Hey folks!

We got snow here today & it was the wet stuff so it has all melted & soaked into the ground. That will really help the grass.

You hear folks talk about Chicken TV - I probably have mentioned it myself but we now have Duck TV. One day last week the ducks came up to the house & Richard decided to throw some bread out to them. Guess what? They now come up to the house every day & in fact have now started using the dog’s water buckets. When ducks use water they make it FILTHY so the poor dogs don’t have clean water all the time. (We go out & change it in the day.) The ducks are really funny to watch.

SO what does that have to do with my blog title tonight? Absolutely nothing! I got another new toy this week:

Last fall when we were making apple sauce I ruined my stockpot that I used all the time - left it on whilst eating lunch & the bottom burnt beyond redemption. I have missed that pot SO much. Anyway we had to buy some stainless steel pans for making the yogurt etc but I just didn’t like them to cook with. So after Richard bought me the cast iron griddle for Christmas I purchased a cast iron skillet which I love. Then this past week we got the new stock pot. I LOVE it - it has been used most days this week. Cast Iron does take a bit of getting used to but once you are used to it, it cooks really well. Of course you can’t just wash it & leave it to dry. It will rust. You have to wash it, dry it & re oil it but the extra couple minutes is worth it. We are gradually going to replace all our old pans. The ones we are purchasing are ProLogic meaning that they have already been seasoned. PLUS another great thing is that they are made in the USA! YEE HaH!
Rosie Lee has a new halter. Sorry I don’t have a pic for you - will try to get one next week. We had to buy her a sheep halter as she is so small. She, of course, doesn’t like being halter trained but I am determined that she will be friendly.

Bossy is still with us - still looking very sick but eating & drinking.

Feeling tired tonight so headed to bed.

Have a blessed Sunday,

Liz

….when you have Hazel! As you are probably aware it has been Tuesday all day So that means that Michael works at the printers & I have to milk the cow in the evening. I chased Hazel for 25 minutes this evening. Y’know, I use the words “Stupid Cow” more frequently than I have ever done! LOL! She ran up & down the pasture & would not go in that barn or let me halter her. Of course Sir Loin was running beside her so at one point I decided to grab him. Bella & I nearly had him cornered when he jumped right through the barbed wire fence! So it was back to chasing Hazel. I didn’t let her rest and eventually she decided that maybe it would be a good idea to go into the barn & eat her grain. She only kicked twice so I did get her milked & Sir Loin found his way back through the fence to mama.

Believe it or not I came in feeling quite refreshed. Richard is going to town tomorrow so he is going to buy Hazel a permanent halter. Lilly needs a new one & Rosie Lee needs one too. That girl is REALLY strong for her small size.

Sleep well,

Liz

Yes we got quite the surprise this morning. Michael was out getting Hazel in to be milked when he saw something brown on the other side of the fence. Miss Lilly (a Dexter) had given birth!

Miss Rosie Lee, being so small, had obviously gotten herself under the fence & couldn’t get back to Mum. The pic above gives you some idea of the size. To the left is T-Bone’s rear end. He’s a Holstein but only 1 year old so not fully grown. Lilly is fully grown but see how small she is compared to T-Bone. Then there is Rosie on the far right. She was a little cold so I carried her up to the barn. Of course Lilly thought she had lost her calf so was running back & forth for a while until she realized all was well & that Rosie was in the barn. Michelle & I got her drinking & then shut her & Lilly in so that we can do some bonding PLUS it was really windy here today. Yesterday was an absolutely gorgeous day but the wind came up in the night & the dust was just a flyin’ today - horrid.

Now I know you’re curious about the name. As Michelle & I were walking up the field Michelle said we needed a flower name so after a while I came up with Rose. Yet again at the lunch table Richard asks who thought up the name Rosie & what a stupid name it was for a cow! His words were, “I need to make up the names from now on.” Anyway a few minutes later he comes out with, “Gotta go check my Rosie Lee on the way up the apples & pears.” I just looked at him & went “Huh?” Michelle was grinning from ear to ear as she knew what he was on about - they are SO much alike. Him & Michelle then explain that Rosie Lee is Cockney Rhyming Slang for a cup of tea & of course the “apples & pears” are stairs. Sometimes I wonder (Richard’s mum was a true cockney - to be a Cockney, you have to be born within the sound of Bow Bells in London.) Of course then I was able to say that the name I chose was just perfect as Rosie is brown, the color of tea.

Rosie is a beautiful color & has thick wavy hair. She has a lot of spunk in her though so we will have to do some training.

That was the start to our day. Hope you all had a good Easter. We had a great day yesterday but the adventures started again in the evening. Remember we put T-Bone & Chuck out to pasture on Saturday? Well by last night we had not seen them so were a little concerned. Once our friends had gone it was time for a walk. As we went out we saw them afar off but couldn’t tell if they were this side of the river or the other. Guess what? They had gone across the river & were now looking very forlorn on the bank on the other side. SO we walked along the river bank this side thinking that would entice them across. WRONG! They followed us on the other side but had no intention of crossing.

SO I headed back up the field & got Michael. He put his jammers (swimming trunks) & a sweatshirt on. He knows the river well as he swims in it every summer but it’s a little cold this time of year. In fact there was ice floating in it so that tells you the temps. He took the halters & waded across. I wish I had had my camera. He got T-Bone but Chuck wouldn’t cooperate so he pulled T-Bone across. At one point T-Bone & him were playing Tug-of-war in the river - Michael won! Thankfully Chuck followed & so Richard walked them back up to the top of the pasture whilst I drove Michael home. That water was COLD.

Saying all that you would think the boys would now know where to get water. NO! Of course last night they were starving so we fed them hay which had always been our intention anyway. This afternoon Richard goes out & comes back in saying that he thought the boys were thirsty. When I went out tonight T-Bone was still bellowing so I took them water & they drank 3 buckets! Incredible! They have access to a long stretch of river PLUS we have the slough so there is no excuse for them to be thirsty. Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!

Dear ol’ Bossy was looking a little brighter today in her eyes so hoping that is a good sign. Didn’t seem to have so much muck streaming out of her either.

Time for bed here - loads to do but sleep is calling.

Have a great week,

Liz

Look what arrived yesterday!

When we moved here we inherited a garden cart & that thing has been such a blessing. A wheelbarrow doesn’t hold half as much & it is not as stable. Anyway our old garden cart was getting rickety & this winter began to fall apart along with having what seemed a constant puncture. SO we decided to invest in a new one from Carts Vermont. As you can see, this one is very sturdy & the great thing is, the tires are solid so no more punctures. I christened it today by cleaning out the barn.

Today has been beautiful here - only in the 40’s but no wind & lots of sunshine. It has been a good day - I feel like we got a lot accomplished. Don’t you love days like that! Michelle & I worked on stamps all morning. Richard cleaned the hallway which was great as it was in DESPERATE need of it. We have a very large hallway/entranceway that is not part of the main house as such & leads upstairs or downstairs with several doors going off of it. It is the main thoroughfare for everything & everyone so easily gets dirty & cluttered. It’s looking wonderful out there now. Thanks darlin’!

I didn’t cook a big lunch today - we just had egg mayonnaise sandwiches with fresh cake, raspberries & custard for dessert.

After lunch I cleaned out the cow barn & then Michelle, Daniel, Hannah & I went down the field to shut all the gates. We have three long barbed wire fences that separate the fields in half. Try as we might we could not get the first one to close so had to enlist Richard’s help. The second one was already closed and Michelle & I managed to do the third one by ourselves although Michelle got scratched by the barbed wire.

It was beautiful down there. Surprisingly there is still some ice on the water but not thick & only in certain places. Not safe enough to walk on.

When we came back we haltered T-Bone & Chuck & took them down to the field. They are glad for their freedom as since they broke down the fence they have been living in the old pig pen. Like Michelle said, we probably won’t see them all summer.

Bossy is still with us - she was up eating & drinking a little today so that is a good sign.

Once we were finished with the cows it was back to stamps. Got done what we needed to by which time it was gone 6pm. Hannah is normally hungry way before that but today she was happy & I was so thankful. It was then time to clean the main house, feed & bathe kids etc.

We are having friends over for lunch tomorrow & then doing church here so Michelle & I got all the music ready. I love alot of the new music but there is something special about those old Easter hymns - the words & tunes are timeless.
Once the music was ready I then had to go out & milk Hazel. I milked her back quarters out fine but then she started to kick. Milk went everywhere. What a pain! Richard came down to help but she doesn’t like him so wasn’t that cooperative even with him holding her head. Thankfully Michael came home so I held her head whilst he finished milking her out. She kicked a couple times but we won the battle. I am so thankful for the new concrete floor in the barn - so much easier to clean than the old mud one.
Boy, was I glad for a shower when I came in & now I’m looking forward to bed. One busy day but we are blessed - so no complaints here.

Wishing you a very blessed Easter. We have SO much to celebrate.

Liz

You would think Bossy was 20 instead of 3 with all the problems we have had with her. If you remember when we got her first she had that infected jaw, then last summer she got upset because we redid the barn & so she got milk fever. NOW she has a bad case of pneumonia! It’s pretty serious. She has always had a cough & has always been thin since her milk fever but these last couple weeks she has just been dragging. This week she got worse & was really coughing & finding it hard to breathe but she has been eating so we really weren’t too worried. In fact we thought she was just mad at us for drying her up & not giving her any grain - when you dry cows up you stop graining them. BUT alas, today we had to call the vet out as she was really sick. He has given her a long lasting antibiotic & a calcium drench. We’re just praying she’ll make it as the vet wasn’t that positive but then he told us she would never come back into milk last summer but Bossy proved him wrong so let’s hope she does it again.

I’ll keep you updated.

Hope you all have a blessed Easter.

Liz

Well today saw the release of these great Kritters. There are four in today’s release along with 4 sayings. Each month will see two more coming out. Tom Allen, the artist behind these stamps, has such a delightful way of making these Kritters seem so alive.

Look what Sherrie did with the Sleepy Kitten:

Isn’t it just adorable!

The other stamps out today are:

Helpful Chipmunks

Friends don’t mind

Bunny Presents

Well Sir Loin got his first halter put on him tonight and he did not appreciate it. It always makes me laugh as they fling themselves flat on the ground & play dead. Of course I didn’t give in & eventually got him in the barn. By which time Bossy decided she wanted to eat the hay in the milking stall so I had to push her out so that Hazel & Sir Loin could go in.

Poor Hazel is SO engorged. I’ve milked off as much as I could & hopefully Sir Loin will eat well during the night. Michael does most of the milking here which is a real blessing as it is quite time consuming.
Richard came down at the end & as we left the barn Miss Lilly went in so we quickly went back & shut the door & got hold of her. She was not too pleased but stood still. I could not feel any baby moving so maybe she is not as far on as we had been told OR maybe the baby is as stubborn as her. At least we caught her so that was good.

Can you tell I’m not getting much work done here tonight just chatting with you all. I am taking the evening off as it was 2:45am this morning when I rolled into bed after finally finishing the Thomas Kinkade images & releasing Friendly Kritters. I promised you a Friendly Kritters card last week & never got around to it so I’ll be back in a few with a sample.

Liz

Before I tell you his name I have to tell you that Richard’s imagination was running riot again so as we were sat at the dinner table on Saturday he decides that the calf should be knighted & called Sir Loin!

SO that is the little guy’s name - Sir Loin.

Yesterday I went down to the cows & got some great pictures. Miss Lilly is quite protective over him so she should make a good mum if she ever does give birth.

I have to agree with folks about Sir Loin’s eyes & nose - it really does look like someone took some black eyeliner to them - they are so well defined.

After he got up & stretched the goats had come in. Of course they were looking at him to see what he was & he was looking at them thinking the same. The one in the forefront is Fuzzy, then Milky Bar is just visible & beside him is Goat Chop. See the old house in the background - that is an old Migrant’s workers house. One of these days we are going to convert it as it has a lot of character & would make a great vacation home. (I like to dream big!)

Someone made the comment that poor Hazel needed a breast pump! LOL! Right now, we are her breast pump. For those of you who don’t know, a regular cow can adjust the amount of milk she produces so there is just the right amount for the calf - hence you don’t see ranchers out milking all their cows. Lilly will be able to do this too which is just as well as she still will not let us near her. A dairy cow is very different and cannot do adjust her milk production so she has to be milked twice a day. If we didn’t, Hazel would get mastitis & become very sick. Once Sir Loin is a couple months old we will only have to milk once a day. For the first 5 days Hazel’s milk (or any animals for that matter) contains alot of colostrum so we don’t drink it. It doesn’t go to waste though - all the chickens are enjoying it along with the dogs. Once Thursday comes we will be back to fresh milk - YAY!

Today is Michael’s 18th birthday but because he works all day on a Tuesday printing the local paper we had pizza, cake & gave him his present last night. He has been learning to play the guitar for several months now & is actually persevering with it. In fact last week I could even make out the song he was playing so that shows improvement. Up till now he has been using mine so we gave him one of his own. He was thrilled. I have had a Seagull (make of guitar not a bird) for many, many years & just love it so we bought him the same. It is a Canadian made guitar.

Off out now to milk Hazel. Have a good evening.

Liz

Good morning to you all.

When I went out to the cow pasture this morning there was this little guy sat in the hay with Hazel licking him. Of course I didn’t have a camera so ran back up to the house.

He seems fit & healthy and at this stage is very cute. Dairy bulls are notorious for being nasty so we will have to make him into a steer at a later stage. BUT for now we are trying to get him to drink. He’s not quite got the idea & poor Hazel’s udder is so full & hard that things are a little difficult. Michael has milked some of it off but we have to be careful so that Hazel does not get milk fever. Her udder, as you can see, is HUGE.

Thanks for all the comments on the glitter. The ones that said “Bull or boy” guessed right & that was my guess by the way. The winners are:

Maxene C.

Dana V

Anne Marie T.

Barb D

Jeanette

Tobi

Rose A.

Christina V

Lynn M.

Julia

Laurie P.

Jan T.

Donna

Barb W

Glitter Queen

SHaron D

Chia W

Sheryl H

Claudia V

Claire

I will send you all an email to confirm.

Congrats & hope you all have a great weekend.

Liz

…..we do have new cardstock! Yes I know a little bit of a difference but to all crafters out there, just as exciting.

On Monday, 17 (55lb) boxes of Prism cardstock arrived here. To say it was a little overwhelming was an understatement but Monday night Michelle & I tackled them all. We had to do a major re-org in the stock room to even find a home for it but it is now all situated & tonight I was able to get it up on the store. We are discontinuing the old packs that we used to carry & are now stocking all the Prismatic Packs which are color coordinated in the Dark, Medium, Light or Iced, Frosted & Intense so much more user friendly. For example here is the Baby Blue Pack:

Now to let you into a secret so don’t tell anyone. LOL! (Spread the word far & wide!) Up until now these packs have only been available in 12″ x 12″ which if you are a cardmaker you know is not very convenient BUT Prism kindly agreed to pack them in 8 1/2″ x 11″ just for us THANK YOU Mark, Jamie, Melissa & the rest of the Prism team - we really appreciate you doing this for us.

SO make sure you check all the fabulous combinations available. The Prismatic Packs come in 30 different combinations with 15 sheets per pack (5 of each color.)
As for Hazel, that poor girl is bursting. You/we thought her udder was big last week - it just keeps getting bigger. I thought she was going to have it last night as when I went out at 1 a.m. she was pacing back & forth and had some discharge. So I came in & slept on the couch until 3 am & went out to check her again but she was happily chomping hay so I rolled into bed to get a few hours sleep.

The weather this week has been fabulous & guess what? The grass is coming up - just small blades but grass nonetheless so that means spring is definitely on its way.

Other than that we’ve been working hard making stamps & getting orders out. There are two great releases coming out next week so I will have to get some sneak peaks to you this weekend.

For now it’s time to head down to the barn to check on Hazel & then into bed.

Sleep well,

Liz