POTD: How Smelly Is It Now?

And why is “FORMERLY ODORLESS” a selling point?

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POTD: Shadows on the Barn

Such funny light this morning (though I played with this photo a bit and the sky wasn’t quite that shade of blue). We had a storm in the night and heavy cloud cover lingered through the morning. Somehow, when the clouds are so thick, the light of the rising sun kind of gets trapped and concentrated underneath. Brilliant yellow-orange light and deep stormy shadows. So pretty to look at, but so fleeting. The children reported a rainbow a little later, but I missed it. They, apparently, don’t feel compelled to share beauty with the people they love the most. Kids.

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Young Writers Club Week 3

Good morning! Before I give you the prompt for the week, I have a confession to make: I don’t really think up these story ideas myself. They just pop into my head and I pass them on. Must be the Holy Spirit whispering in my ear. :-) I mention this only because this week’s prompt is a little… well, strange. But it popped into my head on Thursday night just before I fell asleep and I can’t think of another one until this one is gone. So, this week, I’d like you to write:

A Story About a Fish, A Princess (or Prince) and a Safety Pin

I feel like this is probably going to be a fiction piece.  Unless one of you has a real-life experience with a fish, a princess and a safety pin, and if that’s the case, well, that would be surprising, wouldn’t it?   ;-)

I’m prescheduling the link-up post this week, too, so you won’t have to wait on me finding time at the computer in order to start sharing.  It’ll go up Thursday night, moms, in case you, like me, are extra busy on Fridays.

Have fun, young writers, and I’ll see you back here on Friday!


Posted in Homeschooling, Motherhood, Young Writers Club | 1 Comment

Young Writers Club Week 2

Sorry I’m so late putting up the linky post! Guess who came home today? Forever?! (I’m a little bit scared. Forever is a really, really long time. :-) )

Anyway, without further adieu, here’s Mister Linky.

Looking forward to reading, but it’ll have to wait till later. Davey’s home!

Posted in Homeschooling, Young Writers Club | 3 Comments

In Which the Neighbors’ Bull Courts Molly Moo

So last night, we were walking around putting the farm to bed, just like we always do. T-bone was unusually agitated, but cattle have their moods, you know, and perhaps he was feeling extra lonely or extra hungry, but, on further consideration, he did seem to be agitated in a very definite direction. I glanced in that direction and noticed our two heifers in the side field, and just beyond them, across the drive, one of the neighbors’ animals. I went over for a closer look and noticed it was the neighbors’ bull animal. I watched for a few minutes to see if T-bone’s concern was legitimate and whether or not anything needed to be done about it. The bull mooed in not-even-one-year-old Molly’s direction, a funny, hoarse moo that actually sounded like “moo” and which caused me to giggle. (Our cows don’t actually say “moo”.) And I noticed our Molly, the only one of our females who is not currently expecting, making eyes at him. I couldn’t blame her; he really is a nice looking bull, even if he is black. And then the bull humped himself up and I wondered what on earth he was doing, for that was an unusual pose for urinating or defecating, and then… oh, no. You’d think I’d have known what was coming, all things considered, but I don’t keep a bull, so please excuse my surprise. It was an impressive sight, and the effect was not lost on my innocent little cow girl. Yes. Action was definitely needed, because I’m pretty sure our neighbors’ fences aren’t any stronger than ours, and ours aren’t particularly strong.

I hurried out into the field. “Alright, girls,” I said. “Break it up. Time to go to bed. And you,” I said to the bull, “should be ashamed of yourself, behaving like this with such a young thing.” The cows followed me back to the barn, because they are good cows, and the bull mooed one last time, then wandered off down the field in search of his own harem.

Still, I double-gated the cows in the barn, just in case. Molly did not appreciate my interference in her romantic endeavors and she let me know it. I let her know that I’m still the boss, which took quite a bit longer than usual. And then we agreed to disagree on what sort of behavior is appropriate for almost-one-year-old cows.

Four more months of this. Whew. (Hope that bull moves out soon!)

(She’ll be ready to be bred at 15 months. In case you didn’t know. Most normal people don’t. ;-) And we just have the vet inseminate for us. Its easier and cheaper than keeping a bull.)

Posted in Country Roads | 4 Comments