The December Life Of Blue And Remy

Remy doesn't much like the new, stony gravel in front of the barn door, but he'll walk across it to get inside:

Both Blue and Remy seem to insist on eating grass, even when there is so little left that I can't imagine what they're finding. On the other hand, they're both fat, so I know they aren't starving - and they always have hay available:

Who, us fat? Look who's talking:

Remy came in for a closeup and a kiss. Yes, he's that sweet. Blue doesn't much go for all that mushy stuff:

One of Blue's back legs seems stiff and sore again. This has been a recurring problem and seems to be locking stifles. The vet has seen him several times but apparently there is nothing for it except more exercise. That's why I began leaving them out all the time instead of putting them in a stall, though I must admit it also makes life easier for me (no stall to clean every day):

We've had alternating snow and no snow - a surprise every day:

The boys seem immune to the snow and cold. In fact, they seem to enjoy it:

And they've learned to get their hay when the cows aren't all crowded around the bale feeder:

Even when the ground is covered in snow, they seem to enjoy digging down for green(ish) grass:

I don't know if Blue made this trail or just used one made by someone else (he seemed to be flummoxed at the end of it). Either way, he looked pretty, with his black and white coat against the snowy background:

Remy comes running when he sees me - well, usually. This time he didn't:

Blue sometimes can't be bothered to even stand up. They sure aren't work horses, though I think Remy would enjoy a job to do. Blue would rather be a lazy pet:

Snapshots From Around The Farm

Evening, just before dark. I'd finished the evening chores and was returning to the house to settle in for the night when I noticed this glorious sunset:

 Another day, mid-afternoon, just up the county road from my house: A snowy cornfield, filled with geese:

 They were close to the road and were only mildly concerned when I stopped my car to take pictures. The white birds are adult Snow Geese, the dark birds are Canada Geese and the gray birds are immature Snow Geese:

 Early morning, as I walked out to the barn to tend to the animals. Overhead were multiple skeins of loudly honking geese. They continued honking and passing overhead all through that day:

 I've been attempting to tempt the cows to come into the barn for grain every morning like they used to do. Alas, they've been resistant. On this morning, they walked up almost to the barn and stopped, looking interested but unwilling to enter:

 I had the bowls of grain prepared and wanted to get them used to eating it, so I carried the feed out to them:

 Jasmine still has three bad hoof cracks but has been standing and walking normally, so I am hopeful. On this morning, though, she had her collar hooked over her ear. Jasmine is tame and friendly, perfectly willing to let me adjust it. Some of the others are not that trusting:

 Once her collar was adjusted, Jasmine gobbled her breakfast. She gets expensive, extra sweet feed with a heaping dose of trace minerals sprinkled on top. She also gets a quadruple portion because I'm trying to help her recover from those crippling hoof cracks:

 The miniature horses had been eating their breakfasts also, but they were inside the barn, locked in individual stalls to keep them from fighting. When they were done, I shooed them out the door. Remy looked around, probably wondering where he could start the most trouble:

 Blue walked over the new patch of gravel and then just stood there:

 He took a drink of water from the stock tank and then looked at me as if wondering what I was up to. I'd hoped to take a picture which would illustrate how fat he's gotten, but these pictures seemed to have a slimming effect on him. I wish photos did that for me:

 Refreshed and ready to begin their day, both Blue and Remy headed out into the field to join their cow family:

A Cold, Rainy Morning

The morning was cold, with stinging, numbing winds, and the sky promised rain or snow soon as I did the morning chores:

The previous day I'd feared that Jasmine was dying, but I found a horse feed, full of grain and drenched in molasses which she scarfed down like a starving cow. She began standing all day and keeping up with the herd. Things were looking up:


In the pigeon room, the baby who kept falling out of the nest was now blocked in and still alive in spite of the cold, along with its sibling:

The younger babies in the nest on the floor were also alive although I didn't want to get my hopes up. Babies at this time of year don't often live to adulthood:

The big machinery began pulling in to the corn field across the road from my house, and harvesting began even as cold rain began to fall. I knew the corn kernels would be processed through a dryer before storage, so there was no worry about the rain. Two years ago they harvested in October and I got better videos of the process. Just click here:


And then the gravel I'd ordered arrived. I put the mischievous horses in the barn and let the truck back in and dump seven yards of bank run gravel. Violet sauntered over to check it out:

The area in front of the barn door was muddy and messy, causing me to want something firmer for the animals to walk on. I didn't know if it would help their hooves, but I figured that it might:

I spent the morning on the tractor, scooping up and spreading the gravel. I would previously have worried about the bigger rocks, but now I consider them a potential blessing, thinking they might help break off hooves which grow too long. I was cold and miserable by the time I was done so I let the horses back out and went inside to warm up: