Part one: Leaving the house before 9:00 to go purchase a lawn mower. 

I went down a road I'd never been down before :D We arrived at the gentleman's house to see the old gray Craftsman mower sitting out front. We went to the door and Savannah knocked and rang the door-bell while this little poodle yapped at us through the window. Then I decided to go look at the mower. I looked up and Savannah was gone! She had gone around the back of the house to the man's shop (where he was) and soon returned with him. He showed us (me in particular) how the thing runs, cranked it up, engaged the blades, etc.

Savannah handed over the money and got a receipt. Then we helped him load it on his trailer, as he very kindly hauled it out here for us. We weren't very far down the road when he pulled over...his ramps were sliding off the trailer. I hopped out of the car, followed by Savannah and helped get another strap on it.

Once we got here, we unloaded it, I shoved the Murry further back into the barn, and rolled the 'new' one in.

Part two: Music

I played my guitar before lunch for a bit (after tuning it, of course; I put new strings on it Wednesday and they are still stretching). After lunch I practiced my cello. Then I played my guitar again :D Even though I sound pretty bad, I have certainly been enjoying getting back into my music!

Part three: Tree Limbs

Now, that was something of an adventure. There was this branch that I noticed yesterday was broken off and caught in the next tree over; however, it was endangering our car. So, I figured I would remove the thing. First off, I grabbed the saw on the extention and tried sawing the thing down (while standing in the back of the pick-up. I need the height! *laughing*) I got so far and then figured I'd attach the pick-up to it and pull it down. I had the chain hooked to the ball on the truck when I suddenly realized that there was another, much more dead, branch that would come snapping off if I pulled on the first branch. Hmmmm. Ah ha! Get that second one down first. I did that by going to the barn, hunting up some rope (at first I thought Granddaddy didn't have any--until I found a piece laid up on the bench on the south side), and throwing it over the branch (once again standing in the pick-up--that took several tries). I moved the truck and tied the rope to the chain and pulled. The branch soon cracked off. Then I grabbed the first branch by the end (by now I had also already removed the leafy stuff on the end with a hatchet--I started with the handsaw, but figured the hatchet would be much faster and really easier), and walked backwards and sideways with it and down it came! I dashed back to the barn (for at least the third time) and grabbed the nippers. I removed the smaller, leafy limbs with them. Then I had to go back to the barn again for the ax. I chopped the branch into three pieces and pitched them into the truck along with all the other wood. Seriously, swinging the ax didn't hurt my shoulder, but tossing the wood in did...go figure. I took the stuff to the growing piles of wood and pitched in...I think a cow or two was watching me :)

Part four: Dinner

Savannah asked me to make dinner tonight. So I did. She was planning on fishcakes, but after a bit of consulting, we decided to on salmon mousse instead. So, I whipped that up, cut up half a head of head lettuce, and heated up the left over navy beans.

See ya later!

Unfortunately, none of the above happen to be dishwashers :D

The day really started at about 8:30. I was running my mouth to Savannah about the upcoming SCV cross dedication (I had a flash of inspriation which turns out was unnecessary) when the telephone rang. I heard Granddaddy say, "I don't know, Lee." I poked my head around the corner and met Granddaddy's eyes. He smiled and kind of held the phone out toward me. "Does she want to talk to me?" Yup. Okay...so...yes....I'm planning on mowing today...okay, yeah....I think Daddy was going to call about those mowers (in the local 'shopper' ad)...did she really say that?? Yes, she did...she told me not to mow until the grass dried up some! Huh...since when do that side of the family care whether the grass is dry or not? Anyway, I told Savannah that tidbit and we had a laugh over it.

I went to go get breakfast and I looked out the window to see two white cows in the yard! I let out some exclaimation about 'stinkers'...spun around and dashed to the dryer, yanked the laundry out (I needed some socks!), grabbed the first matching set of socks I found, shoved them on my feet, followed quickly by my boots. Then I had to get my pant legs over the top of them. I shot out the door and around to corner, only to find out that while I was sock, boot, and jean wrastling, those ol' cows had high-tailed it out of there! They just knew I was on my way out to shout at them and wave my arms like a regular windmill...I could still see them making a break for the rest of the herd out in the east pasture. I had to laugh...it was soo funny!

I got started mowing somewhere around 10:00 and finished about 1:00. I did the yard and the driveway. I did a better job on it than last time...I wasn't hurrying to make it to a chiropractor appointment this time :) In addition to that I did something Daddy would be proud of me for--I listened to the engine and belt and was able to determine when it had to much load on it. I moved very, very slowly up and down the south side of the driveway so I didn't overload the engine...this resulted in a much better mowing job to boot. (And happily, the number of spiders and webs were greatly dimished since last time. *Laughing grin*)

After lunch and some wasted time on the internet--not overmuch--I got started on the dishes. That didn't take any longer than usual. Once I finished that I set up the food processer and grabbed the cabbages out of the box on the floor and made a lot of noise making kraut. Granddaddy got up at one point, "to see what you were doin'." It was at this point I bumped a bananna and commented on how squishy it was. He decided to check it out; then we both decided that it was too soft to eat and that I ought to make some 'nanner bread out of it.

I got the cabbage all shreaded and then got Savannah to 'doctor' it. She does it by eye...which doesn't exactly help me figure out the salt and whey amount...but hey, I don't suppose that's any different than me eye-balling the amount of honey I put in my breads :D I mixed the stuff up with my hands--in the long run a whole lot less messy (at least for me; I can spill anything with a spoon).

I started washing up and the sink backed up. Savannah and I got that running freely again. By the way, about the time I started in on the cabbage, the sky let loose and it poured rain. It continued to rain for several hours. Once I finished cleaning up my cabbage mess, I made the bananna bread. More mess :) I took the slop out--by now it wasn't raining--and finished cleaning up the kitchen. Then I went to practice my guitar. Savannah came and we played some stuff together for bit, then I fed the critters. Nellie Gray (the gray kitten) likes to follow me around. Then was supper. Then yet another batch of dishes...and finally I packed the kraut into jars. Yehaw...was that a mess! I had to clean the kitchen up yet again. And now...I can be done for the day :)

So, Night ya'll! (Even though I'm not going to bed yet ;D)

P.S. Can you believe it? I'm actually listening to opera (which I don't usually like) on WCPE and enjoying it! Maybe because it's just background noise. Somehow I think it's Spanish--but it could be Italian--probably is at that.

Well...it's pouring rain again, but we did get the cows wormed :D

Someplace around 3:30, the sun shining, Savannah and I headed across the creek with the blue liquid, one sack of mineral, and one sack of pellets. The girls were all over in the east pasture so we went over there. I turned the engine off, climbed into the back of the truck, hooked the squirt gun to the 'poison' bottle, and dumped 98% of the feed all around the bed of the truck. Then I hung the bottle on my left shoulder (which kind of bothered it, but the other way wouldn't have worked) and waited for the cows to start munching. Savannah lured Socks (who's preganant--obviously so) over with a pellet or two and shortly thereafter the other three girls meandered over. After a few unsuccessful attempts, I figured out how to get the worm medicine on their backs. I'd put on knee on the edge of pick-up, lean out just a bit, stick my arm out slowly, cocking the squirt gun upwards a little so that the liquid would arc. Presto! A wormed cow!

Next we had to discover where my dear Captain Abraham was hiding. We drove around a bit, but he was where I figured he might be...coming down the west side of the fence. Stupid as usual, he came toward us on the wrong side of the Uncle L fence. I had already dumped the remaining feed out. So, Savannah grabbed a couple handfulls of pellets and left him a trail. It took a bit and a few 'Hoo's from Abe before he got around to where I needed him :) Then--zip! Bull is wormed too!

We returned to Granddaddy's after I dumped the mineral. On the way, we stopped to talk to Mr. Al, our neighbor two houses down. He was walking with his dogs. We talked about health problems (his, Granddaddy's, Grandpa's, and my broken bone) :) He also said, "I come down here and give your horse some chewing tobacco every now and again." At first I thought he was kidding (he does chew afterall), but then I realized he was serious. Savannah said she knew he wasn't joking when he said, "Horses like that." It tickled me. I hope tobacco isn't bad for horses though...

Once here, I decided I'd better go ahead and rotate the cows. Well, I have all but three cows, three calves, and the black bull back on the south side. Two of said calves are newborns (today kind of newborn). One belongs to one of the white faced brindles--it's brown. The other belongs to none other than Moon-bat! I'm totally happy that she finally had that calf. It's a bull and red, like her. There's a whole confusing tale that goes with the discovery of those two babies, but I'm not going to bore you with it. Suffice to say, I got distracted with a gate in the pens and didn't succeed in convincing said animals to get along like I wanted them too. I was hungry so I wasn't exactly the sweetest, but neither did I get mad at them. I know when to give in to a cow--really I do...and they had me whipped.

So, that's part 2 of this day :D

Greetings from a wet day--it's been threatening this all day long but it finally broke and the sky is weeping large drops. It's also growling a bit. I'm sure glad I got home when I did--for two reasons 1) I had mineral and feed (in paper sacks) in the bed of the pick-up and 2) the windshield wipers don't work well.

I struck out after lunch, coffee, and dishes to do my errands. I needed to get mineral last week, but I didn't feel good. Anyway, I took off with my Baroque happily playing in the CD player. I like that CD; so far I haven't had any inclination to change it. I first stopped at Bryan's. I think the man who put the feed in the bed of the truck was new. The other one I knew. After purchasing my horse-feed and bouncing back into the truck I headed for Smith's. As I pulled out of the drive way onto "11th" street, my cell-phone got slung from where I had it set and ended up under my feet. Oh, well. It stayed there until I got to Smith's--I wasn't about to have a wreck simply to have my cell-phone within reach!

At Smith's I marched in, petted a big mutt (I like mutt's; the bigger the better :D), stepped up to the counter and nonchalantly order "8 bags of mineral and 1 sack of pellets". By now, the folks at Smith's know to put it on Granddaddy's tab. He has got a running credit line there. (It's really quite funny, but the last couple times I've been to Smith's I've checked the mail on the way out and found the bill from my last trip in the box!)

I drove around back and 'Drummer-boy' and 'Sandy' (previously known in these posts as Redneck 2) loaded my truck. I was kind of sorry that the 'Ol Man' wasn't there--I like him the best and he usually asks me how Granddaddy is doing.

I got an extra half-bag of mineral for free because it had been ripped. Shaw! I could tell the truck was loaded when I went to pull out of there! I calculated up the extra weight sitting at the stoplight--about 575 pounds. (100 lb.s of horse feed, 50 lb.s of pellets, and approx. 425 lb.s of mineral.) See, I can do some math in my head! I even used multiple functions...multiplication, addition, and subtraction! ;D (Okay, enough patting myself on the back...)

I got home, put a sack of mineral in Snip's tub, and then in the cow's tubs. Three sack per bathtub...it last's a tad longer if I do three sacks per tub rather than just two. The other bag is currently sitting on the golf in the garage with the pellets on top of it--it is intended for my cows. We were going to try and worm them today (they desperately need it!) but I don't know if we'll get to that today. It rather depends on the weather.

As it is, I'm in need of my first afternoon snack--I'll probably have a bowl of cole slaw...I made lunch today and cole slaw was one of the main features. Along with chicken breasts cooked in a skillet with onions and left over peas. It wasn't bad if I do say so myself.