The Good Old Days

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"I wish there was a way to know you were in the good old days before you actually left them" - Andy Bernard from The Office

We don't watch a whole lot of television at our house.  We don't have cable and I'm not interested in most of the stuff on network TV.  I must admit, however, that we have Netflix and binge watch certain programs on there.  We've recently watched all 9 seasons of "The Office."  The Office was a quirky show about employees at a paper company in Scranton, Pennsylvania.  The writers were so skilled and the show was light-hearted and the characters kept us laughing out loud frequently - more so than any other show.

Last night we watched the show's finale and it was an emotional show.  The characters were all going their separate ways and Andy Bernard said the quote, "I wish there was a way to know you were in the good old days before you actually left them."  To me, that was probably the best quote of the entire show.  That's saying a lot, because the show was filled with noteworthy and funny quotes.

Isn't that quote accurate, though?  I'm a very nostalgic person - always remembering the past, reminiscing about "the good old days."  I was just looking through some old photos tonight, like the one below of our family taken in January 2009.  My, how things have changed in only ten years.

I look back at that photo and think, "Those were the good old days."  The kids were young, all living at home.  We were younger.  I looked at more photos.

Things seemed so carefree and happy.

The good old days...

But then as I think of it, even with all the smiles and happiness, 10 years ago would we have said it was the good old days?  I don't think so.  We were going through things that we wouldn't have considered "good old days."  The good old days are elusive.

As I think on it, I think Andy Bernard was right about the good old days.  Relish each moment.  Cherish each day.  Live life to the fullest for the good old days are right now.

The Red Oak Borer Strikes Again!

There was a telltale sign sitting at the base of the big water oak tree in the pasture.  A big branch had broken off and fallen to the ground.

I looked up and saw more limbs without leaves on them!  Water oak trees without leaves in the middle of summer is a bad sign.

Looking over the canopy of the tree, there were leaves, but they were turning brown.  Not a good sign at all.

I walked around the tree and could see bark falling off the big tree in big sheets.  This tree is not dying.  It's dead.

At the very base of the tree, I could see holes.  This is evidence like you would find at a crime scene.  The holes are the fingerprint of the killer.  The borer beetle!  He strikes again.  He's killed several trees in our side pasture.

To give you an idea of the size of this tree, it measures 3 feet across.

This tree has some sentimental value.  Seventeen years ago when we moved into this house, we built a tree house around the tree using the wood from a pine tree from mom & dad's house that had been struck by lightning.  We fastened a cable around the tree about 15 feet up.  You can see that the tree has grown around the cable in places.

The cable runs down in a southward direction toward the barn.

It meets a horizontal crossbeam and there is a pulley and a handle that is our zip line.  Our kids, their friends and the neighbor kids have spent countless hours playing on the zip line, laughing, screaming, and enjoying themselves.

Here is a look from the bottom of the zip line back up to the dead tree.

The tree at the bottom of the zip line has completely grown around the landscape timber crossbeam behind the tubing of an old John Deere plow.

I'll have to call someone to take this tree down.  It is just too large for us to try to do it ourselves.  Bringing it down will be a sad time in many ways as I'll think about all the good times had under the shade of that old tree.  We'll get a lot of firewood from the tree, but we already have a pretty good inventory of firewood thanks to the work of the borer beetle on other water oaks we had!

Looking on the bright side, we were looking for a place to plant our Anniversary Live Oak.  I told Tricia when we take the old water oak down, we'll plant our Anniversary Live Oak right near where the old water oak stood.  Perhaps it can provide shade and fun for our future grandchildren and great-grandchildren one day.

Testing to See if Daisy, Rosie, and Clarabelle Will Be Calving This Spring

I can distinctly remember the night that Tricia and I found out that we were going to have our first child.  It was an exciting time!  We went to the store and bought an EPT pregnancy test like the one you see below and when we saw the "+" sign, we were ecstatic.  I remember calling my mom and dad and Tricia's mom and dad and telling them that they were going to be grandparents.

In testing for pregnancy in cows, unfortunately, you can't use an EPT test to determine if the cow is pregnant or 'open.'  Humans, when pregnant, produce a hormone called hCG, that passes into the urine and can be readily detected in a urine test.  Cows do not produce human hormones (obviously) that can be detected in the urine .  Besides, it would be a logistical nightmare to follow Daisy, Rosie, Clarabelle, and Luna trying to get them to pee on the stick every time they lifted their tails.

There are other options:
1.  You can wait until they calve.  Waiting 9 months to determine if they are indeed pregnant causes you to lose a lot of valuable time if the cow was never bred.
2.  You can have the cow palpated.  After 2 months of the cow's exposure to the bull, a veterinarian can come out and palpate your cow.  This will cost you a $50 farm call plus in vet fees.
3.  You can have an ultrasound done on your cow.  This is normally done at the sale barn.  But we aren't selling our cows.
4.  After a month, you can capture a blood sample.  The BioPRYN test tests for a specific protein in the blood to confirm/deny pregnancy.  It costs around $2.50 per test.

We are going to try the BioPRYN test.  We had a friend that lives down the road come and teach us how to take the sample.  The blood sample is taken from a tail bleed.  The first thing you do is lift the tail vertically.  This is a messy job.  The cow will get nervous and she will empty out her intestines and green-grass poop and it will splash all over you.  Trust me, I learned this from experience.

You feel for the vein with your thumb.  Have a syringe and needle handy and be prepared to act fast!

Insert the needle and pull back on the syringe and it should start filling up with blood. 

We quickly captured 2 vials of blood - one from Rosie and one from Daisy.  We tried and tried to obtain a sample from Clarabelle.  We poked her perhaps 25 times.  I'm not exaggerating.  We even tried to get a sample from the vein in her neck.  We were unsuccessful in getting a blood sample from her and have come to the conclusion that she does not have veins - not any that we can find anyway.

We will send the two vials off for testing to an LSU lab in Franklinton, Louisiana and should get a report back soon to determine if the two girls are carrying a calf.  We'll share that report with you when we get it back.  For Clarabelle, we'll have to get our veterinarian to palpate her.  We'll share that news as well.

Cole Crop Planting in the Middle of Summer

Looking ahead!  In gardening, planning and preparation are key.  If you are planting from seed, some things, like broccoli, take 100 - 150 days to mature.  You've always got to be thinking weeks or months ahead.  Right now, the garden is pretty slow except for the okra.  It is amazing how fast okra blooms produce pods.  I'm also watching the sweet potato vines consume the garden.

I got out my LSU AgCenter Vegetable Planting Guide and discovered that if I want to be harvesting delicious cole crops this fall/winter, then I'd better get on the ball and plant some seeds.  There is nothing wrong with waiting until much later and going to the feed store and purchasing plants that are 6 to 8 inches tall and transplanting them into your garden.  In fact, sometimes when I have germination problems, I do that very thing.  There is just something authentic and pure about putting a dead seed in the ground and watching it grow.

I filled seed pots with seed starting mix and pulled all of my seeds out of the freezer.  First, I planted some broccoli.  I'm going with Waltham broccoli, which is a traditional broccoli.  I'm also planting a Romanesco Italia broccoli.  It is light green and has a very interesting feature.  It has numerous spiral heads that have a 'nutty' flavor.

As far as cauliflower is concerned, I planted three varieties.  First, Erfurter, a traditional while big-headed cauliflower.  Next, a Green Macerata cauliflower, which, as the name suggests, is green.  Finally, a Purple of Sicily cauliflower that has a big purple head.  I also planted a flat of brussels sprouts even though we haven't had success with them for the past several years as the little heads burst open instead of making the "little cabbages."

As far as cabbage is concerned, I planted three varieties.  One is a variety simply labeled "Cabbage," that I bought at the feed store years ago.  The next is Early Jersey Wakefield cabbage and then finally, Brunswick cabbage.

I simulated a rainfall on the flats of freshly planted seed and put them up on a table on the patio.  With our warm weather, these ought to sprout quickly if I keep the soil moist.

I'll have to remember each evening and morning to give them a good soaking.  I would also be wise to keep a sharp eye out for the cats as I don't want them to jump up on the table and wreak havoc on my seed starts. 

Sowing a cold weather crop in the peak months of summer requires patience - a virtue I haven't got much of!

The Electric Fence Grounded Out - Solved It!

As we drove into the driveway from church today, I looked out in the pasture and saw our two little bulls, Junior and Astro.  They were in the wrong paddock.  How in the world did they get through the electric fence?  Two strands of electric fence, actually.  The animals have been trained (by being shocked) to be fearful of the electric fence.  They normally keep their distance, but today, they went through the fence like a hot knife through butter.  Either the charger stopped working or the fence is grounded out somewhere.  I had to find it.  I went to the drawer that holds all my fencing materials and picked up my electric fence tester and headed out to the pasture.

My normal course of action is to walk out and trace the entire electric fence, looking for a place where I can find that the 'hot' wire is touching the fence wire, or a t-post, or maybe a limb has fallen across the hot wire, grounding it.  As I started walking toward the perimeter fence that runs north and sound and then east and west, I noticed that an oak tree in the neighbor's yard had fallen.  It is a water oak tree, one that is susceptible to borer beetles and rot.

This could be where the problem lies.  I walked closer to the downed tree.  You can begin to see the cross-fencing.  Oh, no!  Did I have a big fencing job today that I wasn't expecting?

Fortunately, the tree didn't fall across the fence, but fell against it.  The fence was still intact and standing, but we needed to investigate further.

As I surveyed the scene closer, I think I can spot the problem.  The treetops poking through the fence appears to be pushing through, perhaps touching the hot wire.

Here is a close-up shot of the problem.  This is just one of many places where both branches AND fence wire is touching the hot wire.  In these cases, the fence is "grounded out," and this results in the electrical charge going into the ground and not down the fencing.  This is precisely why the bull calves were bold enough to go through the electric fence.  No electric charge to pop them.

I had also brought an ax out with me and I began to chop all of the branches that were pushing against the fence, throwing them back across into the neighbor's yard.  With more chopping, the fence began to be free of all of the branches causing our problem.

At last the hot wire that runs along the perimeter fence was freed!

One last thing to do.  I hooked up my tester to see if the fence was conducting a charge.  Yes!  All five lights were flashing, letting me know that the problem was solved.

I put the bull calves back where they belonged.  They'll test out the fence soon enough and will be shocked (pardon the pun) to discover that the fence works again.  They'll once again build a healthy respect for the fence and stay where they are supposed to stay.

Eggs in August

This year the egg production of our hens have held up nicely even during the hot summer months.  I attribute that to supplementing the rice we feed them with a bit of laying pellets to boost the protein levels.  The hens have responded and the normal fall-off of egg production in the summer didn't happen to such a large extent as in previous years.

One of Benjamin's daily chores is to gather eggs and to close up the laying boxes at night so that the hens don't roost in the laying boxes and poop on all the hay.  Initially, this worked wonders in keeping the eggs clean.  No more time was spent cleaning chicken poop off of the eggs.  It made Benjamin's job easier and he was happy.  Until here recently.

Benjamin has been returning from egg gathering in a foul mood.  Sorry.  It seems that we have a chicken that is breaking eggs and eating them.  The resulting yolk gets all over the other eggs, making egg cleaning a tedious and arduous task.  Why would a chicken resort to such cannibalistic behavior?

If chickens begin eating eggs, it can be difficult to break them of the habit.  Then they teach other chickens that the eggs are food.  Not good!  One reason chickens eat their eggs is a lack of protein in their diet.  We've solved that issue, so it can't be that.  Another is a calcium deficiency in their diet.  We have crushed oyster shells in a big bowl where they can eat it at will.  It's not that either.  Yet another reason is overcrowding.  It is a little crowded at night in the hen house, but that's when they roost - not when they lay their eggs.  Probably not that either.

We have had a few hens get broody lately and that is Tricia's theory.  She hypothesizes that the broody hens are laying eggs and then not getting off the laying box to let other hens lay.  This gives other hens not a lot of room to lay eggs.  Fighting ensues and eggs get broken and eaten.  The only way we've found to minimize this is to gather the eggs around late-morning and then again in the afternoon.  This doesn't solve the issue, but at least the clean eggs are picked up prior to having them broken and covered in egg white and yolk.

We'll see if the egg eating stops.  I certainly hope so.  Meanwhile, we picked up a small egg yesterday.

Here is a normal sized egg for comparison. 

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Normally, we collect a few small eggs when pullets first begin to lay.  All of our chickens have been laying for well in excess of a year, so we don't know why a small egg was laid. 

We love our chickens and enjoy eating those delicious country eggs.  Unfortunately, one of our hens has decided she likes the taste of the eggs, too.  Hopefully, she will break that habit and leave plenty for us.

Big Boy Does Not Like the Dog Days of Summer

We never quite get acclimated to July and August in South Louisiana.  It is hot and humid and those are just the facts.  We deal with it as best we can, often asking each other, "When do you think the first cold front will blow through?"  While we can go inside in the nice air conditioning and sit under a fan to cool off, the animals don't have that luxury.  Big Boy, our Great Pyrenees dog, loathes the summer.  With his big furry coat, he is not exactly cut out for this climate.  Great Pyrenees dogs come from a mountainous region bordering Spain and France.  Needless to say, the climate is a bit different in our lowland, swampy locale.

Big boy, however, has ways of trying to stay cool that doesn't include air conditioners or fans.  He digs holes.  Did I say holes?  I meant to say craters.  Although he has plenty of shade in his hangout in 'the grove' underneath the trampoline, Big Boy still seeks cooler temps.  Where does he find it?  In the cool dirt, of course.  A freshly dug hole unearths soft dirt untouched by the summer sun and heat.  I know it is hot and don't really begrudge his excavations as I know it cools him off.  He's a dog.  A Hot Dog.

It's just that it s never just one hole.  You see, that dirt he lays in doesn't stay cool.  It warms up due to Big Boy's body heat and the ambient temperature.  This provokes him to dig another hole...  And another and another.  I've gotten to the point where I have placed cinder blocks, ladders, wagons and all sorts of items around the base of a tangerine tree so he doesn't dig around it, expose its roots, and kill it.  This eyesore of a random assortment of digging barriers I've laid out would get us kicked out of a subdivision, if we lived in one.

The constant digging has loosened dirt and this is causing erosion problems during big rains.  This has caused me to use cinder blocks to build a retaining wall to keep Big Boy's dirt from washing down the ditch during big rains.  This was a lot of work and I'd be lying if I told you that I didn't look over indignantly at Big Boy while installing the erosion-slowing wall.

I just wish Big Boy would listen to the wise words of Will Rogers, who once said,

"If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop digging."