Sassy & Sweet Notes

A Few Photos...

My parents have been visiting for the past few weeks, and we've had a great time! They drove down from Washington State, taking a bit of time along the way to visit a few key locations and see some sights.

They've got some great photos from their trip so far, and I just had to download a few and share them with you -- they're so great!!

This is a photo Mom took out the window as they drove south through southwestern Montana. Regardless of where the photo was taken, the snow on the mountain is a nice, refreshing sight as we endure nearly 100 degree days here in Texas. Phwew...

Dad has some nice photos of Zion National Park in Utah, but this was my favorite. The blue of the sky against the detail of the rock walls and the silhouette of the tree make this a nice, graphic image. If you've never been to Zion National Park, I highly recommend it! It's a WONDERFUL park to visit! Lots of hiking trails, variety of nature and wildlife. It's a relatively small national park, and is well managed.

Of all the photos they took at the Grand Canyon, this one is my favorite. Dad did a nice job of capturing the depth of the canyon. It's amazing just how far you can see when you're standing on the rim of the canyon. Like Zion, if you've never been to the Grand Canyon, try to see it at least once in your lifetime. It really is amazing...

Here's another photo of the canyon that Dad took. Such a cool place!!

Mom and Dad plan to start their return trip to Washington tomorrow. They've got a whole list of places to see and things to do along the way, and I'm sure they're going to have a wonderful time! I'm envious!! I love vacations, especially to national parks!

Farm Update!

When I posted about my 2 year blogversary, I never expected to have such a fantastic and warm response to the farm updates. Thank you! I am SO glad you enjoy them. It really feels GREAT to know that not only do we love our wacky little farm, but you appreciate our efforts as well. Thank YOU!

With that in mind, yesterday evening I slipped out to the barnyard to see what I could see and I thought I'd give you an update on the goings-on out there!

Dixie Cup and Cleo are growing like weeds! Pictured above is Dixie Cup and here mama, Dixie. Cup is growing up to be a beautiful little heifer. Remember when she was born, she was as black as black can be? The sun has slowly bleached her dark black baby hair to be a beautiful reddish brown color. Her hair will be dark black again after she sheds out her baby summer hair. Too bad too, because both her and Cleo are as pretty as can be with their auburn colored coats.

Here's Dixie Cup again with an apparent itch on her hiney. I was surprised to see that her tongue is two very different colors on the top and bottom. Who knew!

She found a stick quite interesting and a little bit tasty.

What I find interesting about Dixie Cup is that while she refuses to let us touch her, she finds us completely fascinating. She watches our every move. She's gonna be a wild one for good, I think (just like her mother...).

This is one of my favorite photos from the evening. It started out as Cup (left) investigating some of the weeds in the pasture. It wasn't long before Cleo (right) decided to join her. Cup, who is two weeks older than Cleo, looks to be nearly twice the size of little Cleo. But both of them have the beautiful coloring from the sun, though both of them really are black cows.

Here's Cup again, checking out more weeds. Fascinating weeds...

Cleo must have decided that she was NOT going to cooperate for our little photo session. Here's the only other photo I was able to get of her. Her face is much more feminine than Cup's face. It will be fun to see how pretty she gets as she grows up. I'm hoping she grows up to have her mother's temperament as well.

As for the baby chickens, they're also growing like weeds! Here's one of the Red Frizzle babies, looking every so lovely in her frizzled out feather-do. Even the feathers on her head are frizzled! If you raise chickens, no matter how many, I highly recommend raising a few frizzles. They have so much personality and are so fun to watch! I could spend hours watching them run from one side of the chicken yard to the other - and back again. We purchased our Frizzle chicks as day-old chicks from Ideal Poultry. Very healthy birds, and though 25% of Frizzles won't actually have the flipped, frizzled feathers, 5 of the 6 chicks we received in our order do. The one chick that doesn't have the flipped, frizzled feathers, is still a beautiful chick with unbelievably soft feathers! I'll try and get a photo of her soon... she's a beauty!

Here's one of the Red Silkie chicks. This is the first time I've ever raised Silkies, and they are a bundle of energy! I love how it looks like she's wearing fluffy white slippers on her feet!  In this photo you can see that the skin of Silkie chickens is dark, not white or yellow like most chickens. You can also see in this photo that Silkie chickens have two toes that point backwards, in addition to the three toes that point forward. Other chickens have three toes that point forward, and only one toe that points backwards. How's that for some chicken trivia!

Princess (our fourth Dexter cow expecting a calf this year) is starting to look like she's contemplating having her baby soon. Her baby will for sure be black, but we're hoping that she has a little heifer this year. Last year, she delivered Ribeye, our little (and I'm not joking when I say LITTLE) polled bull (polled means he is naturally horn-less). We're keeping Ribeye for breeding (being polled is a GOOD thing!), as he's quite a charming little fella to have around. Princess is our prettiest cow, and we'd like to see her good looks passed on to a little heifer. Here's hoping!

Life on the farm... good, clean (?) fun.

Happy Friday!

Zippidydoodah!

This is Zippidydoodah, one of the smallest chicks from our McMurray Hatchery chick order. I felt this little one deserved it's time in the blog spotlight. This little chick is sooooo stinkin' CUTE with it's LONG feet feathers (see them sticking way out to the side!) and black and copper colored feathers. In this photo, she (hopefully!) is sitting on Alan's finger. Big time cute factor! This is a Mille Fleur chick, who will grow up to be either an itty bitty bantam sized hen, or itty bitty bantam sized rooster.

Hot, hot, HOT!

This weekend has been hot, hot, HOT! Phwew. I'd welcome the cooler temperatures (and lower humidity) of the northwest right now. While the sunshine is nice, it's just WAY too hot. Thankfully, we've got AC in the house, so when the heat outside gets to be too much, we can retreat to the house for a cool-down.

I've got dinner on the stove, so while we wait I thought I'd post a few photos I took earlier this evening. We've FINALLY decided on a name for our new little black Nigerian Dwarf goat. She'll now be Maggie. It's a cute name, and it suits her. She has white on three of her feet and on the top of her head. She loves to sit in Alan's lap...and as you can see by this photo, she's always got something on her. Dirt, hay, alfalfa...whatever she can get into. Today, alfalfa.

Callio-Pea stayed busy today as well, nibbling on a tree that's in the goat yard. She's no dummy.... the tree's in the shade, and right next to one of their water buckets! A nibble on a shaded tree and a nice refreshing drink - what more could a girl need on a hot, sunny afternoon?

Betty stayed cool in the shade, too. Well, after she had to sit in my lap, chew on my pants, the straps on my shoes, my camera strap, and my shirt. All that work really wears a girl out. Looks like it wore Betty out too! *grin*

Hope you've enjoyed your holiday weekend!

A side note: Typepad has recently made some changes to their hosting service. Some of the changes are good, but there's one that I'm NOT thrilled about. Seems that they're now significantly reducing the quality of the resized images added to a post. It used to be that when I placed in an image that was a smaller version of the original, the quality was still great! Now, the resized versions are really rough, and grainy! ARGH! So, please hang in there with me while I find a work around for this new "feature". Until then, click on the images to see a larger, better quality image.

A visit to Pride of Texas Ranch

Earlier this evening, Alan and I took Alan's parents out to Pride of Texas Ranch where we were picking up two Nigerian Dwarf goat kids who are now old enough to move to our farm.

The first time Alan and I went to the ranch to meet the goats and see if they had any babies we wanted to purchase, I didn't take my camera and regretted not having it once we got there! So today, I took my camera!

Here are a few of my favorite photos from the short time we were out at their ranch today.

Not only do they raise Nigerian Dwarf goats, but they also have a herd of Miniature Zebu cattle, which are BEAUTIFUL animals! They've had a few calves born on the ranch in the past month, and I was able to get a few photos of the little ones. Isn't this little fella just the CUTEST thing, standing with his mama!

The goats were all beautiful as well. The mamas are well kept, well fed, and as friendly as can be. Look at these three, watching us inside the barn. I think they're hoping for an early dinner handout. The bucks are kept in a separate area on the farm, away from the ladies, so they can manage the breeding program. Unfortunately, I didn't get any photos of the fellas. They are all quite handsome though!

The babies were full of enthusiasm and happy to see us (I'm sure they are happy to see all visitors!) They love to rub their heads on our legs, nibble on our shoe laces, and tug on our shirts. When you're surrounded by cute babies, it's tough to decide which babies to take home. At one point, I told Randy (the ranch owner) I'd take one of each. *grin*

Randy shows a true appreciation and affection towards all of his animals. Not only do we appreciate his wonderful critters, but we also appreciate his willingness to share information. He wants his animals to go to the best homes, and we're delighted to have a couple of his 2008 babies.

I'll share more info on the babies we did bring home with us a bit later... What a fun evening!

Cleo

Cleo is a sweet baby! Queenie allows Alan and I to touch Cleo, but watches us to make sure we don't do anything to harm her baby.

Today I was able to rub Cleo all over, including her cute little belly! So far, she's a LOT friendlier than Dixie Cup, which isn't hard to do since Cup is WILD and CRAZY. (Cup is 16 days old now, if you can believe it!)

Cleo spent most of today napping in the sunshine while Queenie snacked on grass and hay. It was pretty hot here (low 90s), so napping in the sunshine wasn't hard to do. I took these photos this evening as the setting sun's rays were starting to be filtered by the haze from the humidity.

Queenie stood nearby while I snapped the photos, and occasionally checked on Cleo (usually putting slobber on her head).

Queenie is proving to be a good mother. It's unfortunate she lost her calf last year and didn't have the opportunity to raise her first born. She's very attentive, and quietly moos at Cleo throughout the day. I think things are going just perfectly!

Here's are two photos I took yesterday evening, when Cleo was just a few hours old. She was still pretty wobbly on her feet, but I'm still amazed at how quickly she was up and at 'um!

I'm in a photography group and there are personal photo assignments that we're issued topics for. The last topic was Fine Art (remember my rooster photo?). The new topic is "Relationship". I think this will be a great topic for me, especially with all of the new babies on the farm!

I can't believe we have two MORE cows expecting as well! Princess is due next, followed by Pixie later on. It's so exciting!!

Princess delivered a bull calf last spring (named Ribeye). We're crossing our fingers and toes that she delivers a heifer this year.

Princess is a BEAUTIFUL cow, and we hope all of her babies are as pretty as she is.

Today: Queenie. A Mother.

Amazing. Life on the farm today was nothing short of amazing.

2:15pm
Alan and I went out to the barn to check on the baby Turken chicks we moved down there earlier this morning. When we entered the barnyard, we both noticed that Queenie was acting a little "odd" - not her usual self. We quickly realized she was in labor. Serious labor. She was standing and doing some pretty good pushing and heavy breathing. Delivery would be soon.

Very soon!

It wasn't long after when little white hooves started to emerge. Queenie was trying to find a comfortable place to be, whether standing or laying, laying or standing. Finally, she found a perfect spot to lay down.

2:50pm
After what seemed like forever to us (imagine how she felt!), out slid her baby!

We couldn't believe our timing! We could have EASILY missed the entire scene! But we didn't, and it was a beautiful thing! She had her baby in the middle of the day, in the middle of the barnyard. We watched the entire delivery, and we even captured some little video clips I'll share later.

The baby was trying out its legs within 15-20 minutes, and was firmly latched onto "lunch" in less than 30 minutes.

Amazing.

And even better, it's a little heifer! She'll grow up here on the farm, eventually to have her own babies. We're just thrilled! Congratulations, Queenie! And how fitting, on Mother's Day weekend!

Little Brown Hen COULD!

A big HUGE congratulations to Little Brown Hen, who hatched a turken chick today! Turkens are not a cross between a chicken and a turkey, even though that's what they sound like they might be. They are also referred to as Naked Necks. The breed originated in Germany. They are good layers (they lay brown shelled eggs), and at least on our farm, they are quite prolific!

Cute Wild Kitties

We have a real wild mama cat who lives here on the farm. We haven't been able to catch her and get her to the vet yet. Her name is Damn Cat for that reason.

Last fall, Damn Cat had three kittens. We've been able to catch one of the kittens (Shazam) - and we've only been able to do it once. But once was enough to get her to the vet to be fixed! This is Shazam. Still wild as can be if we get too close to her. She will come up on the patio to eat but dashes off if we get to close.

The sun was peeking in under the covered patio, so I sat in a chair and just waited (camera in hand) for something to happen.

Shazam hopped up in one of the patio chairs in a spot of sun and decided it was a great time and place for a bath!

I got these two shots taken, and that was enough bravery, and bath, for Shazam.

Off she went.

Larry, another fairly wild kitty, found a place in the sun too, right next to my sad looking Petunia plant. She looks awfully cute. Yup, Larry's a she. Usually yellow striped cats are males, but we seem to have a high percentage of female yellow striped cats! Damn Cat included! And Curly! And Curly Too! Sometimes they get named before we learn if they're male or female. Sometimes, it's only when Uncle Mike (our vet) does surgery that we learn what gender they are...this is how Larry got her name. Oops!

All of the animals around here are very well fed. Wild cats included. These two don't really look all that wild in these photos, but I'd like to see you try and catch them! *grin!*

The cats are always very aware of where we are, and what's around them. And if one of us has a fish net in our hand, you can bet there won't be a cat in sight. That's ok with us though. As long as we can catch them at least once, that's all that matters. We'll get Damn Cat eventually.

PS: Thank you for all the kind comments about my photos. I'm so happy to know that other people enjoy them, as I do. I'm grateful that they allow me to share our life on the farm with you.

Some of you have written to me and asked about the camera I use. Here's some information I wrote last year about this time that goes into a bit of detail on my photo gear. Since writing that post, I've also added a Canon 180mm Macro lens to my bag, and a Canon G9 to my bag as well. I'm probably a junkie. *wink*

Enjoy what's left of the weekend!

Dixie Cup: 1 week old

We had a rain storm this morning, followed by an afternoon of sunshine. Days like this are the best. The rain pulls the dust out of the air, and the sunlight is crisp and clean. On days like today, with evening light so fresh, I can't resist taking photos around the farm.

Dixie Cup is 1 week old, and good grief she's WILD! She's got more spunk than we've ever seen in any of our calves. A true spitfire! But she's also as cute as they come! Maybe as she grows up she'll tame down a bit. While that would be NICE, I think it's highly unlikely.

Junior, one of the barn cats (Alan's favorite!), always helps us while we're feeding. This evening he was working hard at supervising while we fed the cows. Apparently I caught him during a break. Junior lives in the barn loft, so I know she's familiar with him. He must have been just extra fascinating today!

I am always amazed at how quickly animals grow, and how quickly they learn to be mobile. And SPEEDY! It's not the easiest thing to get photos of Cup. She's always running from one side of Dixie to the other -- and it's always the side I'm NOT on.

When she's not running around making our photo session difficult, she finds just the perfect spot of shade to lay down in, making our photo session even more difficult! Taking photo of a black cow in a dark spot of shade is a challenge. But even with all of her antics, every now and then I catch a good photo. And in evening light like we had today, I'm thrilled when things work in my favor! She does make me earn every shot, though!

Dixie, on the other hand, is happy just standing.

Watching.
Staring.
Waiting.
For feed.

Here's an ultra close-up of Dixie enjoying some corn. Mmmmm, corn.

More Milking Fun

Yesterday evening we had more fun on the farm, which included another milking of Dixie to again take some of the pressure off of her udder. She looks, and I'm sure FEELS, soooooo much better.

The first time we milked her, Dixie Cup spent most of the time in the barn out of sight. Not last night! Dixie Cup frolicked in the barnyard while her Mama was held captive in the chute being milked by Alan's dad, John.

Speaking of funny man John, I had no IDEA that milk being squeezed from a teat could travel upwards of 15-20 feet! Imagine my surprise when I got squirted while I was busy taking photos of Dixie Cup!

Thankfully, the sun was shining, and Dixie Cup stayed out of the shade! This makes for better photos! She has a habit of coming out of the barn, catching a snack from Dixie, and finding a nice shady corner and laying down. Such a stinker.

I've been updating my Farm Animal photo gallery. Take a look if you'd like to see more photos!

Oh, and by the way, University of Nebraska-Lincoln has chicks hatching today on their Egg Cam!

Finally, a NAME!

A BIG thank you to everyone for all of the name suggestions you offered for Dixie's calf! After DAYS of stewing over what to call her, we've finally decided on Dixie Cup. A BIG thank you to Terri Trotter Early for submitting this suggestion! We like that it stays with the Dixie theme, is whimsical, and clever!

Here are some other suggested names that we felt were particularly charming:
- Doodle (one my my personal favorites!)
- Dixie's Midnight Runner (or Dexi)
- Ebony
- Dixie's Lullaby (I added this one to the list myself...)
- Patience
- Eyla Few (I Love You...)
- Lots of Alan and Anna variations
- Slo-Poke (another personal favorite)
- Moo Cow
- Guinness
- Emmy Moo Wight (haha!!)
- Licorice
- Bloomer
- Channa-Gaelic for slow moving stream
- Shanna-Irish for slow moving stream
- Scarlet O'Hara
- DeeDee
... and SOOO many others! It's tough working naming an animal! We thank you for all of your suggestions!

We're expecting three more calves to be born here this year (some sooner than others!), and it looks like a baby donkey might be delivered soon, too!

I took these photos yesterday evening. All of these cows are registered Dexter cows.

This is Princess (she had Ribeye last spring). She's expecting. Alan bought Princess and Queenie (in the background) at the same time when they were babies newly weaned from their mothers. So, while they weren't born here on the farm, they've grown up here. They're very nice cows. They were already named when Alan bought them, and the names just kind of stuck.

This is Queenie. She's expecting. She started out being a fairly wild heifer. She had a baby last spring (a little heifer) that didn't make it to day 2. Very sad. We'll be keeping an extra close eye on Queenie and her calf this year. Queenie has been very calm during this pregnancy. Most of the cows don't particularly LIKE being touched, but Queenie seems to enjoy it.

To give you an idea of her size, here is a photo of Alan (who's 5'10) and Queenie. She is our smallest cow (Chick and Lucy not included, since they're still growing heifers). Alan is standing even with her back hip. He tried to step closer, but Queenie just stepped away, letting him know that since he was close enough to reach, and that was close enough for her. Her eyes are closed...I think she likes it.

We also have Pixie, a slightly smaller version of Dixie (who's our biggest cow). We bought Pixie in November 2007, at the same time we bought little Lucy (who's still tiny as can be!). Pixie is expecting. We bought her as a bred cow - sort of like a two-for-one deal.

All of these expected calves (and donkey) will keep us busy for the next few months! And, if that wasn't enough, we've got a bunch of FANCY baby chickens arriving soon as well! And baby goats! WHOA! Soooo much fun on the farm! My parents live in Washington and will visit the farm for the first time this summer. There will be plenty of activities to keep us all busy!

Betty & Alan

It's been a while since I mentioned how the little goats are doing. Sadly, in the week after getting Boxcar Willie, we had to have our vet put him down. He was sickly, and nothing we did helped him get better. We didn't want him to suffer any longer. He was a friendly little goat, and we miss him. He's buried here on the farm, near Dollie Mae, so she can keep an eye on him. (I haven't mentioned this yet, because it was kind of a traumatic little experience for me. *sniff*)

Now that Boxcar Betty is our only goat (for the time being), she's warming up to us. When we first got Betty, she didn't let us touch her. She was VERY shy, and hated being caught. But we've discovered that Betty will do ANYTHING for an animal cracker cookie! She'll even sit in my lap, and likes to be held! She watched very calmly as we trimmed up her little hooves. She's got quite the personality, and it's fun to see her express it as she gets more and more comfortable with us. In this photo, Alan is telling her that she needs to smile for the camera, and that soon she'll have new little goat friends to play with.

After we lost Willie, Alan found a breeder of Nigerian Dwarf goats not too far from us. We drove over one evening to see his recent babies. Oh my GOODNESS, babies babies EVERYWHERE! They were so FUN! We ended up putting a deposit on two of the babies we met that day. So that they can have plenty of time with their mama's, we're leaving them at his farm until the middle of May. Then they'll be old enough to come live on our farm, with miss Betty! More on them later!

Alan and I are headed down to a Dexter Cattle Association meeting today. Should be fun! There will be cows (and babies!) there to see!

Have a great Saturday!

What's My Name?

Alan and I are still tossing around ideas for names for this little one, but we just can't decide. We've decided we need your help!

Some facts about her to inspire you:
- She is a black, long-legged Dexter heifer
- Dexter cattle originated in Ireland
- She was born April 24, 2008
- Her star sign is Taurus
- She has white belly button hair
- She has a smidgen of white hair near her udder
- She has brown eyes
- Her ear tag will be LF1U
- Her mother is Dixie Maxie
- Her father is Driscol (we call him Beavis)
- Her half-brother is Ribeye (born last year on the farm)
- Her half-sister is Dixie's Chick (born last year on the farm)

I took this photo yesterday afternoon while her mama, Dixie, munched on grass. What a sweet little thing...

A New World...

At 2:30 I went down to the barn to make sure things were going smoothly. Of course, I took my camera!

We left the chickens locked up in their chicken yard so they weren't spending the day in and out of the barn kicking up all kinds of dust. They were a little miffed that they haven't been let out of their yard yet today, but they'll forgive me tomorrow when they get to run around the farm like wild animals again.

Dixie decided it was time for them to see a new world, outside of the barn. Out they went. It's a bright, sunny day here with temps in the high 80's. Perfect for baby sunbathing! The little one got to try out her new legs, and Dixie got some nice green grass to munch on. There's plenty o' room in her belly for lots of grass today!

We have a couple of different barn yards that are connected with gates. Dixie has access to both of the yards. The barn opens up to the main yard, and it's just a short walk over to the gate of the second yard. That's where they headed. Slow and steady ... well, slow for sure, but not always so steady.

Man...I thought Dixie's udder was GIANT earlier this week. Today, words can't describe the bodaciousness of her ta-tas! Lorrrrrrr-day! Just looking at her makes my back hurt! *grin*

Dixie's a Mama!

Look who Alan found in the barn this morning! On his BIRTHDAY, even!

How fun is that! Way to GO, Dixie!

This is the first photo I took of the new baby. It was early (about 7:10am) and it's cloudy today, so there was little light coming into the barn. This makes for tricky photography when there's no on-camera flash either!

I was just out at the barn a bit ago and witnessed breakfast. Yay! Seeing a new born calf eating is a very good thing. The sooner they start nursing, the better. It's important for them to get vital antibodies from colostrum that's produced by the mother for only a short amount of time after the calf is born. I also witness some "weeing", so it would seem we've got a little heifer! Yay!!

Thank you for all the congrats! We're pleased! Dixie is cranky...but I would be too.

If you're wondering what breed of cattle we have, we raise Dexter cattle. Dexters are considered to be the smallest breed of cattle in the US, which makes them perfect for small farms. Cows mature to 750-800 pounds, and are typically 36-42 inches high at the shoulder. Bulls mature to 1000-1100 pounds and 38-44 inches high at the shoulder. The little calf born here today weighs about 30-35 pounds. Learn more here.

...and we WAIT...

Thankfully, Dixie isn't beyond her due date. She just LOOKS ready. And probably FEELS ready, too.

In this photo she's watching Alan, who's walking towards her. She's just SURE he's going to bring her some cow cookies.

And he probably did.

Thursday is Alan's birthday. Maybe Dixie will return the "gift", in the form of a little heifer calf! Wouldn't THAT be something!

I won't hold my breath.

Fun Farm Stuff

I'm told that there are lots of kids who read my blog with their Mom for the updates on the farm animals. I think that's so COOL! Sending a BIG HELLO to each one of you! Thank you for reading my blog, and sending me comments and emails! I love hearing from you!

Just for you here's a photo I took yesterday of Lollie, our bunny. When he got old enough, Lollie got to move outside to live with two of our little chickens, in a big fenced-in (even over the top) area where they are protected from danger.

Instead of having to live in a little rabbit hutch, Lollie gets to run around in their big fenced-in yard, burrow and eat hay and enjoy being a bunny day and night. Instead of having a Kleenex Box for his house like he did when he was a baby, now he shares a little dog house with I'Lean (our one-legged chicken) and Peeper (our smallest chicken). He is a very happy bunny!

Here are some other blog posts about Lollie, in case you missed them:

She's so tiny! (before we knew Lollie was a he...)
Finally, a name!
Busy Bunny
Little Lollie *blush*

I also thought I'd share a couple of things that you might find fun! These aren't animals on our farm, but they're fun to see anyway!

There's a website hosted by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln called 4-H Egg Cam that shows baby ducks in their "crib". The ducks nap a lot, but sometimes you can see them eating or drinking or practicing their quack (but you won't be able to hear them on the computer).

And here's a fun site! It's called The Hen Cam! You can see these chickens (who also live with a bunny!) in their chicken yard, and house. Check in on them now and then. They're fun!

PS: Still no baby cows...

Mister Farley

Here's a photo of Mister Farley, taken earlier today. Just because.
He'd been running around in the yard. The slobber kind of gives that away...

Still no baby cows... =)

I'm too Sexy...or am I?

Well... if you can believe it, Dixie STILL hasn't delivered. Crazy cow... I think at this point, she's milking (haha!) us for treats and attention. If she only knew what a spread she's getting on the blog! I snapped this photo today while Alan and I were out at the barn yard.

We keep waiting to see some signs of actual labor (change in breathing, etc) but nothing yet. The ooze we've been seeing can appear for weeks prior to delivery (we've seen it off and on now for two weeks). So, we wait. She's such a tease...

Texas Bluebonnet

The wildflower display around here this year is fairly dismal. Nothing like it was last year.

Ah well... what few flowers we do have are pretty, regardless of the limited number of them.

This pretty little (and I stress LITTLE) bluebonnet is growing near our garage. The afternoon sun was shining on it, making it ever so blue. We need a bit of rain, and maybe the wildflower crop will get better.

In other news, today I am the featured blog on the Typepad blog! They wrote a nice little blurb about my site. Thanks Typepad!

Taking Time...

Everything around here is taking it's own SWEET time this spring. The wildflowers are just starting to show their faces in a few spots around here. This same time last year the fields were FULL of color, every where you looked! Hopefully we get some rain this week to help them along.

I need to get out and take photos of the few flowers I have seen around. Until I get around to that, I took this one in the yard yesterday. (...or was it Sunday?) Anyway, I had these in my yard when I lived in Oregon, but I did't know what they were. Alan called them a "Live Forever". They sure are pretty.... and very delicate.

Another thing taking it's own SWEET time is DIXIE! That silly cow is just STUBBORN when it comes to delivering her baby! Good grief... you'd think she'd hurry it up! I did check on her a bit ago, and she's got a little "sign" (you know what that means, Kerry!) of delivery happening soon, but I'm not holding my breath. I'll keep ya posted!

OH, and if you're wondering where all the CARDS are lately, I'll have one for you in the morning. I've been busy, not only with farm life, but with SECRET Whipper Snapper stamping too! It's almost time for another unmounted set release you know! *yahoooo!*

Two Fat Cows

Dixie. Still pregnant. And that's Queenie in the background....also pregnant.

Welcome Babies....

Sooooo. Dixie the cow hasn't had her baby and the other cows aren't showing "close" signs yet either, but we do have some babies on the farm!

I've always wanted a goat (or two), and Alan's parents wanted to surprise me with babies for my birthday in October last fall. Trouble is, there weren't any babies around at the time.

We've been looking off and on, but haven't had much luck. A few days ago, Alan saw an ad at the farm store for two baby pygmy goats who are both about 6 weeks old (born Valentine's day). Last night we drove to see them ... and well, what do you know... they came home with us!

The woman we got them from has all kinds of critters at her place, all adopted from various animal rescue groups. She is a very nice lady with a big heart and a nice little 5 acre farm.  These two goats (who are not related, by they way) both had siblings who were adopted by another family earlier this week.

The black/white goat is a female. She is quite shy... The cream colored goat is a little male. I can't believe that at only 6 weeks old, just how long his horns are already! Jeepers!

I haven't settled on names yet... in fact, I'm open to suggestions! Oh, and by the way, there are a couple more photos in the Farm Animal photo gallery.

Happy Friday!

Photo Assignment: Fine Art

Not too long ago I mentioned that I was working on a photo assignment that had to do with Fine Art and photography. I've spent some time around the farm taking various photos and have decided that the photo of Frack is my favorite photo taken for the assignment, and this is my favorite digitally altered version of the photo.

This is a portion of Frack's photo that I shared here on my blog. I cropped the photo so that I was happy with the way the flow of the feathers moved through the image and created a pleasing composition. Then I created a bit of a watercolored appearance to the image, and gave it a bit of a texture to mimic canvas (it might be difficult to fully appreciate the textured appearance with online viewing) *grin*.

Photo: What Am I - Revealed

You're a bunch of GOOD guessers! You guessed things like ice, pond scum, hair gel, soda, glass, shampoo, lava lamp, Christmas pickle, sucker, bath gel, mouth wash, candy, Glimmer Mist, toothpaste, Japanese Glass Float, algae, toy tornado, fabric, sonogram, UTEE, and even a fish tank.  And several of you guessed dish soap...

But ONE of you, MARCIA, was EXACTLY correct! I had to wonder if she was standing in my kitchen when Alan and I did this little exercise!

Marcia's response "well, miss anna, either you've developed another wondrous talent of glass blowing of which i will be a smidge jealous (ok ~ a LOT) and that's a first test to see if we like it (WE DO WE DO!) or you have fill green apple dawn dishwashing soap on top of the blue dawn dishwashing soap in a pretty decorative bottle ~ that the mine looks when i switched scents and don't clean out the bottle all the way first. Oh ye master of all that is good and talented! :) mwah! marcia"

I keep my dish soap in a clear glass bottle that's topped with a pour spout (like used for flavored syrups or oil). The bottle was getting low and I decided to refill it. I recently bought green apple soap instead of the usual blue that I normally buy. When I added the green soap to what was left of the blue soap, this is what happened. The soap colors mingled, the bubbles started to rise, and it was very pretty! I took the photos with the bottle sitting in the kitchen window (for extra light).

I wasn't planning on giving anything away for this little guessing game, but WOW, Marcia! Your comment was sooooo spot on, it's worthy of a little something! Get in touch with me ... I have a package of Twinklette Glitter Markers by Marvy Uchida to send your way!

Thanks to everyone for playing along! Loved reading your responses!!

Photo: What Am I?

When I was a kid, we used to get Ranger Rick magazine. The back cover of the magazine was always my favorite part. They always had a series of photos (close-up images), and you were supposed to see if you could identify each photo.

Today I took this photo and thought I'd post it to see if anyone could guess what it is! Any ideas?

New Photo Gallery: Life on the Farm

Alan and I had some farm-fun this evening. He got out the John Deere tractor and mowed a portion of one of our pastures where we want to put up a fence line. I got out my camera and used the opportunity to do a mock-photo shoot! The evening light was perfect.

I started a new gallery on my photo site for images like this. The gallery is called Life on the Farm. Check it out!

This is one of the photos I took this evening while Alan mowed. I told him that from now on when he's doing farm work, he has to wear a cowboy hat! It's the LAW! I said so. *grin*

Sunday on the Farm

I posted some of my favorite photos from today in my Farm Animals photo gallery. Amazingly enough, most of the animals were well behaved today. Eddie was a very "helpful" donkey and wouldn't stay far enough away from me for me to take very many photos of him! I did catch him talking to me though. His bray is so cute!

Alan and I got the cows and donkeys in all the right pastures, and thankfully we didn't have too many issues. Most of them will do anything, or go anywhere, as long as they think they're going to get some alfalfa cubes. Here's Alan leading Eddie, Jackie, Molly and Muffin from one pasture to another. The white bucket holds the "magic". Mmmm, cookies...

Last night while we were moving some of the cows, Pixie tagged Alan's leg with a kick. His pants still have the mud print to prove it! I told him I needed to get a photo and blog about it. Here ya go, girls! Haha!!

We've got all the pregnant cows in one pasture, closest to the barn, so that when it comes time for them to have their babies we don't have to worry about the donkeys or bulls injuring the calves. And we'll get to love all over them too, which is always nice!

Happy 37th Anniversary, Mom & Dad!

Today is my parent's 37th wedding anniversary. Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad! Wow... 37 years. Congratulations... oh, and uh, the card will be late!

When I talked to my Dad earlier this evening, he asked how the farm faired with all the rain we had earlier this week. I'm a firm believer that a picture's worth at least 10,000 words, so here are a couple photos for you, Dad!

The weather is a bit different this spring. It was on March 19, 2007 when Alan and I rode the 4-wheeler through this pond...there wasn't nearly as much water in the pond at this time last year! The wildflowers were also starting to bloom this time last year.

This week I noticed a few little white star flowers blooming, but no sign of the blue bonnets yet. We needed this week's rain. It's been real dry so far this year. Maybe the rain will jump start the wildflowers.

Alan was in search of frogs this evening when we were down at the pond. We've noticed that the frogs and toads are real loud during the evening and at night.  He saw a few, but they were too far out into the water to catch. Wouldn't THOSE have been good photos!

I really enjoy days and evenings after a big rain. The air is clean, everything smells fresh, and the evening light is crisp. As Martha would say, it's a good thing.

Mom and Dad, I hope you enjoyed a nice dinner in town. Knowing that you got lots more snow today (they live in Northeastern Washington), it's nice to be able to send you a little bit of virtual sunshine!

It was a beautiful day, and we had a wonderful sunset. Here's one more photo, just for you.

Happy Anniversary!

A Cardinal and a Cow

I was out at the barn today poking around with my camera and heard a bird singing in the tree above me. When I looked up, I saw that it was this beautiful red male cardinal who just singing his heart out. The wind was really blowing today...he had to really hang on tight!

It was about 5:30, and the sun was still fairly high in the sky. I noticed that the trees are finally starting to bud - it'll be so nice to see leaves on the trees again!

This photo of Pixie is another one of the photos I took today. You can see part of the barn in the background where I took the photo of the rooster earlier this week. The rain we got yesterday is still standing in the barn yard. If we had ducks they'd love it!

Pixie is a Dexter cow and is supposed to be delivering a calf some time soon. She'd better hustle it up or she's going to fall behind schedule! She looks very similar to our other brown Dexter cow, Dixie. Only Pixie is a bit smaller.

I'm getting so excited about having new babies on the farm! They're just so fun! And fun to take photos of too! Hurry it up, girls!

Rooster: Photo Assignment

I'm working on a "fine art" photo assignment for a photo group I'm in, so you might be seeing a few more photos from me over the next couple of weeks as I try things out.

I took this photo today of one of our roosters out near the barn. The crappy metal siding is on our barn, but makes a great backdrop! This will be one of the images I tinker with as I work on the assignment.

Hopefully this little rooster grows up to be a good boy. He's pretty young and stupid now. But he's a beauty, and I'd like to keep him around!

Farm Critters to Share

The setting sun provided some pretty light this evening, so I popped outside with my camera and took some photos. Here are two that I like!

Curly was laying on the hood of the tractor watching the world go by until I showed up. The wind was whipping her L O N G whiskers around! I was only able to get a couple of photos taken before she decided she'd had enough. She's a little on the wild side.

And this is Lucy, our little red calf. Isn't she just a cutie! Edited to Add: Lucy was born July 11, 2007. So, she's not a baby... but she's pretty small, and still has some growing to do.

The light from the setting sun was on her, making her look awfully pretty! We're excited for her to get old enough for having babies of her own. We're hoping she gives us more little red haired cuties! She's the smallest cow on the farm. To give you an idea of how tall she is, her back is about mid-thigh high. She's not very tall. But one of these days her horns will grow in long enough that she can boss ol' Ribeye around. He's the next smallest cow on the farm, standing maybe waist high. Maybe. Edited to Add: Ribeye was born April 11, 2007.

I think it's funny how the grass in the pasture looks like a golf green! We didn't mow it ... it's just coming up for spring. I love seeing the green!

Another view...

I decided to share another photo of this morning's web...it was a lovely piece of art. Next time you're outside on a dewy morning, watch for webs!

Morning Web

Alan always finds cool things for me to take photos of - he's a good scout! This morning he showed me this spider web covered in little pearls of dew. It was certainly photo worthy!

It's kind of damp here today. More of a heavy fog than anything else, but it made some pretty webs this morning!

A Day at the Beauty Parlor

Even farm dogs need a bath now and then, and today was one of those days for Mister Farley and Miss Daisy.

I take them to a place called Bow Wow Barbers. The folks there are so nice, and do such a great job! I think Mister Farley might be a favorite customer.

He's everyone's best friend, you know. Or, actually, everyone is HIS best friend. Miss Daisy is more concerned about the status of cookie delivery than she is about getting affection. Where's the next one coming from? Who's got the bag?

After spending the day at the pooch beauty parlor, Mister Farley is ready to go home. He gets so tired spending the day at the spa. I think he worries about whether or not he's going to ever see his family again. (He's kind of a mama's boy.) But at the end of the day I always come to rescue him and he couldn't be happier!

Daisy is the same way. Worry, worry, WORRY! She thinks it's a glorious thing at the end of the day when she hears me in the lobby. There is no time for leashes -- must RUN to MAMA!

"Hi MOM! I missed you! I was the best dog! Hey, do you have a cookie for me?"

The people at the salon spoil them ROTTEN while they're there. They're kenneled together while they wait for their turn in the tub, kept in the same room during bath time, and they both are loose and free to visit everyone at the salon while the other is getting brushed and dried. Sounds like a pretty ok way to spend the day as a pooch, if you ask me!

They smell so nice... they're so very soft. Thank you, Bow Wow Barbers! Woof!

weekend sunshine

It was sunny here this weekend, so I drug the ol' camera out and poked around the farm for a little while (in between naps, since I'm still sicky...).

I found Geronimo lounging in the sunshine and he gave me a kitty pose. He's wild. Can't you tell? He spends most of his time laying next to (if not IN) the food bowl. He's not one to miss a meal.

Junior was lounging in the sunshine as well, no doubt waiting for a meal.

What ever happened to "working" farm cats? I guess rolling around in the dirt, waiting for either a meal or a belly rub, keeps them busy enough.

Got Snacks?

This morning the neighbor's longhorn calves were near the fence across the road from our house, so Alan and I went outside to see about getting some pictures.

The calves thought we were pretty scary and weren't about to have anything to do with us. They ran off to be with their mamas as soon as they could. The neighbor's horse, on the other hand, didn't waste any time coming over to see if we had any treats. Too bad we didn't...just a camera, and chilly fingers.

Scruffy fella, isn't he!

Western Eye Candy...

I'm in one of those creative phases where I've been busy, but not with anything I can post about just yet! But I don't want to leave you hangin', either!

In addition to being secretly stamping, I'm also busy working on a little project with some of my photos. I thought I'd post one of my photos for no other reason than it's good eye candy.

What's not to love..... *grin*

Me and my Ducks

Last night I was looking through some of my image files for a client, and came across some family photos I scanned a while ago for my Aunt Patty.

This is a photo of me in our back yard, carrying a wooden spoon (why? dunno...), and my ducks Soup & Quackers. I like the angelic glow.

I'm going to guess and say that this was the summer of 1974, but Mom and Dad would know for sure. Maybe one of them will leave a comment on this post, and enlighten us all!

Maybe Mom knows why I was carrying the wooden spoon, too!

This photo reminds me of one of my Whipper Snapper stamps, called Gretta.

Jacks Are Lucky Too

Several years ago (gosh... in September 2003, I think!), I was fortunate to be able to study and photograph some pretty amazing world champion stallions with equine photographer Gail Bates.

After the shoot, I sent the owners of Jack this postcard that features two of my photos as a thank you for allowing me to photograph their horse.

I received a call today asking if the head shot image could be used in an advertisement for Jack in three equine publications; Equine Chronicle (March/April), Paint Horse Journal (March), and Quarter Horse Journal (March).
Yahoo! What fun for me! And thank goodness I kept my phone number when I moved to Texas!

Snowy Christmas

Here are a couple of photos I took yesterday in Mom and Dad's front yard. My parents live in the country, in the mountains of northeastern Washington. They live in a small valley that is home to lots of wildlife. We counted 50 wild turkeys and 11 whitetail deer in the yard yesterday. There are a couple of yearlings that were born near the house earlier this year. Cute as can be!

My Dad keeps a small stock tank filled with water back in the trees for the deer, and sprinkles a small can of corn out for the turkeys. The deer seem to enjoy the corn too!

Insight... (and a sneak peek?)

The Ranunculus is one of my favorite flowers, with all of it's delicate petals unfolding from a tight little knot. They are available in so many colors too! This is a photo I took of a yellow Ranunculus when I lived in Oregon. In the very early spring, I used to visit the local greenhouses and catch the blooms at their best. (But don't tell anyone...this is a secret!)

A few years ago I did some international travel for the company I work for. I was able to do a bit of poking around Dublin, London, Paris, Taipei, and Sydney during off-hours, mainly on Saturday mornings. One of the things I think about when I think of these cities is flowers. They all had unique displays and variety.

I'm glad I have photographs of places I've been and things I've seen to inspire my illustrations. It was in Dublin that I took this photo of a street vendor selling flowers during Saturday market. I really like seeing all of the blooms tucked into buckets, just waiting. I have been asked many times about what inspires me and where I get ideas for my illustrations. It's true when I say life's experiences - they are what inspire me.

Today you're getting a sneak peek of what some of that inspiration brought me! Why? Because I have the toughest time keeping secrets like this, and because I was given permission! So Sneak Peek away!

The image is on shimmery white paper and colored with Copic markers. I bet you can't guess what this image is for! Or can you?!

Hope you have a lovely Tuesday.
Isn't it Friday YET!?

Lucy, miss Lucy...

I thought I'd share a photo of miss Lucy. She's been on the farm for a week now and is settling in just fine. She is brave enough to take cubes right out of our hand now, and I'd say in a week she'll be sniffing around in our pockets for them like Ribeye does. He's such a pest.

Speaking of Ribeye, here he is! He's been out in the bushes getting prickly things caught in his hair. There must have been something worth eating out there, because that's all he's ever concerned about. Mmmm cookies. Mmmm hay. Mmmm chicken food. Mmmm... He loves to eat.

For those of you who might be concerned about Ribeye's fate - don't worry! With a name like Ribeye you'd think he'd be dinner, but he will live out his years happily on the farm as a bull. We will eventually breed him with Lucy and Chick. I think they'll make cute babies! The only thing on our farm that gets eaten by people are chicken eggs. Mmmm farm fresh eggs.

Meet Lucy & Pixie!

Alan and I drove a couple hours southeast of here on Friday to pick up a couple of new Dexters that Alan bought from another farmer at a cattle breeders association meeting a few weeks ago.

This is Lucy, our new red calf. She's so cute! We've got to get her used to being around us though, so she'll be spoiled ROTTEN for the next couple of months while she gets to know us. If you look closely just above her ears you can see the little stubby horns she's starting to grow. She's the first red Dexter on the farm, and we're happy to have her here!

We also picked up our new brown cow who's already bred and should have her calf around April. We're hoping her calf is born either brown or dun, since she was bred to a dun bull. She looks very much like our other brown cow, Dixie, but she's just quite a bit smaller than Dixie. Alan's Dad suggested the name Pixie for her. Works for us! Here she is in the barn yard by the feed shed having some cubes. She's being spoiled already! She's got one eye on me, and one eye on her cubes.

Spring should be a fun time around here, with lots of calves being born! If everything goes as planned, we should have 4 born within just a few weeks of each other. What fun!

Curly... & Junior

I took this photo of Curly today after the rain stopped. She was in her usual spot ... in the back of the fire truck. I'm pretty sure she thinks Alan brought the fire truck to the farm JUST for her.

I thought she looked pretty against the red of the truck. Kitty kitty... she's a very sweet kitty.

I think the animals are all getting camera shy. They all seem to look away now when I've got the camera out.

I was trying to take photos of Junior today too, and he was being a PEST! You should have seen the looks he was (and wasn't) giving me! He's SO rotten.

In this photo, Junior looks anything BUT sweet.

But eventually I'll win and get a photo that makes him at least appear to be sweet... some day.

Attention in the Pasture

Yesterday late afternoon Alan and I went out to visit Eddie in the pasture and I took a few photos. He's such a friendly, curious baby! It's really amazing to me just how much he looks like Hillary. The brown patches around his eyes, the spots on his rump, and his pretty black-lined eyes... she couldn't deny he's hers, that's for sure.

I'm also really surprised at how soft his coat is. He's as soft as the best fed house cat, but his hair is longer. Of course, since he lives in the pasture he collects the occasional burr and bits of hay, but that's to be expected.

I'm probably going to gush about him for a while... he's just so flippin' cute. I posted a few more photos in my Farm Animal photo gallery.

Alan was out with them this morning and Eddie just loved all over Alan for the longest time! Neck and side rubs seem to be his favorite! He just keeps comin' back for more!

ok... one more!

Alright ... I have to share ONE more photo of Eddie, just because it's just so FUN!

Donkey's stomp their feet to get the flies off of their legs... Eddie was practicing his stomping this morning. It was so funny to watch... the little guy hasn't even mastered his directional controls yet (forward is sometimes sideways, and backwards is sometimes forward), and already he's trying out some donkey tricks.

He loves to wag his tail too. Makes me giggle!

Meet Eddie!

First thing this morning Alan and I went out to check on Hillary and her baby. The baby was up and having some breakfast, and everyone seemed to be adjusting well. I was so excited to take more photos! I can't believe just how CUTE this baby is! Hillary is very calm with Alan and me in the pasture with them. She's letting the other lady donkey's get a bit closer than she did last night, but just not TOO close. Hillary doesn't seem to mind Alan and me touching the baby at all. And what an excited little FELLA he is! (I've got photos to prove it!) Very curious and friendly. He really seems to like Alan.

Alan's parents were over last night to see the baby, and as we sat around on the porch, Alan's mom suggested the name Eddie (this was before we knew it was a boy). I think Eddie is a sweet name, perfectly suited for a donkey as cute as this. Eddie it is (after Senator Edward Kennedy to keep up with our Democratic theme).

Eddie is quite a bit smaller than Fitz was when he was born. Fitz had much longer legs, and his ears were MUCH longer! I'm sure Eddie will be just as fun to have around as Fitz is.

There are many other photos I could share with you here, but instead I've uploaded them to my Farm Animal photo gallery. Have a look! It is possible to share comments in the photo gallery, so feel free to leave us a note if you'd like! We'd love to hear from you!

Donkey Jogging...

As I was going through the photos I took earlier this evening of Hillary and her baby, I came across these and had to laugh!

This is what you get when you have VERY little light, a hand-held camera with big long lens, a very slow shutter speed, and randomly moving objects. And while these aren't fantastic photos, they're just perfect in my eyes. It's so fun to capture life like this.

After all of this activity, I think it was snack time.

I'm so excited for tomorrow morning when there will be light! Alan and I went out just a bit ago to check on them, and the little one was having a good time going backwards and forwards, forwards and backwards, grabbin' a snack, walking under Hillary, and just havin' a ball.