I've been busy

Yes to quote "The Bus"

I've been busy.............

this poor old horsefarmer has farming to do this week.........

Had to take the east field and plow it under.....

Yes, more time on the tractor than at work, or in fact sleeping, over this week.

Our east field is full of "bad" fescue. Now for you city dwellers, you would love the fescue grass in our east field. it is a perfect lawn. Lush green, perfect...
yep

unless you have horses... then it is poison.

So this week (between rain storms), the Barngoddess1 and I developed a plan to plow the east field, then disc it smooth, then roll it flat, then seed it with good seed, then roll it flat again, then hope for rain.

Yep, so Monday after work (yes I do have a desk job from 8 to 5), I gets on the good old John Deere and commence to plowing that field. Well we don't have a plow, so I just hooked up my 3 point tiller and off I goes..... and it is dark and I am still "goes". Finally the temp and humidity get to me..... too cold adn damp....
Then Tuesday, after a fun day at work it is back to the field... finish tilling, then hook the disc up and spend another two hours smoothing the field.
Finally just as the sun was setting behind Joplin MO, I hooked up the field roller and spent another hour on it.

Finally quit because . even with a full moon, I couldn't see squat. Parked the tractor in one of the lean toos and walked to the house. Told the Barngoddess1 I had to quit cause I couldn't see (even with a full moon and lights on the tractor).. well you can imagine what color I changed to when she ask "why do you have your sun glasses on??.

So anyway, the Barngoddess1 went to the feed store today, got hte seed, and tonight we finished the east field.

Got lots of bermuda seed, lots of rye and of course a fair share of orchard grass.

All put on the ground, and then added the correct amount of fertilizer, and then back on the Deere to roll the field again. This time I left the sunglasses in the truck and continued post sunset until the field was rolled twice.

NOW .. please join with me and hope that Mother Nature is kind enough to drop some of that rain the "Weather guys and gals" have been saying is coming tomorrow.

I guess if the rain isn't here by 4:30 tomorrow afternoon, I will just ahve to stop off at the golf course.... that will usually get a few drops to fall.

So:
Bus, Jeep and Long Roof, I have been busy.

Where is the proof..... my Noble Assistant was no where to be found... and the camera is probably in the den ......

My nobel assistant has been doing what young girls do best.. babysitting.
Yep she has gone and got a "paying" job, so I only see her once or twice a week.

Guess I wasn't paying enough to keep a good hand.

So if weather cooperates, we should ahve a good field of "horse friendly" grasses in the next month or so.

So enough is enough.... it's 9:32 pm and I'm ready for the hot tub or bed...

either way, I always

CELEBRATE LIFE while loving it up here on the farm.

What a ride

Well for this ole man it has been quite a ride, and one that I am forever grateful for having been along.

Now what am I talking about??

36 years ago today I went into an arrangement with that woman of my dreams.

Yep, the Barngoddess1 and I have been married for 36 years today.

On our thirtieth I gave her 30 red roses. But not this year...... nope no roses for her.

Instead I found a London Plane tree, about 6 feet tall, and we planted it square dab in the middle of our backyard. Yep something to mow around.......
yep every week of mowing I will have to drive around that tree.....

but the memory of what that tree represents will allow me to drive around that tree and

CELEBRATE LIFE

knowing I have spent 36 years with her by my side.

Happy Anniversary Viola.

Love tom

Rain in Fort Worth = work for me

Yep, it is a beautiful Sunday afternoon, cloudy with a mild breeze and warm.
Yep great day to be inside watching the Texas Race = wrong

Raining in Fort Worth, so the Little Princess and I get to go outside and work... well work for me, I think she was playing too much.

Here's what we were doing:



OK, some of you don't know what happens on a farm, so here is another pic:


of course the Little Princess jumped on that Little Deere and proceeededpt spread that fertilizer all over the fields.




and that my friends is what we do when NASCAR gets rained out, we just head out side and fling sh*t around the fields.

So that is about it, I'm back inside cause I am sore and tired and ready for a nap.

Later all, but most important

CELEBRATE LIFE

AH, MY FAVORITE TIME OF THE YEAR

YES YOU BLOGGERS, THIS IS THE TIME OF YEAR THAT I JUST LOVE THE MOST.....

Uncle Sam gets his $913.00 more in taxes

Gov Jay gets his $961.00 more in taxes

Yes that is inaddition to the mighty sums that I have already paid to both of them for 2009 already.

Just love it when the great "Haven Lee Farm" makes money, that is until tax time.

So John-John, don't feel like the Lone Ranger, you have Tonto on your side paying those taxes.

Now if I could get Congressman Roy (THE JOKER) Blunt to get this grand old government of ours to pay my full retirement, and the sum for my disability (Service Connected), I would probably have to pay more taxes.
Hey Roy, if I send you a bunch of money will you do something for me... afterall the only people benefitting from your tour of office are you campaign financers...

Oh well, to be middle class, and help pay my fair share...

OH YEAH, thanks to George W. Bush for changing capital gains tax laws that rob from us middle class to pay the rich...

I only get pissy once a year, and it is usually around this time.

Jeep and LongRoof, temp 75 with mild breeze to keep cool, perfect CofC day......

tom

5 In The Morning

There are times on the farm that are really hard, and you sometimes have to make decisions that you don't want to make. And not wanting to make those decisions, makes it even harder to do.

To point is a steer we have, he somehow dislocated and broke his right hip. Rather than put it down, we realized that the steer could still maneuver its way around, and was still gaining weight, so we kept him and he will soon be hamburger and steak in the freezer.
These past two years we also ventured into raising bottle calves, weaning them, castrating and dehorning them, and then selling. Somehow decisions about steers and cows is something that is simple to make.

Raising miniature horses, and this is our 12th year of it, we have had some great colts, excellent fillies, and we've had some pets that would never amount to much in the show ring, but are excellent around children and the elderly.
We have been blessed with healthy horses that made them easy to sell when they got to be of age.

But one of the hardest decisions to make is when you consider the quality of life an animal is going to be facing from here on. A couple years ago, we were faced with an extremely hard decision concerning our Morgan Mare "Babe" ....



at age 24 she was so laid up with arthritis, she could hardly move, and at times we fed her where she was laying because she couldn't get up. But dealing with Babe, who had her prime and was allowed to live as a horse should in later years made the decision an easier one.

And as always, having a Vet that isn't afraid to ask questions and venture an opinion, whether we like that opinion or not. she is honest and trustworthy.

But dealing with "5 in the Morning", a week old filly, that is so cute and adorable, who looks at you with eyes that say "make the pain go away", decisions are the toughest a man can make.

For the past week, we have been nursing "5" trying to get her lower rear legs to straighten out. Then coupled with the "bedsore" ulcers that developed, along with some infection.... well life is tough.

We worked with her, trying to get those little legs straight and where she could walk again. Day and night for 8 days.... bringing her into the kitchen and washing her legs and wounds at the kitchen sink... using the dining room table as a splinting station... sitting with her in the sun....

Yet everytime I looked into her eyes, I could see the pain..

Tonight we learned that her joints in the rear legs were deformed and that she would never walk unaided. Looking in her eyes you could tell the pain was becoming unbearable as every day passed.

At what point do you stop trying to improve the condition of the animal, knowing all along that her quality of life would be terrible? Do we take her to OSU and see if they can cut away bone in the joint so at least the joint would straighten? Do we put "5" through the pain and agony of several operations trying to do something that we "deep down in our hearts" know will never improve, and she will be with pain the rest of her life?

At 5:30 pm this afternoon, with Jaycee, Viola and I in attendance, our vet euthanized "5 in the Morning".

She was born around 5 AM in the morning on Sunday, March 28, 2010.

8 days and 12 hours later she slipped into unconsciousness and died pain free.

She will always be remembered at our farm because of her strong will, painfully standing to nurse, rubbing her head and neck against your leg.



I leave this post with a simple picture of an animal completely painfree and in peace, going whereever it is that you go when you leave this world.

We were blessed with her for 8 days, and will stand up and carry on, no matter how hard it seems.

The agony of the decision is met only with the agony of writing this post. A way for me to put closure to a little filly's life.

So go about your daily events.... but remember....

Celebrate Life while you have it.

tom

Easter and 5 in the Morning

Saturday and Easter Sunday have made for a perfect weekend. Weather here is Chamber weather, in fact got so hot yesterday, I took off my sweatshirt.....
So how is life, on this farm it can be summed up in a couple words "An Adventure".

So Easter dawned and we went to Shell Knob to spend some time with the Garrisons. Went to Church and then to their house for a perfect luncheon. Barngoddess even made deviled eggs....
Worked on Charlies truck getting it running again. and we headed home about 2:30 pm to give it a go again with "5 in the morning".

Poor little critter is suffering but maintianing her appetite. Her pastern joint (ankle joint in humans) has been rubbed raw from the splints and walking on her knees that first few hours after birth.
For the squemish, don't look now

But she is doing better. Running a fever, but treating with PenGProcaine.
Back to the vet tomorrow to check again.
So how was your Saturday spent? it is quite obvious that the daughter and granddaughter spent the afternoon laying around with 5 in the Morning, soaking up the sun....



pictures don't lie, but then pics only catch a few seconds and they really only spent about an hour laying in the sun...

Of course with any sick animal we always give our best in the treatment sector, even having 5 in the Morning on the Barngoddess1's dining room table for treatment.



So after washing the little critters legs and wounds at the kitchen sink (that's why we have such a large counter next to the sink) and then clipping all the hair from her legs (handled it well), we bandaged and splinted and turned her back into the stall with Oreo. First thing to do is shuttle over to Oreo for a nursing.



So that's kind of how our weekend went. Did take off Saturday and Barngoddess and I bought rubber stall mats for Oreo's stall. And after leveling and packing a base, we placed the pads in the stall. Makes it 100% easier for 5 in the Morning to get around, nice solid even surface, with a little shavings and hay on the floor.

And of course the Barngoddess1 and the Little Princess are our Noble Assistants and keep us supplied in whatever we need or want. Barngoddess1 is making a harness type apparatus that will hold the little critters legs in the correct position once we get the wounds on the mend.

But knowing what to do.... and knowing how to do it... and knowing who to call for assistance....

Well that just lets us

Celebrate Life with God's little creatures.

Although I did shoot the Opossum that was in the stable the other night....

so you too

Celebrate Life