES ARE SICK...

Since I promised some Christmas photos here's a one of yours truly with grandson James on his  new fire truck with all the bells and whistles. He used his stump to push on the buttons that he liked and it was some real disco type of music and we went around and around the house till the back gave up and someone else took over and James just loved it and kept us busy and entertained and the process was repeated all over again while the other ones rested their back. The truck came from Grandpa McDonald.

I forgot my camera as we rushed to my daughter and son in law's new house for Christmas dinner after work so no pictures for this. Dinner was absolutely wonderful, the bird cooked to perfection and we even had the traditional present game after dinner with great surprises... It's like a Yankee swap game.  We had lots of fun.


Since my daughter Christine reads my blog and read that when I need a good laugh I go to You-tube and watch old episodes of the Carol Burnett show, she bought me some Carol Burnett DVDs, although it says on the card, from James.    Now I have hours of viewing entertainment.



How lucky can I be to have  receive this The Me Project book as a gift,  on time for Christmas from my good  blogger friend Patrice of Everyday Ruralty. I started to read it and I hope that I'll be able to follow the directions to be what God wants me to become. One of the the things Patrice and I have in common and we didn't know until we made contact by email and mail is that our last name are similar and we both live on our own roads. I think that it was awful sweet of her to send me this out of the blue.
Thank you so much Patrice. You are a sweet and generous friend.





I bought an assortments of candies to make a gingerbread house but with all the calves being born around Christmas I didn't made it and the kids munched on most of the candies. My daughter assembled the gingerbread house with what was left and sprinkled some crushed peppermint candies on the roof. I didn't buy the meringue powder that was supposed to go with the kit so my daughter made the best with what she had and James seems to like it just fine. The kids and the adults ate it like a tornado went through it.

Next year I'll be prepared. We are having a gingerbread contest. Because of distances to transport the gingerbreads,  pictures with the author will be allowed. There's a whole year to prepare but I bet everyone will wait till the last minute, but Hope reign eternal.

 My husband is showing the front. Even chickenbone candies were used for the door.





I told you of our tradition of making puzzles after Christmas and we made three in all.  This was a difficult one. Here is an unflattering photo of me with my cute granddaughter Nicole. I no doubt was keeping an eye on James.




Another puzzle finished after having sips of wine when we placed a piece near the end. We would say sippy sippy. When a piece didn't fit where we thought it should fit  we called it missy sippy. Then the laughter. This one was easy enough.



The only casualty was my Claire de Lune resin rooster that got knocked down by James and the tail broke off. It's my fault for not putting it in a more secure place. I had so many Christmas decorations that there really was no good place for it.

Here the tail was attached with super glue and you can't even see that it was broken.

I finally got my Christmas tree down and put away for next year. It took me longer to put all the Christmas decorations  away this time as I organized everything in clear totes and labeled everything. Being married for almost 46 years in February you can understand how much decorations I've accumulated, and all those cheap Value Village bargains...

 I never took pictures of all the totes,  I'm not that organized, but believe me, there's a lot. The totes are so big and take a lot of room so I'll have to set up the metal shelves downstairs in the basement so that they will be high enough in case of a flood, God forbid...



This week was registration for our Holstein calves. I had no more room in the nursery and had three of them in one big pen and were loving it. This Dancer,  She loves to jump around and the name fits her. We take photos of both side for their registration papers.


This one was called  Prancer, she jumps around too but we call it dancing because she has her own style.
She had a yellow ribbon around her neck to identify her at first but she managed to pull it off but it didn't matter because we had her tagged by then.

Who do you think this is? Well it's Vixen of course and she is so beautiful but she really is a vixen. She  still has her original red ribbon around her neck.


This one we called Mademoiselle because that's what came to mind when I came around to name her. She is gentle and not pushy like some. I imagine it would be easier to wait longer to see what they are like but because of registration I had to do it hastily.

My triplet calves came down with winter dysentery ( watery diarrhea)   this past week and it has slowly spread to all 11 of my small calves. I've been keeping their bedding dry and their pails clean and giving them electrolyte and following the vet's recommendations. He said to continue doing what I was doing.
Four are now better and some are starting to feel better. It's no fun..... for me and for them.

Again I apologize for having a long post as I have some catching up to do.
Thanks for stopping by and you know that I cherish your comments.  Stay warm and safe.  JB

27 comments:

  1. What a fun post, it was great catching up with you. We also worked on a puzzle as a family but added a twist and turned off all the lights and wore headlamps....That was a challenge but fun!!

    The calves are so cute!

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  2. Little James seems to be getting around just fine. : ) So neat to see the calves! I hope they are better soon. Yuck.

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  3. You are such a hard worker, Julia! I don't know how you do it all!!! You're my hero!!!

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  4. Well, again... I'm exhausted just reading your post! What a beautiful, warm house you have and the crafts? and little grand babies! I wasn't aware of James' stump? Is there a post about James? ... what a handsome little guy

    and my goodness! what pretty calves... please warn me if you're going to do something to them that I won't like ---- if you'll recall reading my Rocky calf post?! sniff

    Lovely life you have, Julia ... ;)

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  5. I'm sorry your hummies are sick! That's no fun, I know, and takes so much time and energy. Hopefully they all recover fully, and soon!
    We used to have a tradition on doing puzzles at Christmas when I was a girl too...a fun memory.

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  6. So nice to hear about your wonderful Christmas celebration with your family. James is really growing! He's such a cute happy little boy!
    Hope the calves continue to get better. Trying to keep the pens clean when they are sick must be an endless job.
    Putting away all the Christmas decorations is also a lot of work. My Mom just finished returning all of hers to the boxes and it took almost a week!
    Take care! I hope the weather in your area isn't too bad.

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  7. Looks like a wonderful Christmas! The Gingerbread looked "good enough to eat"... and that's what counts, right? lol! Cute calves!

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  8. Love seeing the pics of baby James...he's a charmer! Sorry to hear about the calves. I liked all the pictures of your calves though. I was glad to clean out the Christmas decor! My house is very small, so you can't get away from the decorations once they are up! Good to have a long post from you to read!
    Have a great weekend!
    Hugs,
    Courtney

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  9. that little james is so cute.He has the most beautiful eyes oh her will kill the girls with those. your christmas sounds fun and glad you got some time to drink some wine. Hope your little calfs are feeling better soon. and as jacqueline said you are amazing.
    Cathy

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  10. Julia, what a wonderful family you have. Little James appears to be such a sweet natured baby and very handsome. Is there anything worse than a sick animal? I hope all the calfs are on the mend, I know they couldn't be in better hands. I am off this morning to buy totes, you can never have too many! Have a good weekend, glad to catch up with you. Julie.

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  11. I love seeing James. He is such a handsome little guy. I'm sure he was hours of entertainment during the holidays. Those Carol Burnett videos are a great gift. You'll be laughing all the time, if those poor little calves ever get better.
    "Missy sippy"..........lol. That is fun!

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  12. James is such a handsome young man,and your granddaughter Nicole is a very pretty young girl.You have a very busy life! Told Fuzzy of your puzzle tradion and he asked why we don't do it anymore,so have to find the puzzles for next year.I have also been hauling totes to the basement this week, does not seem like that much work to put them up but a lot to take them down,lol. Glad the calves are getting healthy again, we had a bad bout of scours years ago found that good old pepto bismo worked better than anything the vet had. Take care and have a great weekend.

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  13. what nice pictures Julia, I just love seeing what went on at your house. James has grown so much and I think you always look pretty. I am sorry about your calves. Terrible stuff when they all get sick with it. I saw your girls with the halters on and I wished I was there to halter break them all. That was always one of my favorite things was halter breaking our calves. We showed steers so we would have lots and lots to get ready for the project sales. It just reminded me when I saw those girls getting their pictures taken.
    It all looks lovely, I liked your jigsaw puzzle too.
    So nice to get to see what you have been doing.
    I love getting caught up.

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  14. thanx for stopping by my blog julia, i cant believe how big james has gotten! i remember when your daughter was pj yet...hes a cutie as is your grandaughter. sounds like you had a nice holiday and are now hopefully you will have happy and healthy calfs for the new year! sounds like you have been working awfully hard! take care!

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  15. Hi Julia, Sorry about the calves. YOur Christmas pictures were great , James is so cute. You look like I do when I watch my grandboy.What a nice family you have. Don't work too hard and I pray the little calves get better quick, Hugs Cheri

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  16. Hope all the calves get well. You are so busy, no wonder you are so nice and slim.
    Your right you can't even tell the rooster was broken.
    Sweet James.

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  17. Wonderful photos of your Christmas fun. We often make puzzles around this time of year. I hope you calves are all feeling better soon. They're beautiful :)
    Blessings,
    Marcia

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  18. Your xmas pictures look great Julia and the calves are so cute. Sorry to hear they're not feeling well, it must be a lot of work. Just another day on the farm right?

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  19. I love the pictures you shared! It looks like you had luch a great time AND busy!
    Sorry about the calves. I so remember those days.
    Hope they recover quickly.

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  20. oh I hope those sweet babies are well already.
    must be awful to watch them suffer.
    glad for the happies when they happen.
    peace to you,
    Jennifer

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  21. I love the pics of you and baby James! I was glad to get the Christmas tree down too and all put away in my totes. I laughed at the flood side note.

    Hope the cute baby calves are getting better, I can tell it is a lot of work too!

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  22. Unflatterin'??? You??? Never sweetie! I just loved seein' your beautiful pictures. The little car ya got James is just like the one we got little Ian his first Christmas. Sweet!

    I hate to hear the problem your havin' with your babies. Have ya spread powdered lime 'round the pens to kill the bacteria? We used to do that when we raised massive numbers of bottle calves.

    God bless ya and have a fantastic week!!! :o)

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  23. Hi Julia, I loved visiting with you through your post today.....so newsy......

    James is a cutie pie...the calves are precious and I hope they get well soon....so glad too that you got your chicken fixed...It would have been a shame to lost it......

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  24. I loved seeing the pictures of James. He really is taken with his truck, isn't he? I can just imagine how hard he was on all the backs. I just can't bend over anymore and certainly not long enough to push a small truck around. You are a good grandma.

    I am so sorry about your calves, Julia, and I do hope they all recover soon. I still find it hard to know how you ever can get anything done, with all the responsibility you have. I don't think I could stand it if I couldn't read the way I do. I hope you have a little time for it though.

    Your blog was so newsy and I did enjoy the pictures so much. I'm jealous that you have all your Christmas put away. My tree and all the Santas are still up. Neither of us has been well enough to do anything yet. Actually, we aren't in any hurry as we were too busy to enjoy them before Christmas, so we are enjoying them now.

    Take car, Julia, and keep well!!

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  25. I need to follow your example and repack all my Christmas ornaments/decorations in clear plastic containers next year. It is all just such a mess!

    Hope the calves are doing better.

    =)

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  26. Ah the life of a farmer... or is it rancher?

    Loved getting caught up on your Christmas. Sounds wonderful!

    Blessings, Debbie

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