Shelbina

While I was up taking care of two of my nephews a few weeks ago, Logan (the youngest) and I took a day trip up to my hometown. While we were up there we had to make our rounds too see everybody.

First we stopped off to see Aunt Shelley at her job in a Vet's office.

As we are leaving, Aunt Shelley hooks Logan up with a full can of Dr. Pepper and a Hershey bar. Oh boy, he's gonna be wired!

Next it's off to school to see Grandma Tammy 'hard at work'.

While we were there we had a little biology lesson...

...how grandpa shot the bobcat and where the hole the bullet made was.

Next it was time for more candy....oh boy just was he needed!

Now it's time for another science lesson.

This time it's about how magnets work.

There together now but....

...why can't I get them back together now?

Look they are floating.

Oh for get this crazy science stuff lets make some binoculars instead.

Yet another example of why he's had too much candy.

After school, we headed out to the farm to eat dinner with Grandpa. Then we headed back to town with Grandpa to get some feed. 

Logan like his special sideways seat in the back.

This it the closest thing to a smile that I am getting from my dad.

When we got back from town Logan helped grandpa fill the bird feeders for grandma.

Since it had been cloudy and cold all week Logan had a great time playin' out side and getting his shoes good and muddy.

Since grandpa had to get back to work and take a load of corn to town so..

...we said our goodbyes...

...then we got back to playin' in the mud and getting it all over our face!

After getting cleaned up, we loaded back up and headed back south toward Columbia to pick up Landon from school. Then we went back home and started cooking and cleaning-up for when Fletcher got there to play.

Always Be Prepared!!

One thing I have learned from my parents over the years it always be prepared, whether it's having extra blankets and coats in the car or truck, or always making sure you have a tool kit in your vehicle when you are going on a long trip (tool kit = pliers, baling wire, screwdriver, small ratchet set, jumper cables, duct tape, and a flash light). Probably the most important thing I learned was to always have snacks in the truck when you are working. some of you out there might be thinking, "why is having snacks in the truck so important?" The answer is a simple one - Food = Happiness. If any of you have ever been around my dad when he hasn't eaten in a while you will know what I mean. He can kinda get a little grumpy when he hasn't had his lunch and I am sad to say I am the same way!

This wasn't such a problem for me when I was single, cause when I was hungry I would just go and eat. Now a days I am not always at my house at dinner time so in order for me to remain happy I have to pack a little goodie bag, and that is what I did this morning, when I Caleb and I left to haul some bales of hay.

We left the house first thing this morning so we could get as much could before the ground thawed. This meant that breakfast was a grab and go one. So as we were leaving I grabbed my breakfast along with a sack full of yummy’s.
On the menu for breakfast this morning was...

*Coffee (aka Mt Dew)

*doughnut (aka Yummy Chocolate Cupcake)

So riddle me this "it's ok to have a cake doughnut for breakfast but not a cupcake...humm I don't agree with this - eat a cupcake and enjoy it s what I say.

Now the snacks for later.....

*Snyder’s Sourdough Pretzel Nibblers....oh soo good!

*Craisins - I can't stand raisins, but oh how I love these!!

*Salted Party Peanuts

(If you want a good idea for a trail mix, mix - 1 bag of craisins, 1 bag of plain M&M's, and salted party peanuts)

* homemade peanut brittle (it's so good and soo easy I will share the recipe later)
So while I was workin' on my goodie bag Caleb was workin' on loadin' the trailer.

For those who have never been around a tippy trailer, they are really rather easy. First you need a tractor with a front-end loader.

Go grab a bale with it and take it to the back end of the trailer.

 From the back end you place the bales end to end...

...using the next bale to push the previous bales forward till the trailer is full. The trailer we are using today will hold 8 bales and is very long. We also have one that holds 6 bales and makes taking corners a little easier.

When you have the trailer loaded, head to where you want the bales dropped off, and line up next to where you want the row of bales to go.

Then you un-hook the tilt bar and....

....let 'er fly! Be sure to stand clear of the bar, cause it could clock you good if you get hit by it!

After all the bales are off, you grab a hold of the bar and tilt the trailer back to it's beginning position, secure it back and then...

...head back to the truck and go get your next load.

It's not too hard to use, and is great if you only have one tractor with a loader.

We only had a few loads to make, so my supplies of goodies were more than enough to hold me over till dinner time got here!

Chorin' in the Snow

All last week we were told that on Thursday and Friday we were gonna get hit by a major winter storm, with chances of ice and close to a foot of snow. So I was praying all last week that we would not get all that madness and mess. Thursday came and went and we weren’t getting anything. They were getting it to the north and to the south but we weren't and I was so very thankful! When I went to bed I was expecting to wake up to snow up to my knees, but early Friday morning as I crawl out of bed all I find was about an inch of snow and that was it. Oh I was so excited; maybe we missed this crazy storm. Even though it was still snowing I had faith we weren't gonna get much, but as the morning chores went a long I knew we were gonna have a lot more snow than a couple of inches...

Bossy here, like all the others, back has gone from it's normal black to a snow packed white. I always get the feeling that she is gonna eat me for lunch every time she looks at me like this. She actually did charge a few steps at me on this day. It was a good thing she stopped cause the truck wasn't close by and all I had was a camera, not much defense against a big crazy cow.

So lets play the game 'What's Caleb thinking when he makes this face?'

    -"Gosh it's cold out here"

    -"I wish I was back in bed"

    -"Will you please get that thing out of my face"

I'm gonna go with the latter of the choices.

Now it's time to un-roll a bale for the cattle, so they have a place to lay since the snow is one the ground and so the little one's can get up there and eat too.

Since we don't have a bale bed, that un-rolls the bale on the back of the truck, we have to either use man power or the bale un-roller we got from my dad.  It works by sticking this long metal rod through the center of the bale....

...this isn't such a easy task, but he's almost there....

....and he's got it.

Then you hook it to the truck using these polls and chains. After you have the done you take off and let it un-roll. Well at least that's what is supposed to happen, but this squatty bale didn't want to corporate with us today.

If at first you don't succeed, try try-again.

Nobody can accuse Caleb of not being a multi-tasker; he can ram a rod through a bale while talkin' on the phone. (I am tempted to change my name in Caleb's phone to Justin, cause if I did then I think he would answer more when I call to see where he is when it's time to eat.)

The girls are getting sick of waiting on Caleb so they snitch a few bits while he is trying to figure it out.

Now we have to pull it out and stick it back in, but this time he put it in the center of the bale where it was suppose to be. Maybe this will make it unroll better.

While he's doing that I am gonna take some pics of the ladies..

...who are waiting patiently but the want their food.

And were off again, but wait...Why isn't the bale un-rolling??

If again you don't succeed, un-hook the bale, throw a bale ring on it, count the cows, and move on the other pastures.

This cute little guy is the baby from one of our heifers. He had the most beautiful curious eyes.

We finally made it to the final pasture, and the snow isn't letting up a bit!!

Once again Caleb was wanting to un-roll a bale, but this time I was enlisted to help, cause we were gonna use manpower for this one.

Now that all the hay is out lets count all the cows, cause the snow isn't letting up and my fingers are about to freeze off.

When it was all said and done we got about 6 inches of snow. It wasn't as much or as bad as they in other areas, but it was more than I wanted. O-well it's here and it makes for some great pictures!