Trail OPEN, and some not so weekly quotes!

Last June I wrote about a bike trail that we live by, you can see the post here: 

Trail Closed

The trail has been closed since it was damaged by a flood over 2 years ago!

We usually spend a lot of time on this trail, and it has been very hard not having it usable. We don't have a neighborhood sidewalk or park we can ride our bike on....this biketrail is used by so many in our entire community and is so very beautiful all 4 seasons of the year.

Well, finally it is DONE....FIXED.....USABLE....OPEN.... YEAH!!!!

The large gaping hole that was once here...is now filled in with RipRap.

We still have yet to go the whole length of the trail, there were several dangerous areas ....but now, 2 1/2 years later, we can spend time on it safely!

Emma was on a visit home from college....and we spent a beautiful afternoon exploring our newly fixed trail.

We have not a good year for rain....and this creek is normally flowing...hopefully next spring it will again!

"The good life is a process, not a state of being. It is a direction, not a destination."   Carl Rogers 

"Understand that the right to choose your own path is a sacred privilege. Use it. Dwell in possibility. "  Oprah Winfrey 

This is a nice short work week thanks to our Thanksgiving holiday. 

And the weatherman has announced that it is going to be BEAUTIFUL outside for us Thanksgiving feasters.....hopefully a walk down this path will be obtainable after we fill our bellies!! 

~Kim

The Water Trough "Fountain" and our curious girls!

Ahhh, the sound of running water!

Makes everyone a little curious!

And one at a time....they all came a running to see what that blond woman was doing!

Claire-A-Belle just didn't want to seem too curious.....

She got a little sidetracked.....

but not Clover....

this water was just a little too tempting.....

What else is a girl to do?

And this went on for a long time!

Until that blond woman shut the water off and ruined all the fun!

Sorry, Clover! I will be back with some more in a few days....I'm sure you will be first in line this time!!

~Kim

Daddy's Little Helper

While I was stuck inside...literally (see this post), the men in my life were outside working 

on our Fall 2012 To-Do List!

Nothing more precious to me than watching our baby be "Daddy's Little Helper".

Our barn is getting a concrete wash and dry bay. Will be so nice to have an area to tie the cows up (out of the mud). 

This is not the finished product....BaileyHusband will get it all pretty-fied....

....but I doubt these guys care...

One thing down...about 20 more to go on our To-Do list. Hope the weather holds out!

~Kim

Country ART

It's no surprise that I LOVE COWS.  Growing up, I was not around cows.....never knowing that when we bought some land in the country, built our home, and then several years later brought home our very first little calf Carly , that I would fall head -over -heels IN LOVE with cows!

I mean, come on...do you see that little face? And we bottle-fed her, and she would suck MY thumb! To this day she is still my favorite! And she has an automatic ticket to live out her entire life on this farm...and then she will have a HUGE beautiful gravesite when her time comes! :(

Until recently, I thought my love was just for Miniature Herefords...then came Clover....

Clover is black angus and semmental mix, resulting in pure perfection (in my humble opinion).

She is Sierra's "baby"...and has the cutest personality! (And YES, we did a photoshoot of Sierra and her lovely 4H cow this past summer, we are lucky to be related to an awesome photographer, Amy)

Which comes to the topic of this post....I love country art...specifically, Cow Art! 

via

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via House Beautiful

I am OBSESSED with their little faces...some people are 'horse people', some are 'dog people', I guess you could call me a 'cow person'.

So if I am on anyone's Christmas List that is reading this post.....FYI, you could never go wrong with buying me some Cow Art! (haha) 

~Kim

Sick Ones and Vet Bills!!

We have only been in this cow business for about 4 years...and we have not had to deal with the sickies before. I didn't even know that cows could get flu-like symptoms! 

But lo and behold....it happened! We knew that our bull, Ken, was being a little standoff-ish, but Ken is Ken....and he is a grumpy fella anyways. Then one day, we noticed him limping  and shuffling towards the barn.

And when I say shuffling....I mean picture how the elderly walk on a sheet of ice....

and then picture a 1200+ lb bull walking like that! 

With a closer inspection...he had a severely red nose and eyes....

We quickly quarantined him from our other cows (and donkey)....and he went into our grain bin and stayed there for days....wouldn't come out for water or food. BaileyHusband tried coaxing him out with buckets of feed...which seemed to work initially....

We, I mean BaileyHusband, ( I still don't feel too comfortable being that close the big lug, even if he doesn't feel good!) had to carry water in large buckets to him to get him to even drink.

The vet arrived and gave him some (expensive) shot of anit-biotics that was to last in him for 7 days. Ken had a temperature of 103 degrees...and it was a cold day! Poor guy!!

After two rounds of shots, and 2 1/2 weeks later.....we are pleased to see that Ken is becoming his feisty old self....and is now back in the larger pasture with his lady friends.......

YEAH KEN!!! 

But.....just like the flu in a household of children....it seemed to have spread......

Most of our calves were having gross snotty noses...makes you want to get a large Kleenex doesn't it?

And they were laying around the barnyard, looking totally sad. So more shots and more vet bills later....we think we have knicked this flu in the bud.....just hope our baby mamas don't get it, don't know what it would do to their unborn calves! YIKES!

Hopefully we will have a more healthy month ahead!

~Kim

Please don't tell anyone!? This is my NEVERland!

Disclaimer: You are about to see something really disgusting, and humiliating!

The "View" from the doorway!

I hope I am not alone in my secret room that I have, one that has become a sort of open and throw kind of room! (At least you know that I am completely honest...some bloggers just show their BEAUTIFUL rooms)

Starting about last April when we were getting ready for Emma's graduation party, and all the way through children's birthdays, holidays, and a Barn Sale that I wanted to have that never happened this fall....the room that I can create in (our craft/project/scrapbook/art room)...has become this:

There WAS once a table here for crafting, wrapping......

Lots of past party memorabilia that desperately needs to find a home

The view of most of the room.....UGH!!!

I seriously don't even know where to start!!

I actually have nice countertops to view photo albums and layout projects on.

Horrified?? I sure am...how in the world did I let it get so bad?

Well, it all won't get done TODAY, but I actually have BIG plans for this room, and maybe I will have to add better clutter storage elsewhere in my home, so all my projects don't get stuck here in NEVERland.

Maybe this is what happens when you have a houseful of creative people? That is the excuse I am going for right now! Wish me luck! 

~Kim

HAPPY NOVEMBER

I cannot believe that we are already into November....

I wanted to share some happenings here at the farm.

Paco, our blue peacock....flew the coop! He is now a free-ranger. Actually ALL of our blue peacocks were free ranging for a day....(someone left the door open, Gunnar, but we won't mention any names!) We caught all of them but Paco....we think he is much happier! 

Felipe, our white peacock, who rents space in our chicken coop, is much happier also....we thinned out our flock of hens....and he has more space to strut his stuff!

Jetta, our black cat, made it through Halloween....she was completely frightened by all the scary monsters that came to our door! And I am happy to announce she is FINALLY earning her keep around here. She is often found hunting in the barn early in the morning....and the scary amount of mice we have had is now a thing of the past!

And Hershey girl is loving the once-again-green-grass....and sunshine!

 (Poor ol' girl has an "owie" on her nose)

I got to finally finish our end of the season lawn cutting...and our yard is looking more like its a beautiful spring day , rather than the end of the year! 

Hope this nice weather sticks around for awhile so we can get that chicken coop cleaned out and moved! 

~Kim