NaBloPoMo - Day 14 - Cows in My Dreams

Don't know if you've ever seen this photo... 

It's been around for a while...

I recently joined Instagram and most of my new contacts

are artists whom I met while doing #inktober...

So one of the artists I met posted this on Instagram this week:

Love it!

Almost everyone knows I love squirrels,

but I have really liked cows for a long time,

which is great because I live in the middle of Cream City, CA...

They got a bunch of lauds and affirmative comments

then they went and did this...

Now that is a happy cow...!

And, I'm in California which is the land of happy cows...

Love their clouds by the way...

I've got to learn to paint them like that... 

NaBloPoMo - Day 11 - Sheep in the Mist

Some people may not know that we have sheep. Seven of them... which is 1 more than what we started out with... It was a kind of experiment.

My husband thought that we needed to make something of a hobby farm on our 25 acre property. We started off with goats, but after the first set was killed by a bear, and the second set ate his blueberry bushes one too many times, and then the youngest one died and broke my heart, we gave the two blueberry eaters we had left to a friend who had lots of bushes she really wanted eaten.

We then tried a cow.... and her calf... They were ok. Big beasts that I wanted to call Ham and Burger because, well, yeah, that was the point in raising them. I didn't want to get too involved knowing their time with us was going to be kinda short, but they didn't work out either because they got to like being around the house and wouldn't really go any where else to graze... plus, we had to start thinking about getting a bull, or bull stuff, or haul them to be with a bull... so they went to auction.

Then we got sheep.  Six of them. One ram and five ewes. Six turned into 14 as we had several sets of twins and a number of singles. Spring was amazing around the farm with all the little ones running around. Four ram lambs and four ewe lambs...

We knew the males were going to be sold, and one by one they were. Then came the ewe lambs. I picked my favorites and we sold a ewe lamb and an older ewe. Then our oldest sheep died. So now we have 7... trust me I've done the math a bunch of times...

Two of them are actually "on hold" for sale at the moment. So we'll be down to 5 but our ram Billy has been busy, so this spring will bring a whole bunch of new lambs... and the cycle of life will continue here on the farm...

The picture is from one of our trail cams as the sheep make their way around the property... ignore the date, I had to reset a bunch of the cameras and didn't reset the dates.

NaBloPoMo 2018 - Day 21

During this time of year when we stop and think about families and being with families, I stop and think about the strange Son of the South that I married and how my life has changed... remember, I'm a born and bred SoCal city girl...

This is now my team. Weekends during the fall are spent cheering them on... #RollTide

Suddenly I'm going to Monster Truck rallies...

This is Talladega... What? I'm at a racetrack watching cars going around and around?  Have I actually been to Daytona Beach and Las Vegas Raceways as well..?  Yes, but Talladega is like home...

I've learned how to tend to chickens, and cows, and now sheep... 

I've learned how to work a tractor, and a bulldozer...

And grits... I've had to learn to cook grits...

And, we have "dressing" for Thanksgiving, not stuffing...

And, I learned how to make my mother in law's yummy Sweet Potato Casserole, but according to my Southern Hubby, I still can't make biscuits as good as his mother's, nor can I make "fried pie" like his aunt... I'd never even heard of fried pie...

Still this is now my family.  And, 20 years later, I still have to pull out the English-Southern dictionary because every once in a while that dog just won't hunt... 

#NaBloPoMo18

Birthday Shuffle Sixth Edition - Day 13

Today I went for my first bike ride in 2 months.

I knew it was time to get back onto the saddle,

and get back into the habit.

It's time...

As I was pulling out of my driveway,

the first song I wanted to hear was 

Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen.

This is my second favorite start-of-the-ride song:

a nice pleasant intro,

followed by a bit of a build up

for the first 2 minutes then

a great guitar riff leading into 

the piano solo around 3 minutes.

And then around 4 minutes,

bam! Kick-ass electric guitar..!

Usually I am warmed up by that point and

it sets up the right mood for the rest of the ride...

#278 - H is for Humboldt County

I thought I would share some of my favorite

photos from where I am currently living:

Humboldt County...

From Centerville Beach

To Ferndale

Past Bull Creek

And the Honeydew Bridge

From Point Mendocino

To Table Bluff near Loleta

I love the Eel River

And the Pacific Ocean

I love seeing Roosevelt Elk!!

And sea-faring boats in the harbor at Eureka

This is where I call HOME...

A place where Scottish Highlander cows

can walk casually down the road...

Come visit us some time...!

Day 20 - Moo...

Before you notice that I missed a day there,

just take a few moments to enjoy this pastoral scene

involving cows...

Nothing can be wrong with the world when

you're looking at a field of Happy Cows from California.

Given that I now live in "Cream City", this is my view

on my commute in and out of town.

Of course, the neighbors sometimes come over to

say "hello" when I am pulling out of my driveway.

"Moo, cow..."

NaBloPoMo Day 4 - Cows

I've written before how much I like cows... love cows... love cheese.

I was thinking about cows today as I drove home from taking the dogs to the Sunday Morning Pack Walk.  A field I pass is full of brand new baby calves;  some of which are "fresh outta da oven" and still steaming in the cool morning air.  It's amazing this annual event, when the moms are placed out in the field to give birth.  But, it also comes with a little twinge of sadness.

Now, don't get me wrong... I love a good ribeye as much as the next person.  And, I used to comment that I could be a vegetarian if it wasn't for ribeye steaks.  Having "gone raw" for a time, and now as I am getting older eating more vegetable base, I can do without the ribeyes.  Except maybe once or twice a year on a special occasion.

But, still.  Living in this dairy community and having a pack of critters on our property, I am much more cognizant of where my food comes from.  If I buy meat, which is getting to be more and more infrequent, I get it from our local meat market which buys from local ranchers.  Literally I see where my meat is coming from because I drive past it on a regular basis.

Our local creamery is also at the end of the bridge coming into town;  so I know where our milk, and ice cream, and CHEESE! is coming from as well.  If I could get more than a 1/4 cup of milk after about 30 minutes of goat milking I would be making my own... but, for now I'll leave that to the professionals.  Although, maybe one day, I'll raise a calf of my own... 

How about we leave that crazy idea for another day... but still, hmm....

NaBloPoMo Day 23

Ok, I have 20 minutes to get this post in for today.  So I thought I would quickly write about something I love.... cows.... which I am now happy to be surrounded by in the are in which we are living.

These are just some of my new neighbors.  

Every day on my way to work I pass several dairies.  They rotate the cows around from field to field so it's interesting to see where any group of cows will be on any given day.  It can also vary depending on the time of day I am driving through the main road.

Some fields will be full of soft brown guernseys.  Other fields will have the familiar black and white holsteins.  Some will be full of young calves;  others full of udder-ful heifers.  And, I do notice that the saying "party till the cows come home" probably has some truth to it as I have seen some herds of cows running to the barn at certain times of the day.  No one is rounding them up, they just seem to get in line and start heading for home.

What do I like most about cows?  Cheese... it goes good on everything.  And my DH can't understand how I will cut off a wedge "finger" of cheese and munch on it as a snack.  It's just that good.  Pizza - always with extra cheese.  Offer me any type of cheese on whatever I am eating, and I will say, "yes, please to cheese."

And something I've often wondered..... Gary Larson showed it best....