What Are We, Truly?

What Are We, Truly?

Why do you read one's blog? To know more about them and about their way of live, their likes and dislikes, how they think, and so forth-yes? Of course yes!

Something I struggle with muchly is the ability (and courage) to voice my opinions of things, and just mystical thoughts that I sometimes get and can't seem to forget. 

So, what is a blog for I ask myself? A place to share your views, opinions, and all the general wildness that can be contained in one's self. So, I'm climbing out on a limb and shall begin transferring some of the (wild) and intriguing thoughts that I sometimes find myself with, and placing them on this little blog world for all my little Rebel's viewing pleasure.

Anyone who is within my very itty, bitty and utterly tiny, inner circle; knows that I am a squooshly, soft, bleeding heart when it comes to any form of life; especially animals. And that extends to insects as well. 

So, one morning while rescuing some unfortunate bugs that had fallen in a bucket of water that we keep by the greenhouse to water plants with, a thought came to me.

Now, rescuing drowning bugs may not be everyone's daily occupation, but it's one of mine. I absolutely cannot walk past a water trough full of bugs without my conscience bothering me. 

While doing this, I thought how little we must be in God's eyes. How tiny and minuscule we truly are, just dust; touched by his glorious finger of imagination. How magnificent it is to be noticed and loved by such a wonderful God! How easily He could overlook us, and ignore us. After all, what are we? We are as tiny (or smaller) than bugs in His eyes. Yet His love is overflowing, and ever longing to welcome us into His gentle arms of refuge, where we are free in Him. It really hit me hard, how tiny we truly are. And yet, tiny though we may be; He still cares for us and lifts us out of the waters of sin when we were drowning and had no where to turn. 

So, let us learn a lesson from the insects. No matter how small you are, you are never too small for God to take notice and love you.

And Amen.

Love and Rich Blessings - 

~ Aspen 

Murder At Sunrise

Murder At Sunrise

It sounds like a title for a suspenseful murder novel, yes?

Except in this case, it isn't just a story; it really happened...*gasp*

Over the past few weeks we've been getting a goodly supply of rain (praise the Lord!!), so the ground is very saturated and muddy.

It had rained all the night before so our dirt roads were basically chocolate pudding. I had no desire whatsoever to play slip and slide with the pickup whilst driving through pudding. No thank you, Bob.

So I did the only logically thing, and convinced my two young siblings into walking to the mailbox. 

So off the three of us went in search of adventure! Ermm...the mail. We jogged some of the way, and walked the rest. We haply got the mail safely lodged it in our backpack and were off again towards home. 

We were feeling very adventurous, so we flitted around the pasture a bit; exploring new roads and stalked unsuspecting siblings through the brush. A very pleasurable time, indeed!

That's when we found it...

Little Sis' found this crumbled, dirty warning sign laying by the side of the road.

Can you say creepy?

We kept on our way, and began discussing ways that one might die. Like, you know, being chased down by a raptor and eaten alive. Or being picked up by a giant bird and then dropped from the sky.

Or of course, there's the boring death of old age. Ahem.

By this time, we had reached the cattle-guard that leads into our front pasture.

I remarked at a buzzard that was flying overhead and then looked up the road. Two black things (for lack of a better word) were in the road, moving about. I couldn't decide if they were more buzzards, or some of the wild turkey hens who have their nests all over our pasture. We started towards them and soon found they were indeed more buzzards, and that they were eating something in the road. Something that was not there when we had left.

We all ran to the spot and found two fresh, bloody legs belonging to a calf, lying in the road. 

 Fresh coyote tracks were tramped all over the road.

We looked to the other side of the road where more buzzards were circling. We ran for the spot, but quickly stopped when my brother pointed out that whatever had dragged those calf legs onto the road, might still be over there.

Right. Good point.

So, we all dashed back to the house for a gun and then went about searching the pasture for the body of the poor victim.

We never found the body. Only a small pool of blood and a few bloody bones.

You can see where something heavy had smooshed the grass down, we're thinking at some point the body had to be lying here.

 No trace of a body.

That led us to thinking. It isn't normal for coyotes to chase down a good sized calf and kill it. Wolves yes, coyotes no. Coyotes are more the scavengers, eating up leftover carcasses, roadkill, etc. 

If that is the case, and these coyotes were just cleaning up a carcass...what killed it?

The only thing we have around here big enough to carry off/kill a calf is mountain lions. 

So we began searching the pastures again, looking for a place that a big cat might have buried their kill. Still nothing.

I'll admit, it was pretty terrifying walking around the pastures trying to find a dead calf, while the killer was no doubt still lurking nearby. I'm getting chill bumps right now just thinking about it!

We were never able to the body, or determine for sure what killed it. It could have been several things.

We had a large storm the night before with lightning, hail, high winds and rain. It's possible that the calf could have died during the storm, and the coyotes were just eating the body.

Or the coyotes could have killed the calf.

Or something else might have killed the calf, and the coyotes happened upon the kill.

Who knows?

Either way, we are on high alert here and any cow or calf mooing outside, sends me flying out the door in panic.

We have so many newborn calves up here by the house, that I've been a mess of worry ever since the incident.

But, that's part of the ranch/farm life. Nobody promised that it would be all sunshine and flowers all the time. No sir. There are real life consequences and events that are none too pleasant, that can and do happen. It makes you stop and appreciate what you have.

And with that, I'll say Amen.

Love and Rich Blessings - 

~ Aspen

 

Deadly Dishes

Deadly Dishes

I've decided to stop doing dishes, for good. No more. Zip. Done.

Want to know why? 

Last time I did dishes I almost died! I kid thee not.

So, there I was in the kitchen, at night, washing a sink full of dishes. The bowls that we have in our sinks to catch water (as our sinks are stopped up at the moment) were full, so I stopped and proceeded to carry them outside to dump. As I neared the door I happened to look down and see something round in the crook of the door.

I stared at it a moment before it dawned on me that it was a snake. A second look told me it was a rattle snake!

I calmly set the bowel of water down and hollered for somebody to bring a shovel or something to kill it with. It was quickly dispatched.

Both of our cats were just outside the back door, so I assume they had played with it and made it crawl through the tiny hole at the bottom of our door.

It was a very close call, but I'm still here and I'm very thankful!

Since then, I've carefully checked my barn boots every morning for intruders and scoped out the perimeter before I take a step outside in the dark. 

And the part about never doing dishes again, that was a lie. Don't we all wish we could just stop doing dishes! Oh well, life carries on...

What about you? Have you ever had a near death experience? 

Love and Rich Blessings - 

~ Aspen 

Helloooo!

Helloooo!

I've missed this blog world! How are all my dear little Rebels doing? Splendidly well, me hopes. :)

Oh my, my, my! Where do I even begin? 

Since I've been away, another of my siblings has been married, several dear friends have been married, lots of company and the general business that always seems to ensue in spring time. The more recent happenings are as follows...

This mama has had a terrible case of spring fever, the symptoms include pining for small, fluffy, furry or feathery babies of all species. Longingly looking at every baby animal picture that one can get their hands on, avoiding the chick bins at TSC like the plague, and heart pangs. This is serious business folks. The only known cure is to rapidly add a new baby critter to one's menagerie, before one spirals into insanity. Mustn't have that, can we? Nope. 

After a quick look online this Momma got her some Button Quail hatching eggs to set alongside the turkey, guinea and duck eggs that were already residing in her incubator. Wouldn't want them to be lonely, no sir! ;)

14 days later...

LOOK AT ALL THE LITTLE BUMBLE BEESSS!!! so precious!

A few will be put in the bottom of my Parrotlet/Parakeet cage to keep the discarded seeds under control, and the rest will probably be a little colony that reside in my room. In a month or so the females will start laying little olive green eggs that can be eaten, hatched, or sold online for others to hatch. I'd like to experiment and try building a tiny little quail hutch for the little boogies and see how that works.

Right now however, they are actively running around their brooder and causing all sorts of mayhem, like keeping muwah up all night whistling...but it's worth it.

Happy belated Mother's Day to all the wonderful, hardworking and beautiful mothers out there! 

My favorite little goat, Cassia became a mother on Mother's Day. 

Mom, Carolina and I got home from church about 12:40 PM, I ran in and changed into my barn clothes and flitted outside to check on everyone. I went to check on the goats that are neighbors with the peafowl. I couldn't see Cassia when I first walked up, but then I saw her laying down with two kids still in their sacks out behind her. She hadn't even started licking them off yet. I quickly went in and started pulling the sacks off their nose/faces so they could breath than came in and grabbed a towel to help dry them off. When I got back, Cassia was busily licking them off. In a minute or two the little black one started trying to stand up.

After a quick inspection we found the big tan kid was a buck, and the little black kid a doeling.

After seeing them nurse and getting around a bit, we brought her some hay and leaves to munch on, then let her be for awhile.

When I came back out, both babies were dried off and already gaining lots of energy.

That evening we moved them to a safer pen with a top, just in case the visiting coyote and his pack of buddies that frequent the area decided to come up for a visit.

This morning both the kids and mom seem to be doing great.

We named the tan buck, Octavious because, this:

I love those movies and the quote; "It's Octavious, Mary!", was the first thing that popped into my head after they were born, so it seemed fitting at the time! haha

Unfortunately I probably won't be keeping this pretty boy, even thought I dreadfully want to; due to the fact I have his father, grandmother and mother...so unless I get some does from a different line for him, he must goes in a few months.

The black doeling is named Cosette. 

After her name sake, Cosette from Les Miserables, she is tiny, petite but very feisty. It seemed the fitting name. Also, Reyna dear's goat, Eponine, might have had something to do with it.

We will be adding her to the herd most likely, unless she develops a personality like her grandmother, Nan, than she might not stay.

However, right now both kids are doing great and so is this first time mom. It's been years since I've had goatlings, so I'm enjoying myself muchly! 

If you ever need to know where I am; well I'm probably in the goat pen snuggling a goatling...

The last few months have come with their share of trials and losses. The darned coyote that I mentioned above, took Charlie, my beloved gander several weeks ago. Gonna miss his terribly! He was my buddy boy, but I reckon God needed him more than I did. Love ya Charlie boy! <3

Over the past few months, we also lost two of my beloved Muscovy drakes and one of our Parakeets.

But, on a happier note--all the new little babies that keep appearing are making up for the aching heart I did have several months ago.

In my absence, I managed to finish the first draft of one of my books of over 50,000 words! 

 

 

WooHoo for me...also coffee, coffee helped. Thanks to all the dear, dear friends who helped and encouraged me through that rough journey! Editing, here we come!

 

Currently however, I'm taking a bit of a break from actually writing anymore on the draft, and am instead trying to brush up on my historical knowledge of that era (when the Magna Charter was signed), and all the people who played important roles in bringing about the freedoms we have today. 

 

So, now to y'all...my dearly devoted readers! Tell me what has been occupying your time? What projects and adventures have you been having?

Do tell in the comments below!

 

Love and Rich Blessings - 

 

~ Aspen

 

Chubby Milk Cows

Chubby Milk Cows

 If you remember, sometime last year I posted that our two girls, Belle and Bessie, were several months pregnant with calves and were due sometime in November. 

Above is Belle several weeks from dropping her calf. I honestly don't know how she even walked...she looked utterly miserable.

The sire, Boromir, a Simmental bull.

Belle calved Nov. 6th to a beautiful heifer.

We stumbled upon her licking off her newborn calf in the pasture.

We have a tradition of naming all of our milk cows and their offspring, with 'B' names.

I've always wanted a milk cow named Beatrice. And now I have one! 

The future little milker, Beatrice. 

Little sis' is just outside the camera, Belle is looking very suspiciously at her. ;)

"You touch my baby; I kill you!" < Pretty sure that's what she was thinking.  

Have I ever mentioned our Jersey's natural tendencies to spontaneously kidnap other cow's babies?? Well now I have. Apparently, just one baby at once isn't enough; you must have 4,959... 

Bessie...we were almost certain she was carrying twins. It looked like she swallowed a barrel...or several.

 Beatrice decided she wanted a snack from aunt Bessie....our cows are nuts.

The girls eating a snack. 

 Beatrice and Cassia sharing an overnight pen together so I can milk their mothers.

Ugh...poor darling Bessie is about to pop!

I can't remember the exact date Bessie calved, but it was towards the end of November, several weeks after Belle.

Surprisingly, her calf was much smaller than Belle's. Despite her being much larger in the tummy, and having a bull calf. 

Little sis' and I argued over what to name him; we still haven't completely agreed. Sooo...depending on which family member you ask, his name is either Barnabas (Carolina's suggestion), or Barnaby (my suggestion).

And Beatrice is sometimes called Brazil, by my mother, due to the white mark on her forehead that resembles Brazil in shape.

Dodge photobombing....

My work load has definitely increased since both of the girls calved. Both girls gave 1 1/2 gallons every morning for the first few weeks, then dropped down to 1 gallon or a little over each milking.

  

We are drowning in milk. I may just have to build a boat.

Needless to say we have been making lots of pudding, bread, yogurt and anything that has milk in it. We sell the excess milk and give it to the dogs and cats. Everyone is very happy about this ordeal, except my arms. My arms hurt and ache, they also feel like a rock. Who needs a gym when you have milk cows, eh?

Beatrice (left), Barnaby (right).

Look at the difference in their coloring! Barnaby definitely got the darker red coloring of his dad, whereas Beatrice got the more Jersey coloring. 

In several years, Beatrice will be joining the milk cow ranks and as for Barnaby...he will either end up in the freezer, or will be used for breeding. Hopefully the latter. :)

Blessings - 

~ Aspen

I Think I See A Puddy' Tat'!

I Think I See A Puddy' Tat'!

We have several new additions here on the ranch, so I will slowly be introducing them to y'all. :)

We recently got two mousers, named Mocha (left) and Munchkin (right). 
The girls started out inside the garage, as we had a very bad mouse problem in there. Then eventually we started opening the garage door so they could come and go as they pleased. 

However, some of the fam' started complaining about cat hair being all over there clothes (because the kitties would sleep on their clothes piles...) and they had to be banished from the house.

We tried moving them out to the shop, but it was just too inconvenient and we settled them on the back porch.  

That worked well, except for when their duties were needed in the green house to keep the pesky mice out of my fodder.

Currently they are residing in the green house at night and then they roam around during the day.

The kitties are working out well, we just have to keep them under our watchful eye as we have lots of predators close by. It's been a long while since I've had cats and I'm really enjoying these two girls! They follow me around while I do chores and get into everything. They remind me of little toddlers! 

Do you have cats? What purpose do they serve at your home? 

Blessings - 

~ Aspen