Catching Up: September 2008

09/30/2008 Tuesday: Sunny with periods of overcast.

Chas and I went out and spread another 50 lb of pasture mix over the northwest and southwest pastures. It's supposed to rain Thursday but tomorrow we'll be going into town.

I may have to stop and pick up some more feed tomorrow as I don't know when my big order from the Farm Store is coming. The order I placed was pretty large. I ordered a half ton of alfalfa pellets and a half ton of all-purpose feed plus a large 250lb 20% protein tub and a 125lb protein tub, also 20%. This last batch of feed was pretty good. The animals are actually eating it. The goats especially are cleaning out their feeders.

Before lunch I finally found my cache of disposable syringes. I pulled one out and filled it with one ml of Tetanus Toxoid and gave it to the bull calf (MSB02) I castrated two days ago. He seems to be doing well and it almost looks as if his testicles are turning blue.

I threw the halter on him, then gave him his shot and walked him over to the road pasture and let him in with the other cows. It will take a few days for him to get used to the electric fence.

Dena and Tammy came to paint. Tammy was the helper. She'd dip the roller and hand it up to her sister who was at the very top of the ladder as they painted the peak and sofits over the back deck. Then they got quite a bit done on covering up the white primer on the ell with the house color. Once they've got all the stripes done Dena will roll a second coat on that section. She still needs to do the well house and paint the railings, front and back. I guess the downstairs support posts also need painting.

09/29/2008 Monday: Lovely and hot after morning fog. Should be good till Friday, Oct 3 when we're supposed to get high winds and rain.

Today was somewhat less chaotic than yesterday. We only had 6 people show up today.

Dena showed up to paint. She got the board under the deck ceiling painted brown and put a second coat on the living room wall of the back deck. It's pretty clear that that section hadn't been painted in quite some time and needed a second coat. She painted a bunch of sofits too. I believe she painted the support posts. They may need a second coat since they are just pressure treated wood.

She's only got a few things left to do. The stripes in the ell on the top still need to be painted, as do the deck railings on the east side. There are a few more sofits to do including those on the back deck (she'll have to use a ladder for that section as it is quite high off the ground).

A while later Ramon came by to tell her that he'd finished adding on to her chimney (it wasn't drawing properly) and repointing the two loose bricks.

Then Sharon and Charles showed up and visited for awhile. It's nice when they come by. Chas and Charles get to talk mechanics, mathematics and other esoteric topics while Sharon and I discuss gardening and farming topics. While they were visiting the stock market fell over 700 points mostly due to the bailout that never happened. The House of Representatives voted not to fund the massive bailout/rescue which scared the pants off the ordinary investor. The President's and the Administration's story is that without the bailout we won't have credit. While I agree something ought to be done I wonder if bailing out the folks who got us into this trouble is as good as helping those who are in over their heads and are in foreclosure. Maybe a bottom up solution would be equally helpful.

I would not like to see CEO and CFOs get huge golden parachutes. Maybe the Congress ought to think about a 95 percent tax bracket and penalties instead of rewards for these guys.

Dena and I ate late after Charles and Sharon left.

In the afternoon Mary and Mike came by. Mary needed more wood chips. Mike wanted to load them by hand, so he did. While he was working outside I showed Mary my new dehydrator. She really liked it. I showed her the version I purchased online (the one in my kitchen that she liked). She asked me to buy her one and she would repay me so after dinner I ordered a second refurbished Excalibur dehydrator.

The two new Dexters came and got their morning hay as they'd run out of green grass. They also were exposed to hay cubes for the first time. Pixie really took to them and chomped them down with obvious delight. Brie was more shy about trying out this new treat but did eventually eat one cube.

I thought that Noel, my Dexter troublemaker, would be the one bellowing for her missing son. Instead it was Cheddar. She was heartbroken and cried (bellowed) all day. I felt sorry for her especially since her udder must have been hurting from all the stored milk.

The best news of all is that Myrtle was bred to Gary's Angus bull. Myrtle was trying to mount him but he eventually showed her who was boss and bred her. He's about 3-4 inches shorter than Myrtle. She was coming into season yesterday.

I cooked encheladas in salsa with Chas's leftover zucchini medley on top, served with sour cream.

09/28/2008 Sunday: Morning fog with a lovely fairly warm day.

It's a miracle I survived the day.

I hid in the house till 10:30 after I finished my morning feeding watching the news channels to see what the latest was on the horrific financial problem the Nation is facing. Then I went outside to get things ready for all my visitors today, and there were a lot of people here over the course of the day.

Shortly after I got outside Dena and her sister and four Mexican gentlemen came by to toss firewood into Curtis's trailer which he'd parked on the hill above where the firewood was stacked. (I can't imagine why Robert Johnson stacked the wood down below when he could have put it on top of the hill. I imagine he ran out of space for wood.) The four Mexicans worked all day tossing wood into the trailer and then later stacking it at Dena's place. They took out 3 trailer loads over the course of the day plus one pickup load (Dena's).

Dena had her hair permed. It looked very cute.

There's still a lot of stuff to clean up but the area behind the woodshed looks so much better. Since we use so little wood I was afraid it would rot which is why I asked Dena if she wanted it and could use it. Since she heats her home exclusively with wood, this is a big help to her since most of her wood is green cut since the December flood. Most of the wood she had around her property got washed away.

Before they started tossing wood, I asked one of the fellows to help me castrate MSB02. Dena came along to help. I put the halter on the critter and tied him up to one of the smaller fir. Dena held the tail straight up in the air while Enrique pushed the calf against the tree. With the hind legs and front immobilized I was free to do the neutering.

I purchased a California castrator a few weeks ago and wanted to try it out. As with any new tool and not much practice, I was really nervous. In fact, I was shaking so hard I kept knocking the rubber band out of its slot. You have to hold onto the castrator and the band which is slid into a locking slot on the top with your left hand, run the lose end of the band around both testicles after you find them and pull the band snug around the testicles and the put the end of the band in the little locking mechanism (which also holds the band in the slot).

The CA castrator was very easy to use but I can tell you it was extremely helpful to have one person holding the tail straight up so that the animal can't kick and having someone squashing him against the side of the tree, a very strong man, at that. I don't mind doing the dirty but I really like someone/s I trust holding the calf. The calf didn't experience any discomfort initially but he was uncomfortable when you all were here. He was REALLY subdued when I put him back in his pen. I'll likely turn him in with the other cows Tuesday or Wednesday after I see that he's ok. As I mentioned above, when I first started doing the banding I was shaking so badly I kept dropping the elastic tube out of the castrator. It was supposed to be locked into place but it didn't stay unless I put my thumb on it. It must have been funny to see me quiver and shake.

The calf didn't evidence any issues of pain. He did hump a little bit when I tightened the band but I noticed later on in the day that he was a little uncomfortable. By chore time he was subdued but not obviously in pain. I think by that time the band had numbed the testicles.

I was very relieved when that process was over and I could tie him out to graze. MSB02's testicles were quite large considering he is only a 4 month old animal (well, nearly 5 months old Oct 2).

I didn't have time to give him a tetanus shot but I will tomorrow.

Just as we were finishing up, who should show up but the de Rooses. I was expecting them to come pick up the animals Susie was bringing down. It was lovely to see Kay and Roger again. They live in Washugal and plan to use my bull, Huck, next year for breeding their girls. We visited for awhile and I showed Kay my vegetable garden.

Twenty minutes later Susie showed up. So, here's the count, two pickups with animal trailers, one pickup with a utility trailer, one pickup, one sedan and our two cars. It was a busy place for awhile with the animal trailers blocking the other trucks and trailers. We managed to block in the white sedan and Dena's pickup truck with the cattle trailer.

We had a horrible time catching the Dexter bull calves. Actually I had lured the girls into the stall with the promise of grain. We trapped them in the stall but Rex, Susie's husband wanted to sort out the cows. I was against it but willing to go along. I was on the far side of the gate. We let one animal out and then the whole herd charged the gate and ran right through me. I went ass over teakettle right into the manure with the gate on top of me squashing me flat.

Using a rope we pushed the girls back into the stall but Rex herded them too fast and they turned around and ran out again.

At that point I turned off the power so that we could put the electric fence across their paddock keeping them in the one paddock. I stepped out of the way and they ran the cows back into the stall, this time closing the gate. I stood behind the gate. My mistake was in not putting the gate on the inside so that the gate would push against the wall instead of me. The cows charged the gate led by Noel followed by her red bull calf and they ran over me again. I went down again with the gate on top of me.

Fortunately none of the cows stepped on me, bless them. The third time was easier because I told Rex to tie up the one calf left in the stall that Susie and Rex were taking so that he (the bull calf) couldn't get out again. The calf Susie and Rex tied up was number 12. They threw one rope on him and pulled till he ran out of air and then got the halter on him while he was down.

On the last try they were able to grab Noel's red bull calf. This was the second bull that they were taking home. We tied up the boys and unloaded Brie and Pixie into stall three (the one closest to the cow barn). This stall has a nice paddock with some green grass in it. The girls were reluctant to come out but Susie persuaded them to come out by getting behind them and walking them out.

As for the overruns, well the manure made for a soft, if unpleasant, landing. It also made it hard for me to take a step back to brace myself and the gate. I need to get my tractor out to scrape that area. I've been planning to do it for weeks. It's always the one thing you neglect to do that trips you up in the end (end, get it???)

Once my new Dexters were in their pen we could drive the trailer over to Roger's trailer and unload their two cows into Roger's trailer. Roger loaded shavings into his trailer. I laughed because the trailer is open and they'll be spreading shavings all along the highway on their way home.

Then Rex backed up the trailer to the middle stall and we loaded the babies. One went in the front stall (#12) and the second in the back (red bull calf). We were done with moving cows and calves around. It was an exciting time, especially for me.

Susie is going to work with the red calf from Noel. She really likes his confirmation. He's got nice hindquarters and is real blocky and meaty. He should throw nice babies. Poor old #12 will be castrated and sold for meat.

I gave Susie $700.00 cash and a check for $500. Now I only owe Susie $500 more for the bull and a bunch for the two girls.

09/27/2008 Saturday: Cold this morning with fog so I knew it would be beautiful in the afternoon. In fact the sun did shine and I was able to work in my t-shirt in the afternoon.

This morning after chores (and before breakfast and my cuppa tea) Chas and I took the tractor and put one round bale in the Dexter's feeder and one in the Hereford's feeder. Getting the top bale down is fairly hard as the bucket hides where the tines are. It helps to have two people working on it, one directs while the other runs the tractor.

I needed more bales for the sheep and goats so we gathered up a pallet from the equipment shed. Chas drove the tractor into the cow barn and I loaded 5 bales onto the pallet. In the best of all possible worlds I would be able to drive the tractor into the barn and just place the pallet where I needed the hay but instead Chas drove a good way into the green barn and I unloaded the 5 bales by hand.

Then Chas took the tractor down to the creek and we gathered small rocks to use under the gravel we'll be putting down near the cow waterer. We returned larger rocks that we'd taken out of the pastures to the stream. Chas did two loads while I placed the rocks where I wanted them. By that time I needed a break and some food and tea.

It was still pretty early by then and I wanted to try out the new dehydrator. I dumped most of a large stock feeding bucket of plums that we'd picked two days ago and started washing them. When I had enough forward I split them in half following the built-in seam that prune plums have and up on the other side. A quick twist of the plum and one side was pit-less. A sharp fingernail under that stone and up it came. The stone went into the compost bucket.

I laid out the plums on a rack and when it was full put the rack into the dehydrator. The plums were so large I couldn't fill every rack. Instead I left an empty shelf. I figured that I would be able to put in apples or another batch of plums after some of the water had evaporated.

Chas joined me to wash the plums and put them in a strainer to drain some. We filled 4 trays. The remaining fruit I split, de-pitted and put in a gallon baggie for drying tomorrow. I stored them in the refrigerator, of course.

I put the plums on at 155 for a couple of hours to dry them fast and then turned the machine down to 135 which is the correct temperature to dry them at. I also did not pierce the backs of the plums. This is supposed to get them to dry faster. I did pierce the backs of the plums that I put in the refrigerator.

After lunch which was a toasted peanut-butter and no-sugar raspberry jelly sandwich I headed out to see what I could do with MSB02, my Milking Shorthorn bull that I am soon going to castrate. I gathered up a rope and a rope halter and tied the two together. The combined rope was attached to a heavy tire with the metal part in the center still attached. I then walked into the pen with the calf and put on the halter. I opened the gate and out he went, but cautiously. He did get tangled up a couple of times but he ended up grazing on the clover/grass mixture grass that was getting higher near the green barn - and later napping.

Later on he and I practiced walking toward me when I pulled on the halter. He quickly learned that I would give him some slack if he walked forward. Otherwise the halter pulled on his ears and nose till he took that step. By evening chores he was walking willingly as I called him.

He's a typical bull, tho', always wanting to rub his head and horns against any available spot on you. We had a couple of firm discussions about this bad behavior. It would have been easy to get hit hard enough to cause fresh bruises on my legs.

I also spent some time handling his privates so that when I put my hands on him to neuter him he wouldn't panic.

When I went back to the house I got a call from Susie. She wanted to confirm that I wasn't freaking out about the warts on the young heifer, Brie. She's bringing to me tomorrow. I was concerned but Susie says it's self limiting and that the adults are usually immune once they've had it.

Her husband will be driving. Susie will be here about noon. Her husband, Rex, should arrive by 1pm with the trailer and cattle. Susie is also bringing down a pair of Dexters for someone I knew at the University of Washington. She told me his name and I gasped. I know that man. I asked if he was married to a woman named Kay. When Susie said yes, I knew for sure that I'd worked with this couple many years before. They live in Washugal now and Roger is retired.

After we unload my girls we'll wait till Roger and Kay show up and will unload his girls into Roger's trailer. Then we'll load up the two bull calves: Cheddar's black calf (#12) and Noel's red calf. Cheddar's calf will be neutered by her vet and Noel's calf will likely become a junior herd sire at Susie's farm.

I'm going to put the two new cows in the central pasture. I hope to have all the cows in the middle stall where their protein block is so that we can put halters on them and tie them up and let the mommas out.

After evening chores I cooked dinner: BBQ chicken, baked squash and potatoes. It was pretty good. I also added some sliced apples to the dryer just to see what would happen if I didn't use ascorbic acid or lemon juice.

09/26/2008 Friday: Partially sunny; some cloud. Warmer in the afternoon.

While I was getting my breakfast Chas and I talked about the cattle. I think we're agreed that we'd save Emma's bull (eventually steer) for our own use - unless we get a fantastic offer for him either as meat or as a steer for someone else's pot.

Chas and I headed into town fairly early. We had a lot of things to do. I purchased 2 new buckets at the Farm Store as well as a 50 lb sack of sunflower seeds for mixing with cracked corn for feeding the chickens their once or twice daily treat. I also bought 4 - 50 lb sacks of All-purpose livestock feed, a bag of alfalfa pellets and a hog finisher. I figure the hog finisher should be done by Oct 7, the day the hogs are butchered. At any rate I will make it last.

Then we picked up a 1/4 inch pipe (21 feet long) that Chas had cut up into different length sections. He wants to use with our air compressor with his newly designed device to blow out our gutters. We don't want to have to climb up tall ladders. After I went grocery shopping we stopped at a couple of plumbing and well drilling companies to see if we could get the pieces threaded.

We stopped at the library and bank. Somewhere along the route we shopped at Madson's. I picked up a saw blade for my Stihl weed whacker, some earplugs for Chas and three pair of gloves for me. I wear gloves out fast handling hay, digging in the vegetable and flower gardens and generally working around the farm.

In the afternoon, after lunch, I headed over to Mike and Mary's place to drop off some plums that Chas and I picked two days ago and pick up some windfall apples that Mary had collected for me from her apple trees. The apples are for pig and cow feed. Some of the apples look like they'd be great eating.

Gary N was visiting Mike and Mary so I gave him the plums I had intended to bring over to him after I left Mike and Mary. It saved me the trip.

Since I didn't have to go to Gary's place I headed into Pe Ell. I needed to pick up some clips at the hardware store which I found. I took the opportunity to visit the antique shop across from the hardware store and found a very nice painted bookcase for $36.00. I bought the bookcase, a very pretty chalk board for the barn (now I only need to get chalk), and an old-timey match box holder that perfectly matches the green in my living room furniture.

While we were gone to town Dena put a second coat of off-white paint on the deck ceiling. She also did some painting along the south wall. She rolled on the paint several days ago but had to go back and put paint in the siding cracks to cover up the white primer. On that problem wall, the south facing wall, Dena also put on a second coat. I didn't have a chance to look at the wall but I will tomorrow morning.

We also need to put another coat on the upper deck window wall. I think that wall got painted 15 years ago when they put on the addition but I really don't believe it has been painted since then. We need to paint all the support posts and put brown paint on the board just under the ceiling. Right now it's spotted with white and the original red color.

Just as I was almost done with my chores Mike and Mary showed up to pick up some wood chips. Mary wants to use them to put around her fruit trees. She's already cleared out a circle around each tree for the chips. Mike used the tractor to load the chips into their pickup bed. They also picked up the small travel trailer they'd stored at my place since early this year. This is the one they got as a freebie after the floods. They needed somewhere to store it while they got their place put back together.

It didn't bother me that it stayed here for so long but I must admit it does look a lot better now that it's gone.

The cows have been bellering at me, well Myrtle was bellowing, at least. She came in to get some water and have a lick or two at the protein block and had left her baby in N5, way at the end of that hay pasture. She was letting me know that she wanted her baby and she wanted him now! I drove out in my ATV and brought all the cows in, and counted noses to be sure everyone was present and accounted for.

This evening I called Wally R about ordering 20 more 500lb round bales and 100 alfalfa-grass mix bales. Wally will be charging me $5.50/bale on a 100 bale minimum for the alfalfa-grass mix bales plus a $60.00 delivery fee. I did not check to see what the price would be on the 500lb bales. I'm assuming it will be at least $5.00 more than it was when I bought it out of the field.

I was going to have BBQ chicken (cooked in the oven), baked squash and maybe chard for dinner but with Mike and Mary's visit, my schedule got all out of kilter. We had to "settle" for 10-ingredient purchased pizza. Good thing I bought two at Shop 'n Kart today. They had chicken for $0.79 per lb. I bought three chickens to put into the freezer; actually two went in and we'll have the other for dinner tomorrow night. Got some dog bones (cut up beef knuckles) that I'll cook up tomorrow for Lucky. I cook them at 350 degrees F for about 1.5 hours. He loves bones.

09/25/2008 Thursday: Overcast, but I saw a wonderful rainbow arching over the far-off hills. It made me feel awfully good to see something so beautiful. It made my day.

Sherry came today to clean house. I asked her to pick up a Shark vacuum for me the next time she goes to Walmart. Sherry often shops there whereas Chas and I never go shopping there. We prefer Shop 'n Kart or Grocery Outlet.

I've started reading this General Accounting Office report titled, "CONCENTRATED ANIMAL FEEDING OPERATIONS EPA Needs More Information and a Clearly Defined Strategy to Protect Air and Water Quality from Pollutants of Concern" GAO-08--944. I find it hard to believe that some concentrated animal feeding operations can produce as much manure as humans in Philadelphia do in a year. I haven't yet gotten past the summary statement but I'm quite interested in what such large operations do with their manure. Do they compost it, spread it on their and neighboring acreage? What?

Dena finished painting the downstairs section on the north end of the house. After that she started on the railings and got as far as the beginning of the plywood covered with carpet. We're waiting till the paint dries on the south side of the house. It's been raining and cold so the paint hasn't completely finished drying. I expect she'll put a coat on the deck ceiling soon. This time she'll run north south along the length of the deck. Previously she painted east west along the short length of the deck. The ceiling ought to look way better when she's got a second coat on.

I didn't do much today. I've been tired the past few days. I did get some of my email queue beaten down. I think that's always an accomplishment.

The dehydrator I ordered off eBay arrived today. I unpacked it and set it up on the kitchen counter just to look at it. It is an Excalabur 2900/3900 model with 9 trays. It's approximately 15 square feet of drying space. I plan to dry some of the plums and apples from our property. Eventually I'd like to try drying some jerky made from our beef.

Charles finished putting up the downspouts on the north side of the barn. The area around the west end of the barn ought to be less mucky. It doesn't look as if we'll get the area cleared for gravel this year.

It looks as if Sweet Pea is in season. The Angus bull was licking her neck and being very attentive. She was loving it.

Dinner was bangers and mash. Chas requested it.

09/24/2008 Wednesday: Overcast and rain.

After doing chores and before eating breakfast (for me) Chas and I took the ATV and trailer with the two 40 lb bags of seed and the clover seed and went out and broadcast seed on both the furthest northwest and southwest pastures. Those were the pastures that were hit with the floods last year. The receding water left several inches of fine clay and large bald patches where the grass was buried in the resulting mud. Two forty pound bags did not get those pastures completely seeded but I can buy more seed the next time I go to the feed store.

Then Chas wanted to pick plums. We got the plums from the tree in the gazebo garden. Chas brought the small orchard ladder we just bought and the 12 foot ladder we borrowed from Gary for us to use. I used the shorter ladder and picked what I could after Chas picked the low-hanging fruit. Then Chas got the top fruit, well, as much as he could reach.

We had a devil of a time getting the ATV and trailer out of the gazebo garden. There's just no room to turn around. Chas got out by backing up, knocking over several wheelbarrows full of plants and running over a plastic chair and a bucket. It was pretty amusing to watch. Coming in he managed to run over one of my wooden flower pots. I made it and it was on its last legs so it wasn't a big loss.

Picking the plums and getting the ATV out was done in the pouring rain, too. I was sopping wet when I got back to the house. Felt good to feel the rain. It's been rare to see rain for most of the summer.

Deana arrived after 11:30 am and left around 2:30 pm. She'd gotten as much painted as she could given the rain. She managed to get the first coat of brown on the south wall before it started pouring. She also put the first coat of paint on the ceiling of the upper deck. It's a creamy color with some shine to it. So the first coat is on over the primer and it's all cut in. It definitely needs another coat of paint as it's quite a bit less thick than the Rhodda paint and doesn't cover as well. We got this paint from the store of paint that Michael and Mary have in their storage area. It really lightens up the deck. Everything will look much better after the white spots are covered over with the house color and the pillars are painted.

I pretty much left Deana to paint on her own today. After broadcasting seed over two large sections of land and picking plums I was tired. Chas is also tired. I napped in the afternoon.

With feeding the cows round bales, my workload is essentially cut in half. It makes life a whole lot easier. I told Dena that I had a couple of goats for sale, a wether and a Nubian-Boer cross, each for $60.00. She has some Hispanic friends who may want one, probably the wether and Curtis might want the female. I need to reduce the herd some. While I could butcher the wether myself, I'd prefer to sell him.

Later in the afternoon Chas walked down to the gate to get our mail and picked some plums from the plum tree on the west side of the driveway. I think both plum trees will need pruning next year. They've gotten quite tall. Even with a 10 foot orchard ladder it's hard to pick the plums at the top of the tree.

09/23/2008 Tuesday: Sunny after morning fog.

With any luck Deana and I might be nearly finished with painting the house. Then I have to decide if I want the potting shed painted. That will take a couple of days but it would be worth it since everything will be the same color as the house except for the tack room and barn.

I got the bottom board on the well house primed before Deana showed up. Tomorrow I might be able to paint the well house. I expect I'll be able to roll it and then go over the spots that I missed with a brush. On the other hand we probably should finish painting the south wall. Deana

Deana and I worked on the south wall (Chas's study and the master bedroom wall) and got the peak area and about a quarter to a third of the wall painted. I held the ladder because that part of the house is on a steep slope and dipped the roller in the paint so that she would not have to climb up and down the ladder. I was so happy to have that started. It makes such a difference covering up that baby poop yellow. Putting the first coat of the brown paint over the primer will also make a huge difference.

Not so much left to do. The upper deck ceiling needs a coat of paint. I have to cut in the main house color on the trim around the ceiling and begin painting the railings. Deana still wants to do some more sanding to remove the verathane paint that was put on the railing top.

After looking at how the paint was sucked up by the deck walls, I would be willing to bet that the house hasn't been painted for many years. The red paint might actually be from the first owner, Whitaker.

Once we'd finally finished painting for the day I asked Deana to help me with a couple of things I needed to get done. Deana helped me move a 4x6 foot 3/4 inch mat that I'd purchased over a week ago at the Farm Store into the ATV's trailer. She opened the electric gate and I placed the mat in front of the Dexter's water trough.

Then I dashed down to get the tractor and brought it up to the cow barn where I picked up a large round bale of hay for the Herefords. We dropped it, unwrapped it and then tossed the round bale feeder over the bale.

Chas picked plums when he walked to the gate to pick up the mail. I think they're very ripe; we'll have to move fast to get them before they all drop on the ground. Gary has indicated he and Mary would like some plums.

I picked some corn for dinner and while I was out there, stripped the leaves into the Dexter paddock. The cows came running when they saw me near the gate. They know I'm bringing them a treat. I'll need to pull some of the corn stocks to toss over the fence when I get the ears off the plants. The cows will sure enjoy it.

I actually have a few ripe tomatoes and the Hubbard squash are getting gigantic - well, at least one is. The plums on both trees seem to be ready to enjoy. Some are riper than others. A few days ago I did grate up a medium sized zucchini and put the results in two zip-lock pint-sized baggies and froze them. I'll have to remember to use the zucchini in soups and in zucchini bread if I ever get around to making that yummy bread.

Dinner was corn, rice and a prepackaged pork in sauce dish. Simple but good.

09/22/2008 Monday: Overcast, a ten minute shower and sunshine the rest of the day.

Dena and I are still painting the house. I worked another 3 hours cutting in paint today while Deana rolled on the paint up to where I'd cut in the primer under the roof of the back deck today. I started working on the deck but was joined by Deana when the 10 minute monsoon hit us. (Yup, the sky clouded up while Deana was at the top of the ladder painting in the cracks and the sky let go. She got wet! The rain lasted 10 minutes then the sun came out. Go figure).

The only place left dry enough to paint was the deck. I think painting the ceiling with a light colored (cream) paint will really lighten things up quite a bit.

Next year - if I have the energy - I'll remove the rug from the deck, sand the deck and also paint it a nice light color, sort of what they do back east. Add a couple of rocking chairs and a glass-topped table and chairs and voila, a lovely place to eat and sit and watch the trees wave in the afternoon breeze.

I really wanted to get to the well house today but that was not to be. Maybe tomorrow. I sure like the paint I got from Rhodda. It actually covers white primer in one coat with no white spots (unless you're careless).

Gary came over to visit but we didn't have much time to talk before Ramon showed up and occupied the spotlight.

Ramon stopped by to ask us to write a letter for him so that it might help him get a reduced sentence. He's been accused by an illegal alien of pointing a gun at the alien and forcing him to work. So Ramon, even though he's an American citizen has been charged with some kind of crime and the illegal in the meantime has disappeared. The government has gone nuts with all this terrorist activity and thinks the average person with darker skin and not very good English is a terrorist. Gives me the shivers.

Chas helped me move a bale of hay from the top of the stack and put it in the Dexter feeder. I'd turned off the juice and moved the Herefords into N1 and the Herefords into H3 but I could tell they were still hungry.

One of the heifers got bred by the Angus bull. I couldn't tell which one it was except that it was a heifer and she has a large white section on her left side.

Chas suggested spaghetti for dinner so we had spaghetti made out of store bought sauce and our ground pork with mushrooms along with store bought spaghetti.