Sunday, January 17, 2016

Winter in the Panhandle


Per the usual of the Texas Panhandle, our winter has been full of ups and downs in weather and temperature. We enjoyed a warm beginning to winter followed by an ice storm over Thanksgiving, a blizzard the day after Christmas, frigid cold, and finally, a couple of freezing fog days. Today, I took advantage of the fog to capture some photos of our heifer herd. These girls will be having their first calves in the next couple of months. We're looking forward to the calves they'll have, and you should look forward to cute calf photos! Until then, here's some snowy and icy cows.



Above: This is Patches. Patches is one lucky cow. She was orphaned as a calf and raised by my mother-in-law on a bottle. As a yearling, Patches fell into our trash pit and was stranded for a few days. After being rescued from the pit, Patches was nursed back to health, and later, was gifted to Royce and I by my father-in-law. We're hoping for a healthy calf this spring!









Above: While the other heifers were checking me and the camera out, these girls took advantage of the less crowded hay wagon and chowed down. Hay helps them stay warm, which is why we sure to always keep a plentiful supply available to them.

Wednesday, January 13, 2016

Christmas in the County 2015 - Gift Reveal!



For the second year in a row, I participated in the Christmas in the Country blogger gift exchange, and once again, I really enjoyed myself! Not only is it great to meet other bloggers, but really learning their tastes is my favorite part. As it turns out, this December and January have been absolutely crazy hectic for me (hence why I sent my gift on the last day of the deadline and am posting my gift reveal the day after the deadline), but taking a few minutes out of my crazy schedule to research my chosen blogger, shop for her, and get her package in the mail was incredibly refreshing. Also, receiving my gift was a wonderful pick-me-up as well. I know the suspense is killing you so I won't keep you waiting any longer.

I sent to Kellie from Kellie For Ag. She has an obvious love for beef cattle so when I stumbled on some cowhide coasters, I knew she had to have them! Turns out, I was spot on, or so Kellie said in her gift reveal, which you can read more of here: http://kellieforag.com/christmas-in-the-country-gift-exchange/. Kellie, it has been a pleasure getting to know you via blog *ahem* stalking, and I look forward to continue to follow you. You do a great job advocating for agriculture!

As for my gift reveal, I received a perfect gift from Darleen of Guernsey Dairy Mama from Silverton, Oregon. Turns out, she has fantastic taste in books and sent me The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory. I had seriously just finished reading Gregory's series that chronologically comes prior to the Tudor Court series so Darleen couldn't have had better timing. For Rori and Ranger, Darleen included a reindeer squeaky toy, which they love to fight over. To round out the package, Darleen added some local chocolates and a coffee mug with the Silverton Foxes mascot. I love to drink my tea out of it and be reminded of my new friend in Oregon. Thank you so much, Darleen, for such a thorough research effort, the letter, Christmas card, and for nailing this gift exchange! You rock!



And as always, thanks to the awesome ladies who put this exchange on. Y'all are the best! Check out the linkup to see what other bloggers received and sent!