Up at 6:15 this morning and in the barn by 7 am. The calf is eating well this morning but still seems weak. I will give him another round of electrolyte around 9 am. Buck, the original calf, loves his new companion. He comes in to watch over Norman Junior while he eats. Rosie, our bloodhound, comes in to watch too...but, she is just waiting to see if any milk is left over.
The chickens and turkeys all have fresh water and lots of scratch grain to keep them busy for a little while. I managed to get six eggs by the time I made it into the barn to let them out about 7:30. I bet we end up with around 20 just like yesterday.
I managed to get the top half of my brown eggs for sale done yesterday. I want to put a couple more coats of lacquer on it to make sure it is sealed good but other than that it is done. Now on to the bottom half of the sign...it is two pieces of scrap lumber from the sawmill that I am "carving" to make raised letters. Once the letters are carved, I am applying a dark red oak stain to the raised letters and leaving the rest for clear lacquer. I have to get it done. We have around 15 dozen eggs right now. It sure doesn't take long when you get almost two dozen eggs a day.
I have been working for the past hour on doing some studies for my personal benefit. I played on facebook for a few but kind of got bored, so I moved on to other things. I have too much stuff to do today, as usual.
I need to clean the drain on the washer, since the trap is filled with lint thanks to the dog hair that gets all over everything! I need to work on getting the yard cleaned up and I want to get the poultry barn cleaned out this morning before the rain comes.
I woke up this morning to a ton of fog. It is so foggy that you can't see very far at all, maybe around 500 ft. in front of you. Needless to say, I didn't get to see the beautiful sunrise here this morning. My favorite thing of the day!
Rich's parents are due back from their winter trip to Texas today. I will lay money on it that one of the first places they head is here to the farm to visit with the animals. Jim loves to be around all of the animals. Last summer they were here about three days a week to check in on how the animals were doing. I guess once you are a farmer, it just stays in your blood forever. I know that my love of farming comes from growing up around my grandparents farm. I used to beg Rich to get animals and now I am in heaven having the ones that I have. They are all my babies and I love them all just like they are my own children. I take care of them constantly and they sure don't lack for anything.
My mind is spending a lot of time on the past this morning. I keep thinking over and over about some of the things that my grandfather used to say to me when I was really little. He used to say things like "Never smack a gift horse in the mouth." "Always remember to be kind to everyone and everything." "Care for those who care for you." As you can tell, he had a great impact on my life and who I have become today. I think the reason why I keep thinking about all of these statements is because I want to do something, but I just don't know what it is yet. It is going to be something new, I know it is. I just don't know what yet. I am kind of thinking about all of these animals that the auction barn is willing to give away because they won't "walk" through the gates for sales. They give them away. I know that they are going to take some work, but to me I think that it would be so rewarding to rehab animals who normally wouldn't have ever stood a chance. No one cares about animals that go through the auction barns or about what happens to them if they aren't sold. I can tell you exactly what happens...they end up dog food. It just doesn't seem fair for a new born calf who is less than a week old typically to end up in my dogs mouth. How sad is that? I think this is the "sign" for God that I have been waiting for. I just don't know how I am going to add it and still be able to afford the items they will need for their care. I am not worried about the time, I can always find the time or even someone to help out. What I am actually thinking is discussing this with the 4-H offices. Maybe I can "donate" the animals rescued. I would love to see more kids involved in farming, just because it is sentimental to me and I think it teaches a different way of life that can not be taught anywhere else.
I am not sure what I am going to do yet....but I know for a fact it will be something. I will keep you all posted on what the final decision is.
ANYWAY...so everyone knows, all of the photos in the slide show to the right are actually photos that I have taken. Some of them are local animals and some of them are mine. Anyways, hope you enjoy them all and I will add to them now and then. If anyone has a request for me to take a photo of a specific farm animal, please just comment anywhere and let me know.
Well time for me to get to work. I will update when I can.
No comments:
Post a Comment