Curious Jethro / Midwest Farm Life / Kansas Small Ranch / Donkey

Monday, Brian and I went to town.  It’s hard to leave the farm as the work or things to do never end.  Brian and I had to hustle to get as much things done before we could leave.  The last thing Brian did was put bales of hay on the back of the farm truck and drive up on the hill to leave hay for the cows.  I had finished washing the totes and vacuuming the house. We grabbed a second cup of coffee for the trip and off we went.

It was around 5 pm when we got home.  We began to prepare for milking, as we start that task around 6 every night.  As I went out to bring some more groceries in from the car, up walked Jethro, my cleaver donkey.  I said,” Hi Jethro how did you get out of the field?”  I looked around and Valentine a steer was also out.  Long story short, I led Jethro back into the pasture and Valentine followed.  Brian in his hurry had left the gate open, thank God the other cows had not found the opening.

When Brian went to the barn to milk later that evening, what he encountered was a mess created by CURIOUS JETHRO.  Jethro had had a happy day in the barn!  The feed containers with cat and dog food in them were pulled out and flung over to the other side of the barn.  He had helped himself to all the alfalfa hay he could eat, as bales had been pulled open and moved around. The cats’ house had it’s roof off, the halters and ropes that hung on hooks were pulled off the hooks and tossed to the ground. Oh Jethro, what a time you had carousing around in the barn. 

Brian wasn’t to mad, as he knew it was his fault for leaving the gate unlocked, but we might have to put Jethro in with Becky and the calves as he is eating to much; or, we could leave him out to be a Farm  Greeter? Walmart has Greeters, why not the Reids?     He did greet one neighbor as she came for her milk.  She tried to put him in with Becky the cow, but he wanted to stay out and Becky tried to get out to, so  her efforts were in vane.  Life on the Reid Ranch is never dull or real exciting, just enjoyable.

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Becky the Pain! Becky the Boss! Remember Becky? Well, she almost was meat. / Midwest Farm Life / Kansas small ranch / Natural products

 

Recently, when Becky was with the other cows, she was acting like a bull and bothers the cows all day, day in, day out for weeks.  This was hurting her utter and milk production and the other cows as well. This might be because four other cows were due to have calves. Maybe she was a little jealous. She doesn’t eat much and won’t let the other cows eat to.  We thought of selling her and then thought she might have to be sent to the butchers!!!!

 

Becky, the Jersey Cow, was our first cow and has given us the best milk and butter for 5 years.  She is my favorite cow and her picture is on my soap labels "Carolyn's Natural Soap" and it’s her rich milk that makes my soap so special.  We did not know what to do.

This last month, we were blessed with four new heifers, I will write about them later. Brian said he’ll give Becky another chance and put her in the calves pen.  Wow, what a differences!  Becky now is at peace.  She will let Brian milk out in the open and her milk is as sweet as ever.  We’ll have to keep her separate from the others to enjoy her gifts to our farm and family. I think she wants to be the boss, but Gurney, our Guernsey cow, wanted to be the boss among the cow herd.  Now, Becky is the boss among the calf herd.  HaHa

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FOUR NEW CALVES TO JOIN US / Kansas Farm Life / Midwest Simple Farming / Cows

Four new calves born all ready!  Trisha, a black Jersey had her calf on the 7th of November. This was her first time to calf and gave birth without a hitch.  We named the heifer calf, CoCo as she is chocolate brown. 


Mae, another black Jersey had her calf on the 23rd of December.  We thought her calf wouldn’t be born until the end of January as our bull was not yet a year old if he  bred her in March, but to our surprise that is exactly what he did.  This heifer calf we named Grayleen because of her color.

June now had her calf on the 31st of December,  New Years Eve.  June started her labor in the late afternoon so Brian and I got her to the barn as it was very cold.  The calf came that evening, another heifer.  We call her Nevey, New Years Eve baby.

I now feed 4 calves who fight for their bottles and suck my coat and hands.  It’s quite a challenge to care for these beauties.  The 4th is a Jersey bull calf we’ll raise to replace Moonlight someday.  We call this bull calf Stanley.

CREAMS AND THINGS / Kansas Farm Life / Natural Farm Products / Natural Face Creams

CREAMS AND THINGS

When I was a young girl I often messed around making concoctions with mud and would add flowers and grass.  Most children love to play in the mud and make mud pies.  I made mud face cream.  I rubbed this cream on my dolls and on myself.  My folks had an old barbecue pit in the back yard.  When no one was watching( I thought), I would build a fire and make a pot of flower water and mud into tea.  I drank the tea and served my dolls.   I guess making creams and lotion was a passion with me.  Now I make real creams without chemicals and with organic and natural oils.  Today the purity of creams are really in the hands of the manufacturer and the laws that protect us from some of the chemicals do not apply to all makers of creams and lotions.  Many products do not tell the consumer what is really in the product. That’s why I now make creams and lotions that are without chemical preservatives.  The problem with no chemicals, is that the creams keep much longer if refrigerated.  This seems easy enough to do and the beauty benefits are so much more achievable.  Making Mud Creams have brought me to this new line of  Real Pure Facial products.  WOW !  There is a Creator who gave us all we need in His creation for our health and healing.

WHAT IS THAT IN THE SKY? / Kansas Farm Life / Mid West Farming

WHAT IS THAT IN THE SKY?

Have you ever noticed the long trails of spray that comes out of some of the jet airplanes?   I’ve been looking upward more now since I’ve seen these long trails criss cross like a Tick Tack Toe board in the sky above the farm.  If you  watch for awhile, these white, cloudy trails will completely cover the length of the sky, begin to spread out and look like cirrus clouds.  I watched several planes, ( at least I think they are normal planes, they are so far up in the sky they look like little dots) as I came home the other day, spreading white trails of something, I’m sure it’s not normal, right in front of the sun as it was setting.  I counted 9 trails.  In California they sprayed our area with a chemical to kill a fly that was killing the fruit trees.  This seems similar but to a greater degree and much higher in the sky.   Even this morning when I went early to give the calves their bottles, long trails were stretching across the dark sky. If any of you have knowledge about these things maybe you could share.  Very Concerned. Thanks

THREE IS MORE THEN ENOUGH / Kansas Farm Life / Mid West Simple Living

THREE IS MORE THEN ENOUGH.  Our goat Ginger had her kids the other day.  It was when Brian went to milk when he heard the sound of the babies crying.  Ginger had three kids again this time.  I went up to clean them off and see what they were.  Two males and one doe.  That night we thought all were nursing and doing fine.  The next day I went to check on them in the afternoon.  One kid looked nearly dead.  He was still and lying stretched out while the others were warm and sleeping.  I picked up this little one, so mad at myself for not checking earlier. Took him to the house and I forced him to drink the colostrum I had taken from his mother.  He didn’t try to suck, only was freezing cold and limp.  Eva and Isabelle held him near the fire place and kept trying to get some colostrum down his throat.  Miracles still happen! AT 2:30AM I heard him crying and I gave him more milk. 

The next morning he was up on his feet, and Naomi held him the rest of the day until we had to put him in the barn.  

Adelaide is here today and Prince Nibbles is now everyone's favorite baby.  Prince Nibbles will be Adelaide’s 4-H project for next years fair.

UPON THE ROOF! / Kansas Farm Life / Mid west small farm / Simple Living

UPON THE ROOF!  Kansas doesn’t have mountains or snow covered peeks but up on the roof the view is spectacular!  The clouds seemed closer and the air fresher upon on the roof.  The day Brian needed help laying black paper over the old boards on the roof of the new barn addition Kathy and I climbed the ladder to help. 

The wind was howling that afternoon and the rain was expected soon.  We held the paper in place and handed nails to Brian.  What an awesome time we had, our hair blowing and eyes beginning to water as we laughed so hard remembering how we were as little girls on our fathers farm in California. We forgot we were grandmothers with graying hair and aching knees even Brian had a good time listening to our stories.  

The Reid ranch looked so beautiful with the cows and goats grazing as the day turned to dusk.” One more nail,” Brian said.  The job was finished for now, but oh how much fun we had on the roof.

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