Spa Day at the Farm

We have had a record breaking heat spell in Iowa for the past couple weeks, and everyone here is affected by it. We are watering our flowers twice daily, and watering our animals 3-4 times daily with fresh, cold water. Our cows have an automatic waterer, which is great. And Sierra has continued to bath her 4H calves daily, they are more than happy to get watered down in this heat.

The curious stares from our other cattle, our miniature herefords, was too much to take, and we thought they would enjoy a nice bath too.....

First up....Miss Claire-A-Belle....She has always been such a curious little thing, and has gotten quite DIRTY!

Claire-A-Belle got the whole beauty treatment: her hooves washed, her tail trimmed and combed out, and her white face and legs were given a little extra shampoo! Oh, she is going to look so good just in time for breeding season! But I really don't think Ken cares either way! :)

Such a pretty, clean girl now! And as she walked off to go show Ken her new look, she turned around and thanked us one last time:

Next up......Miss Carly Jo:

Giving some love to Daddy....this little girl is such a snuggler and a little diva, she was definately more than happy to get herself all prettified and cooled down for the day. And we were happy to learn that after more than 2 yrs of not being haltered, they were easily led around!

These are always my favorite kind of days around the farm....We give so much love to these animals, and its fun when they show some love back!

THIS IS WHAT I HAVE COME TO FIND WHAT LIFE IS ALL ABOUT!

~Kim

Our new bookcrate

Bookcases are soooo yesterday! We just made a bookcrate....

I started collecting crates over a year ago, and use them all over the house. I bought this one at a garage sale and just didn't know exactly what to do with it. Measuring at 35" long by 14" high....or could it be 14" wide by 35" high? I have been wondering what this crate originated as? It has great worn details so I know it was used often....

We finally got around to putting casters on it, it now has been repurposed as a bookcase bookcrate. Doing this gave it more height and functionality....and it fits perfectly under the window in our front room that faces our fountain.

I display some summer-y nature inspired items...that seem to be the theme in my decor lately...with some "summer reads" that I never have the time to read, but they look good, and this girl can dream of the day that she has that time to sit on the porch, drink a glass of homemade lemonade, and read a good, trashy novel :)

                           Welcome to SUMMER! ~Kim

West End field trip

This past week I got the chance to take my kids on a "shopping" field trip to the Big City! There is a wonderful shop downtown called West End Architectural Salvage:

It is a huge warehouse loft, the atmosphere is so cool, even to my young kids! We did opt to go on one of the HOTTEST days of the year, and since this is an old building, the upper floors had NO AIR CONDITIONING! But we still had a great time....and look at some of the salvaged, reclaimed items we saw:

I love old metal buckets and bins....this would be amazing in a home office!

I don't know how comfy this sofa would be, I was too scared to sit on it, but it was so beautiful, along with the more modern pillows!

We took the stairwell in between floors, very lofty, my boys thought it was a little spooky, but in a fun way!

There was a whole section of a level dedicated to lighting fixtures....oh the fun I could have with these!!!

Each level had it's own restroom, and even those were fun and interesting to look at....always finding inspiration in the most unusual places!

If we ever have to replace our doors at Irishman Acres, I vow to buy from here...I think it would be so interesting to have each door in a home to be different, and just think of the instant character these babies would add!

Love me some IRON! These could be kept as is for garden art, or refinished and brought into the home....dreamy! 

Wyatt was on the hunt for old hinges for a 4H project he is working on, and found the perfect pair! I will show his pick along with his project when it is finished!

We had a little reprieve from the heat with doors they propped open on the west end of the building, thank goodness there was a nice breeze on this day...spent a little rest sitting here while I looked for some old doorknobs...sadly did not take a picture of the huge assortment they had!

And of course we found the neatest piece of glass with an etching of a peacock! I should have asked the owners where this was originally....don't know where I would have put this, but I bet I would have had fun with it SOMEWHERE! :)

This was a fun way to spend an afternoon with my kids....if anyone is ever in the Des Moines area, this is a great shop and has a fun cafe on the main level (that IS air conditioned). To visit, get store hours, or see what is happening at this always changing place, visit www.westendsalvage.com

Until next time,

~Kim

Happy Independence Weekend

Well, I couldn't call it Independence DAY, so we called it Independence Weekend, since we celebrated it on July 7th: here are some details of our annual party we host for about 150 of our closest pals!

Even the barn got dressed up for the occasion.

After a weeklong gussy-ing up around the farm and yard...

After painting the garage and powerwashing the floor......

After sweeping the entire driveway.......

After smoking all the meat......

After de-weeding our playground.....

After adding sand to our volleyball court.....

After cleaning and re-cleaning our home......

After buying all the buns, drinks, coolers, ice, etc......

And planning a HUGE firework display......

It's ALREADY OVER...and I don't have many pictures to show this year :(

There was fun had by all, including my little man who is COVERED in WET SAND.

Some got really creative with the food they brought to share...who has the time for this? So cute!

Sierra got to show off her cows to some "City Kids"....just kidding, these little brothers are alway so inquisitive about the cows, and loved to opportunity to pet them.

The firework display was over the top this year and many said it was the

 "Best one yet!"

I got to enjoy some wonderful time with family and friends, old and new!

We never know what the weather will be like, who will show up, or how it's going to end.....but I am, and always will be, so grateful for the times we have with truly the greatest friends (and family) that this BAILEYFAMILY can call "theirs".

We hope next year brings as fun and happiness....and hopefully more pictures!!

I guess that shows how much fun I was having, that I didn't stop long enough to take much:) Now to get some much needed rest, then cleanup the after-party mess, and then rest some more! ~Kim

Weekly Quote 2.....and computer complaints!

i am attempting to write this post from my smartphone....

Scratch that, I finally stole my daughter's laptop. You should have seen this technically challenged lady trying to type this post with her phone!!! For one, it is IMPOSSIBLE! There is no way to use "quotes", Exclaimation! Points!, or any other symbols I use often!@&~-( ). Just. Would. Not. Let. Me. on blogger.

The ONLY thing I dislike about living in the country is the internet access...there are not very many options. At first, years ago, I was dial-up (eeewww), then we got the latest and "greatest" (not) satelite system. And every time it was cloudy, windy, rainy, or even breezy in the week prior, it WOULD NOT WORK!! I now have to be "wireless" to be "on-line" with a "jet-pack" "mi-fi" thingy. My problem with this? My home computer is not "wireless capable". So, I have to get an adapter??? UGH! Evidently my computer was born and raised in the city and needs to adapt to country life like I did!

I have so many pictures and blog posts in my drafts folder that I cannot finish until I get my home computer "adapted". But that is OK, because today is Quote of the Week.....

         ~Live by the SUN....Love by the MOON~

So, OK, it's not really a quote, and this is a picture from our cruise to the Bahamas we took in January, but I am dealing with a LAPTOP of my daughter's so my available pictures are limited....I just hope to get this computer problem fixed SOON!!! But, in the meantime, it is nice to be able to sit on my deck, sharing coffee time with my cows, chickens, peacocks, cats, guineas, donkey, and dog while I blog!!!

Hope everyone had a GREAT and SAFE 4th of July yesterday...we did a lot of farm chores, hope to share posts and pics soon of all the things we've been doing around here. Our BIG party is this Saturday, so we will officially celebrate the holiday then.
 ~Kim

Summer Heat and Our New Pool

It has been REALLY HOT here for over a week.....and while mama and daddy worked on some of our outdoor projects this past week, we decided to get our boys a swimming pool.....

Yep, this is "BAILEYVILLE", afterall! This is our redneck swimming pool, and these boys seriously spent hours in it this weekend!

DISCLAIMER-no cows went thirsty during the making of this post! :)

Try to stay cool! ~Kim

And the Adventure continues.....

Well, the week started out on an adventurous note and ended on a equally adventurous one! It has been REALLY hot here in the midwest this past week or so. The 4H calves have had to be watered down on a daily basis, and with Sierra being on vacation, it was up to BaileyHusband and myself to get the job done!
All sounds simple....until someone got the brilliant idea to tie them up OUTSIDE the barnyard to enjoy some fresh grass (and trees) to eat.

Crimson was a REALLY good boy.....and even layed down in the shade to enjoy the view of the peacock enclosure.

Clover, was doing really well, until the brilliant person in charge of this chore decided to go inside and trust two adolescent beefs to enjoy their hiatus from the barn.

Where was I? I had just finished mowing and was in the shower....stepping out of my bathroom, I happened to look out of the window....and saw this.......


                   
Yep, that is Clover, cruisin around our backyard....she visited our playground, then volleyball court, she enjoyed saying "Hi" to our peacocks and chickens too!

Wrangling up Baileyhusband, we ran outside to wrangle up Clover....hoping and praying she was trained enough to come to us or let us walk up to her....

We did have to walk slowly chase her back and forth around the yard for awhile...but BAILEYWIFE to the rescue! That's right: me, myself, and I wrangled up this mean beast...and she rewarded me with drooling kisses :)
The poor girl must have gotten tangled around the tree, panicked, and broke free by breaking her halter. She cut her mouth in the process, and did THIS to our tree:

We got our renegate and her brother back into the barnyard...safe and sound. Baileyhusband got a dunce hat....and myself??? Did I mention that I had just stepped OUT OF THE SHOWER?? I was chasing a cow around our backyard in nothing but a small. white. towel......ahhhh, the perks of living in the country! :)

I am thrilled to announce that my daughters are BACK FROM VACATION with their grandma and Sierra is now back in charge of her cows!!! Although, it gave us fun stories to tell....... Crimson and Clover are happy too!!!