Interesting

Life is weird, but then y'all probably know that. Today, we were contacted by our title company that we had a couple of checks that kept getting returned to them as undeliverable. It's our title company sending to the address where we bought and live on. So, we thought that was weird, but maybe they had a typo?

We went and picked up the checks and sure enough, our address was correct. There's been other times we haven't gotten things that were supposedly mailed to us and some of our mail we mailed didn't get delivered. Maybe it's our mailman. Maybe it's our post office. I truly don't know. All I know is if you think you've mailed me something and I didn't acknowledge it, it may totally be I didn't receive it. 

However, Amazon, UPS and FedEx definitely know where I live. Feel free to send me any packages through them. 

Confusion

So I was outside with the three darker colored dogs (all except Kenzie) and I start hearing scolding from Rob. I'm shocked! I'm thinking Kenzie is finally getting disciplined by Rob. Side note, Kenzie is Rob's princess. She can do no wrong in his eyes. All the three other pups are looking at me, just as confused. No one can believe it. Yeah, no, he was scolding Flurry the cat. A pointless activity, but that makes more sense. 

Well we've been to Austin and to Lampasas and to Goldthwaite today, so I'm tired. We only have to go to Austin four more times this week, and Goldthwaite twice more, so yay??? I'm not even counting Lampasas on times, we go there more than we should. 

Oh, we got a litter robot for the cats! Now all our presents from the felines are in a nice disposable container. It's the small, albeit extremely expensive things, that make me happy. 

Vacuuming the Vacuum

Want to know how my Monday was? At one point, I was vacuuming the vacuum if that gives you any indication. Do you know what was keeping all the shedding fur on my dogs? The mud that I washed off yesterday. Today, it was a glitter bomb of dog fur was set off in my house. The fur kept getting trapped in my vacuum, so I had to keep using the wand to vacuum it out. Yes, I finally got worse and just started using the wand to pick up all the fur blobs, but it took me longer than I'd care to admit to get to that point. 

After awhile, I gave up altogether and went about my day. While I'm insanely busy the rest of the week, today I could actually sneak to my bed and read while Rob was working. It's called self-care, that's a millennial term I'll happily use. 

I finished off the day taking silly pics of my cows. We had fun while Rob did the feeding. So yes, I was as helpful today as a vacuum vacuuming itself!

Flora wonders how I can look so goofy both in person and in selfie mode

Hodge Podge

Another weekend over, and another busy week ahead! The sun finally came out this weekend though and you know what that means, right? Well, if you answered bathing the dogs and cleaning the muddy house, give yourself a point. As an added bonus, I even did the laundry. Rob wants me to iron one of his shirts. That's funny. 

On the farm side of things, Rob was a little concerned Rose wasn't fitting in with the other cows. Yet today, I've witnessed her playing with Maesie, then Callie and then Coorie. I just think she knows how to milk attention from Rob. 

Also, Fancy has a twig with mud stuck in her hoof. She has decided she'd rather walk like a fool today instead of allowing me to remove it. Jokes on her, I'm mudding up in front of the water trough that will hopefully remove it for us both. Otherwise tomorrow, Fancy and I will have a battle of wills. I won't lie, she'll probably win!

Some Sun!

What a day! For half of it it was still super foggy. By this afternoon though, the sun came out. Whoo-hoo! I got to see my beautiful animals again, but we had some mischief as well. 

Our cute, not the most brilliant, but cute Teddy followed our neighbors guineas through a little hole in the fence over to our neighbors side. Probably wouldn't have been an issue except he forgot how to get back! He started barking his fool head off and the man of the house there works through the night and sleeps through the day. So the woman of the house tried to get Teddy back to our side to no avail. Rob got him back, we apologized and I promptly called Gator to fix the issue. 

I'm hoping there aren't more holes in the fence. This keeping an eye on all the dogs through thirty acres is a little much! Have a great weekend!

There were better pics of Callie today, but I always get a chuckle at how watchful mama is with her youngest. 

More Rain

I'm not complaining about the rain. We need the rain. Do we need it all at once in a week? Probably not, but I'm still not going to complain. My animals are all drenched, but only the donkeys are complaining about that. The others just complained when the hay finished out. 

We're not talking about there was absolutely no hay, of course. There's plenty of good hay they've dropped on the ground from the feeder. But no, my animals don't want that hay. The minute Flora grabbed the last chunk, they started mooing about how we were starving them. No, they're not spoiled at all. 

I've got to recycle a pic tonight. I have no interest in even trying to make my drenched animals look cute right now. 

Foggy Day

You know, sometimes I've got the best pups in the world. Other times, they make me question my own sanity. 

Today, we were extremely foggy all day. Think Silent Hill foggy. Like the postman though, our dogs go out no matter what the weather. This afternoon though, only two came back. 

The Knuckleheads, our nickname for Teddy and Tootsie, decided to disappear in the fog. They didn't come back through my calling like they normally do. Fair enough, I've got such a quiet voice (haha) maybe they didn't hear me through the fog. Off Rob goes in the mule to rustle them up, but yet he couldn't find them. So then, panic starts to set in. He leaves the property in the truck while I still call. Out of nowhere, Tootsie appears. One down, one to go. 

Rob was gone for awhile now and still no sign of Teddy Bear. I go inside to start putting on my mud boots, because it's mega muddy out there, and when I look back at the door, there he is! What's more, other than his paws he was dry as a bone! I have no idea where that fool was, but I guarantee you it was nearby. He gets wetter than a fish usually outside!

Stampede!

I'm not country enough to know if horses are the only ones who can stampede, but for lack of a better term, that's what my larger animals have been doing lately. It was cute, until it wasn't. 

With the cooler temperatures, the cows and the donkeys have been running through the pasture tirelessly like a herd of buffalo. It would just be quick bursts, never long enough to grab my phone and film it. But boy howdy, you could feel the ground rumbling! Today though, they kicked it up a notch. 

I was out of the house while I left Rob at home during this cool, drizzly day. Imagine my surprise when he texted me that half of the cows had somehow opened the gate and were galloping through what we term our field. Fortunately, our cows are extremely food motivated and easily came back into the pasture with extra cattle cubes. They didn't do it again, so I'm assuming the gate hadn't latched correctly the first time. Silly cows!

Mango, because it's just easier to get his pic right now

Sidewinder Squawk

In case y'all don't remember, because I rarely mention them, we've got three different breeds of chickens. Our original ones are Chickadee (Plymouth Rocks), Hennifer (Rhode Island Reds), and last year's addition were mutts with some Americauna in them. One of those was a deformed, but healthy, chick who can only walk sideways, so that group of chickens we call Sidewinder. 

Anyhow, Chickadee and Hennifer are the warmer month egg layers. Wonderful news, Sidewinder are cooler month layers! Now, they all lay throughout the year, however their eggs are larger when it's their season. I say all that because one more little Sidewinder is squeezing out the largest eggs ever! I had a large baby, I can feel her pain. 

I'd try to help if I could, but I know it's because they're enjoying the spent grain (going to start calling it mash now) just as much as everyone else. 

New Item on List

Rob and I always have an ongoing list of things for the farm. Ways to care for animals better and ways to make things easier. Added to the list today is a cow washing station!

We had a little ice lake from the last couple of days, and they decided to turn it into a mud spa for them. Once they were sufficiently coated, they then went to their spent grain and coated themselves like it was sprinkles on a cupcake. I haven't been able to brush them this week, so they've also got some tangles working with all the goop. So ideas for a cow washing station?

Here's Flora, my diva, who I assure you is as filthy as the rest of them!

One bit of the spent grain got iced into a bucket. Flora is enjoying this oatmeal popsicle 

Report Card

The report card is in and Fur Real Farms did sensational during the three days below freezing! All our animals are alive and well. We kept water and electricity flowing. And there is very little we need to do in the future to do even better. 

We have a pole barn with two openings and in the near future, we're getting a tarp or one of those heavy plastic things, to hang from one of the openings to make the barn even more cozy. The other thing is getting one more, albeit smaller, tank heater for the goats. They had to struggle to get their water from the cow and donkey troughs because theirs was frozen. While cute seeing them all on their tips of their hooves, I can't imagine it's much fun. That's it! What a difference a year makes. I'm kinda proud of ourselves. 

Oh and we picked up the spent grain today so everyone was overjoyed not just for the warmer temps, but the still warm oatmeal they got when we got home. 

Just Cold

Today was unusual for us. The winds came in last night driving away the snow, it made things colder, but other than the cold, everything was fine. Roads were clear, sun was shining, even school was back in session. I don't think I've ever experienced this in Texas before, it's just cold. 

Rob is dutifully taking care of the farm animals as they didn't need much due to our preparations for them. No sense both of us getting cold right? Everyone is doing great. Even the chickens were happier today with the sun. While I'm grateful this arctic blast did absolutely nothing to us, I feel that leftover anxiety that I can't seem to get rid of quite yet. Maybe tomorrow when things are all completely back to normal, I'll feel better. 

I'll give the final report card tomorrow as we're still technically freezing, but I think we passed!

We've got to get a bigger couch lol

Progress Report

As we're halfway done with this winter blast, I thought I would give a progress report. The final report card will be tomorrow. 

Cows - A+

Donkeys - A- (these guys are rascals and need better manners in snow conditions)

Goats - A (some room for improvement on their access to water with them being so small)

Dogs - Pass (you either pass or fail here and all the pups are healthy, happy and warm, so pass)

Cats - Fail (too many dogs getting in the way of napping, do better humans)

Chickens - C (average grade for average effort for the fowl. Yes they have water, food, shelter, heat lamps and absolutely no boundaries, but they did not ask for snow and that's our fault)

Yep, we got a light dusting of snow. For once, I wasn't giddy like a school girl about it. While beautiful, it's not peaceful anymore when you have a farm!

It's Here

Yep, the sub-freezing temps are here. Our animals are doing well and we gratefully have electricity and water. Already we're doing better than last year!

However, we owe a hearty thanks to our part time ranchhand Gator! He came this afternoon and double checked all our work, helped get extra food to the animals, and have us suggestions for how to improve in the future. We're not completely "green" at this anymore, but you never stop learning on the farm. 

I know I said I would do yearbook photos, and I will, but sporadically. For now, just enjoy my Mango who happens to be enjoying my spot on the bed. 

Ok Ready

Got stuff for the faucets, the hoses, the drink troughs and even a warmer coat for me. We're ready for the cold now. Not looking forward to it mind you, but we're ready. 

This is technically our third winter here. We caught the tail end of the first one, suffered through last year in the RV without running water, but now we've got a house, got more tools to keep the water running, and we should be in good shape. If not, then we'll just keep working on it. 

The only thing I absolutely don't need more of are those horrible winds we had the other day. While we fortunately didn't have damage, we did lose a bale of hay. Who would have ever thought I would be concerned about dried up grass. Farm life has changed me!

I'm going to start doing a "yearbook" of my animals in the blogs ahead. Today was the pups picture taking day!

Reggie

Kenzie

Teddy Bear

Tootsie Roll 

Winter Prep

With this latest cold snap, and more on the way, Rob and I feel the pressure to get winterized on the farm. We've got to make sure we have enough water and that it doesn't freeze. So not just faucet protectors, but heated hoses and heat sources for the tanks for the livestock. Let's hope we're not too late in finding those items. 

All the animals and most of the farm survived the heavy winds yesterday. We'll be doing trash pickup for awhile. Not just our trash, I think we got some from Colorado in there. 

I talked with my mom today and she wanted to make sure I didn't get those cats from yesterday. I didn't. We're good on animals right now until our sheep come in! 😊

Spice Girl showing her balancing skills

Cyclone Saga

We're currently having tornado/hurricane type winds and it's insane! Stuff we thought was solid enough to sit in the carport is now flying hither and yon through our acreage. Hopefully just our land, but I'm sure our neighbors will let us know if they find something. 

Speaking of hither and yon, that's everywhere we went today. To Austin for a doctor's appointment (we're all good, no worries) and then off to Goldthwaite to drop off cupcakes. The Mistress is fun to drive, but even she was getting tired today. 

But good news! We're back on for spent grain pickup this week. Didn't take y'all long to drink that beer after I asked, so thank you. Brogan will be happy after he gets done with his Mother Nature blowout hair session!

Stopped at a pet store and both kitties there were happy to see me!

Rogueish Brogan

The last two weeks, we haven't been able to pick up spent grain as the brewery wasn't making more batches. You can't really save spent grain unless you turn it into silage or dehydrate it. Because of this, they finished it off a week ago and have been rather vocal about wanting more. The loudest complainer, Brogan. 

You'd think we were starving this boy if you were to hear him. He doesn't moo like the girls, but rather grunts. I decided to be nice and bring them treats today, but Brogan was not too be swayed. He did finally become a little happy when he got brushed, but immediately started complaining again once I stopped. I told him I'll take it up with management. 

Have a great start to the weekend everyone! If y'all are near Flix Brewhouse in Round Rock, have a pint or two. Brogan will be glad you did!

First Week Done

The first week of January is ending and it's been half successful. Considering I've been dealing with cedar fever, I'll take the fifty percent as a win. 

But there's always room for improvement. I've got to learn to bake through the allergies, love the livestock even in inclimate weather, and spend a little more time on work over leisure. It's a work in progress though. 

For now, I'm happy to relax into the weekend and maybe finally get to that laundry I've been putting off this year. 

Cedar Pollen

Superman has Kryptonite. I have cedar pollen. It came in like a wrecking ball last Saturday, and I truly felt like it was going to end me. I felt like I had the worst flu ever to have plagued mankind. The next day, I felt better. It was just warming up in me. 

Each new day is bringing ever so much more joy into my life. Itchy, watery eyes I want to claw out. A nose that runs while simultaneously being stopped up. Sneezing, coughing, headache. But wait, there's more! My sinus cavities are so inflamed right now, you can actually see them raised. It's not just affecting me, all of the Hill Country are playing extras in the Walking Dead right now. 

But I'll outlast this round of cedar pollen. The superhero always wins!

Dry January

One of the "things" going on with social media, is having a dry January. What they mean is not to drink alcohol, but my body has other ideas. 

After forgoing champagne on new year's eve, and any other alcohol as well plus drinking ample water yesterday and this morning, I was all set to give my blood test at the doctor's today. Well, I thought I was. Three sticks and no luck. We would have kept trying, but I almost passed out. Absolutely not joking there. First time that's ever happened to me, but yeah we had to call it quits. We'll try again another day. 

Luckily, the weather isn't being dry either. We've had a deliciously nice steady rain today. The goats, while having access to the dry barn, decided to scream for most of the day about the tormenting rain. The donkeys weren't thrilled either, but they didn't make a fuss. Those goats are so dramatic!

Back off to baking I go. Thor is keeping me nice and toasty this chilly evening. My oven guys. Honestly!

Good Start

Ok, somewhere in October, Rob and I had decided to start off this new year with health. I say that because we scheduled wellness visits with our doctor for tomorrow morning. She's going to tell me cedar pollen is killing me, but I'm not the doctor. 

On top of that we're back into the full swing of things. Doctor visits tomorrow, Friends of the night sky Wednesday, theatre Thursday, you get the gist. We're as ready as we're going to be I guess. 

Since we have to fast for the visit (blood work), I baked us up a treat of apple cinnamon chips in my new food dehydrator to eat after our appointments. If there's time, I'm going to make cantaloupe and watermelon concoctions in it tomorrow!