Say What??

I have a friend on facebook who calls himself conservative. He posts articles and comments about big government spending, hates the cronyism, is against bailouts and that kind of thing.

But...

His daughter's boyfriend explains that the people who are supporting them (?) apparently 'take' their foodstamps... and then my friend responds...

• they take our foodstamps for them and expect a months worth of foodstamps to last 4 ppl and a [redacted expletive] black hole a month

  23 hours ago · 
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   they're taking all the foodstamps and money? I am glad you'll be out of there soon! You don't deserve to be treated like a cash machine...

I wish I had that record-scratching sound effect to use here.

It's wrong to charge rent and groceries to a young (19-20ish) couple, in good health and stamina (who live in your home), but it's ok for that same couple to 'charge' taxpayers for foodstamps??? I expect this from OWS idiots; they're clueless. But this guy and I are often (supposedly) on the same page when it comes to government stupidity. Funny how the same problems we see in "the government" can be practiced by ourselves on a smaller scale.

We ALL have areas like this, I think. Yes, we're against handouts and bailouts... but are we really? When your state is offered 'grant money' for beginning some new educational program, do they take it? Do your conservative friends and neighbors think about how that will be a great opportunity for their kids, or do they think that taking it would be inconsistent with their conservative values? Usually it's the former.

I think about this sometimes when I see an article on some farm that got a nice little grant from the NRCS, or the USDA, or your other four-letter, government-funded acronym. Imagine what I could do with just a fraction of that... The back fence... A hay-feeding shed... A thermostatically-controlled chicken scalder... and a decent motor for the plucker... Oh the ideas!

But am I going to be part of the problem, or part of the solution?

If I don't stand up, how can I expect anyone else to?

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It's been crazy here. Out of town for a week, then furniture to re-arrange and re-assemble; an old vehicle to off-load, and hay to transport and stack. Before we got done I started feeling poorly... and have been in bed for ... well, this is day 4. I THINK I'm improving (but I've said that before). Two babies without so much as a tylenol, but I broke out the ibuprofen when my temp hit 104.2 the other day. Such a wimp, I know. :) No flu, no cold, just fever (heat, chills, sweat, fine, repeat) and bad pain in my back/hips. Which is probably why I awake at 2am and remain that way.

But in any case: This is something you don't want to miss. I remember watching the trailer to this a while back. This is the 'whole thing' and it's worth a watch. Random people on the street, coming to a sudden shift of opinion when reasonable, simple examples are given. Watch...

Hello, Mae!

I'm doing what I always do when I'm a) not pregnant, b) not nursing, c) both.

But before I disclose what that is, what do other women do in these situations? Enroll their kids in soccer, or something?

Anyways, what I'm doing is feeling like a farmer. Or at least, aspiring towards such.

No, I don't go to the livestock auction (yet), but I lurk in the "farm and garden" section of craigslist.

And that's where I found this beauty:

Ok, so the condition of this "pasture" does NOT make me feel like a farmer. More like a failure.

She is a Scottish Highland Cow, about 5 years old, and her name is Mae. She, in fact, was the reason (which I had forgotten), I started researching some of my genealogy a while back. The cow is Scottish, as were a lot of my forebears, and her name is Mae, as was (is) a farm my great-great-greats owned.

"Um, what do you want?"

 These pictures were taken a few days after we'd gotten her; she was still pretty unsure of me and the new place, so I could only get so close to her.

Pay no attention to those ugly black things in the background. They're not mine, and I'm glad for that.

Mae is (I'm told) about 800-1000lbs? She is hopefully bred; before we had her brought here, she spent about 6 weeks with another Highland bull. There are 2 bulls in that group of black cattle that are in our pasture too, and we have seen no 'activity' so are hoping she is expecting. Mae should calve in May, and if it's a heifer, perhaps we'll call her June. Or April. :)

Mae is much more tame, now. I have brought her a little bit of grain in a can (as she was accustomed to in her previous home), and now she will moo and gallop (do cows gallop? She hurries, anyway) towards me at the fence (I do not go in the pasture near those Ugly Black Things, nor Mae's horns, until we know each other better) to munch out of the bucket I hold. I love her. She is SO pretty, and such a striking contrast to those aforementioned Black Things. The black ones are far less tame, so they will not come as near me (though they will push Mae away if I leave hay on the ground) as Mae. They are always carrying a swarm of flies, and Mae has hardly any. I do not know if it's her long shaggy hair, or the fact that I'm out there at sunset and their black hides are warmer than Mae, but it's astonishing. Also, one or two of the bigger ones will suddenly throw their head around and spew a bunch of drool on their own backs. I haven't figured this one out; I don't see them do it at other times, and it almost seems threatening, but I don't really know. They stand there and glare at me, snot hanging in long strands from their noses, and some of them with dirty backsides. Mae looks like an angel compared to them. :) There are about a dozen of them, and they were continuously grazing the pasture to the east of us, before coming into our pasture. They're eating down a lot of the dead grass and weeds, but I won't mind seeing them go this month sometime.

Love those horns.. I think.

So our "herd" consists of one cow, Mae, and our three Jersey calves, Sir Loin, T-Bone, and Chuck (who is still a bull). I'm lovin' it. :)

September to Remember

What a lovely, lovely,  month. This was my kind of September, let me tell you.

Processing Corn

Every year I can remember, in our house (8 years, now), I have fought (and sometimes lost) the battle of "I refuse to fire up the pellet stove before October!" Instead (or in addition), I would break out the flannel sheets, the longjohn underwear, the sweaters.

Big Sister's Birthday Party

But not this year. It has been incredible. Only a handful of days that didn't hit 80 or even 90, beautiful sunshine, the garden continuing in bliss. Cool evenings perfect for outdoor birthday parties, kids playing with the calves through sunset, and eating at the picnic table.

The high today is supposed to be in the high 70s.

But...

Ready for the freezer

We have left the homestead for a week or so, and I think we have forfeited that last breath of summertime. *sniff sniff* We have gone to an area that never gets that much sunshine anyways, and it is damp and dreary (in comparison). I am missing my summertime, and lamenting that the day we return is only supposed to hit 58 degrees. Alas, why did we not plan this trip for next week? :)

Organique turns four!

If you are enjoying an Indian Summer where you are, do me a favor and really soak it up. Enjoy it and spend some time with it, and tell it how much I miss it.

"Baby" (?) turned 2 in August. And needed her face washed.

Whatever you do, don't waste it. :)