Archive for Life on the Farm

Greased Lightning

{ September 15, 2024 @ 7:29 pm } · { Life on the Farm }
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Two weeks ago I wrote a blog post about two cows hit by lightning. (Lightning Strike) One was a nursing mama. When I went out to the field to see what had happened, I saw a young baby calf high-tail it at high speed out of the area, down along the edge of the woods by the field.

For days we searched the farm looking for the calf. Several times we spied it, but it was always when one of us was by ourself and there was no way to catch the little speed demon. He also started hanging out with a group of bulls which presented its own challenges in trying to catch him. Once a calf is a week old he is faster than you on his feet and it becomes a cat and mouse catch scheme to snatch them. We started calling him “Greased Lightning”. He kept slipping away from us.

We felt time was running out for the little calf as he desperately needed his mama’s milk. We knew he was too young to make it on his own with only grass to eat. After about two weeks we gave up as we weren’t seeing him anymore. And then the other day we spied him…..it appears another mama has adopted him as her own. She was already nursing a slightly older calf and there he was just nusing away. That almost never happens.

Grease Lightning is the one in the back.

It makes me wonder, why did she rescue him? Did she realize he was an orphan? Did she know his mama was killed? Did he beg for help in calf language? Did she choose him or did he choose her? Cows always ID their calves by sniffing. It is amazing how in a big herd of cattle, even if they are all mingling together, mama and babe do not get mixed up. They know their own.

Both calves are slightly thin, he from his trauma, and the other one because he is having to share the milk with his new brother. Greased Lightning has escaped death twice; once by lightning and the other by starvation. Somehow the name just fits him.

Carolina Wren

{ October 7, 2023 @ 3:51 pm } · { Life on the Farm, My Faith Journey }
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Picture taken from “All About Birds” website.

I love when all the people noise on the farm stills and you can hear the birds, tree frogs, crickets, cows, chickens and other animals singing, mooing, clucking, screeching and twittering their wings.

We have a Carolina Wren that sings every morning and at different times through out the day. But unless you are tuned to it you won’t hear it even though he loudly sings his praises. I think often of the Bible verse, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” (Psalms 46:10). It is in the stillness after the morning rush, the quietness when humans aren’t running trucks, cars or tractors or when you dare walk out of your tightly closed up house with the tv and air conditioning running and sit on your porch, that you hear the songs of the happy birds with their heads tilted upwards, praising the God who designed and created them. They are unashamed or timid with sharing their song and it will bless anyone who pauses to listen.

This particular wren I have been trying for weeks to see. He usually sits in the tree by the shop very close to our store. The leaves on the tree hide him from view. Yesterday his song came from a different spot and suddenly I saw him, sitting on top of the stack of shavings on the dock at the warehouse.

As I clicked away on my camera, he lifted his head heavenward and sang his heart out. I had not sung any song of praise to God that morning, but he did. He exalted God with all his being.

I goggled “Carolina Wren” and found some very interesting facts and information on “All About Birds” website….”This shy bird can be hard to see, but it delivers an amazing number of decibels for its size. Follow its teakettle-teakettle! and other piercing exclamations through backyard or forest, and you may be rewarded with glimpses of this bird’s rich cinnamon plumage, white eyebrow stripe, and long, upward-cocked tail”. 

Psalms 66:4 All creation, come praise the name of the LORD. Praise his name alone. The glory of God is greater than heaven and earth.

Some “Cool Facts” taken from the website:

  • The Carolina Wren is sensitive to cold weather, with the northern populations decreasing markedly after severe winters. The gradually increasing winter temperatures over the last century may have been responsible for the northward range expansion seen in the mid-1900s.
  • One captive male Carolina Wren sang nearly 3,000 times in a single day.
  • Unlike other wren species in its genus, only the male Carolina Wren sings the loud song. In other species, such as the Stripe-breasted Wren of Central America, both members of a pair sing together. The male and female sing different parts, and usually interweave their songs such that they sound like a single bird singing.
  • A pair bond may form between a male and a female at any time of the year, and the pair will stay together for life. Members of a pair stay together on their territory year-round, and forage and move around the territory together.
  • The oldest recorded Carolina Wren was at least 7 years, 8 months old when it was recaptured and rereleased during banding operations in Florida in 2004. It had been banded in the same state in 1997.

I have the “Merlin Bird ID” app on my iphone and really enjoy using it to identify different bird calls. I have currently captured the calls of about 20 different birds (this app is free).

Psalms 148:13 All creation, come praise the name of the LORD. Praise his name alone. The glory of God is greater than heaven and earth.

Spot-She Was One Of A Kind

{ October 3, 2023 @ 1:46 pm } · { Life on the Farm }
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Through the years I have written several times about Spot, our rogue, fence walker, gate checker, “grass is greener on the other side of the fence” kind of cow. She was one of our favorite. When you have 200-250 brood cows you don’t give them names or make them your pets. But once in awhile, one is different and Spot was one of the different, she had a unique personality!

In a herd of mostly black Angus, she stood out like a beacon on a dark winter night as she looked more like a holstein. She was white with black spots. She also developed a unique reputation. She was our fence-line mower. Whenever she was near a fence, she would drop to her knees and stretch her neck under the bottom wire, and stretch out her tongue to get every available blade of grass. When that area was cleaned, she would get up, move a few feet and repeat the process.

Yesterday Gene came in and said, “Spot passed away.” It wasn’t a total surprise as she had loss some weight and wasn’t feeling well. Gene had penned her up and was keeping a watchful eye on her. He didn’t know what was wrong but suspected either hardware or cancer. She had some mastitis in her udder which he treated with LA200.

In looking back, my first blog post about her was written in December 2014 and the second one was in 2015 announcing the birth of her sixth calf. This spring she would have had her fifteen calf! She would have been about two years old when she had her first, making her approximately 18 years old. If a cow lives to be 20 she is old! She was a productive, valuable brood mama.

You did good Mrs. Spot. Rest in peace. We will not forget you!

Other blog posts about Spot:

Quaker Hill Bull Sale-February 2023

{ February 12, 2023 @ 6:02 pm } · { Life on the Farm }
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I know I posted a few pictures on facebook but I want to write a little bit more about our “date night” to the Quaker Hill Bull Sale at the Knights Livestock Sale Barn in Orange, Virgina.

Gene really enjoys going to the Quaker Hill sales and has bought most of his bulls from them through the years. When Charles Rosson called and invited us to this sale, we both knew we wanted to go. He did not have to twist my arm! We knew this would not be a buying sale for us but a very interesting “watch” sale. It was called “Moment of Clarity” sale. Most of you probably will not know what that means but every animal in the sale was a direct descendent of Connealy Clarity who was one of the best bulls every used in the breeding program at Quaker Hill. His untimely death was a tragic loss to the Angus breed, but his calves have been topping many sales around the country. I quote from Quaker Hill, “They excel in calving ease, true muscle expression, high volume capacity, moderate frame size, quiet dispositions, good feed and legs with maternal prowess second to none”.

Quaker Hill Black Bandolier-the number one sire of the evening and a son of Connealy Clarity.

The big feature of the evening was Quaker Hill Black Brandolier. They said that he is the very best bull they have ever raised hands down! He sold for $105,000. Before the sale, we went back to the sale pens. King Bull walked over to the gate where I was standing and I got to rub his head!

Everyone one of the heifers and bulls in the sale were top quality. The other bulls ranged in price from 3,400 to $15,000 and went all over the country. I heard Georgia, Montana, Texas, and New York. The famales went from $3,000 to $13,500. They also sold some straws of semen but we didn’t stay for that.

Quaker Hill usually provides a very good meal using Summy’s Catering. The meal is always the same but it smells and tastes wonderful. They put up a tent for the food.

Barbecued chicken, pulled pork, baked beans, potato salad, coleslaw, pumpkin cake and lemonaid.
The entertainment while we ate was this talented young lady, Carrie Brockwell, with her dad from Chester, VA. She tried out for American Idol but didn’t make it.
Sale time-getting ready to start.
Quaker Hill Black Bandolier-first in the ring.
Excitement ran high.

Number 2 bull was Quaker Hill Transparency. He brought $6500.

It was a fun evening and very interesting to see these amazing bulls sell.

Pickles is a Mommy

{ March 23, 2022 @ 6:27 pm } · { Life on the Farm }
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This morning was the anticipated day. Pickles became the mommy of three little kittens. We had been watching her full, rounded belly and knew it would be any day.

One is yellow and looks like Pickles, one is a calico with spots of yellow on its head and the third one is mostly black. It is obviously that she had a visit from the neighbors male cat!
One is yellow and looks like Pickles, one is a calico

She had snuck into one of the feed rooms in the store, found the perfect spot-a narrow box sitting on its side on the top shelf. When Summer opened up the room this morning and turned on the light she made herself known. Bubble wrap in the box made a soft cushiony pillow for her little fluff balls.

Pickles was obviously pleased with herself and wanted us to know about the kitts. She let us hold them with some fussing, meowing that we be very careful and under the glare of her watchful eye. Gene was going to turn her box over so that she had more room and put it on the bottom shelf but she made it clear that she was not going to allow that.

For now she is in a safe place and at a spot we can keep watch over her and love on her kittens. That is until she decides to move them!

Congratulations Pickles. You did a good job.

Kat Has A New Name

{ February 22, 2022 @ 6:22 pm } · { Life on the Farm }
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Kat is developing the habit of getting herself into pickles, precarious situations that she can’t get herself out of that are usually high off the ground. Today Summer again heard the distressed call…”meow, meow” and went looking for her.

And there she was, up in the eaves of a shed with no way to get down. She kept looking for a way down but the rafters prevented her from going to the next eave. Poor pitiful Kat was meowing for help!

Again we got the ladder out and rescued our the little fraidy cat! She really wasn’t up that high-maybe seven or eight feet but it was high enough she wasn’t going to jump. The only way we could see that she got up there was to climb one of the posts but she appeared unable to go to the next eave and there was no eave close to her!

When Kat appeared at our doorstep we couldn’t figure out what to call her and until we could up with a name we called her Kat. The name has stuck until today. I have now decided she is Pickles. Pickles Kat.

We had a book when the children were little called “The Fire Cat” by Esther Averill. It was about a cat named Pickles that climbed a tree and couldn’t get down. His owner, Mrs. Goodkind, had to call the fire department to rescue him. He ended up going to the fire house to live. He learned to slide down the pole, ride on the fire truck, helped unroll the fire hose and rode on the seat with the fire chief. The children loved the book and I read it many, many times. I think the name seems rather fitting to me!

Other adventures of Kat:

Kat Rides in the Tractor

{ January 15, 2022 @ 5:09 pm } · { Life on the Farm }
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Gene went out to feed the cows and there was Kat sleeping on the tractor seat. Gene had left the back window part way open and she apparently scampered up the back tire and scouted out this thing that daddy seems to like to ride off in every day. Kat can be no where around but if Gene comes in and stops by the house in the tractor, Kat comes running. She knows she will get rubbed and fed.

During the day when the sun is shining, she likes to bask in the sun on the upstairs door stoop where she can scope out the land and watch what is happening on the farm and when her daddy comes home for lunch. She seems to be partial to high places!

Your Royal Highness!

Gene shut the window and took Kat on a ride with him to feed the cows. She looked out the window and messed around on the floor. When Gene opened the window so he could see to back up, Kat escaped and off she scampered on adventure.

After feeding the cows, Gene walked around checking on the cows. It wasn’t long until Kat came tip toeing back through the cow lot looking for him.

I wish I had pictures of Kat’s adventure, but I didn’t know about it until later.

The other adventures of Kat:

Kat On the Tin Roof
Kat On the Tin Roof-Part 2

Kat Escapade #2

{ December 22, 2021 @ 7:20 pm } · { Life on the Farm }
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Kat has her own way of talking and it is distinct. This afternoon Summer heard the distressed “meow” that she knew was Kat’s help me call. Summer started searching and calling and Kat would answer “meow”. Finally Summer saw her in the big pine tree behind the electrical panel between the greenhouse and the store.

Kat how do you get yourself in such predicaments? Why do you like to explore high and unusual places?

We looked at her and she looked at us. We meowed to her and she meowed back to us. We told her she was going to have to find her own way down. She just looked at us with pathetic eyes. We called for help-Kat’s favorite.

Gene got a ladder and kept talking to her and coaxed her to jump down onto the roof. At least now she was where we could get her.

Kat is very independent. She disappears for a day or so and then shows back up, meowing loudly which means she is very hungry and wants food now. She loves Gene and he pets and pampers her. He is her buddy.

At first she played a little cat and mouse game.

She finally decided to give herself up and started inching her way to Gene.

This is the bigger view of where she was at. She was on that larger green branch hanging down.

The other adventures of Kat:

Cat On the Tin Roof-Part 2

{ October 9, 2021 @ 1:41 pm } · { Life on the Farm }
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This morning, like every morning, I heard Gene open the patio door and go “meow, meow”! It struck me so funny! He was calling for Kat and soon she came running for her breakfast.

A little later we saw her on the warehouse roof. This is a low roof with only a mild grade, and a low-hanging tree for climbing up and down. We saw her there the other day playing a game of “pounce” with the leaves.

Obviously she has not learned her lesson about roofs! She was sitting on the roof crying “meow”.

We snapped a few pictures of her looking over the edge and left her to her own devices. After a while she disappeared.

Sorry, Kat, but we are not going to play your little “come get me” game-unless you are in real trouble!!!

Other adventures of Kat:

Cat On the Tin Roof

{ October 8, 2021 @ 2:24 pm } · { Life on the Farm }
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Yesterday afternoon while Summer and I were in the store, we kept hearing this very faint, soft “meow, meow”. One moment it sounded like it was on the right, the next meow on the left, then in the ceiling, in the walls, upstairs, and under the building. We had seen a momma cat with her kitten close by earlier in the day and thought it was probably her but we wanted to find her. The meow would come and go. Our search would go and come depending on where we thought the direction of the last meow came from. Of course while we were looking there was no meow!

This morning first thing we heard it again. Meow! We walked outside on the porch of the store and out of the corner of her eye Summer saw Kat peak over the edge of the roof.

Have you ever heard the story of the “Cat On the Hot Tin Roof”? We had a cat on the tin roof but fortunately it was not hot.

Kat came to live with us this summer. One morning when we got up she was sitting on the patio waiting for us. She was a beautiful kitty; hungry and a little skinny. She must have been scouting for a new place to call home and chose us. We called her Kat until we could figure out a name. She is still Kat! Gene is her favorite human.

Kat is not a cuddly cat but does like to be talked to, rubbed and given attention. She knows how to beg for food and is a social eater. She is an outdoor cat but if she sees us eating through the patio door then she wants to eat also. She will peer through the glass door and go “meow” until there is food in her bowl.

Somehow “Her Royal Highness” got herself into a pickle. She was on the barn roof with no way down. She likes getting on the warehouse roof and playing “pounce” with a pile of leaves. But there is a tree by that roof; it is easy on, easy off. I guess she saw the store roof as a new, thrilling adventure.

When we started talking to Kat she tried to come to us. She stepped onto the steep barn roof and almost slid off the gutter above the steps.

We tried reaching her from a step stool but just could quite reach her and she took off slipping and sliding to the end of the barn. She discovered claws did not give her footing on the metal roofing!

We tried to convince her to jump into our arms. Kat seriously considered that option but just could not make that leap of faith.

Should I do it?
I want to do so bad!
Nope, no way!

Finally “daddy” Gene came to her rescue with the forklift. Summer took the elevator ride up and got her.

Kat-Kat now has her paws back on solid ground and there are no more meows coming from unknown sources. Hopefully she learned that steep tin roofs can not be climbed as they are slick sliding boards that send you scooting downward, fast!

Check out the other adventures of Kat:

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