MY STATUS HAS CHANGED... UPDATES ON RUG AND PINK SCARF

My granddaughter Jordyn gave birth after midnight last night. I visited her in the hospital this afternoon.  Both mother and son are doing well.

The baby opened his eyes after eating a little bit. He weigh  7lbs 12 oz at birth.

My granddaughter is just radiant with joy. You can tell that she has the motherly instinct.  I think that she will make a great mother.

  A tired but  happy new little family.

 Dad was caught off guard while holding his baby boy.

I was so glad to see two friends visiting my granddaughter. I hadn't seen them in so long.

 This is Audrey and Linda, two great friends.

Just a little bouquet to welcome the new great grandson.


Now for the other updates.
I finished  putting the fringe on my pink scarf last evening and I took night photos of the scarf and also my Childhood Memories rug. All I have left to hook is a tiny section of the Dick and Jane little school book on my rug. I can't remember what the cover looked like. My memory isn't that good. lol...

The pink scarf was knitted for a cancer survivor project  that Yaya of Whispering Pines was hosting on her blog.
I'm waiting for an address to sent the scarf to as soon as possible. I'm not the world best knitter and my tension is not always even. It all depends how tired I am or if my arthritis is acting up.

This is what I have done on my Childhood Memories rugso far. It has been a very slow project... I seldom find enough time to hook during the day. If I choose my colors in the daylight, I can hook at night. My eyesight has difficulty with subtle shades at night. When I have it completely finished I'll write what each vignette means to me in an other post.

Thanks for stopping by and leaving your comments. I so appreciate it you taking the time to comment.
Have a great week.
JB

IT MUST BE THAT HARVEST MOON....

I checked the weather forecast last evening and I planned my day accordingly. I was going to do routine work at the farm, and cook some Chicken Fettuccine with Sundried tomatoes for lunch and cut my back lawn and do some weeding.

I checked my email and got this picture from my daughter Christine.

Not the best quality but you get the picture. Isn't that precious, little Daniel is such a happy little fella.

Anyway...
When I arrived at the barn there was a new calf born in the calving pen. Just before finishing my job, I found another calf born amongst the dry cows. I called my son Vaughan for help. Either one of us could figure which cow had calved. My husband George came to see if he could find the mother but he couldn't either. There were no visible signs. He called the vet to check which cow had calved so that she could be put in the pen with the calf. I dip the umbilical cord  and gave them each their vaccine, and my son milked both cows and help me feed them.

With two new calves and my 10 calf  pens full, I had to move the two older calves that I had just finished weaned off milk and that meant  two empty pens to clean and scrub after lunch. It's a heavy and stinky job. My son helped me move the two bigger calf down to the other end before going to do something else. Not as easy as moving little calves. Even little one are not easy to move....

I went home and I managed to make my beloved  fettuccine for lunch and after lunch, cleaned the dishes and kitchen and tidied up, swept the floor and  I went back to the farm to clean the pens. I put some fresh bedding in the two cow pens before returning home for a wee snack before returning for the late afternoon feeding and chores.

I'm taking my first bite and my cell rang. My son Vaughan needed my help to deliver yet another calf. This one was a hard pull and needed to use the winch. I got there as fast as I could and helped.  So far, one heifer and two bulls.

With three new calves it always means more work and it takes longer  and three cows to bed and give hay to and freshen up their bedding. Work is endless it seems.

I'm finishing up cleaning this end of the barn and I go down the other end to wash the bottles and nipples and met George, all out of breath. He found another calf in the very back of the barn but her  mother was dead. It was her first calf and she had a hard delivery alone with no one to help her.
Luckily the heifer calf was alive and laying not far from her mother and was very dirty as it was muddy back there. My husband had heard her cry after he was done working  and went to see and found the sad scene and needed my help to bring the calf in the barn. My son Vaughan was gone by then.

Since it was way too far for George  to carry the calf, he went to get the wheelbarrow and put a bit of hay in it but his asthmas got so bad that I sent him home to get his puffer. I was afraid that he would die there along with the dead cow.

The poor guy was barely able to breath, he  came back all the way to the barn because the house was locked up and his keys were in the truck at the farm. His breathing was so laboured by this time that he had a hard time to think. I was really concerned. He got in his truck and drove himself home to use his puffer. It takes about 5 minutes to start to work.

 My grandson Liam just happened to have come to the farm after school and was cleaning the alleyways with the skidstear. I went to the other end of the barn to fetch him and the both of us went out back through a herd of curious heifers  to try to find where this calf was.

 I'm getting braver by the day, I tell you. I used to be so scared of cows and heifers. lol... Now I just plow through them, lol... Well I wouldn't plow through a herd of cows actually. Heifers are so darn curious. You chase them and they keep coming back.

My grandson didn't have a pair of rubber boots on so he couldn't walk in the deep muddy muck like me. We had to open a bunch of  gates here and there to go through and I figured a better way to bring this calf inside. It was longer but easier. The muddy terrain was so bad after all that rain that my grandson had to pull the wheelbarrow backward while I held the calf down in the wheelbarrow.

One way to hold down a calf in a wheelbarrow is to cross one of his front leg and and one back leg so they  can get up. They get pretty feisty those little guys and they are unbelievably strong.

We made it to inside the barn and by then my husband was breathing much better and came to take over for my grandson. I dipped the calf umbilical  cord in iodine and vaccinated her. It was a heifer and I'm calling her L'il Annie. Poor little thing, it's a good thing that she was heard by my husband or she would have been there all by herself all night, prey for the coyotes.

I had no pens left  to put her in so I made a bed and put a halter on her head and tethered her for the night. She laid down in a nice bed of fresh hay and a full belly of colestrum warm milk.

I could possibly have another calf by morning. Oh God, I hope not... It's the harvest moon after all. Did you see the big full moon?

My back lawn didn't get mowed, I didn't pulled a weed and didn't absorbed much beautiful sunshine rays today.

I now have two new bulls and two new heifer calves today. So now I have 12 little baby calves, and 11 little bigger ones. Enough to keep me occupied.
I hope that tomorrow will be less eventful.

Thanks for stopping by and for reading my farm adventures. I'm honoured that you bother to comment.
God bless,
JB

SPCA HERE I COME... THANK YOU GOD

I got all the kittens and the mother safely to the SPCA and there was no mishaps except one of the black kitten didn't want to go in the cage by himself and when he wasn't looking I grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and pushed him in the cage with his other siblings.


I hope that they find a good home. The lady said that they de-flea and deworm them as soon as they come in. They were preparing a special promotion to have kittens adopted so that's why I was called so quickly. God did answer my prayer. Thank you God.

A quick update on my Childhood Memories rug.

I didn't go very far as I has lots of visitors throughout August and the first week of september . I started hooking again yesterday and The SPCA called and everything came to a halt again. There is just a little left to do and maybe re-hook or rearrange some of the lighter blue on the left of the hazelnuts. I was trying to use the worms I had without dying more wool. I've used a lot of as is wool in this rug.

Pink Scarf update:  39 inches

I've knitted little by little on the pink scarf but my knitting is not the best as I get pain in my fingers and knitting a soft fine yarn is rather challenging for me.  So far, the scarf measures 39 inches and I still have a way to go. I should get more knitted by the beginning of next week.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope for better weather for your weekend.
JB

WISH ME LUCK

It's FRIDAY the 13th today and I cant believe it, I actually got a call from the SPCA this afternoon asking me if I could bring in the mother cat and her four kitties today after they had told me that I was put on a long waiting list and I would have to wait for quite a while.

Luckily my son had 2 carrier cages and I've set them out under the Gazebo as it's supposed to rain again and it's the only dry place around here. I cajoled the mother inside one of the cage and she ate the food and I left the door opened.  I washed the blanket they had in their old box and I've put it in the other cage although this picture was taken before the blanket was put in.

This is the first time the black ones have come near me while I was sitting down. They usually run away. I was happy when one decided to lay down.

This one came and wanted his or her  picture taken and sat near me on the swing.

The mother came to stand up next to me. Taking photos of moving cats and kittens is quite challenging.

Wish me luck for tomorrow... I'll have to catch them after I come back home from the farm.

Just now before I going to bed I went to check up on them,  I just took a little bit of cat can food and pressed some around  a styrofoam plate and got all five of them to eat some and get a taste for it so it will be easier to trap them tomorrow. I feel like such an eel to trick them like that but it's the best I can do to get them to want more tomorrow.

I'll let you know how I make out.

I hope that you all have a great weekend and that your Friday the 13 was just another normal day.

Thanks for your visit. I appreciate your comments. 

JB

UPDATE ON THE KITTEN AND THEIR MOM

I still haven't found a home for the kittens and the mother. They are on a waiting list at the SPCA.
I made them a water proof little house with boxes and covered it with carpets and plastic and weighed it down with some wood to keep the rain out. They have happily used their new little home to sleep and keep warm.
I usually feed them early in the morning before going to the barn. They always greet me and ready to eat.
This morning the cat and her kittens were gone before I got up. No signs of them. I called them and they didn't come. Noon came, the food and milk was still not touched. I had a sinking feeling that they had ventured off and became a meal for foxes or coyotes. They must have gone down to the river bank.

Late this afternoon the mother returned, half an hour later, a black one and a white one came, yet quite a while later, the other showed up. Although I don't want to keep the cats, I was relieved that they were OK.

This is the first time they came  on my deck and decided that they would make this their home.The little one were very scared and unapproachable then. So it's was difficult to get a good pictures as they would all scatter away and hide behind the wood pile. That where they were sleeping at night. 

This is the long hair mother cat and so very friendly. She must have been a house cat that was abandoned at the farm as it often happens when the owner found out she was pregnant.  She always wants to come in the house but I think that she may have  fleas as I saw the babies scratching.

They are always playing and wrestling together.

Aren't they cute?

They are aware that I was taking their photos.

Now the other one is looking at me.

My sister Del and her companion Maurice came for a weekend visit.  It was nice even though I had to work at the farm. Maurice made a nice hot meal and we had some wine  and a great time catching up on news from home.

Thanks for visiting and leaving a comment. I appreciate you all.
JB

HELLO SEPTEMBER, IT'S BEEN A WHILE SINCE I SAW YOU LAST.

Life has been good but busy. My daughter Christine, her hubby Joe, James and Daniel all made it back home to Ottawa on Saturday morning, Aug 31th. Both James and Daniel were extra good travellers for a long long car trip.  The house seemed so empty after they left. They were here since August 6th. They are coming back for Christmas.

James kept himself busy with watching videos and playing the Goo Ball game on the smart phone and decorating himself with Cars stickers.

He removed his shoes and used his toes to get his pair of sunglasses from the seat pocket and placed them on himself. He looks pretty cool with his upside down glasses on. 

On Saturday I worked all day at the farm  with my son Vaughan, and George and one of the part time hired hand.

Vaughan  cleaned out the calf bedding and scrubbed the pens while I scrubbed the gates and washed the floor. My husband and the hired hand cleaned out the old bedding in the back of the barn and separated the older heifers, moved 8 of my older heifers that were about 300 pounds out in the back after cleaning the area and putting some fresh bedding. They will be ready to breed.

Then the small calves were moved into the empty large pen and the smaller one moved in their place. Now I had room for all my new calves.
I got 4 new calves in 2 weeks or is it five. It's always such a juggling act moving calves of different stages.

The four kittens and their mother are still around and are eating a lot. The kittens are destroying my tiger lillies. There are no blooms on them so it doesn't matter but they are so funny to watch, fighting with the stems till they break. First they ripped up all the leaves off. The little black ones were so scared of me at first while the two fluffy white and black one were braver. Now they don't hide every time I come out to feed them. I promise some pictures soon.

Yesterday I house cleaned all day, vacuumed, changed the beds and did loads and loads of laundry and made a big pot of chicken vegetable soup I even knitted a bit on my pink scarf until I started to drop a few stitches.

Today I worked at the farm for most of the day again  except for a few breaks. I cleaned in the milking house, shining the milk tank and cleaning in general. So much more to do. My lawn is so long again but it rained so hard all night and part of yesterday. It needs drying to mow.

I seem to be getting lots of energy to burn this week but I'm pooped by nightfall.

Last week I got the results of my 8 blood tests for my 10 year cancer checkup and The doctor was ecstatic at my results. I passed with flying colors. Everything is right smack in the middle where it should be. 100% on all 8 blood tests. No high cholesterol or high blood pressure etc, etc and even all signs of my diabetes is gone.  I changed my eating habits by eliminating anything with soy or soy by-products by reading food labels and cooking from scratch. It eliminate a lot of prepared food that we buy at the grocery store and in doing so, I eliminate a lot of preservative and chemicals.

So sorry again that my blog post is so long but they have been far in between and I had lots to share.

Thanks for visiting and leaving me a comment. I so appreciate that you stop by to visit.

JB