When Ordering Fancy Coffee & Other Nonsense

Tonight Big D went and took Kara out on a daddy daughter date night.  They went to see Cody in a play.  D & I went last night and it was great.  We joked that Mr. Shy actually touched a girl. 

He probably has 10 girlfriends that we don't know about (he better not!).

So while all the other kids were throwing a fit that they couldn't go, I opened up my big mouth and asked them if they wanted to ALL (I know, I said ALL) go out for ice cream. 

After spiffing up the living room, spilling everything possible in the dining room, finding shoes;
 "I can't find any shoes!" 
"Wear your sisters shoes!"
"Me A BOY!" 
"Who Cares!"

Putting jackets on, taking them off, more spilling, more crying (why the hell did I have to mention this road trip anyway, wahhh!)

We were on our way. 

I get everybody out, main street is packed for our little town, so I asked the kids, "what do you do before you cross the street?"

Grace: " No running, no screaming, definately NO freaking out."
Me:  "How about just looking both ways?"
Grace: "Oh yeah we could do that."

We pile into a booth where I get strange looks like I'm crazy. 

Maybe.

Stranger:  "Are all these yours?"
Me:  "Nope, I run a Saturday night daycare. Of course they are."
Geez.

I take a second to admire my brood after I quickly order 6 small sundaes complete with chocolate sauce. 

I'm proud  of them.  They're cute. 

WAIT...they still had facepaint covering their faces.  They looked like train cars.  I'm sure people thought that I was a crappy mom.  One guy came up to Levi asking what was on his face.  All color went to what was showing of his cheeks, so his big sister figured she should do the talking. Grace couldn't have pointed out the expertly drawn hotdog in a bun that was painted on his cheek.  No, she had to show off his fairy eye lashes that were painted on.  That's our boy.

But the whole kicker of the night was this; 
"Mom, if you'd ever have more money we could get a calfachino." Grace said really loud.  (Yup, "Calfachino, forever a farm girl).  "So Rachel...do you know what's in a calfachino?"  She torted all smart.

"Yeah," Rachel said, looking around, acting like she was 4 going on 40.  "A chino with a calf in it."

Stepping in for Juan Valdez,
Fairchild Farmgirl

Shep Climbs Aboard The Ship

No doubt we miss having cattle dogs.  If only our cattle dogs could've spent their days doing their jobs down in the lots, that would have been fine.  I have to say, working cattle is not one of Fluffybear's finer points.  Although we have used her as bait to get a bull into a pen once or twice.  She's such a ding dong that she has no problem doing that. 

The first time we got this visitor pictured above we thought he came with the trucker that was here loading. 

"Take your dog!" Ron yelled as the trucker was leaving.

"It ain't mine, see ya" he said as he climbed into his cab.

"Great!" Ron said.  "Go get the pick up and drive around and ask people if they own him."
"Great!" I said, as I loaded up this super sweet dog.  He's super sweet, but I had zero time to be galavanting around the county with said dog. 

Luckily, the first place I stopped was down the road and he belonged to them, our friends Paul and Diana.  Paul took one look in the bed, "SHEP!  What were you doing?"  The dog lowered his head, knowing he had done wrong.  Then he slunk out of my pickup and laid down in front of the house. 

That wasn't the last time we saw Shep.  One night about 11 PM we got in a load of cattle from out by Aberdeen.  It was a warm night with just a hare of a breeze from the south.  Those old cows did not want to get out of that truck for anything.  Were tapping on the sides of the semi, were "hep, hep hep" (that's what we cattle people say to push cattle.  It's a universal language.  I also sport a cross between a yodel and Indian yell that works too).  When all of the sudden there's high pitched barking coming from under that semi trailer and wouldn't you know it, those cows started to unload.  What took us 1/2 hour with no results took the nieghbor dog just under a minute.  When the last old honery cow got off the trailer, the driver shut the gate and said his goodbyes and pulled his rig out of the driveway back towards highway 212, following right along side the rear tire was Shep, running home.  His work was done.

He hasn't been back since, I went over there to drop off some chickens and he wouldn't even come up to me.  He obviously associates me with getting in trouble which is too bad, he's a real sweetheart and I'm a dog lover.  I told Ron, that's the kind of farm hands we need.  Come to help and I don't even need to bake them a pie or get them a pop.  Just do their work and head for home. 

See you around Shep, we'll be getting a load in in the next week or two from Montana...if your not doing anything bop in and help.  You're much appreicated. 

Happy trails and don't forget to give your old pup a scratch behind the ear today,
Fairchild Farmgirl

Sunday Shorty: Out Of The Mouths Of Babes

Today was another fine day at Fairchild Farm Pumpkin Patch.  As usual, the star of the day was good ole Fluff dog.

She was in her moment of complete bliss, surrounded by kids and laying in the corn box as kids laid on her, buried her in corn, hugged her, etc.

I took one look at her and told one of our customers, "Fluffybear thinks she's in Heaven!"

Grace pipes up with this, "Well, that would make two dogs in Heaven.  But the one before her got killed and went to the burn pit first."

Happy Trails and don't do anything you think your kids may tell someone about,
Fairchild Farmgirl

PS That dog got put down after she bit our Rachel three times, the last time almost ripping out her eye. 

A Good Day

Today was a good day. 

If I'd just looked at the "to-do" list, I'd have thought otherwise, but I didn't write down all my sidetrack missions.

For instance:

• 7 loads of laundry not on the list.  Appears I'm still waiting for the laundry fairy to get off her high horse and get to work.

• Work 140 head of cattle.  "Crap, that's right!  When is the vet coming? 2PM?  Yes right after nap!"  So I get to chase cattle up the chute to the vet, check for nuts and assorted puss pockets, shoo flies off my two little ones, pick up the toys that they throw from the back of my Yukon into my running path where I chase up the cows/bulls, so I don't trip and break my neck...wait, if I hurt myself do I still have to work cattle? =)  Well, today lacked interest...all that I saw was an old cyst scar, one that was full of blood, and infected chopped up bull penis and too many nuts to count. 
• Stained some window jambs for a client, whose my favorite person, so that was ok. 

• Decided that today was the day to start painting the hayshed!  I asked for a ladder, I was told about the old rickety one in the cattle shed.  That was putting it mildly.  I, who is afraid of hieghts felt like Charles Lindberg when I was on the second step.  A sharp wind and I would've been on the ground.  I heard Sweetie mooing from her new pen that she HAS to be in for the month of October (remember, corn box for the customers kids to play in?) Well, since I'm fluent in "cow" I'm sure she had said to be careful, "because what if she got out and pooped in Big D's shop again?   Who would throw themselves between Sweetie and the our livestock hauler and beg and plead that she wouldn't do it again?"  Or was she saying she wannts out of the pen so she can take a big crap in the shop for putting her in such a small pen?  One will never know.
• I also taught CCD tonight.  Nuff said. 
• Now I'm blogging.  I can't believe how much I've missed this time I have with my peeps!

Is It So Wrong?

Is it so wrong that after a long hard day of going full steam, you turn to see your 1 1/2 year old covered in yogurt and carmel dip and you put her on the front step to let the dog lick her off? 

Maybe. 

I didn't do it.

OK, so maybe I did.

The phone was ringing as I got her off the table that she can climb up on in a moments notice (I'm convinced I had Spiderman's baby) and she started to cry (of course she did, I was taking her from the dip), I looked on caller ID, it was a very important phone call I had to take, I couldn't hear,  Jessica was about going into orbit at this point.  So in my most pleasant voice, I said,"One minute, please."

The phone is right next to the door.  Jessica loves sitting on the front porch and she loves the dog to pieces.  Fluffybear loves Jessica to pieces.  She loves her even more with food covering her.  Then Jessica sat on the porch with me watching and Fluffy bear licking her face and shirt very gently. 

Jessica is giggling so hard her eyes are watery.  The dog has fufilled her best day ever.  I could hear the actual conversation while I was on the phone. 

Weren't we all winners in this situation? 

Happy Trails,
"The Only Pigs Left in The Barnyard" Fairchild Farmgirl

Just Catchin' You Up - Grape Harvest

Can you believe how fast this summer flew by?  It's into fall and I'm booking schools for our Fairchild Farm tours like crazy!  As well as having our pumpkin patch open on weekends.

I couldn't stand however not showing you this early fall's highlights. Grape Harvest!

Don't eat the seeds Jessica!

Maggie is having a blast!

We even got our neighbors to help...we told them "YES!" when they offered to bring their kids over for a homeschooling field trip.

"Oh yes you will help!" says Kara.

Cody taking off netting.  All total between reds and whites, we hand picked around 3300 pounds.  For a first harvest year, we did alright.  First year is about 60% of harvest in following years.  It has been so interesting, as much as I gripe about having to work out there, I do miss it since harvest took all of 8 hours total.  The first week of turning the sheep out there, I felt like I had sent a kid to college or something, like the vineyard didn't need me anymore! LOL!!!

Here's one of the sheep working on "clean up."  Harvest was so fun.  Ron as well as everybody else had a blast.  The winery that bought the grapes gave us 4 bottles of different wine for free.  Since Ron doesn't like wine, it's been super fun for me! =)


Sincerely,
"Pacing myself on the free wine" Fairchild Farmgirl