We went out to do chores and saw that Gertrude had a calf! Finally!!! So got the bread and calcium gel and went out there to get some calcium into her, and she was standing there eating the afterbirth. No way was I going to stick my hand in that mouth! It’s a boy calf, which was a little disappointing because I was hoping for a girl. Christian went around to start doing the hay, and there was another calf by the gate! Unfortunately, it’s a girl. In cows, if a girl (called a freemartin) is part of a mixed sex pair of twins, it’s usually sterile. :(

We went out to do chores and saw that Gertrude had a calf! Finally!!! So got the bread and calcium gel and went out there to get some calcium into her, and she was standing there eating the afterbirth. No way was I going to stick my hand in that mouth! It’s a boy calf, which was a little disappointing because I was hoping for a girl. Christian went around to start doing the hay, and there was another calf by the gate! Unfortunately, it’s a girl. In cows, if a girl (called a freemartin) is part of a mixed sex pair of twins, it’s usually sterile. :(

Never watch Diners, Drive-ins & Dives when you’re trying to eat healthy.

The fudge brownies are in the oven...

The cow still hasn’t had her calf!

Meanderings tonight.

Gertrude is finally going to have her calf.

She started bagging up a couple of days ago, so we’ve been trying to get some calcium into her. It comes in a tube similar to a tube of caulk, with a gun like a caulk gun. The directions are to put the tube into the cow’s mouth so the gel is squirted at the back of the tongue. Yah, right... I ended up with most of it all of me, and even inside my sleeves.

So this morning I tried putting a dollop of it inside a slice of bread and folding it over. It worked fairly well the first time I tried it, but then she caught on. A couple of hours later Christian and I both attempted it again, and we got more in than came out. The trick is prying open her mouth (I sure am glad cows don’t have upper teeth in the front), shoving the ball of bread as far back into her mouth as I can, and then after all of the sandwiches are gone, follow up with a piece of plain bread so when she spits it out, it’s just the plain bread. We got almost a whole tube in her today (half of what she should have). Hopefully, tomorrow morning when I go out, a nice health cow and calf will be waiting for me. Then the fun really starts, as you can see from this photo, she’s going to need milking out for quite a while until the calf gets older.

I got some cute photos of Suka the other night teasing Christian with his monkey, trying to get Chris to chase him,



Obligatory bird photo, I do like these guys with that flashy red head,

I’m still having fun making murrini,


And some new beads that I’m listing tonight,

What goofballs! I gave Suka a rawhide chew, he got distracted and set it down. Pip promptly stole it. I gave Suka another one. Not good enough! Pip was guarding her chew, growling and glaring at Suka. Suka laid on the floor with the chew between his front feet and stared at Pip. Pip left her chew and came closer to Suka, so he went back to chewing. She sat there watching him until he finished, then went back to her chew. Here’s my Suka, saying ‘more, more!’

A nice sunny day here, above freezing, and nothing to complain about being it’s Feb. 6, and my amaryllis are blooming! Such huge, colorful flowers. This is a Minerva,

And this is a new one I picked up from Bachman’s, Paris,


And some beads I just finished cleaning and photo’ing, just need to get them listed,

And I’m still on a murrini-making kick,

It really is amazing how putting clear over them (the ones on the right side are encased with clear) can really bring out the colors.

I don’t keep too many beads for myself, but gosh, I think I’m keeping this one,

I love orchids because the blossoms last so very long, but I love amaryllis because they are so very, very bright and vibrant. Here’s a couple that I have blooming right now,


Some new beads,

I’ve been getting away from making the big hole beads, trying to get out of my rut, and have been getting back into the small beads and focal beads,

I love, love, love Dark Aurae, but it’s so hard to work with sometimes. I really like getting the green shimmers, but it’s such a touchy combination of oxygen/propane, it’s really hard to get, so mostly I end up with just the blues. But they look pretty too!

Two years ago today David collapsed and we called the ambulance. Two days later, he was gone. It seems like a lifetime ago, so very, very long ago.

I am in a rut, and I need to make some changes, except I don’t know what to do. There are lots of things I’d like to do, get back into drawing/painting, genealogy, needlework, sewing, quilting, jewelry, maybe even pottery, but there’s this inertia built up like a brick wall.

Maybe I’ll go wash some dishes instead...

BRRRRRR! We’ve got the January temps, -15° with -25° wind chill. Still no snow to speak of, we just got a light dusting last night. This is not good for the plants.

It’s really sad to see how an American business like Sears go downhill. I usually buy my large appliances there, and have tried using their website. Their website must have been designed by a community college drop-out, it is just so bad. A couple of months ago, I wanted to buy a couple of things that were on sale. It wouldn’t give me the sale price in the cart, so I called their customer service to find out how to do it, only to be told that I could order it over the phone. So after reading the part numbers to her, and giving her my Sears card number, then she needed me to spell out my name and address. At that point, I told her ‘that’s why I order online, so I don’t need to do all of this!’ and hung up.

So yesterday I got an email about the Sears Craftsman Club sale. I want a router, and they had one on sale. Went to their website and open the flyer and spent 10 minutes trying to put it into the cart to order it. Seems the only way to do that is to click on the little words ‘Member Price,’ not the photo or name of the item, which would be the logical way to have it set up. So I get to the item, and instead of being $99.99 like in the flyer, the member price is $107.99. No wonder they’re not doing well.

That was my peeve of the day.

I’ve been getting bored with making beads, so have been playing with making murrini again. Murrini is laying down layers of colors on a rod of glass, then pulling it out into a thinner rod, then nipping it into slices, which then gets melted onto a bead. Here are some of the better ones,


This is a bead with one of my favorite Double Helix’s murrini,

and I really wish I knew what glass they used in this murrini!


ETA: This is one TALENTED lady! Her name is Cynthia, http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=glassactcc&_armrs=1&_from=R40&_ipg=&_trksid=m37 and http://www.etsy.com/shop/Glassactcc/. She makes such a variety of beads, and they’re always just gorgeous!