Well, we received our Christmas card from our friends in the Washington yesterday. The return address said "The White House", but the postal stamp said Crawford, TX. On the front of the card is a picture of The Red Room decorated for Christmas. Inside is the president's seal, a quote from the Psalms and a short message. There was no computer generated Christmas letter included, but then what would they write?
“The biggest news in 2004 is that Geo. was re-elected to be President of the United States again. We are proud to announce that the children graduated from college. Laura’s cookies won a contest and were considered better than Teresa’s….”
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Shopping
We shopped until we dropped yesterday. I'm not sure how there can be an entire mall full of clothing and we cannot find a thing we want to take home! We did get my daughter the blazer she will need for the national meats judging contest in Denver this January--we found it at one of the stores that sells Lands' End returns. I've found a lot in that little store over the years, and sometimes the tags are still in the pockets--turtlenecks and pants for $4, winter coats, snuggly robes. Very nice.
The Baby
Our little calf is doing well. I think my husband turned her and her mommy out of the medical pen yesterday, but I don't know for sure. The little calf is adorable! My daughter was trying to hold it on one side of the pen while its mommy was being checked, and even though it was so young, she had to really work to control it. Amazing! I have not heard how the other calves are doing--I'll have to ask.
The Hen House
Now that the nights are longer and the days are shorter, the egg supply is dwindling. We will need to get the timer working for the light in the hen house or we will not have enough eggs each day. This summer I had so many eggs I started asking everyone who came over if they wanted a dozen! One of the biggest problems with giving our eggs away is that most of our neighbors are Amish, and they all have eggs they want to give away, too!
Weaning
I think we are going to have to do something with Toothberry. She walked all the way down the lane and was grazing in the orchard today. That is too close to the road, so now we have to figure out how to keep a calf, who knows how to walk through barbed wire, inside the fence. I'm not sure if she is old enough to wean, but if she is, she may join the other calves in the weaning pen. We've had a very noisy farm here lately. About this time of the year our cows are pregnant and we want them to wean so that their bodies do not have to care for the unborn, provide milk for the last calf, and deal with the cold of winter. The calves are big enough to eat hay and corn, so they no longer need their mother's milk. We put the calves into a pen and leave the moms nearby so that they can rub noses, and see each other. If we were to move them too far apart, the moms would go looking for their young--and there is no knowing how far a cow would go! When they are weaned we will turn them out together again. However, right now they are busy "calling" to each other. Once one cow begins to bellow, the others join in. Sometimes the moms and calves moo until they begin to get hoarse. Mom will walk to the far end of the pasture and then call for junior to join her. From our perspective, it seems as though she should figure the situation out! There are always a few who seem not to understand why junior isn't coming. Mom moooooos; junior mooooooos. Mom mooooooos; junior mooooooos. Sigh.
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All right. I'll admit to it. We don't normally get a Christmas card from our President. They must be sending them out to everyone who worked for his re-election. We were all excited, and we certainly did enjoy opening that Christmas card!
Blessed Advent!
3 comments:
Let us correct the record. Mother and "half pint" calf are still in the shed. It is to wet and muddy for "half pint". Besides the cow likes the room service. Two servings of corn a day and a good bale of hay. When it dries up a little they will go out.
Wet, soggy and "muddy" farmer husband
A Christmas card from the President and First Lady! That is quite special indeed.
About the cows mooing. Perhaps they are in the holiday spirit and are lifting up their voices with bovine Christmas carols. After all, isn't there a verse that urges "let everything that has breath praise the Lord!" ;-)
How cool to receive a Christmas card from the President and his family. How will you preserve that precious card?
I see your muddy hubby posted today. Isn't that fun when the men come around and read our blogs :o)
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