May 2013: A Summary

May this year was typical springtime on the farm. Opa took care of all his new goats. He got a lot of little bucks in this year's crop of kids. He has one especially nice looking little fellow that he is hoping someone will want to buy as a buck. I am hoping so, because there is only so much summer sausage one can eat. We may raise one for chops and ground meat. Matthew likes lamb, so we thought we'd see if he thinks goat is comparable. (I think they taste the same, but Opa, who has more discerning taste buds, disagrees.) If Matthew agrees with Opa, we will raise a lamb for him sometime.

 

 

 Opa's special buck: notice how much bigger he is

             compared to the other little ones        

 

This year it has also been raining kittens around here. Cat populations are the type of thing that, once they reach a critical mass, begin to increase exponentially. We have reached that threshold. Old Mommy Cat had 5 kittens last summer. Two daughters survived. So this spring Old Mommy Cat had 5 kittens, Yellow Cat had 5 kittens (all yellow :P), and Yellow and White Cat had 3 kittens. One of O.M.C.'s kittens was an adventurous little calico who managed to climb out of her nest and fall through the hay mow floor into the horse feeder. Opa found her there and rescued her. I identified the kitten as a boy and named it "Bob." Opa brought Bob into the kitchen where the light was better, and discovered Bob was a girl. But "Bob" seemed to fit her anyway, so the name stuck. Joshua later informed me that all calicos are girls, for future reference.

 

Bob getting one of her first meals

Sydney: "And why is that cat in there with him instead of me?"

Evidently Old Mommy Cat figured the Darwin principle applies to kittens who fall through the floor into the horse feeder, and would not really take Bob back into her fold. We started hand feeding her. She was pretty active and inquisitive for such a tiny fluff ball. We eventually had to pen her in the dog carrier to keep her from getting stepped on by the goats. We began to be concerned with Bob's long term welfare as we considered how tame she was. We knew that when she was old enough she would want to follow us out of the barn, which would put her in danger of Sydney. Sydney has appointed herself the cat population control officer around here. Kittens inside the invisible fence line are not safe. So we started looking for another home for Bob.
The problem was solved yesterday when some folks came from the Youngstown area to buy some of Opa's goats. They declared themselves to be cat people, and were easily persuaded that Bob would make a good addition to their family, along with the goats. I was happy that Bob found a safe new home, but I do miss her. She had become a definite, though tiny, presence in our lives.

Memorial Day weekend was the highlight of the month. Andrew, Amie and the kids made the road trip from Virginia; Anna, Jim and the kids came up from Cincinnati; Joshua came down for the weekend (we missed Tara - boo, work!) and Matthew and Melissa were able to come Saturday evening. It was good to see everyone, and Micah, Joseph, Alicia, Wyatt, Vivian and LP3 were in our thoughts and hearts. I was very pleased with myself for being able to get meals ready on time. There was some chaos around the Memorial Day parade on Sunday, but I always enjoy that little bit of small town America. Amie brought her uniform and rode in the parade, with Anna, Eryn, Jordan, Grant and Keara accompanying her. Eryn says she wants to be in the parade again next year.

                                        

It took a while to get the parade seating worked out. This was not

the final configuration.

 

 

It was a whirlwind weekend, and when Andrew and Amie and the kids pulled out of the driveway and headed back to Virginia, Opa and I felt a little blue with the house so empty and quiet all of a sudden. We moped around most of the day, then decided to head to Bob Evans for supper to shake off the doldrums. We had a nice supper and then headed to Boston Stoker for some coffee, and the world brightened a little. On Tuesday and Wednesday I got back to excavating in Omaland:

 

The "root" of my issues in Omaland.





The fruits of my labor, produced by digging, chopping, prying and sawing. I have borrowed my landscaping philosophy from General Grant: Hit 'em hard enough and often enough, and they'll crack somewhere.

 

 

I have realized that I need to use a little moderation in how much time I spend laboring at this, so it is liable to take all summer.



This weekend Anna and Jim were running in the 10K at the Troy Strawberry Festival on Sunday morning. So they came up Friday evening and we had a nice weekend as they prepared for that. Saturday the kids hung out here with us while Anna and Jim went to the Covington community garage sales. Eryn read to Dolly, Ben carried around the vinegar and syrup bottles from my cupboards, I fixed lunch, Opa puttered outside, and Anna and Jim got to enjoy some grown-up time. I think a good time was had by all.

 

Dolly may have trouble seeing the pictures

 

 

 

 

Everyone enjoys a good book.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Best seat in the house.

 

 

 

 

 

Good buddies.

 

 

 

 

Ready for church.

 

 

Anna and Jim both beat their personal best times during the race this morning. We went to Bob's for lunch, and then Mommy and Daddy packed two tired kiddos into the car and headed for Cincinnati. Opa and I, being wiser now, headed straight for Boston Stokers for nature's perfect preventative for the blahs, the Boston Grogg latte. Then we came home and took long naps.
I forgot to mention that on Saturday evening we went to a graduation party and  a retirement party. This is what a three year old looks like after two parties, two servings of cake frosting, and ice cream:

So now we'll march into June and see what it has in store. While I was drinking my Boston Stoker this afternoon, I had a sudden urge to have a latte down at the airport. That means Oma is getting the urge to travel..........