Weaning

The cows came home...literally. 

 Mike brought all the pairs (the cows and their calves) home from their summer pastures this last week in anticipation of weaning.  

These old girls haven't had grain all summer.  It can get pretty rough at the feed bunk. 

The big white butt belongs to one of the bulls.  When his lady friends arrived back on the scene, he refused to stay where he's supposed to stay.  We gave up and he got his way.

"Has anyone seen my mom?"

I love #44.  Her white face makes me smile.  Isn't she pretty?

{Mike doesn't share the same love for her that I do.}

These wee ones look like they're hiding behind their mamas' skirts. 

Sweet babies.

It hasn't rained for many days and freshly weaned calves don't do well with dust.

We'll wait a few more days before we separate them from their mamas.

But eventually, the time will come and

with a few months and a whole lotta corn these little darlings ...

...will become something like this...

"I feel fat today.  I'm having a fat day.  Do I look fat to you?  I only had some corn for breakfast.  Then last night I had some corn for supper.  Oh yeah, and then for lunch yesterday - yup, corn again.  I can't help myself.  I feel so bloated."

Have you had your beef today?  I know it's hard when they're lookin' right at ya!

The farmer and the farmer's wife.

Becky

Supper

EVERY night at our house...

Kids:  "What's for dinner, Mom?"

Mom:  {Insert here ANY kind of supper-like menu that may provide one or two nutrients that doesn't include BEEF and involves a vegetable}

Kids' reaction...

Mom: "...or we could work on our chores all evening.  Maybe do some cleaning.  How about those flashcards?  We could fix fence for dad or clean out horse stalls. Wait! Wait! I've got an idea, you guys start planning meals and doing the grocery shopping."

Kids' reaction...

That's what I thought!

Shut it.

Good luck with supper.  I feel your pain.

Becky

The Halloween Mantel

So I drag all the boxes of Halloween Decor out of the storage closet in the basement on Thursday - that's the first step, ya know.  On Monday, #4 suggested that I might want to get something decorated and put things "back in their place".  I hate it when my own words come back to haunt me. 

{pun intended}

On Wednesday, we took action.

Instead of strewing it throughout our home, I/we decided to put most of the coolest stuff on the mantel in the basement...like a good blogger should do.  I always feel like a loser when I'm spending time perusing my favorite blogs and they are showing off their divinely decorated seasonal mantels and mine is empty, bare, deserted, lonely...you get the point.

{ Keep in mind - there is no natural light at 7:30 in the evening in the basement. My attempts at editing the yellow out were not good.  Forgive me.}

Here's what we did.

Old birdcage found in the dumpster after an auction...I have no pride.

Cool old mirror from my summer trip to Indy.

The makeshift shelf came from above a big window in an abandoned house...yes, I did ask if I could have it.

The hurricane is filled with skeleton parts from the dollar store.

The crows are from Jo-Ann Fabrics.

I love crows!  Does anyone else have this obsession with crows?

The signs came from the dollar store for. . . a dollar each.

The "mantel scarf" is black cheesecloth that the kids had fun ripping apart.

#4 decorated his room with orange lights.  He couldn't wait to show his roommate . . . #1.

Oh, and he was especially excited to see #1's reaction when he found the spider that he had hidden under his sheets.  Ahhh, the beauty of being the little brother.

Happy haunting-

Becky

Company's Coming

Hey, girls!

My sister is coming this weekend!  I'm so excited for her to be here because I have lots of projects planned for us to do together {she doesn't know that, yet... she says with an evil taskmaster tone}.

I had to show you how we decorated the bed in The Little Red House for her stay.

Do I mean anything by this?  Of course, I do.  Hellooo... she's my sister! 

 Even better...my LITTLE sister.

The idea for the "Wicked" banner came from Miss Mustard Seed. 

I love her stuff and want to grow up to be just like her.

The bed was my grandmother's.  It was 1960's maple - not 1930's oak - therefore, I felt comfortable painting it FLAT black.  Think it looks cool with the wood on the walls.

The holster came from a little antique store in Franklin, IN.  Quite the cowboy look.

For the "cowhide" pillow, I tea-stained black and WHITE fabric that were curtains in the girls' room.  Then sewed them together with chunky flat-fold seems.

The witch pillow...I ADORE the witch pillow.  Mostly because I love using freezer paper stencils.  I used the CriCut to cut a stencil of the witch - ironed it on to the fabric {waxy side down} - then used soft black to paint the witch onto the fabric/drop cloth.  Then whip it into a pillow. 

Sidebar:  I get all of my "pillowforms" from Goodwill.  Usually, throw pillows are only a dollar and after a wash they are more than great under another homemade pillow cover.

The dress form is dressed in a thrift store black witch-like dress and draped in orange organza.  The orange came from the fabric bin at Goodwill.  Kinda fun, huh?

I'll share our weekend projects soon.

Sleep tight!

Becky

Cattle For Sale

Happy Sunday evening! 

Hope you've all had a relaxing and/or productive weekend.  Whichever you prefer.

I saw this photo in the September edition of Country Sampler.  I'm not usually one for stuff THIS primitive but the sign on the wall caught my attention. 

 

We don't have pigs anymore but, hey, we've got some cattle around. 

Here's how it went...

Found the perfect rough-sawn board in the barn.  Spray painted it black.  Did a reverse stencil thingy-thing.  Cut out the letters on the Cricut and used spray adhesive to stick them on the board.  The edge is masking tape.

Spray painted the whole thing with white paint.

It wasn't perfect when I took the letters and tape off...but that's the way we want it now, don't we?

I abused it with the sander and rubbed a coat of "Early American" stain over the whole thing.

The result is a vintage-been-on-a-fencepost-for-30-years look.

I'm STILL squealing with delight when I walk through the dining room

. 

My cowgirl model likes it too.

Later Taters-

Becky

Wanted: Desk

Well...I needed another desk for the office. 

{Actually, just another flat surface to pile papers on.}

So, I went to Goodwill.

For $20.00 I came home with this solid wood table.

See the fun stuff painted around the edge? 

  

The cat thought it a perfect place to take an afternoon bath.

Then...

...I kicked the cat off...

... sanded the heck out of the top...

...painted the base black...

...re stained the top...

...distressed the base...

...and waxed the whole thing with clear wax.

Unfortunately, all the fun edge painting had to go.  No time for pickiness.  The kids would be home in an hour!

AND - I actually tried to stage something.

Not bad for a rookie!

{I used the sedum because the dog laid in it and broke all the stems off!}

{No decorating/staging knowledge used for that one.}

I read somewhere (regarding children and homemaking)-

"Do ONE thing everyday that 'they' can't undo."

If you're a mom, you definitely know what this means...and how good this feels!

Becky

Sam

The new guy in the barnyard...

Sam 

Our new-to-us 12 year-old quarterhorse gelding.

He has the perfect head and a gentle eye.

He has power steering.

He likes kids.

He has no fears.

Best of all...

He's got a great big butt!

Happy Trails!

Becky