Early

Josh left early for work this morning. What was he thinking? Didn't he know this would mess up my sleep?

For reasons unknown to me, if he leaves at a normal time I fall right back to sleep and think nothing of it. But if he throws a wrench in the morning system and leaves at 6am *gasp* it totally throws me off. I wonder if it's my subconscious feeling guilty that he's getting a head start on a productive day. I really thought my body, who loves sleep, would overrule my subconscious and its weirdo feelings. But apparently that changes with age.

Which reminds me; if I'm going to be up this early with nowhere to go I want something to show for it. I'll start a load of laundry.

Our poor dryer has to work so ridiculously hard because the washer is crap. The washer is on its last leg and therefore shakes violently during the spin cycle. And that throws the washer off balance which leaves more than damp cloths. It also keeps us from putting more than 3 pairs of jeans and a couple of shirts in at a time. We're getting a new washing machine sometime between now and just after the first of the year. I cannot wait. Shopping for one is kind of a pain b/c Josh and I both are very specific about getting one that will work for us until it dies and is a good deal. It must me energy efficient and it must be high efficiency. So we've shopped and shopped and shopped and consulted with the consumers report website to find the best washer. We haven't decided on one, but we've narrowed down the search. It might seem excessive, but I'm pulling for a 4.7 cu ft – 5.0 cu ft. I want to pile 5 pairs of jeans in there and not blink an eye.

Our laundry situation is pretty much out of control right now. For most of last week and this past weekend, between the two of us our time was spent working, baking, baking, eating, baking, cooking, eating, baking, moving cows, ear tagging calves, cooking, eating, moving cows, ear tagging calves, and moving bulls (it's time for them to be with their girls). Did you see anywhere in there where laundry was mentioned? Nope, and it wasn't. So every laundry bin is full if not overflowing. Not to mention sheets and blankets I uncovered from unpacking. And a couple of coats.

I've made a list for today:

• make coffee
  
• laundry
  
• clean out laundry bucket
  
• fill laundry bucket w/ dog food
  
• laundry
  
• call Sears
  
• laundry
  
• continue organization efforts
  

And look, I already have 2 things crossed off my list. Way to go me! You have to rejoice in the simpler things in life.

I'm on my second cup of coffee in my tall John Deere mug, sitting at my desk in its newly appointed place in the office, with a chocolate coffee candle from Lambert's burning in a green specked enamel coffee cup smelling so yummy I want to drink it, while the washing machine is clanging around on the spin cycle and very likely walking across the hallway. I don't want to go look. Things are falling off Josh's desk, I'm not even kidding.

Off to wrangle the washing machine and the rest of my list. And a third cup of coffee. J

~kittens & calves~

I <3 Thanksgiving

It's the best time of year.

 

I'm sitting here eating a whole wheat ham, lettuce, and avocado wrap. That's the good part. The not so good part is the avocado, sour cream and homemade salsa dip that I'm eating with it. Eh, it's give and take.

I'm trying to watch my carbs, but 2 days of baking homemade bread doesn't make it easy.

Monday I had my first attempt with my Granny's homemade rolls. It didn't go so well. Tuesday was my second attempt and it was a success. I did one trial batch that was okay and then did a second batch for Thanksgiving. Wednesday, today, I'm working on another batch of bread and a pumpkin pie.

As I eat lunch, the pie crust is made and chillin in the fridge and the dough is on its first rising....I hope. After dealing with all this bread, I realize how easy a pie crust is. Not that the bread is hard, but it is definitely particular. All the stars must align before you end up with bread.....

I just checked the bread, it's doing its thang...yes!

I may post more later. Making bread is a slow process.

Thanksgiving...eat your heart out!

The 3 …???

Have you met Bob, one of the 3 dogs that live here on the farm? Google Great Pyrenees and you'll see what I mean. Aka…big white sheep dog. We don't have any sheep. We have cats. For Bob, that works. He's kind of a loafer.

Have you met Harley? Don't Google Corgi, he only kinda looks like a Corgi. He's got short legs but he's way bigger than your average Corgi.

Have you met Emily? Google Boxer Fawn and check out the cute faces without the cropped ears. Except Emily is waaaaaay cuter. And apparently coming to Kansas has made her territorial and look hella mean. For those who have known her for a while know she doesn't have a mean bone in her body. But the local guy who does electrical stuff says he won't come back to the house b/c of her. The UPS guy is leery of her. So is the guy who's been delivery our rock. There are a few other people who feel the same, but I don't want you to think she's mean. And besides, this isn't about what a cute and nice dog she is.

What it is about are all 3 dogs. The Three Amigos. The Three Musketeers. Or more like it, the Three Stooges. I helped Rich this morning get a couple of cows loaded to take to the sale barn (one had a nasty sore on her hip and the other was just plain crazy…like psycho ex girlfriend crazy). He left in the feed rig to feed the other pastures while I waited for the water in the stock tank to get full for the calves we are weaning. Once it was full I headed off with the stock trailer to meet up with him to catch the cows at Rothgeb. Rothgeb is about 10 miles from the house. Upon meeting, he reported to me that the dogs, those mentioned above, had followed him to the nearby pasture he was feeding at. Just moments later he received a call from our neighbor that she had seen them running around. Once the cows were caught, sorted, and loaded in the trailer Rich headed for the gate with the sale barn as his destination and I took the feed rig with tracking down dogs as my destination. He no more than got the gates opened as 3 dogs appeared: A big white sheep dog type, a bigger than he should be corgi, and a nice brown dog that didn't look mean at all. They showed up 10 MILES
away from where they started.

Showing up that far away was pretty amazing. The other part though was getting them home. Harley and Emily ride in trucks all the time. They're sad when they don't get to go. Bob, on the other hand, does not. I can count on one hand the number of times I know of that Bob has rode in a vehicle. And from my understanding, he DOES NOT ride in/on the back of a truck. So here I am with 3 dogs and a flat bed truck. What's a girl to do? Rich was no help, he had a crazy cow in the trailer that needed to go to the sale barn, ASAP. Emily and Harley were happy as can be in the cab of the truck and Bob was just standing there. All 3 dogs and me were not going to fit in the cab and Emily is the most hyper of the 3. So I did the only thing I could think of. I opened the door and had Emily unload out of the cab and loaded Bob into the cab with Harley. I loaded Emily up on the back and headed to the house. As I was driving along with an unsteady Great Pyrenees beside me, I realized the 2 dogs that can handle the cold were in the cab and the dog that doesn't handle the cold is on the back. I did manage to get Bob to sit (it was hard to see and he kept moving around) and he proceeded to lie down. Of course this left no room on the seat for Harley, so he hopped down to the floor board and put his front feet on the seat so he could see out. This was how we rode most of the trip, Bobs paws pressed lightly against my leg.

All 3 dogs are home, happy, and oblivious they weren't supposed to follow us.

 

~Cow wrangler and dog transporter~