Finally, A Snow Storm!

Last night and throughout the night we got snow.  We woke up to such a beautiful wintry scene.  It was awesome.

Finally!

It was early morning, but I had kids that wanted to get the heck outside.  These coveralls by the way were ones that her 40 something uncle wore when he was her size.

Funny...the angle of the tractor makes it look like a stretch limo!  Doing chores with Dad is a pretty special thing for each of our kids. 

After we exhausted all clothes and outerwear and they were being hung in every available spot possible, we decided to make hats. 

Yes hats.

This is our sliding hill.  After every snow, Ron builds one with the bobcat.  We have only one sled, so most of us just went down on our butts, which was fun too.

The fowl are NOT happy however.  They do not like being penned up and the gray goose tells us this whenever we walk into the barn.  Soon, gray goose you will be back outside...but for now shut up, you about bust our eardrums!

This is the last picture is of my lazy sheep who like this arrangement quite well.  When we get a big storm, they don't have to eat outside, we feed them in the barn.

Bring on more snow!  Our outdoor clothes will be dry in the morning and school is already two hours late!  Hooray!
Fairchild Farmgirl

Reaching Into The Black Hole...

I know what you're thinking, with calving and lambing you probably think you know where this is going......

But you don't.

When that time comes, you sure will be with me, arm in a inard somewhere or another.

I PROMISE!

This is actually a true black hole...although, with my camera it shows it all lit up.  I guarantee that's not the case.   This, if some of you are wondering is a "metal chicken nest". 

For some reason the hens will not lay in the upper nests, but lay in the lower ones that you can kind of see the bottom portion of the hole.  Pair this with the fact my camera tells lies and the holes are truly dark inside.  Marry these two items up with the fact that I loath rodents.  Dark holes and corners + barn and grain = mice. 

Yep, I'm the chicken.  Plain and simple.  What if I reach in there and grab onto a mouse instead of an egg?  I know I have barn cats, but there's always the what if. 

A little side note on rodents at the Fairchild Farm:  Three years ago, the rats were soooooo bad that we would watch them playing on the driveway while we grilled on the front porch.  I would drive up the driveway and try to run them over. 

YUK! 

If we had a Chinese Year then, it would have been The Year Of The Exterminator.  He was here all the time and we would bait them with five gallon buckets of poison which would be gone in  less than two days.  Ron would move bales and would have a gun with him in the cab and one time under a single bale he shot seven of them. 

Why am I telling you all this?  Seriously, I don't know.  I got off on a tangent. 

But, on the bright side, we are getting about 6 eggs a day (when I'm not to freaked out to reach in the hole.  Woohoo!

The scaredy cat,

Fairchild Farmgirl

My Next Painting

What a day.

Yesterday was a sunny, slightly windy day so I was out photographing for my next painting with Ron and Kara at Timber Creek Charolais.  A shout out to Paul Hansen for letting me go out there, thanks bud. 

For those of you who know me well, the picture above usually makes me feel...well, anxious.  Like where's the closest fence I can jump on?  It's gonna get me.  =)  Not too many bovine rattle my cage, certainly not most bulls.  You see, they have to be white to make me stand on my guard.   I have to admit the Charolais bulls are pretty nice, it's the cows, heifers and steers I have trouble with.  We have a few two year old Charolais bulls in the lots, but they are mysteriously like pussy cats unlike their female counterparts.

He's actually very pretty.  I know what you're thinking, pretty?  Not like Justin Bieber  pretty, but like a new Ford pick up pretty. 

We took all these gravel roads to get to the place and it was really fun seeing all the countryside.  It was even better that Kara was there with her camera too so we could both take pics together.  These two pics above are hers. 

After much consideration, this is going to be my background, with the bull right on the other side of the fence with his harem of cows in the distant background.  You may think that it's going to be kind of blah, but I will snazz it up and I think it's going to rock.  =)  If I can get the same picture that's in my head on to the barn door anyway.

This is what it will be painted on.  Wish me luck!

With this announcement, I have to stop working on this for a while.  I know you are probably thinking, jeez, it hasn't changed from last  time, but blow it up a little and you'll see it has.  I've been working on the board siding. 

Thursday Shorty - A New Breed Of Politicians

Grace came up to me this evening after dinner and said, "Mom, Maggie would make a really good president because she is sooo honest."

I laughed too.

Loving my innocent kids,
Fairchild Farmgirl

Waitin' On Some Women

Women you say?  Why am I waiting on some women? For help around the house, doing dishes, or cleaning out the hogs pen?  Nope.

Seriously, wouldn't that be nice? 

Especially the hog pen!  One word describes that.  Yuk.  I will definitely be wrangling some kids to help.  I'll tantalize them with a few hours in town at the movie theater. 

No, I'm waiting for ladies of a different specie or two. 

Sheep and a handful of cows. 

The sheep...again, it's a nail biter.  When ladies?  You've got big tummies. I hope its not all feed.  I'm driving myself nutso!

Now on to the cows.  There's a few cows in the feedlot that are really bagging up (utters are filling).  Then there are some that are like a maybe. 


Get on it!

Fitfully Yours,
Fairchild Farmgirl

Fat Tuesday & Lent With The Fairchilds

Ahhh, Fat Tuesday. 

Tonight we are having Sirloin Steaks, baked vidalia onions with mushroom butter, potatoes, broccoli & homemade rolls.  Because the next 40 days are going to hurt!  =)

Since we are Catholic, we each give something up that's near and dear to our hearts. 

Fairchild Farmgirl?  Well she's giving up her Coca Cola habit.  I have one each day, but let me tell you, I need it. 

Grace, our five year old is giving up being crabby in the morning.  "It's going to be pretty hard, huh?"  She said.  No kidding.

Usually, I give everybody up until Ash Wednesday morning to decide what they are going to do, this year is no different.  Otherwise I pick for them (who wants your mom to pick your Lenten compromise? =)  )

I'm also going to go for a walk everyday of Lent.  Believe me, it's easier said  than done around here.  So, I either have to do it VERY early, which means getting out of bed early or cutting into my precious alone time that I use to paint. 

So if you participate in Lent, what are you going to give up?  I'd love to hear it!

Partying tonight, fasting tomorrow,
Fairchild Farmgirl

Crabby Monday With Fairchild Farmgirl

Does anyone of you have animal that you think mocks you?  I do and here she is. 

Listen, I dont' know what her problem is, but she needs to start realizing that I'm the ONLY one that keeps her off the Wednesday sale barn truck. 

Thank you, brat.

So here's my story:  and it's true.

I went out this morning with my two cow pokes; Maggie and Jessica.  As soon as we stepped out on the front porch I knew something was up.  The tattle tale gang was in full force.  The horse was pawing at the ground and the geese were in front of my sheep/horse/chicken/calf/kitchen sink barn honking to beat the band. 

GREAT. 

Where's Sweetie?

I thought, "she probably jumped the fence and is down in the feedlot."  Boy was I wrong.

First guess?

I tried opening the door and a fallen pitchfork would only let me open it about 5 inches.  What the heck?  Then I felt it....

As I'm picking up the pitchfork and trying to get the door open, I feel it.  Breath on my arm.  No, I'm not worried about a stalker...I knew who this was and she was dead meat. 

"SWEETIE!  BACK UP!" I yelled at her as I finally pushed the door open.  There it was...my barn in complete shambles.  I don't know how long she was in there, but she had enough time to eat all the horse feed, a bunch of calf starter and I have a ton and half of cracked corn that I feed her and the chickens and she'd definitely been in there. 

"Argh!" I shouted as I examined the mess.  She pooped ALL OVER!  The really bad part of the whole deal is, she got out by busting the boards on the bunk and she had to JUMP over a bunk that was 4 feet high.  She's no graceful swan so I'm sure it wasn't pretty. 

But, this was my fault.  I don't think I told the kids her new ration, so I'm sure she was getting out because she was hungry. 

My bad.

Oh but her shenanigans were not over.  I was so mad at her, I shooed her out of the barn to let her run wild until Big D could fix that bunk. 

She promptly went to the waters that I filled for the dog, geese and ducks and spilled and drank all for 4 buckets.  Then she ate all the dogs food.  Isn't that cannibalism?

Something that made me laugh?  The gray goose got to close to her and she flung it in the air with her head.  SO FUNNY!  That goose hit the ground and squawked like he was telling on her. AWESOME.

We went back in the house, she's out a lot and she sticks around so it didn't bother me.  Besides what more could she do? 

Hee hee...

Yes, it's what you see.  She's pulling bags of garbage out of the dumpster!!!!

@#$%%$!!!!

That's the dog with her.  Yeah right Sweetie, I'm sure it was her idea.  =(

And my friend Arla thought her parents cattle would teach Sweetie bad manners?  Seriously, could it get any worse?

Big D was gone still and my blood was boiling so instead of waiting five minutes so I wouldn't want to kill her AS BAD, I take off outside and try to shush her back in the pen.  I could see that this was a cattle stick moment so I grabbed it.  it wasn't the Hotshot or the 22 with bird shot like I wanted but I thought a few taps on her rump and she would go in. 

Sadly, no.

I think the horse is a secret agent for an animal rights group so of course she sees me with the stick and goes wacko like I'm going to kill Sweetie.  She debates jumping over a 5 foot fence.  No I'm not kidding.  So, I realize that the only way Sweetie will go in is opening the gate all the way and let the horse get out and then get them in together.

Reread that...am I really that stupid?

Yes, folks I am.

Before I knew it, they blew right past me and were hauling tail down the driveway.  Thank you LORD that Big D pulled in the driveway as this was happening.  He laid on the horn and blocked the driveway.  It was working out great.  The horse came to D and he started petting Sweetie.  he got them going in the right direction, until that heifer of mine decided that she wasn't going in the pen just yet.  Before you knew it, we were on a goose chase that would last 1/2 hour and two times in our old grove.  I pulled burrs out of my yoga pants for 15 minutes.  She still has about 100 of them in her fur, but that's fine I'll take care of her in the morning. 

Today has ended well though.  There was a delightful snow, all my kids were playing in it tonight, I punted and made up a new recipe called cheesy taco soup and we had a load of 8 weight heifers come into the feedlot.  As the snow fell Ron and I counted heifers coming off the lit up trailer and it was a beautiful sight. 

Good night, sleep tight.  I'll have visions of a 800 pound cow jumping over feed bunks...

Fairchild Farmgirl