Bumper Crop

I wish I was referring to my garden....  NOT!!!

 
Can you see all the grasshoppers above???

It's like a plague!!  They're EVERYWHERE!!  They fly all around you when you walk outside!  I always thought they hopped around on the ground, but they can climb or fly up into trees.  They were all over the house and on every surface.  The sidewalks and the porch floor are covered with grasshopper poop!!  You can sweep it off one day and within a couple days it's back!!













 They're ravenous!!! 

What's on the menu???  ANYTHING!!!!  They have eaten 80% of the leaves on the BIG trees in the yard!!!  Do they eat the whole leaf???  NO!!  They chew across them and drop the rest down to the ground, so they waste a lot!!!! 

Our first attempt at control was to let the chickens come into the back yard, since their chicken yard had few grasshoppers .... they ate them!  We let them in every other day.  They ate plenty, but it was a drop in the bucket because they couldn't get to the ones up in the trees.  So Mike, the insecticide expert, obtained some super duper insect killer and sprayed the front and back yard.  Good stuff!!!  There were 1000s, maybe 10s of 1000s of dead and dying grasshoppers at the base of the trees!  We could have filled a couple of bushel baskets!   The only bad consequence was that the chickens snuck into the back yard one day!!  When I noticed them, I chased them back into their yard.  (Have you ever tried to herd a bunch of chickens???  It's a challenge!!!)  Unfortunately, within a few days, I lost 2 red hens!!  I think they ate too many poisoned grasshoppers.

As for my 'organic' garden, I had to succumb to using Sevin in an effort to control the ones in the garden.  It was a choice I had to make..... to kill some of the grasshoppers with hopes of harvesting some melons, tomatoes and beans or NOT!!  So, was it worth it?  We had ONE ear of corn each from 2 rows of corn!!!  We had ONE stew with fresh string beans in it since they killed over half of my string bean plants!!!  We've been luckier with tomatoes and melons.  The cucumbers took a hit too, although I think the heat got to them.  No pickles this year.  And thanks to a late frost, no wild plum jelly!!!

How did the pioneers ever make it out here???

Time to blog.....

It's been 15 months since we last blogged on this site and it's time to catch up on some things and share more meaningful experiences than one can on Facebook.  I totally enjoy the pictures and friends on Facebook, but one has to keep it brief.  It's more superficial than blogging.  Using this mode is more like keeping a historical account. 

The calves in the last blog have grown up.  Because our bull is their dad, we couldn't keep them, though they were NICE calves!!!  So we've since traded with a friend and we have other heifers and the momma cows have had new calves that are now about 4 months old.  This time we have a little black (Brangus) bull and the white faced cow below had a brown-black little heifer ... both nice little calves.

I love the expression in the little bulls face!! 

We have a total of 8 bovines (1 bull, 2 cows, 3 heifers and 2 calves)

Including what you can't see, there are 3 horses and the donkey for equines!!!

That's the extent of our little ranch!!!

 

While I'm relating to 'western' stuff, y'all probably are aware of my renewed love of photography, most of which is from the local area.  I've rather found my niche in landscape and nature photography and am busy trying to learn to photoshop when needed (actually I have Paint Shop Pro X4) and make little inroads as I experiment.  Sometimes I get frustrated if I can't make something look as I saw it through my eyes.  Anyway, many of my pictures are displayed in our new Clinic and Wellness Center.  I will add a few of my favorites so you can get the flavor of our ranch and nearby sites:

A Nest of Kittens

Grain Elevators

Springtime Wild Flowers along the Roadside



Blue Bonnets along Lake Graham

Old Historic Grocery and Deli

'Patches'

Grazing Cattle among Flowering Weeds after a Storm

Texas Roadside Fauna

Textures after an Ice Storm

Sunrise

 Hope you enjoy!!!

More New Life!!!

Change takes time, but in the last 3 weeks or so, we've had an increase in our little herd!!!  Both of our cows have had beautiful little heifers!!  First #6 had her calf out in the field the same evening I heard coyotes yip-yipping.  Mike went out to see IF we had a new calf and sure enough he found Mama and new baby.  BUT he couldn't get them in from the field, so he went out the next morning, but then he couldn't find the calf. So the next morning he tried again.  With our little herd, we prayed the coyotes hadn't taken it!!  But that morning he had success and this was our new addition!!!  I have to say, "like mother, like baby"  --- Little #12 looks JUST LIKE her mom!!!

She's one spunky energetic healthy little girl!!!

Then 2 weeks later, White Face (#3) surprised us with her own little heifer!  We didn't expect her for another couple of weeks!!  Below is White Face with her first little calf - a little bull:

WOW!!  Our Mr. Bull (#1) is a Brangus and he's all BLACK!!  We surely didn't expect a camel colored calf.  So we were waiting with anticipation to see what her calf looked like this time!!!  Well, here she is:

We're deciding whether to call her "Bandit" or "Spot"!  She's #13!  Luckily she was born in the immediate area because Mike got tired of cutting Mr Bull out of the distant fence where he kept attempting to visit the large herd next door.  So now the little additions are all socialized with the other farm animals.  It's starting to look like a ranch again!!!  Even Sam gets in the act... after all, he IS a working cow dog!!!!

Life Returns

After so much devastation, life returns to the ranch!  We've had rain, and the grass is growing back so that we have 'spring grass' in the fall and winter!!  I thought it was particularly interesting to see the first small snow fall on the new grass.  In many areas the grass didn't make it, but the weeds are nice and green.  So we have work to do to get our pastures back in good shape (or I should say:  Rancher Mike has his work cut out for him!!!)

Refer back to the last entry to see the almost dried-up state of our 'stock tank'!  They don't call them 'ponds' in this here state!!!  We typically refer to it as The Tank.  One heavy rain and the tank was just about full. 

Worthy of note:  You probably see Sam (who accompanies me everywhere around the property), and the horse grazing in the background, but note also... there are ducks on the tank.  Maybe next spring we can restock it with bass and catfish! 

What's really cool is that I can now see the tank from the kitchen window.  What a great view of our property:

The horses are particularly aware of where the greenest grass is .... on the other side of the fence, of course!!!  And on cool mornings after their breakfast of sweet feed (grain with molasses) and a couple of flakes of hay (which we had to buy since we didn't have any to bale thanks to the drought!), it's time to lay in the sun and rest. 

And to complete our recovery from the drought, we're enlarging the back porch for our added enjoyment, where we'll be able to  enjoy the tank and the happenings in the chicken yard and the garden while we enjoy a meal or just a tall glass of iced tea!!You might notice the time of day is well displayed in the reflections in the windows.

  Another beautiful sunset! 

 Going to bed so we can start anew with a beautiful sunrise tomorrow!

It's not over yet!!!!!

DROUGHT:  I just read the following excerpt from an LCRA (Lower Colorado River Authority) Bulletin:The 11 months from October 2010 through August 2011 have been the driest for that 11-month period in Texas since 1895, when the state began keeping rainfall records. This summer in Texas has been the hottest in the country’s history, according to the National Weather Service.

This is what we've experienced over the past 6 months!!!
This WAS our 'Stock Tank' when we moved here - we actually have two on the property, but this is the larger one which is stocked with bass and catfish and has NEVER gone dry!!

Here it is today - a big mud puddle!!!  I don't know how many fish have survived, but some have died, and they're now fair game for hawks and racoons and coyotes.

If it doesn't rain soon, there'll be nothing!!!  We've had a few showers in the past week, but the rain is just enough to wet the driveway.  The most we have had is a quarter of an inch, and that's like spitting in the tank!!!!!  The whole community is praying for rain!!! 

No rain, no grass, no hay to feed livestock for the winter!! This picture was last October 2nd followed by a picture taken just a few days ago:

Then there's our yard!!!!

The trees have taken a huge hit!!!  Last year the Crepe Myrtles along the sidewalk bloomed all summer!  I'm only seeing blooms right now and unless we get more rain, I'm afraid they'll drop and we won't get flowers.  We've been having to water them just to keep them alive, and as you can see, the shrubs at the base of the crepe myrtles aren't looking too good!!!. 

 The huge tree beside the house has lost lost of leaves and there used to be grass to mow at the base of the tree in front of the fence!!

 In the back yard, we've had to drip water the apple trees.  One looks OK, but the other isn't looking very good although I'm seeing some new leaves since we've watered.

The leaves on the ground are from the BIG tree in the back.  Even though they have deep roots, we've had to water it.  I'd hate to lose those big beautiful trees!!  Everything is brown except weeds and mesquites!!!

Aside from the drought, Mike was trying to reclaim some grazing land from the Mesquite trees, which are like "tree weeds" as in they constantly reseed and grow fast.   He hired a 'dozer to come in and remove most of the mesquite.  Unfortunately, I have looked through every picture album and don't have a decent before picture.  The closest is this picture of our first little calf kicking up her heels... if you can check out the background, you can get a sense of the overgrowth.

Now there are just SOME trees!!!

Flag with a Mission

Since Travis deployed with the Special Forces out of Hunter AB near Savannah, GA in 2007 to his present day deployment from Aviano AFB, Italy to Afghanistan, the meat department at our local Stewart's Food Market right here in Olney has been selecting and slicing beef for jerky which Mike smokes and processes, vacuum packs and sends to wherever Travis is deployed.  John also benefitted from some of Stewarts jerky beef during his deployment a year ago and more recently our niece, Chrys, currently in Alaska received a surprise package of jerky.  Travis carried this flag aboard his F-16 for a recent mission and sent if to express his thanks as well as that of his Special Forces friends and his F-16 colleagues who have shared in his bounty

Pictured above are:(L to R) Me and Mr. Mike, Jason Pack (manager of the meat dept), Paul Garcia and Joe Cameron (meat dept staff), Homer Molina (store manager) and Danny Stewart (owner).  We are missing Robert Stewart, Danny's brother who we shook hands with on our way out!!  For a small town like Olney, we have a very nice grocery and folks come from all around for their meats.  Now their meat has even been eaten abroad!!!!

Wow! So much news!!!

Life is busy, and one day to the next there doesn't seem to be so much change, but little events mount up.  The previous blog entry comments how the THREE little calves stick together.  Well since then here's number 4 calf (with #3 mom - we call her 'White Face'):

We haven't figured out how he got to be that color since the daddy is all black.  He's a nice little bull - healthy and full of energy.  He now has an eartag (#10) and is a 'steer'... no bull!!!

Then last week our last heifer, #5 (we just call her 'Cinco') blessed us with another little bull:

A new addition draws a lot of attention around here once it's discovered!  Here the new little guy is between his mom and #7, our first calf (a 4 month old heifer), and the legs behind him belong to #9 (first little bull).  The little guy is less than a day old.  And the daddy (Numero Uno) is always interested in his progeny:

He has greeted every single one!!  So now ALL our heifers have had their first calf and Mr Bull is now a proven bull.  He was young when we got him, but he's good at getting the job done.

When the 2 little heifers get a little bigger, we'll be trading them with a good friend of ours for 2 of his same age heifers.  That way there will be no inbreeding and we don't have to sell and buy.  He'll be getting 2 very nice heifers.  So we've grown from 6 to 11 cattle!

Then I looked at the little chicks we got in March!!!  You won't believe how they've grown!!!!  Those little white chick have grown to look like this:

They must weigh at least TEN pounds!!  One chicken will feed us for at least 2 meals and still have a little for some chicken salad.  Now that I've experienced these Cornish chickens, I have noticed they are not the brightest chickens in the hen house!!!  They are clumsy and pretty messy birds.
The other new little chicks were my little Americaunas and Production Reds.  They are growing nicely but are welter weights compared to the Cornish chickens.  They may be laying eggs soon.  In the picture (right) the 3 in the middle are Americaunas and their color varies quite a bit.  The one standing has pretty light grey tailfeathers  compared to the others.  You can see how different the second one from the right looks.  Then look at the next picture to see the 4th Americauna - it's the grey, black and white one.  The Americaunas will lay blue and green tinted eggs!!!
 The other four are the production reds and are all hues of dark red.  All of these are very fast and run like roadrunners all over the yard.  The reds lay brown eggs.
Just after I got these new chicks, our chickens started sitting on eggs.  That's been an education.  Sometimes I would see 2 hens squeezed in the same nest.  Turns out, some hens just sit on the eggs.  When some hatched, the hen switched to caring for the chicks and another hen sat on the nest.  Pretty soon I had 3 nests with 'sitters' and 3 hens caring for chicks.  One was good about taking new babies - an excellent surrogate.  So now we have our own baby chicks.  I guess Mr Rooster has proved himself too!!!  AND I've noticed he will help feed the babies sometimes and the mom's let him while they chase off the other hens!!!  Now we have 10 chicks out with the hens and I have 5 more in the grain room under the light.  I'm hoping a hen will adopt them.

Things are ever-changing!!  So gradual you just don't notice until the changes are BIG!!!  Lots more coming on the blog, so keep an eye out.  I'm off work for the summer and can keep up now!!!