Failure

Some of you might remember this little guy from a previous post. Quite the little sneak that HBK. Always in some sort of trouble, keeping me from my work. Well, today was no exception. I returned home from taking Sanderson to school to see his mother standing near a thick patch of trees where an old house once stood in our pasture. She began calling to me and I knew something wasn't right. Yes, I said calling to me. Our cows rely on my husband and I to make things right. They moo "call-out" to us in times of trouble and different moos mean different things. I know, it sounds strange, but I promise it's true. Her calling was one of desperation.

I went into the house, radioed my husband, and slipped on his rubber boots. Mine were full of water and leaves from the rain last night and this morning. :( I always let my husband know if I'm out in the pasture by myself. You just don't know what might happen and at least they would know where to look for me. A quick head count told me that in fact, our HBK was missing. His mother's frantic actions and aggression towards me let me know that something was really not right. I decided to drive the truck instead of walking to look for our lost little guy.

Everette and I made our way around the pasture looking for his white little face. We had no luck. I looped back around and headed to the other side of our pasture near the old home site under the trees. As we rounded the back side, I saw him. He was lying down near in an area under the trees that was cross fenced. As I walked over to him I could see that he was wrapped in old barbwire. He was unable to stand from all of the wire.

I made a quick trip to the seed & feed next door and luckily found the owner there. He came back with me to cut the fence loose and help HBK get back up. We cut & removed the wire with no trouble. Luckily he didn't even have a scratch. Getting him to stand was another thing entirely. We finally manage to get him to stand long enough to fall in a better location. Things just didn't look good.

I made another trip back to the store to take Wayne back and pick up some penicillin for HBK. By the time I got it warm enough for an injection my father-in-law had arrived to help me get him up. You see, if you don't get them back on their feet, they'll die. Cows don't have much will to live, and exhaustion takes a big toll on a cow. Little HBK had fought that wire all night long and was completely worn out. If we couldn't at least get him into an upright position he'd be doomed for sure.

We found him exactly as I'd left him. I gave him the injection before we tried anything to get him going. We were finally able to get him in an upright position, propped up on some stacked wood we found in the left overs of the old house. He had no desire to stand. And even though he is a young 5 months, he already weighs over 200 pounds. There is just no way to make him get up if he doesn't want to. Believe me, I did some serious begging and tugging, but he wouldn't hear of it. We left him in his propped position and I told him I'd be back in a few hours to check on him. Surely with a little more rest, he'd be up to standing.

When I returned later this afternoon, it was just as I had hoped it wouldn't be. Our sweet little HBK decided he just couldn't handle the fatigue. He lost his will. I lost my battle. I failed his mother and as a cattle farmer today.

The Hobby Search

Do you have a hobby? Well, once upon a time long ago, so did I. Long before there were two little people dwelling within my home, I loved to garden. I don't mean like planting a garden of vegetables. I'm still not grown up enough to handle that. :) I mean planting beds and beds of flowers. Even when I was still living in apartments, I always had big pots of flowers on my deck. But once the children starting coming all that kinda stopped. And the fact that my sweet husband has a lawn service and does this kind of thing regularly, he ended up with my hobby. No, he didn't take it - I let him have it.

So - now that part of my ADHD therapy is to find a hobby, I've started looking at things that I once did that were a total waste of time. (Not really, but that's how my brain now views anything that isn't productive with a financial gain at the end.) Working in the yard at the Lake House this weekend had me feeling like my old self. I had forgotten how nice it is to just be by yourself with your thoughts. And the fact that I was constantly moving (ADHD thing) was just an added bonus. I think I rediscovered a hobby!

Our prairie soil yard does not allow for flower beds here, so we already has an abundance of large pots and urns around. I spent Sunday afternoon cleaning out all of them and getting them ready for their transformation. Of course I did a little research, because I want them to look spectacular. Just like from the pages of a magazine. In my searching I found this great website. They give you excellent examples of the different types of plants to group together for whatever exposure you're working with. Their recipes are super easy to recreate. I'm thinking of doing something like the following, which do you prefer?

Work-in-progress

This Saturday was spent with most of my family working on our new lake house. By "our" I mean my Dad and Step-mom. By "new" I mean "new to us". My Dad purchased a tiny little house late last year on a tiny little lake near their home. It was in foreclosure and the previous owners were right in the middle of a full renovation. Or at least that's how it looks to me. :)

I don't know if I've ever mentioned that there are four of us. This "us" is my three sisters and I. We all have great husbands and a load of children between us. There are 19 people in my immediate family. And we all live within 30 minutes of each other, with most of us living about 10 minutes from each other. We all think of this as a great blessing. We've seen times when some of us were several hours away. Luckily for now, everyone has settled close to home.

We spent the entire day in sorted shifts working on painting inside and out and doing yard work. I am not a painter. Absolutely hate it. I put myself in charge of all things outdoors which included raking pine straw, cleaning out flower beds, 4 little boys fishing and 2 little girls swinging. We all worked until it was dark. Needless to say, we've got a long way to go on "The Lake House", but we did make great strides Saturday. I hope to have pictures soon of our progress.

Daddy and Debbie treated us all to dinner at one of our two local restaurants. They were kind enough to seat us in the back room, since we were all dirty and smelly from our days work. Where we live that isn't anything out of the norm. They all just said "It don't Matter". Small town America, you've gotta love it. :)

Let the good times roll...

In case I haven't mentioned it, this week was Sanderson's spring break. Yes, I know, it was far too early. Our annual tradition for spring break, dating back to his K-4 year (he's now in 2nd grade), has been to visit Chuck E. Cheese's. This is a day that is entirely based around this chaotic place with no end in sight. We arrive before lunch and stay until we can't take it anymore. This year was no exception.

I got smart and visited their website before our visit. I joined their e-mail list and receive a couple of great coupons for our big day. We ate pizza, drank lots of Sprite, and gamed all day with our 140 tokens. Yes, I said 140 tokens. I am very happy to say that this was accomplished with a mere $32.00! Not too bad for a family of 4. When I said great coupons, I meant awesomely, amazing coupons.

I was quite amazed that our two crazed children tired of this chaos in a mere 2.5 hours. They were actually ready to go before the tokens ran out. We were forced to just put them into those ticket-spitting games. No method, just insert token, hit button, tickets come out. Maybe one this time or 50 the next. Who cares? We just needed to use up those tokens!

Then it was off to the ticket eater (counter). We actually had 525 tickets! A new record! The trip to the ticket store took forever and we ended up with pirate hooks, lizards, puzzles, bookmarks, and I could go on and on. The perfect end to a perfect day!

I think the best part was the surprise guest. Daddy took off early and spent the afternoon with us. It wouldn't have been the same without him. :)

Thoughtless Thursday

How simple is this? This table setting looks like something even I can do. :) Besides, I have 3 weeks left before Easter to plan this one. Surely, surely I can pull this off. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Did I mention......

I have been made aware that my blog never speaks about me directly. I am being accused of not revealing any personal details here. So? Who cares? Well, obviously someone does. And, just for you, I have this to share.


Did I mention that:


I am left-handed

I am allergic to yeast and everything that grows outside (I do mean EVERYTHING)

I work from home

I am afraid of Santa

I am the PTA president

I am ADHD (medicated - doing much better)

I am super organized

I talk WAY too much

I love the beach

I think that's enough for now. :)
Happy?