I'VE NOTICED A TREND

I've noticed that since I've started blogging on August 2, 2010 a lot of the bloggers are no longer blogging every day and it seems that they post less and less just like me, others blog once in a blue moon and others have stopped blogging all together and I wonder why but I know life happens along the way... I keep checking everyone's blog and comment even if I don't post just  because I feel like you are my friends.

 For me, I feel too tired at the end of the day to bother and I put it off and then I have so much stuff to blog about that I can't make up my mind what to choose so I don't blog. In the summer, I do pretty much the same from year to year, weed,  mow the lawn, feed calves, plant gardens, office work, meals, run errands and do housework so it's kind of repetitious. I don't have time to run around with a heavy camera around my neck and I don't have a Smart phone to take carry with me to take those awesome shots that happens when you least expect it.

Some of you have been after me to post so here it is today. For dear Kezzie all the way across the ocean, here are photos of  my last two little calves.

An overhead shot of the two of them. The shiny black one is a heifer calf named Lemmon and the other one is a bull calf that we don't name as he is sold. He looks small but he is about 130 pounds and very strong.

I tried to take a decent photo of the two of them standing and they just wouldn't stay still two second. After they were fed, they laid down and I got this shot. Anyone who has tried to take photographs of curious calves can tell you it's not easy. It takes another person to distract them while the other takes their pictures.

Daniel is sitting in his booster seat next to mama while James is sitting on the end.

James is trying out some pasta salad. It doesn't seen to be to his liking...

He said  he didn't like it before even trying but he must at least do the taste test.

Weeding... yes weeding...

I got many wheelbarrowful of these kind of weeds on the edges of the back vegetable garden. These long roots runs under the ground and spread and have to be totally dug out to remove them. If you cut them up they will roots everywhere.

This is what they look like where it grows  in the hayfield  along beside of the garden.

Weeds along the long bed by the driveway.  Mostly wood sorrel and so hard to get rid of.

More weeds around the big rock

Creeping Charlie weeds have taken over my my lawn.

A little row of snowpeas for stir frys.

Some spinach that is ready to be picked

Early cabbage and some chickweeds sprouting again after all the rain.

Some Roma tomatoes starting to grow.

A row of Spanish onion, a row of red onions and a row of yellow  onions

My little potato patch is doing really well after digging out those weeds with long white roots. Notice some Milkweeds have been left for butterflies on the left.

My peonies are starting to bloom

Some peonies way out by the shed have also started to bloom. 

Hopefully I'll be posting again this week. I have more family pictures and I missed some really good shots while being preoccupied in preparing meals.

 Thanks for stopping by.

JB 

THE BATTLE OF THE WEEDS CONTINUES

The weeds are winning the war and my Irises are in desperate need to be divided. This is the before picture.  I made the mistake of planting a small potted Bugleweed perennial plant a few years ago because I love the blue color in the spring but it was a mistake. Even though I pulled all the small plants that seeded everywhere, they keep coming even on the lawn...

This is a view from the left side.  Dandelions and Blackeye Susan are sprouting everywhere, yes even on the lawn also and Creeping Charlies aren't shy either.

I raged through that flowerbed like a mad woman on a mission.. I stuck some Bearded Irises in but I want to change them location because they are so tall for this flower bed.

This is another nightmare of a flower bed gone wild. Chickweeds  and dandelions have definitely taken over  and even Creeping Charlies weren't far behind in the invasion.

Here's a better view of my invaded territory.

I'm reclaiming what's mine and I'm stepping on any toes that gets in the way. I'll show them weeds that I mean business.

These  Blackeye Susan I pulled out of the tier bed and stuck them in an old plastic pot. I have to dead head them before they self seed like crazy again.

Some of my bearded Irises that I divided from the tier flower bed. I had taken the trouble of cutting some plastic labels and written on them with what said was a permanent ink for plant marker  when they were in bloom this past spring  but the sun faded every trace of ink. That's what I get for buying it at the Dollar Store.  Now I have no idea what colors they are. Serves me right for trusting labels...

Another flower bed weeded and I decided to pull my clump of old fashion Daylilies and you can see them by one of the compost bins. That was a hard job to divide that big clump. I want to pull the serendipity lungwort that self seeded there and is getting bigger. but had to go to the farm and it's been raining ever since.

Now here is a fine piece of work if I ever saw one. I had weeded one section of my vegetable garden and cut the excess of the melon vines as they seemed to have been drying up and had to quit because of the rain and the next day my son Vaughan called me to tell me that I better check my garden as something had eaten my watermelons.  I can se that they were ripe even though they were rather small and they left the larger one for me with a few bite on the rind.

What ever ate my melon also dragged some of my cucumbers and ate part of them too.

This week has been a busy one for me and especially on Friday.  Saturday, I worked most of the day at the barn  had to clean calf pens too and my son help which was good.

 I have 5 new calves to bottle feed and all this milk to deal  with and carry to the other end of the barn.

Friday everything was happening at once. We had herd health with the vet checking all the cows and heifers that were bred in the past month to see if any were pregnant and one of the cow was calving and the feed truck arrived and I had to go round up some heifers because the truck driver needed the gate open so he could drive in the back of the barn to unload the feed in the big feed tank.  The heifers didn't all want to go in the barn so I had to stay in the back to watch that they didn't escape until the truck driver was done.

I called my son to come help this poor groaning cow who was calving and he pulled out the heifer calf and she was all yellow since she had a bowel movement in the placenta.  The mother cleaned her up pretty good but she still is a bit yellowy. The calf is doing well, the cow had to be pumped some medicated solution that I pumped into her with my husband holding the tube in her mouth this morning.

Friday I had breakfast at 11:35 am and I was pretty hungry since I was up since 6:30 am. Saturday I had breakfast at 10:15 am.  Today, Sunday I had breakfast sometimes after 9: am. I can't gain weight that way and most of my pants are getting loose on me.
I'll fatten up this winter I hope or the wind will go right through me, lol.

Have a nice week and thanks for reading my ramblings.
JB