More from the Cows in the News file

December 9, 2009

Sent in by alert cow-porter Fabulous Co-Worker Justin – a HOLY COW!

Full story here.

This is a Holstein/Jersey cross – the animal, not the marking. Like the article says, it's not unusual for a Holstein/solid color breed mix to have one solid mark on its head. Our Holstein/Brown Swiss babies usually have a white triangle/shield shaped spot on the forehead and that's the only spotty coloring they get.  

Speaking of miracle bovine babies, there's a little preemie living in my parents' basement. I called home on my way to work because I heard a story on NPR. No, not the 'dairy farms are destroying the world' story, but the one about bad weather moving across Michigan.

The little gal living in the basement was born on time, according to my dad's paperwork. She's an embryo transplant baby and the first female from a batch he bought for $3,000. He wants to keep her alive "or we should have set $3,000 on fire and saved a lot of frustration." A normal calf would be 100 pounds and he estimates her at 35. I suggested that maybe she's really a Jersey (they're tiny) and he chuckled. (Yes, DadH chuckles. And I think "chuckle" is a great word.) 

He said he might move her into the garage because it's starting to smell in the house after two days of being down there. He put down a tarp and a lot of straw. I told him to just clean her pen if it's supposed to get into the teens tonight. That's too cold. It's just like a cat box – if you don't want your house to smell like a cat box, clean the cat box every day.

"She takes up a bit more area than a cat box." So I think I convinced him to make an effort to clean up and keep her inside. He said the cat isn't very happy about the baby in the basement.

He went on about what the vet said, what they're doing for her and what he needs to do about registration then a long conversation about my nieces steer projects and other farmy things. It was a pretty fun call for me, actually.

In the words of my dad, "Well, it keeps life interesting."

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Photos From Home

September 29, 2009

MomH sent me some photos from when I was home in August to go to the fair. I actually scanned them as soon as I got them, which would be today. It usually takes me a few months of procrastinating before I finally forget and never do it. What's more impressive is that MomH had Steve download the pics from her camera and then she took the CD to the store to get copies within close to a month of them being taken. It's a pretty involved process, mind you.

I thought you might enjoy seeing a few. If you don't enjoy them, then you just wasted a few seconds glancing through. 😛

From left to right, Brother Ray, Yours Truly and Brother Steve:

Me with Danielle, Brother Ray's oldest. She's a freshman in high school this year. I remember when she was an itty bitty baby. Sigh.

The fairgrounds had a relocated and restored one-room schoolhouse.

Back on the farm, here are the sheepies before they went to the fair.

(Yes the photo is crooked. The scanning process is also a pain in the rear and I deemed this good enough).

Finally, the main event. There's a family of kitties living in my parents garage. They could not possibly be cuter. I had to check my luggage to make sure Mom & DadH didn't stick any in my suitcase when I wasn't looking.  

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Vox Hunt: Winter Photo

February 26, 2009

Share your favorite winter photograph.

It's a repeat, but it's still my favorite. MomH said of it, "Wow, it makes it look like we live in a pretty place."

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Christmas Greetings & Salutations

December 23, 2008

You know how I'm always complaining about how my parents' old computer on dial-up is faster than my cable modem Dell laptop?

I think that's actually a case of memory by sentimentality.

That said, I'm not doing well keeping up with the 'hood because it's too frustrating to even be online.

Okay, so there's my excuse for being lame.

I've only been outside a couple of times since getting here on Saturday night. I really lucked out and was able to sneak into Michigan during a break in the winter weather. My BFF picked me up in Detroit and the snow started kicking in again when we were about 30 miles from home.

It's cold here. So cold I really don't have enough words for it. When I do venture outside, I'm the little brother in The Christmas Story, all bundled up to the point of not being able to move. I'm careful not to fall over lest I be stuck in a snowbank until someone notices I'm gone and they send out the dogs.

Speaking of dogs, Jay (Steve's yellow lab) is a big fat goofy happy dog. His estimated size is around 100 pounds. And he thinks he's a puppy. Tyson, the pit bull who adopted our family a few years ago, hates the cold. He's such a baby. All I have to do is open the door to the outside to see him cower and hide. He's such a sweetie pie, super smart and loves kitties. Awww.

The rest of the family is doing well. DadH isn't very mobile, all that talk about how he needs to get more exercise was just talk. It bugs me how he doesn't bother to help himself get healthier, but I've run out of patience to badger him further.

I haven't made it out to the barn yet to see some cows, but I probably will today. Maybe. Did I mention it was cold? MomH just told me it was in the 50s in Phoenix. As far as Phoenix weather goes, that's pretty chilly so I guess I don't have it much worse here. 😛

MomH helped me finish my quilt. It took all of an hour to finish something I've been procrastinating about for the past three (four?) years.

That's about it for here. Nothing exciting going on. Just happy to be home and with the fam.

I hope everyone is staying warm and safe.

Merry Christmas!

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Home is where the snow is

December 27, 2007

Not too much to report. I guess there could be a lot, but it's pretty mundane. Grandma's House is the place to be. Children and dogs come and go. Sometimes they're all down here when no one else is. Mom and I came back from town and they were all here.

"Dad told us to come down because no one was home."

I think they meant their place, but this place was empty, too. So they went ice skating unsupervised, which was okay since no one fell in. They wanted my cell phone number in case I leave again and they want to know when I'm coming back. So they hung out here for four hours waiting for us. The good thing is they were playing the entire time. At their house they would have been parked in front of the TV watching inappropriate shows ("Mom says if something comes on that we shouldn't be watching to change the channel." Yeah. Right.)

But going into town was fun. I saw my friend who is sister to Don Gonyea, NPR White House correspondent. I told her about my love for Rob Gifford and she – LAUGHED! Oh, my love has been ridiculed! How come when I say it outloud it doesn't sound nearly as convincing as when I type it out on Vox. I don't think she'll tell her brother, but it was worth a shot.

It's cold out. The sun came out yesterday so that was nice. Christmas was fun, the food has been great and I spent time with my grandmother, age 93. I've also been digging through old photos. I found a baby picture of me! One before the age of three! I didn't think one existed. Of course, I'll have to crop the boys out of it, but I have one. But as I look at it, I was a pretty goofy looking baby. Maybe it's a good thing there aren't any more pics out there.

I went with my dad to say "Merry Christmas" to his parents. The cemetery was empty and the wind was biting cold. I put some daisies on their headstone and we stood there in silence. It's really hard for Dad so after a few moments, he went back to the car. Courtney, who joined us, asked if Grandpa was okay. I started to say that it was hard for him since these are his parents. Then my eyes sprung a leak that I couldn't stop for a long time. I wish my father would start taking better care of himself. I wonder how much longer I'll have him.

My trip has been an emotional roller coaster. I'm happy to be here, but sometimes I feel like I don't belong anymore. Raymond, who has never approved of my worldly bent, jumps on anything I say that he thinks is being too uppity or critical of anything around here. To keep the peace, I have to be careful of what I say. I think he knows he went too far as he's been good the last day and a half. Steve is Steve, nothing new or different there.

That's the general overview. I have smaller stories and anecdotes to share but now I have some cookies to eat. As long as Dad doesn't turn on the cable, we'll be good for a while. Direct TV with a zillion channels and we are stuck watching Ninja Warriors, church TV and horse training. Who knew there were so many church stations? And who knew my father would watch any of them? Oh – and American Idol reruns. I'm about ready to claw my eyes out. If he's watching something he wants you to see, he say "Amy – here's this guy with a great voice. I really like his voice. Come listen to him." He'll keep cranking up the volume until you give in and go see what he's watching.

Bottom line – I'm having fun and I'm glad to be here. It's a challenge to not get frustrated by family, but I have it pretty good as far as family relations go. I don't have much to complain about, but I'll complain about what I can. 🙂

Hope everyone is having a great time and see you around the 'hood!

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All the trees are brown, and the sky is gray

December 24, 2007

That's the tune of yesterday during the Christmas Cookie Baking Fiasco of 2007. Two of my nieces and I were baking Christmas cookies and I burned three trays of my favorite green Spritz Christmas trees. Three trays. Not all at once, mind you, but three in a row. I think I have late onset ADD. You would think after the first tray, I would have learned. But no. MomH noticed the third and final tray when she smelled something odd and saw smoke coming out of the oven. I had since left the kitchen by then and was showing the girls some yoga moves down in the basement.

I asked the girls if they thought their dad could be tricked into thinking they were chocolate trees. They thought that was a grand idea. But MomH said Raymond doesn't eat much dessert. Darn it. He has years of revenge owed to him.

So I tried to feed some of the cookies to Tyson, the stray pit bull that adopted the family a few months back. The Canine Vacuum Cleaner grabbed a cookie from midair and promptly spit it out. Now that is some serious rejection.

We've been getting hit with some strong winds. Yesterday morning, the wind woke up my parents and they turned on the Weather Channel to see if there were any tornado warnings. We joked that I would have been safe in my room in the basement but they would have flown across the fields on their new king size bed. It would have been a shock to wake up and go upstairs to a missing house. 

I've been here for a little more than a day and I haven't seen one cow yet. I'm such a lazy slug. I guess I could head down to the barn and see what's going on. But it's cold out.

I can't even get Tyson to go outside, even though he has food in the garage – and this isn't even his house. The two dogs, Spencer (mini-Australian Shepherd) and Tyson like hanging out at Grandma's house. They are attention whores. If you pet one, the other comes right over. They are both sweeties but the dog love is a bit overwhelming especially when they start playing in my lap. The last thing I want is a pit bull and a little dog trying to bite each other anywhere near my person.

Tyson follows me around, thinking I'm going to give him food. If I head to the door and tell him to go outside, he slinks away and gives me that look Elvis gives during shot time, "oooh, I'm just a poor helpless creature, have pity on me!" I've called him a wussy dog but he doesn't seem to mind. Some fearsome dog he is. Pfft. He'll look even more threatening when I buy him a fuzzy pink sweather to keep warm.

Speaking of, Elvis was such a brat the other night. He was on top of the bed, always just a bit out reach. we kept circling each other until he finally hid under the bed where I couldn't reach him. I was becoming increasingly frustrated, which I'm sure was a great help. "Elvis! You have to get your shot! This is important. This will make you feel better and you are going to get it no matter what, so just come out now and be done with it! You are being a bad, bad kitty!"

I finally left him alone, mostly for my sake. Two hours later I finally succeeded. Aargh. He's fine as soon as he gets it. He knows it's over and then he's perfectly happy. Brat Cat. But I wuf him. I hope he's behaving better for his keepers in my absence. I should have told him that Mommy was leaving because he was a pain in my ass. Ha.

Last night I went down to Ray & SIL's house to help the girls clean up, since SIL was super busy and super stressed with her custom sign business. The less she has to freak out at the girls about, the better. So I did dishes. Ugh. I wish I had a HazMat suit followed by a bleach shower. If there was ever a time to catch a flesh eating bacteria, there it was. Of course, Dani and Amber blamed Courtney, as Courtney was the one not present. Funny how that works.

Walking back was an ethereal experience. The moon was shining bright high overhead and I could see my shadow distinctly. It was eerily beautiful. When I finally came inside, I was inspired to try and describe it words. I'm still working on my little piece of prose and will post at some point.

There's the news from the hinterland. Have a very Merry Christmas, everyone!

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Holiday Wishes to All!

December 21, 2007

This may just be my last post before I take off for the Hinterland, aka Podunkville, Michigan, to be with FamilyH and all the cows. Yay, cows!

I'm supposedly working today, I have a lot to do but the motivation seems to have ebbed from a few days ago. Tonight I hope to get in another run before the cold and winter weather keeps me indoors for a week. I'll figure something out while I'm there. Maybe go up to the school and hit the weight room. I can do that – I have connections. Not that I want to work out with Brother Ray's wresting team or anything. Jr/Sr high school boys are stinky. But I may have to hope my allergies will be kicked in from farm living and I can't smell them.

Elvis II is here! He's fantastic. If I can get my act together tonight, I'll take pictures and post a few. I'm sure Original Elvis will be mildly curious and then ignore this beaded interloper. I won't tell him that I've already spent more on his reproduction than I have on his medical bills. I'd hate for him to try and even that score. Even with my new raise, the vet bills are a bit of a hit. But he's worth it and I'll just adjust accordingly.

For example, last night I met up with friends for happy hour. The HHR menu had $2 cheeseburgers. So I had a $5 beer (no drink specials and I like good beer) and a $2 cheeseburger that was excellent. That was it. I pay more when/if I go out to lunch and that's just for food. Plus, it helps with weight loss/training if I don't get TWO beers. Save money, lose weight. Beauty.

I hope everyone has a great holiday season! May you be kind to yourselves and others, and may good fortune shine upon you in any variety of forms.

(((((HUGS)))))

And I never even got to wear my wonderful Christmas Sweatshirt. Maybe I'll pack it and wear it around the house while I'm being a lazy, Christmas-cookie eating slug.

(((((More Hugs!)))))

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Farm Humor

November 15, 2007

This came to me from email. While it's not a DadH story, it very well could be. We've dealt with some Dept of Ag workers who had moved through the urban civil servant ranks and had no business doing farm inspections ("So what is this? Is this corn?").

A cocky Department of Agriculture representative stopped at a farm and talked with an old farmer.  He told the farmer, "I need to inspect your farm."

The old farmer said, "OK, but don't go in that field right over yonder."

The Agriculture representative said, "Mister, I have the authority of the Government with me.  See this card?  The card means I am allowed to go WHEREVER I WISH on any agricultural land. No questions asked or answered.
Have I made myself clear?  Do you understand?!"

The farmer nodded politely and went about his farm work.

Later, the farmer heard loud screams and saw the Agriculture rep running for the fence and close behind was the farmer's huge-horned prize bull. The bull was gaining on the Agriculture Rep with every step.

The rep was clearly terrified, so farmer immediately threw down his tools,
ran to the fence and shouted out…..

"Your card! Show him your card!"

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Baby Cows and Barn Cats!

October 13, 2006

It looks like all my posting peeps are answering the question: What's your favorite animal?

First off, my favorite animal EVER is my Elvis, even if he does have mind-controlling eyebeams.

 

But my heart will always belong to the cows. For your viewing pleasure, I am posting a picture of triplet hiefer calves, of the Brown Swiss persuasion. It isn't often that a cow to give birth to live twins – they usually never make it to term. To have live triplets is exceedingly rare. (Poor, poor cow! Owie!)

 

The girls are my nieces and yes, they are full sisters, from the same parents. Really. There are some recessive genes going on here, I tell you what. They are sweeties and about four years older now than they were in this pic.

The cat is making a cameo appearance, so she isn't credited for this photo.

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Farm Daze

September 14, 2006

Over on CO, Lauri and Teho were sharing Midwest memories and waves of nostalgia also flowed over yours truly. 

I moved to Phoenix October 6, 1993, to follow my future ex-husband. It was a perfect October day and I remember the drive to the airport in full technocolor. All in all, it was a good move for me. I think I needed to be here for my Elvis. (Obligatory cat reference). 

My family still all lives back on the farm with our Brown Swiss cows, some Holsteins and a few Jerseys owned by 4-H kids. Both of my brothers decided they wanted to continue on with farming post-college and moved back. (Mom, Dad, Grandma, and I are also Michigan State grads. Go State!)

 

When my brother Ray married Kathy, Mom and Dad built a house across the road so 'The Family' would have the house Dad grew up in and then raised his family. Mom said she always wanted a house on a lake, but our pond suffices quite well, in my opinion. Here's the view – which is also the site of the Great Canada Goose v Wild Turkeys Gaggleland Riot of 2006.

 

This a great place for fishing derbies, picnics and lounging about under a massive shade tree (not pictured) . It was just a little baby tree when my parents planted back when we were all tykes. They thought it would never be big enough to provide any shade. We once had an old chicken coop that we renovated to be the Beach House, complete with changing room and portable toilet.

I'm also a big fan of winter. I always was, and I miss the snow here in the desert.

 

I took this picture from the front of my parents' house a few years ago. My oldest niece and I were tromping through snow banks after some good slides on the pond ice. We rounded the corner of the house and I ran to get my camera. This is almost enough here to keep me cool when it's 115 degrees here.

These are the old barns. With so many people to support, the family put in an entirely new operation with the latest and greatest in dairy design. I could go on and on about cows and such, but I'll refrain. For now…

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