Helping Me Over the Hill

As I mentioned back in June, the month of July was scheduled for a big family get-together.  It ended up being a month-long celebration to help me "over the hill" for the Big 6-0.  My two sisters, Barbara and Karen, arrived July 1 to kick things off.

Of course visiting me means hanging out with my Dexters.  Barbara has met them before, but it was Karen's first time here on Zephyr Hill Farm, so she had to meet the whole crew.  Here she is petting her first cow, Ebby.

Barbara discovered that when there aren't enough barn boots to go around, cowboy boots work fine for mud, too.

We did some civilized, "girly" things, too, like antiquing--an especially appropriate activity for an old-timer like me!

The last time the three of us were together was five years ago, so this was a special time for us all.  Someone has to be the oldest and hit 60 first, so it might as well be me.  As I like to remind my sisters and my kids, "If I can't be a good example, I'll just have to serve as a horrible warning."

Sadly, the girls had to leave before my actual birthday, but others came to take their place . . .

We celebrated that night at my favorite restaurant with all of us locals: Jim, Monique, Herb, me, Katie (who came in from Houston), and Kara.

Before Katie headed back to Houston, we modeled our new Billy Bob teeth.  What can I say?  It's a family tradition!  She also took me shopping while she was here, so now I actually clean up nice.

Kara had spent weeks planning a special birthday menu that spanned much of July.  Since we love ethnic food, she cooked up an Around the World Food Tour of places we've visited and cuisines we enjoy, including German, African, Persian, Egyptian, Italian, Greek, Spanish and Mexican.

This was the twelve-course Persian meal she prepared one night with a little help from her Minions.

Jim and Monique brought the grandkids for a weekend, and they kept me young at heart.

Jenny and Jean-Marc came down from Ohio to join the local yokels, and we all got our own pair of teeth for some family photo fun.

Misty had to get in on the act, too, and the kids couldn't bear to take out their teeth, so the "serious" photo was only about as serious as it ever gets in this clan.  Fun times to remember, though!

When everyone else had to go home, Jenny and Jean-Marc stayed on.  They were able to use up some leave and get some rest before heading to their new base.

About the time Jenny and Jean-Marc left, Barbara came back with the rest of her family for another week of fun and laughter, like enjoying my youngest nephew's attempt to walk on water.  (Just kidding--see the swinging rope over his head?)

The month of July finally drew to an end and so, like all good things, did the longest-ever birthday bash.  After we waved goodbye to the last of the family, Herb turned to me and jokingly said, "Well, it's over.  You're not special any more."

I didn't believe him, though--I had an entire month full of lovely memories to remind me otherwise.

Another Eventful Week

Herb and I made a trip this week to southern Missouri to pick up stuff from my dad's house.  He passed away on D-Day.  For months now, my two aunts and uncle have been making regular trips from up near St. Louis, sorting through everything in the house, and filling a room with things for the three of us girls.  The end of last week my sister Barbara drove here with my nephew J and niece Carrie, who volunteered to feed the animals while we were gone.  We showed them what to do on Sunday evening, then hit the road.

♪ "Monday, Monday, can't trust that day!" ♫ We were treated to snow, freezing cold and icy winds.  On our way through Kentucky we passed four accidents in a short while on the slippery, snowy back roads.  Pulling a horse trailer through that made for some tense driving, but at least we were only carrying empty boxes.

By the time we got to the Ohio River, the snow had stopped and we could enjoy the view.

There's something about a river and barges that thrills me--maybe being born near the Mississippi River (pictured here) it got into my blood.

Despite a busy Monday afternoon and evening packing and a busy Tuesday morning loading the horse trailer, there was time for sharing memories, hugs and laughter with Barbara, Aunt Shirley, Aunt Dot and me.  (Uncle Rich had already gone home, and Herb was the photographer.)

All too soon we were back on the road again.  Driving conditions were a lot better.  Even the Mississippi looked a more cheerful shade of blue!  This photo was taken at the convergence with the Ohio River.

Wherever these barges had come from, they toted some snow on the Ohio.

The countryside is flatter than we're used to, the fields are bigger, and the tractors are even bigger.  Another thing that's big in Missouri is Dexters, and it was quite frustrating to be so close to so many Dexter breeders and not stop to visit a single one!

When we got home at 10 p.m. on Tuesday night, J was eager to let Herb know that he could sleep in the next morning, that he and Carrie would be glad to feed.  I enjoyed peeking out the window with my telephoto lens to watch them at work.  When they finished they shooed Sir Loin and Royal out of the garage where the hay is stored and headed back to the house.

Herb enjoyed getting to sleep in after two and a half days of driving, packing and more driving, and looking at the thermometer's 18° I was thankful to be observing from inside.  J hurried back to the house to let us know that he had finally made friends with Wellie, who stood there in bliss getting scratched behind his ears.  It was pretty cool to see J so excited and happy about doing chores in 18° weather!  You can tell we left our animals in good hands.

While we were driving home Tuesday, Barbara celebrated her ??th birthday, so Kara cooked a wonderful Moroccan meal Wednesday night, followed by Carrie's delicious homemade grape pie.

♫ Happy Birthday, sweet middle sister! ♪

Kara was too tired out from cooking to protest having her picture taken!

Finally on Thursday it was time to say goodbye.

Misty reveled in playing chase with Herb while Carrie packed the car.

She did a masterful job packing and managed to squeeze everything in . . .

. . . except her brother!  We suggested he should try out his grip before they hit the road.

We weren't quite sure of the best way for him to get home.

And then someone discovered that Carrie had left room for him after all!  J and the hat both fit!

Misty did her best to keep them from leaving . . .

. . . but despite her valiant efforts, they disappeared down the road.

In case you're wondering what I'm going to do with myself now that everyone's gone . . . here are a few of the boxes of photos and papers that I've offered to sort and archive for us girls.  I guess I'll be putting this long, cold winter to good use!

Round and Round We Go . . . Horseback Riding

My sister and her family are visiting this week, and they thought it would be fun to ride.  The youngest took what is probably his last ride on Julie because by next year I think his legs will be dragging.

Barbara hasn't been on a horse in years, but luckily Brandy was on her best behavior.  (Angel is not always so accommodating when she can tell someone isn't sure what they're doing.)  Barbara has now ridden a horse without a bit or bridle!

We have no idea why Brandy is sticking her tongue out here, but it made a hysterical picture!

Angel wanted to gait which was fine with me.  Brandy wanted to walk which was fine with Barbara.

Some of the kids got their turns next.  Carrie has ridden before and really enjoyed Brandy's nice smooth gait.  Angel, led by Herb, made a good safe mount for a first horseback ride.

The horse girls behaved beautifully and the weather was incredibly cool with a tiny breeze, so a great time was had by all.

After lunch in Chattanooga, Barbara and I couldn't resist the opportunity to go riding again . . . this time on the beautiful, hand-carved carousel in Coolidge Park.  Barbara's mount was called "Tommy," but she re-christened it "Julie."

My nameless mount got christened "Brandy," of course--what else?

"The Pride of Tennessee" didn't get ridden this time, but (except for the padded shoes) this one always makes me think of Angel.

Finally it was time to head home and fix supper, so it was time for Barbara and me to quit horsing around!

A Trip to Paradise

Last week I visited my sister and her family in Virginia.  Ever the great hostess, she asked if there was anything I'd like to do in Virginia.  "Visit a Dexter farm!" I replied.  Barbara and her two youngest sons were actually excited about the idea--aren't they sweet?!  So I pulled up the ADCA website on my iPad, found the list of members in Virginia, and looked up those who had websites to see how far away they were.  (Let me say a word here to all of you Dexter breeders who don't have websites yet.  The websites let my "fingers do the walking" on my iPad rather than calling a long list of phone numbers.  A website--even one so simple as this blog--is the way people are going to find you nowadays!)

Right off the bat I recognized the name "genebo" from several Dexter forums I follow.  He was less than three hours away, so I called to see if he likes visitors.  He does, so we set up a date to visit Paradise Farm.

Gene very kindly met us out at the highway in his Kawasaki Mule and took us straight to meet his cattle.  As soon as they saw him opening a bale of hay, they headed in to the barn.

Here is Gene's pride and joy, Brenn of Paradise, his stud bull. Barbara had met FF Lil' Christmas Cash when he was boarding with us this summer and seen how docile he is, but I think she was surprised to find that although Brenn and all Gene's cattle have horns, they were not in the least intimidating.  (Her only previous experience was with our first (and only horned) cow, and she was not a good ambassador for horns!)

I'm afraid I made the trip to meet Gene and his cattle with an ulterior motive--I intended to pick Gene's brain!  (In the nicest way, of course!)  Since we've bought a bull calf who will be arriving in January, the first question I asked was how to train a bull.

Gene explained to all of us about flight zones and showed us the best way to approach a bull (or a cow for that matter), moving in toward the shoulder, steadily and confidently.

Next he explained about scratching a bull's neck behind the head or anywhere else on their body--but don't play with their head.  And don't ever let them butt you!

He went on to show us how his cattle all know where their horns are and how they are very careful not to hit him.

Gene has a lead cow (sorry, Gene, I've forgotten her name).  Brenn doesn't lead the herd; she does.  But Brenn IS the undisputed King!  When he comes over to eat, all the girls move over for him.  But most importantly, Gene is the Boss over all.  Everyone respects Gene!

Here everyone is sharing the hay peacefully, but Brenn obviously has the spot he wants.  The cow next to him kept bumping his side with her horn, but he didn't mind because it didn't hurt and wasn't done aggressively.  No one even came close to bumping Gene, though, nor any of us.

Gene pulled out some bread, which Brenn had obviously been expecting.

 Barbara and Brenn met up close and personal.

Everyone got bread and a chance to feed Brenn.  He was happy to give us all a turn!

Then Gene took us over to meet his youngest heifer, a pretty long-legged girl who is just beginning to overcome her baby shyness.

My youngest nephew got elected to see if the heifer would eat out of his hand.  She wouldn't, but she's almost there.

Of course I had to have a photo even though Gene claims he's not photogenic and I know I'm not!  (I wish I'd thought to take one at the house later when we met Gene's lovely wife, Beverly, but by then the guys had started talking antique tractors and it didn't occur to me to try to tear them away.)  I think that along with all the attributes of Dexters, we should add to the list: Not only are they friendly, but they help build friendships among their humans!

We learned about Gene's feeding plan and how it works symbiotically with his manure handling.  Here is his Manure Handling Squad, a bevy of (mostly Muscovy) ducks.  We saw the evidence of how well his system works, although when Gene pulled the bread out, the ducks abandoned their cow patties at full speed!  We were all laughing by the time the last piece of bread disappeared.

We left the herd grazing peacefully to ride up to the beautiful house situated on the far side of a tranquil pond.  I was driving and couldn't take a photo, but you can see the house on the Paradise Farm website.  It may be named for Gene's grandmother, Mary Paradise, but it's the biblical meaning that comes to mind looking at that scene.

We all hated to leave and would have gladly stayed many more hours if we hadn't had family waiting back home and a three-hour drive to get there.  Heading out the tree-lined drive, I thought of Anne of Green Gables and wondered what she might have called this peaceful lane from Paradise.

Thank you, Gene and Beverly, for sharing your piece of Paradise with us!