Winter

I can't believe we're naming them now, but winter storm Cleon brought us lots of ice and cold.  Two days later and I only have one truck operable (the 2-wheel drive one, and slid off the highway in it before I made it to the pasture gate).  The tractor door might as well be welded shut, the ice is so thick and covers it so thoroughly.  We get above freezing for 2 hours tomorrow, then back to cold again.

Here I'm breaking the ice on the trough so the calves and horses can drink.  There are 7 calves left--3 heifers we're keeping, 3 that didn't sell in the November Pacesetter shipment, and one who hurt his foot and is being doctored until he doesn't limp.  Notice the hen behind me, also looking for some water.  Their waterers freeze, along with all the puddles and cat water bowls they normally drink from.  They're also a little disoriented by the heat lamp I put in their coop.  They think it's daylight all the time, and we have to go pick them up at dark and put them in for the night.  They'll be glad when warmer weather returns.

Those last 3 Pacesetter calves actually sold yesterday for delivery between Dec 16 and Dec 20.  They were 3 that were too light for their target weights in November, but they got the hang of eating soon after and have gained nicely.  Here's the way they're advertised for the Superior Livestock video auction.  It's interesting (to me, anyway) to watch the auction for lots of similar calves, and see if we're getting any premium for the value-added things we do. You can see the symbols along the bottom for VAC 45 (Value Added Calf, which describes the 45-day weaning and vaccination protocol we follow), All Natural (no growth hormones or antibiotics), and PI Tested (tested and free of calves persistently infected with a highly contagious bovine viral diarrhea).  I was very pleased with the prices this year.  Made me wish we had more to sell.

Here's how you get to be the biggest cow in the herd, I guess.  Holly and I drove to the pasture this morning to feed cubes (and made it almost all the way before sliding into the ditch.  The truck is just out of sight behind those trees by the gate.).  The cows must have been at the top of the hill to tell me they were out of hay, because we called and called before pouring out the cubes and going on over to the trough to break the ice there.  While we were working we heard the strangest sound, which turned out to be old 318 trotting across the ice to get the first shot at the cubes.  The others showed up eventually to eat, and Kathy and Lawrence came in the van to rescue us.  Holly and Lawrence were able to push the truck out of the ditch and I limped on home with it.  I hope the ice melts soon.  Doesn't feel very manly feeding cows from a minivan.

We wake up in the morning and start a fire with the embers left from the previous night (Jeff and Lawrence cut lots of wood at Thanksgiving), go out when it's light to feed and chop ice, come back in to hunker down in front of the fire and watch football until afternoon when it's time to go out and do it again.  Life is good.  Come help us decorate for Christmas.

Rockabye Sweet Baby James

Happy birthday Dad, and thanks for the rain.  We love you and miss you.

Go Sox

Farmer's Holiday

Monday 10/14:
With a little over an inch in the rain gauge from yesterday and last night, light drizzle in progress and reasonable chances for some more, it's time for a day inside to catch up on desk work and honey-dos.

The hay and oats have responded well to the moisture we've gotten.  We should be able to get a second cutting on all 3 Sudan fields as soon as they dry out.  The Coastal at the Gamblin Place is beautiful--I want to move the bulls over there for the winter but it looks so nice I want to cut it for some square bales first.  The oats look good, and may provide some grazing pretty soon.  I'll bring the cows up for a while--until they graze it off pretty short, or it's forecast to rain and make the field muddy--and then take them back off for it to grow in late winter/early spring for either more grazing or hay.  The grass in the pasture is green but short, and I'll start feeding hay this week.  We have almost 200 bales in the hay lot, so we're in pretty good shape.  The native grass mix we planted in Nettie's pasture is doing great.  I can see Side Oats Grama (the state grass of Texas) and Bluestem that I'm sure weren't there before--they have to be from our planting--and they've seeded out, so those seeds will drop to the ground and plant themselves to grow in the spring.  There's a place in the pasture near Zane's where field termites have eaten all the grass.  It's hard to get rid of them, but I'm going to try.  I'll plow it to break up their tunnels and expose their underground nests, spray with Malathion, and plant ryegrass to hold the soil over the winter.  In the spring we'll need to plant something else.  I've been hard on that pasture through the drouth, keeping livestock on it almost constantly.  I'll try to baby it a little when we can start using Nettie's.

The 12 marketing alliance calves sold on Superior Livestock Auctions on Friday.  Demand is high and feed and fertilizer prices have come down a little from last year, so our prices were good.  They're eating hay and creep feed here at the house until we deliver them in early November.  I sold 6 heifers as breeding stock in September, and we're keeping 3.  I'm also keeping 3 Polled Hereford bulls to sell.  Before you know it we'll be getting new baby calves, our last crop from the good old Angus bull and the first from Lambert, the Kansas-born Polled Hereford.  Lambert looks great, growing and gaining weight, and I'm anxious to see his calves.  We'll have to start shopping for a new Angus bull, and I hope we find one as good as the one we had.

Tuesday 10/15:
Yesterday's total was 1.2 inches.  I went to a Texas Beef Quality Producers program today in Llano, leaving at 5:30 to drop Austin off for Cross Country practice (my version of an accountability partner to make me go to the gym in the morning).  I planned to see some new country but it was so dark and gloomy, I had to stop for breakfast in Goldthwaite to let the sun come up.  That's getting into the hill country and they seem to have more oaks and fewer cedars, but they really have the mesquites.  I came home deciding I like our country just fine.  I went through San Saba and hoped Tommy Lee Jones would be at the program, but he wasn't.  It started raining as I left Llano and I drove home in steady rain.  There was .6" in the gauge when I got home, about 1.75" at 9:00 pm and it's still coming down.  The TBQP programs are always good.  I expected them to nominate Amy to the Beef Producers' Hall of Fame for vaccinating herself for so many calfhood diseases, but that wasn't on the agenda.

Wednesday 10/16:
We finished the rain with a total of 4.2".  Very nice, and it all went into the ground.  The tank hasn't come up a bit, so we can use some more.  Some cool fall weather coming up--brisk mornings and 70-degree afternoons.  Life's good.  Come see us and help me cut some firewood.

Prodigious Poultry Production

The new hens have started laying eggs.  They're small but we're getting 6-7 a day and they'll get bigger as the hens continue growing.  They were laying them all over the place--4 a day in one favorite spot in the barn, one or 2 in the old garage, and one in the nest box Lawrence put in the coop for them.  So it was time to encourage them to use the nest boxes.

Lawrence and I started framing an addition to the coop to hold 3 nest boxes.  We spent 2 pleasant days cutting and drilling and measuring and re-cutting.  One day we actually had to take a break to allow the one hen who was using the nest boxes to lay her egg.  She fretted and squawked and complained so loud, we didn't feel like penalizing her for doing the right thing.  We also raised the roost to discourage sleeping in the nests--they seem to like to sleep in the highest possible spot.

It came out rather well, although we didn't get it caulked and painted before we had to leave for Manhattan and now it's raining.  The back is hinged and drops down to allow us to retrieve the eggs from outside.  I think I'll add some roofing metal to the top, to ensure the rain runs off and to keep them from trying to stand on top of it when they're outside (it's flat right where Lawrence has his left hand).  Next we have to leave them locked in for a day or two to get them laying in the nest boxes instead of the other locations.

Come down and see us, and we'll have steak and eggs.

Gator Maintenance

 Funny thing about that Gator.  I distinctly remember getting it for Christmas a few years ago, but I'm third in line to be able to use it behind Kathy and Lawrence who both think it's theirs.  It gets her out to the fields or wherever I'm working to visit, and it taught him to drive, so I guess I shouldn't complain.  It's pretty handy, actually...maybe we need more.  You can see Ethan's little one in the background.

It needed an oil change, grease job, filters and new seats so Shade Tree Mechanics sent out a couple of technicians to make it good as new.  Lawrence was happy, took it for a test drive and pronounced it good.  Come see us and we'll take you for a ride.

Dustin' Them In

 ...the phrase used for the act of faith of planting oats when the ground is so dry it makes dust.  Lawrence and I planted 15 acres in the field above the house.  I borrowed a plow that plows a little deeper than mine and I'm glad I did, but I should have gone over it a second time with something finer to smooth it out.  Some of the seeds will be buried under a little soil and some will be under a 3-inch clod.  The really faithful guys spread fertilizer after plowing, and cultivate it in, then plant.  I'll fertilize after I've seen some rain.

That's our old grain drill (a 1963 model, I think) rather than the one I've borrowed from Larry the last 2 years.  His is newer and wider (requiring fewer trips around the field) but I wanted to be sure ours stays in good condition so I cleaned it, greased it and used it this year.  It worked fine.  Lawrence and I loaded it by buckets dipped out of a grain buggy I brought the seed home in.  We weighed some buckets to get an estimate of how much oats we were loading per bucket, and counted the buckets we put in the drill.  Our estimate was 1560 pounds.  Out of curiosity I weighed the buggy when we finished and our actual use was 1540 pounds!  Pretty close.

How It's Done, Son

Some people think a pair of gloves is a decoration or heirloom, to be preserved in the top of the closet in the best condition possible for as long as possible, and occasionally worn for style in the back pocket of your jeans.  Some know they're a tool, to be used in hard work to protect your hands.  Lawrence belongs to the second group.  Here he's just finished loading a bunch of rocks in the 96 degree August sunshine, and is about ready for a new pair.

Some Beach

We took a family vacation to the beach last week.  Not to Galveston, for a change, but to Port Aransas, and everyone had fun.  The water seemed a little nicer and the town a little less commercial.  I got to take my new sailboat and, despite some first-cruise blues with the motor, enjoyed being in the salt water again.  Stopped through Goliad on the way home to visit precious John and Judy Caldwell, and swap stories about Mom and Dad.  Good vacation.

Anybody know anything about outboard motors?

Jeff rocks the helm

Dolphin lookout

Passenger or ballast?

Tight lines

Full sails

Visitors

Katie and Thomas Regier visited last week, bringing 100 bales of Kansas brome hay and--more importantly--helping us load it into the barn.  It will be handy this winter for horses and cows who need to be kept up for some reason.

We had so much fun loading the hay, we decided to keep sweating and vaccinate the calves too.  Thanks Katie and Thomas.  We enjoyed the visit and appreciate the help.

Playing Catchup

I can't believe it's August already, and that I haven't written in this blog for so long.  I'm pleasantly surprised when some of you mention it so I'll keep it up.  Here's a quick broad-brush update:

Most important, our surgical patient is doing great.  She graduated from a walker to a cane and has been going without even that for a month.  We went to Sea World when Ethan came to visit, and she walked all over that big place with no problem.  Released from all post-op care and therapy, she now has to exercise on her own.  Her goal is to ride horseback again someday, so she is motivated.

Hay operations began in May and hit full stride in June and July.  Despite very dry conditions, our Sudan crops did well and we averaged almost 3 bales per acre on 3 fields.  The Coastal and Klein weren't as good, but an unusual 4.5-inch rain on July 15-16-17 has greened up the countryside and given us hope of second cuttings.  I spent the past few days moving the bales off the fields to allow regrowth.  The rain benefited the grass in the pasture too, which will help delay the start of hay feeding.  I have almost 150 bales in the hay lot now, with about 35 more to bring home, so we're in pretty good shape.

Nettie's little pasture across the lane is looking good.  The grass we planted there is taking hold and it will be a handy place to put some animals away from the rest.  I might plant some more seed this fall.  When I replaced the fence between it and the big pasture I moved it off the centerline of the old Lanham-Hamilton road so now when we drive down there we're driving where the old folks used to drive.

The horses are living a life of ease.  Amy and I were working with them and riding a little but the heat and busy-ness in the fields got me out of the equine routine.  I need to get back in that groove.  The 2 twin heifers are growing nicely.  I guess they'll just wait until spring to get bred, and be on the same schedule as everybody else.

Grasshoppers have been awful.  They thrive on consecutive years of drouth, which they've had in spades.  I attended a brush and weed management seminar (sounds pretty exciting, huh?) and the DuPont reps there were talking about their new pesticide that was effective on hoppers and not toxic to birds, fish and other animals.  I'm always leery of spraying because of exactly those side effects, especially on the chickens.  So I bought a bottle, had the liquid fertilizer guy spray it on the Coastal fields and kept a quart to use around the yard.  Although they had eaten the leaves off the peaches and a couple of other trees and started on the pecans and the oak in the back yard, this stuff really works and there are very few hoppers in the areas I sprayed.  And the trees are putting out new green shoots.  Maybe all those dead hoppers will be good fertilizer.

Speaking of chickens, I had ordered 10 new Rhode Island Red pullets and they came the day after Kathy's surgery.  Amy brought them home and we raised them in the old red box in the garage, then the little portable coop until they needed more room.  Since the big ones are usually mean to the little ones, I offered the 2 remaining big ones to Bobby Parks and she took them (in fact, she just brought us some eggs!).  I ordered 10 expecting to lose one or two for some reason or another, but all 10 are doing fine.  They should start to lay eggs near the end of August so I need to get started on nesting boxes for them.

The cows and calves are doing fine.  All are in the big pasture with Lambert, the Polled Hereford bull.  I sold the good old Angus bull due to advancing age and cumulative injuries (I hope Kathy doesn't read that and decide to sell me).  I liked him and hope I can get another one as good.  I don't see any signs that anyone isn't bred, so next February we hope to have a small crop of Herefords from Lambert and the Angus' last crop of baldies.  Calf vaccinating and weaning will begin as soon as we get back from vacation.

Vacation will be in Port Aransas this year.  I was missing something to tinker with in all my spare time and airplanes and British cars are too expensive, so I got another little sailboat.  It's a Vagabond 17, almost a twin to the one I had in Kansas, and it will go with us to the beach.

We've had some company and some visitors and enjoyed them all.  Come see us.  We'll give you a cool drink for one hand and a grasshopper swatter for the other.  Or look for us in our customary spot at the Kansas State home games.

Meanwhile,back at the ranch...

Spring is a busy time.

Our biggest news is that Kathy had her hip replaced on April 22.  She has had a follow-up visit to the doctor, who said she's doing perfect, and is in her second week of physical therapy.  I'm trying to be a nurse, cook and housekeeper but none of those is my strong suit.  Amy spent the first 2 weeks here and was really a big help.  See if you can tell which hip is which.

Them bones

The cows are separated into breeding pastures, 6 registered Polled Herefords with Lambert, the Kansas bull who got pneumonia on his trip to Texas.  He's feeling better and we're hoping he performs well.  The others are back in the big pasture with the Angus bull.  I leased Self's pasture last year hoping to burn ours, but nature didn't cooperate.  We were anxious to have them home, and our grass was better than on Self's.  We'll see about next year.

Here I'm raking the oats I cut Saturday.  The windrows in front and to the left are as they came out of the cutter.  Those to the right have been raked--2 windrows raked into one.  The small lines in between are the rows from the planter.  Once in a while you can see where I got distracted or lost while planting, and overlapped or underlapped instead of going parallel.  It aggravates Larry but I think it's funny.  I hope to bale tomorrow.

Abstract in oats

Mickey Streater and I are clearing mesquites and cedars from part of Nettie's pasture (if someone wants to suggest a name for that place I'll entertain it--"Nettie's pasture" seems kind of dull).  He has a skid steer with a mesquite grubber and cedar shear.  I think it's more fun to him to shear than grub, so I spend a lot of time on foot cutting mesquites with the chainsaw and spraying the stumps with poison while he shears cedars.

Winnah winnah...

Mickey vs. Cedar

We're down to 2 old hens, although both had been laying eggs until this week when one seemed to start feeling bad.  I'm putting her in a separate pen from the other and giving her plenty of food and water but, feeling like the handwriting is on the wall, I ordered 10 new Rhode Island Red chicks who are living in the Chick Hotel in the garage.

Hot chicks

They eat that whole jar of food and drink half that bottle of water each day.  As you might guess, they're growing fast.

Life is good.  Come see us and pick on Kathy while she's helpless.

Fence Project

The Gate

Here's a bit of progress in case you had trouble imagining what the project was going to look like.  We'll run a water line across the road and put a trough by the fence so we can keep a few cows in there.  It needs some brush clearing, so grab your gloves and come on down (or know to stay away until it's finished--depends on your attitude about fence work).

Fenceline

Wide Spot

Since Amy has so much trouble backing the trailer into the alley into the barn pens, I'm building a wide spot in the road/turnaround which will include a gate into Nettie's pasture.  You still have to use your imagination a little, but this picture is taken standing in the barn looking down the alley and across the lane.  The 2 middle posts will have a 12-foot gate about 50 feet into the pasture, and the fence will go back to the original fence line along the lane at about a 45-degree angle.  The shorter posts are just braces for the gateposts.  Note the mud from a 2.5-inch rain Monday and Tuesday.

MAJI!

Holly and I returned to Angel House in Tanzania in early March for the purpose of completing the water project begun in December 2012.  On the March trip a solar-powered submersible pump was installed in the orphanage well, finally replacing the daily “bucket brigade” which had required each child to carry 3 buckets of water from the hand pump-equipped well.  

Pumping

Maji

First we filled every available bucket (and a pan for the cow) then technicians removed the hand pump, installed the submersible and hooked up the solar panels.  Connections were made to the pipeline laid by the volunteer team in December to fill the 5000-liter storage tank, and we, along with the orphanage staff and younger children, ran around back and listened excitedly as the first water gurgled through the pipes and splashed into the tank.  A solar-powered UV filtration/purification system was installed at the orphanage kitchen, providing water for cooking and drinking that no longer needs to be boiled.  

...and its replacement

The kitchen water boiling pot...

Pipes were installed from the tank to the boys’ and girls’ bathrooms, bringing running water to replace the bucket-filled storage tanks there.  A future water project could easily install sinks for hand washing and showers if desired.  A line was run from the tank to the girls’ hostel bathroom, eliminating the need for the girls to carry buckets to the storage tank there, and a line was run to the school kitchen to provide water during the dry season when no rainwater is available.  The hand pump that was removed from the orphanage well was installed on the farm well, which had previously been accessed by means of a bucket lowered on a rope.

The rainwater harvesting system installed at the school by the volunteer team in December was completed by the installation of a solar-powered UV filtration/purification system at the school kitchen, along with non-purified spigots for non-drinking purposes.  I got to address 2 science classes to explain the various parts of the systems, and worked with some of the students and the principal on repairing some minor damage to the buried pipe that had occurred.  I think the rainwater system serves as a model for future such projects, illustrating how simply one can be implemented by untrained volunteers.

 

Rainwater downspout

Purification system

The children and staff of Angel House and Angel Secondary join Holly and me in thanking all who supported the water project with prayers, contributions and volunteer labor.  God clearly acted through you to improve the lives of these future leaders of Tanzania.

Funny

We often go to Aristacats for breakfast on Saturday mornings.  They have free Wi-Fi, advertised on a homemade sign.  Apparently a customer had a better meal than marriage experience...

Another Farmer's Holiday

Now I see why they call it the Red River

I try to save office work (including blogging) for rainy days, but those are so few and far between that I get way behind.  We're forecast to have showers all day so I made a big pot of coffee, brought up 2 days' supply of wood, built a fire and hunkered down.  I'll try to catch you up...

I might have mentioned before that, soon after we moved in, we spent a little money and had the chimney fixed so the fireplace doesn't smoke any more.  I really wish I had done it as a gift for Dad years ago, he enjoyed a fire so much and enjoyed tinkering with this firebox and heating system.  Kathy loves a fire too, and can go through a lot of firewood.  By the time I got back from Africa she had burned everything I had cut for the fireplace, the smoker, the chiminea and a couple of old fenceposts!

Argh, argh, argh!

Since my attempts to cut more were hampered by frequent trips to the  chainsaw repair shop, Kathy got me a Christmas/Valentine/Father's Day/birthday present of a new chainsaw.  It's awesome!  I immediately took it to the Gamblin place where there's a big thicket of dead Live Oaks, and cut more in half an hour than I had all fall.  Two days ago I put a big old stump in as a back log, figuring it would last the night.  It lasted 3 and still had embers this morning so I put one little stick in there and had a fire in 5 minutes.

We're deep into our favorite season, calving.  I've talked enough about the shortage of grass and hopefully expressed enough thanks for a good hay year last year.  I know I complained this summer about all the time I spent in the tractor, but I'll never complain again.  We started feeding hay in September, got the cows in good condition, and calving is going great.    

First one--Amy's, wouldn't you know

The first one arrived January 29.  Amy and Todd were here last week and helped me tag on Friday, and there were 8.  Last night (Tuesday) I counted 18!   A perfect score would be that we have 24 by tomorrow, which would indicate all the cows conceived on their first heat cycle, a sign of excellent fertility and nutrition (not to mention hard-working bulls).  I'm happy with how well it's going.  Two of the four 2011 Polled Hereford heifers we raised have calved and the other 2 are looking close. 

Baldies

 You can see a little winter grass greening up thanks to the January rains.  I'm hopeful for some more today.  After being brown and dead-looking the oats have grown out a little and now I'm trying to decide whether to graze them or save them for hay.

Polled Herefords

Sometimes we take a glass of wine and go up on the Gator just to sit and watch them run around.  Kathy's working at H&R Block in Waco, making almost enough to pay for her gas, and it's our favorite way to spend the last half hour of daylight when she gets home.

Not that it's all work.  Holly and I decided to check on the bass situation at the tank.  The tank's low and the bass are hungry.

Come see us.  There's enough work and fun to go around and we'd love to share it with you.

Life is good

I've Looked At Rain From Both Sides Now

With major apologies to Joni Mitchell...I returned last week from  our water project at the Angel House orphanage in Tanzania in the middle of a 3-inch rain in central Texas, the first we've had in a long time, and I guess I'm still appreciating both.

The water project trip was a wonderful experience.  For some reason--maybe having been there once--I felt much more comfortable on every phase of the trip and much more able to enjoy it.  The orphanage kids were great as always, and our volunteer team was delightful.  The following paragraphs are excerpted from the last status report we sent from Tanzania.  Due to procurement lead times I need to make one more trip to complete the equipment installations and see it all in operation.

Rainwater Collection System

The rainwater system on the school building is complete.  Our friend Marwa from Tarime installed the gutters and our team installed the downspouts, rain collectors, first flush diverters and water manifold system.  We purchased the storage tank and ran pipe to it but did not hook it up, awaiting final installation of the tank support stand.  In a rain shower this afternoon we had a glorious gushing flow of water from our pipe, rinsing out the system before final connection to the tank tomorrow. We are close enough that the teachers, cooks and students can envision the end result, and are very happy and appreciative.  The science teachers in particular are interested in how the system operates, and we discussed ideas for possibly building a distilled water generator in order to avoid having to go to Nairobi to buy distilled water for the laboratory experiments.

The rainwater system on the school

Our 5000-liter tank ready to be hooked up

The "glorious gushing" flow during a rainshower

Submersible Pump System

Pipe from the well to the storage tank has been run and buried, and pipe from the tank to the bathrooms has been run.  The tank stand and solar panel support structure are being welded.  A pipe has also been run from the storage tank to the rainwater storage tank so that during the 3-month dry season, water can be pumped to the rainwater tank for an uninterrupted supply.  Our friend our Lucas, the installation technician, will finish these provisions on Saturday.  When the submersible pump, pressure pump and purification system are on site we will fill every available bucket, remove the hand pump, install the submersible and run around to the tank to listen for flowing water.

The hand pump we'll replace and our first trench

Trench from the tank location to the house

We accomplished the greatest part of our task and I consider it a complete success.  Our team learned a lot about patience within given circumstances, and accomplished this job with a minimum of expertise but a maximum of teamwork. We look forward to getting running water in the orphanage, and we feel like the rainwater system provides a model for effective and inexpensive water collection that can be applied anywhere. There is still certainly room to grow, as there are more tanks to be added as well as a complete system of modern plumbing that would include showers and sinks in the future.

Again, we are grateful for your contributions and support, and for the chance to perform this service to these deserving kids.