AAAAAAAAAHHHHHH, life on a farm.....

As many of you know, we transplanted to my DH's husband's farm in June, and in the beginning, I was scared of everything. I didn't want the cows to come up and be near me, they freaked me out. The jumping insects and all that jazz just about made me come unglued.
Then, I realized that I needed to bloom where I was planted. And life became a lot easier for me. (Oh, BTW, I still don't do spiders and mice). I have been given a task of feeding the replacment heifers their treats every day and I absolutely love it. They know me now, and as long as I have their treats, they love me. They know me and come running when I call to them. (Isn't that great, even my kids don't do that).
So, you could say that I have adapted to farm life rather well. It's simplicity and beauty take my breath some days.
We are now in calving season. All of the pregnant cows are beginning to have their little ones. And I have never, ever been a part of a calving season. The absolute renewing of life, in any creature, amazes me and astounds me. It leaves me with questions about how the mother cow copes. Does it hurt really, really bad? Do they make a lot of noise? Are they scared being alone when this miracle of life happens? What does the calf look like at first? Just millions of questions, and no answers.
UNTIL NOW......
Yesteday, my DH took me out riding in the pasture to see some of the newborn calves. My Uncle D stopped us and said that the nursery was full. That, while I had been in town taking care of bidness, a lot of the cows had birthed. I was so excited, I could hardly sit still. I was anxious and jumping around on the seat of the Kubota like a child on Christmas morning. Oh what joy, what bliss. Newborn calves.
(And NO, I could not remember to bring my camera). They were just precious. All gangly and some of them were days old and trying to be playful. Oh, my heart just melted. And I giggled, like a little girl. I really did. I was so enamored of these beautiful little creatures. I just wanted to pet them or hold them and rub their little noses. (I didn't, mama cows don't like you messing with their newborns). Smiling and clapping my hands, shouting, "Oh, look, there's another one", or "Over there" and "Aw, look".
Then I saw a cow under a tree, whose baby was so brand new that she was still having contractions to deliver the afterbirth. Wow, I ALMOST got to see a live birth. But not quite.
Then, on the other side of the field, I saw a small bundle on the ground and the mother was nearby and having some contractions. (These mother cows were not making any bellowing noises or any noise at all with the contractions, so I couldn't tell y ou if they felt the pain of childbirth or not). Anyway, as we got closer, the mother cow was chewing something. DH told me the cow was not even an hour old. And I thought, "You go girl, up grazing that soon". Then we got closer and GGGGGGAAAAAAKKKKKKK. The mother cow was eating the afterbirth. WHAT?????
The images of little bluebirds flying around and bunnies hopping and an angelic choir singing came to a screeching halt.
How gross can one animal get? Oh yeah, the babies are still cute, but I'm too freaked out about the afterbirth thing to get past it. Now I wonder if I fell down and couldn't get up, would the cows eat me, too? Oh, my. Talk about an eye opener.
Mother nature. You gotta love her.

This was me yesterday. Golly bob, howdy. I was all dressed up for the SITS bash and I was not disappointed. That Heather and Tiffany, they know just exactly what they are a doin. I never had me so much fun in one place. (Although, the chair arm prints in my thighs are kind of a downer, I'm sure they will go away in a day or two).

I enjoyed yesterday, but I was glad when it came time to go to bed. And the comment LOVE. I had, are you ready, 60 hits yesterday. I'm tearing up just thinking about it. I know, for some of y'all that's small potatoes, but for me, I usually only get three or four a post. I was eating it up like buttered mashed taters.

I think the main thing that I came away with is this, no matter who you are, no matter your religion, your race, your creed, your personal politics, we can all come together for at least one day and love each other, even those we would not normally visit.

I love each and every bloggy friend that stopped by and all those that didn't too. I guess it's just the season.

Now, let's get out there and spread some more bloggy love.

Oh, P.S. I ran into some new bloggy friends yesterday. I will have them on my blog roll sometime later today.

SITS girls ROCK!!!!!

The Secret is in the Sauce: Merry SITSmas!

The Secret is in the Sauce: Merry SITSmas!

Merry SITsmas everyone!!!!!

Can you believe that Christmas is only 23 days away. I am looking forward to seeing everyone's Christmas cards today. And to leaving some comment love.


I love this season for many reasons,

1. It is Christ's birthday. What a blessing to the entire human race.

2. Everyone is nicer to each other for a few weeks.

3. The children's pageants. I love to watch their sweet earnestness and wonder what is going through their minds. (Check out the Joseph in this picture.)

4. I L.O.V.E some Christmas lights. The more the merrier as far as I'm concerned.

5. SITSmas contests. ALL DAY LONG....just head on over to Sits and check it out.



How about you, why do you like this season (or not).

Oh me oh my....

Hey everyone. Tomorrow is Merry Sitsmas over at the Secret is in the Sauce. They have just announced a 200 dollar grand prize gift card from Target. So, tomorrow, each time you comment, you get an entry into the drawing. How cool is that. Get to blog (which I love to do) and maybe get a prize.

Okay, recently I read on Kat's post a little game that involved telling of ten things you like starting with the letter "?". She would assign you a random letter and you have to find ten things you like starting with that letter and post about it, so here goes.
My random letter was "T"

1. Tacos - yummy. Nuff said.

2. Turtles - the yummy kind with chocolate, pecans, and caramel. Although the other little fellows are kind of cute as well.

3. Tablecloths - I absolutely love a beautiful tablecloth. Don't put them on my table because my kids would destroy them, but I definitely appreciate the beauty of them.

4. T-Bone steaks. YUMMY!!!!!

5. Turnovers. Apple, lemon, whatever kind ( is anyone noticing a trend here, so far all mine are about food or food related things).

6. Talking. Boy howdy do I love to talk.

7. Teachers. Adore them. Think they are marvelously wonderful people.

8. Twenty-nine. Love this age. Have celebrated the anniversary of this birthday for many years now.

9. Truth. I love to hear the truth. Painful, awful, doesn't matter. I'd rather hear the truth.

10. Tennessee. I love the beauty that is the state of Tennessee.


So there you have it. I hope you all will go on over and get your letter and start playing. It is very interesting what you can come up with.

My bloggy friend Kat is having a super duper contest. It involves books and chocolate. No, really gooooooood books and yummy delicious chocolate. You should go over and check it out.

She also gave me my letter. I'll be back later on today with that.