Colorado Bend State Park

Yesterday the kids and I decided to head out to Colorado Bend State Park. It's about an hour drive from our house and is supposed to have some really great fishing. My poor boys have been out fishing several times at various locations and have yet to catch a single fish! So, before fishing season really kicks in we thought we'd head on down to Colorado Bend and check it out (we haven't fished there yet). The river is really low thanks to the darn drought we've been stuck in. It was still beautiful though. They have some great rustic camp sites (we all agreed we want to come back and camp) and really gorgeous scenery. There are hiking trails all over as well as a guided trail of a water fall that we'd like to go back and do another day.

When we first arrived we walked down from the parking area to a big open grassy picnic area that led through some tall grass down to the river. There were armadillos all over the place! It was hilarious! We're talking a dozen of the little buggers rooting all over, and tame enough that Bella and I both pet one!

The mud next to the river was really impressive. You'd be walking along on relatively solid ground and then be up to your knees in mud the next step, then a couple steps later it'd be back to solid ground! I watched Bella and Soren splash in the shallows while Odin and Magnus hiked further down the river to a deep area to fish. They didn't catch anything, but they got in some good practice. The white bass are just starting to spawn, apparently by the end of Feb. the fishing should be really good. Maybe good enough that the poor guys can catch something (besides sticks, algae and the occasional plastic bag)!

After the novelty of casting and not catching and stomping through mud wore off we all took a break for a picnic lunch on the river bank. Koda stood guard over the kids the whole time. He is such a good puppy! At just 10 months old he's already a devoted guardian. If he's with the kids, he guards them. If he's loose at home, he guards the livestock. Raven is around too... probably cuddled up with Odin!

After lunch we decided to explore up river. The weather was so gorgeous. It was in the upper 60's/lower 70s. A little windy, but not too bad. The water was cold, but that has never slowed me or the kids down! They started out wading....

And ended up wallowing....

Soren was a little put out that I wouldn't let him wade out into the river with the big kids, but he's been fighting a cough so he contented himself with hanging out with me in the shallows throwing rocks.

And of course no outing would be complete without a few interesting discoveries. Soren was totally enthralled with the little frog I caught and let him hold. When we let it go we told him it went back to it's home. This morning when he woke up he told me all about holding the frog and how it had to go back home. Amazing what a 2 year old can remember!

Magnus found a really pretty rock with a bunch of calcium crystals on it (the area is known for it's calcium deposits), but we didn't get a picture of it. We found tons of animal foot prints in the mud (raccoons, deer, cows, horse and bird) and Odin found a snake skin:

All in all it was a great day and we're looking forward to going back. Just as soon as I finish getting all the mud off our shoes.....

Cleaning up the Garden

I am so totally in a project kinda mood! Our weather has been so pretty with highs in the 60s, although it's chilly this morning! I'm so ready for spring!

Yesterday the 3 younger kids and I (Odin had spent the night at a friends)cleaned out our garden area. We hauled out downed tree limbs, moved cages, markers and various things from last years garden off to the side and pulled up the remains of stumps from last years peppers and tomatoes. Basically just getting stuff cleared so I can till.

I'm going to enlarge the garden space this year to about double what it was last year. I have a working space of 114' by 38'. Not to bad! I'm going to reduce the number of different things I'm going to grow and focus on growing more of what I'd like to can and freeze. Ah, the best laid plans, huh?

That leaves me with a 50' x 50' space in the very back of the high fenced old orchard to make either a hog or calf pen. I'm not sure which yet. Since I know (hope!) we'll have a calf come April when Daisy pops I suppose getting a calf pen finished first would make more sense. I'm just not sure I want it way back there. That said, I sure would like to raise a couple hogs (mmm! bacon! And Sausage and ham and chops...). Kendal isn't too convinced about hogs though after our foray with the neighbors escape artist feral hogs last year. I keep trying to tell him domesticated pigs will be much happier to just stay in their pen and eat. Then there's the whole issue with me getting attached to cute little piggies...

Anyway, here's the garden about midway through cleanup. Like the neighbors junk yard there in the back? *SIGH* They are nice folks, good neighbors and our only real close neighbor. Just figures they have to have a junk yard! That's my beautiful old Taf there in the pictures. She'll be 35 this year!

I did a soil test. PH is around 7, all the elements tested low, but that's ok. I'm going to spot fertilize as I plant and hope that the weeds will die out. It looks so dead right now, but with a little bit of rain the whole thing starts to grow! In the back where I didn't till last year we had a neat little prairie. Grass, flowers, interesting bugs and weeds.

Here's Bella doing pull-ups on a low branch of the apricot tree. This tree produced so well the year we moved in, but I'm afraid the last couple years of drought/flood weather has killed it. It was pretty old though. There's a plum tree in back that produces well still. Yum! We also have a pear tree and an apple tree and a couple peach trees. If the weather would just cooperate maybe we'll get some good fruit!

Here's the view looking out my back fence. It is so pretty out here! It's a combination of rolling hills, open fields and dense Texas scrub.

Last year I finally had a moment of inspiration and hauled some toys out to the garden so the little kids would have something to do when they got sick of helping me work. Since it's been cold we haven't been out to the garden in a while. Soren was very excited to rediscover his work bench and Bella shot some hoops. I'm hoping to get a swing set out there soon. That's Taf's official paddock in the background there. She's enjoying roaming & fertilizing the whole garden area right now. Pretty soon she'll be locked back up in her paddock.

Coming back from working on the garden we gave in and fed the beggar chickens. Soren LOVES to feed the chickens. He gets the bucket, the scoop and knows which bag is their feed. Then he carries it out and dumps the whole bucket in one spot and proceeds to fling chicken feed everywhere.

Ok, there's 2 kids, 2 dogs and I'm not sure how many of the chickens in this picture. Can you find them all?

Speaking of the dogs... here's Koda and Raven. Raven is sporting her new sweater that I just knit for her. I'm pretty happy with this design. I couldn't find a ready made pattern for her that I really liked, so I just made one up. Now I need to make some in pretty colors and with cute patterns. Raven gets cold so easy she's had to wear clothes all winter.

Foray into teepee trellis building!

A while back I read about building a trellis built in the shape of a teepee. The idea is you plant pole beans at the base of each teepee pole, the beans grow and next thing you know you have a wonderful living (and productive!) teepee for the kids to play in and pick beans from. Now, that is the idea. What will actually happen is any one's best guess! Today we went ahead and built a *very* crude teepee trellis. Don't laugh. It didn't cost any money and the kids had a lot of fun helping me.

First we gathered up the longest and straightest (of which there weren't any) Ash branches from when we had the big Arizona Ash that overhangs the house trimmed. I cut any smaller branches off the main trunk, then we hauled them over and stacked them against the shop. We then measured and cut each branch down to usable size. The center pole was 10', the radius poles were 8'.


The boys had fun hauling the sticks around. We decided to build the teepee in the backyard instead of in the garden. I don't have any grass left anyway between last years drought and the horses raids.

Here's Magnus with 4 of the radius poles up. We were originally going to build 2 teepees with 4 poles each. But when we got 4 up we realized that would leave us a teepee with a pretty bare roof! So we put all 8 radius poles on one center pole. We buried the poles about 6-8 inches into the ground then haphazardly lashed the tops together with hemp cord. Nothing special about hemp, it's just what I already had on hand.

Here's Odin once we got all 8 poles around the center pole. Much better! Now in a couple months when it's warm enough we'll plant the beans! Assuming of course that the teepee stays standing that long!

No outdoor adventure around here would be complete without odd candid photos. I came out of the shop with my circular saw in hand to find Magnus sprawled out flat on our gravel driveway. I asked him what he was doing and he told me he was trying to play dead to see if the vultures would come down and get him (perfectly logical if you're 8, I'm sure). Except Koda, being the wonderful guardian puppy that he is, messed up Magnus' plan by cuddling and moving around to much. I snapped a picture then told Magnus he was probably lying on top of a horse turd. Should have seen how fast he jumped up!

Odin found an empty spider egg sack attached to one of the sheds. Pretty cool! Spiders are such amazing little artisans.

How now little brown cow?

Yea! Some long awaited pictures of my beautiful heifer Daisy. After much searching for the perfect milk cow, I got Daisy last June from a wonderful friend by weedling and begging and not so subtle hinting. My friend (yes, even after all the begging I still get to call her a friend) treats her animals so well, and is very dedicated to being as natural and organic as possible. Daisy was born and raised on her farm with the best of care. I've been wanting a milk cow for a long time, but they're rather scarce in these parts (it's beef cattle country). Being able to get Daisy at a young age (she just turned 2 in Dec. 08) and raised so well was just plain lucky. She is bred for an April 09 calf... hopefully! I'm so excited about the arrival of the calf I feel like if I count on it happening it somehow won't. I know... silly... but still! Carts before horses and counting chics and all that nonsense.

I'm posting some of these pictures so the good folks on the SmallFamilyJerseys list can help me evaluate Daisy's body condition. She's been a little, errr... chubby and I've been trying to get weight off her. Too much fat on a dairy cow is bad. Or so I keep telling myself. In my mind well covered ribs = well loved. I mean, just look at me! Ha! Believe it or not, Daisy has lost some weight! I think she looks pretty darn good, but then, what do I know? I look at obese horses and beef cattle all day. The cute cow snap shots are below the 'Here, evaluate my not as fat as she used to be heifer' pictures. :)

Daisy's favorite position... head inserted in feed bucket. Between the fur and the fuzzing effect of the photos it's hard to see, but you really can see the last few long ribs. The short ribs are pretty well rounded over.

Look at that cute itty bitty udder! It's actuall gotten bigger in the last few months. Hmm... a sign something is cookin' in there?

It doesn't show up well, but you CAN see ribs.

Once the feed ran out (which it does quickly because she only gets a handful) Daisy decided to come inspect the camera. I've been really amazed at how curious and friendly Daisy is. Having never owned a cow before I always thought they were a little, well, lacking in the personality department. Boy was I wrong! If we're out in the pasture or yard Daisy is right there either watching us or getting into whatever we're doing. I've also noticed that she is much friendlier with her 'family' vs. strangers. She also likes me (boy do I feel special!) more than anyone else around here. Helps that I deliver the feed bucket.

Just look at that face, is she not the most beautiful heifer ever? No. Of course I'm not biased. My children are the most beautiful children ever too.

Here's a shot over my shoulder as I'm rubbing her neck. That head thrown up in itchy spot bliss turned into a head whipped around to give me an elbow to eyebrows lick a second later. Ewww!! That was the end of our photo session. I had to go in and change shirts and wash up. Cow slobbery love.

Christmas 2008, Quick Review

I've been meaning to update the 'ol blog, but well, I've been busy darn it!

Doesn't help that my old dial up connection is puttering along just as slow as ever. Certainly not fast enough to keep up with the modern pace of internet life (blogs, myspace, image files...). We're getting a little closer to going to that whole new fangled Satellite Internet thing . Kendal has finally decided that while it will not be nearly as fast at cable or DSL, it will be faster than dial up. At this point, my iphone with full signal strength surfs the net faster than our dial up at home. And I don't have the new 3G iphone either!

Anyway.... I need to get pictures of all the various critters up. It's been pointed out to me that I don't have anything up about my cow and that the other animals have been cheated out of screen time as well.

But first... just a few pictures from Christmas! The kids had a wonderful Christmas and we had a wonderful time with family. I think we saw every major public lights display in Central Texas this year. It was wonderful! I was sad to put away all the decorations... we had 3 trees up this year! But I have grand aspirations for all the wonderful things I want to make and do for next year. Including (finally, for the first time ever!) getting started on everything early enough in the year to be DONE early so I don't have to madly rush around the month of Dec. getting stuff (myseterious unnamed 'stuff' ) done. And I say this every year... but this is the year I will DO IT! I also found a gorgeous 7.5 ft chenile pine on clearance at Target for $29... a $130 tree for $29!! Woo-hooo.... 4 trees next year! I might finally be able to get all my ornaments out of storage!

Ok... I'll shut up... here are the pictures!

The theme of this years Christmas festivites was 'Lines'. Everywhere we went, there were lines. Long ones. Thankfully, fairly festive ones. Here's Bella and Soren jammin to music waiting in line to go see Mainstreet Bethlehem. Which was an awesome permanent display of a Bethlehem era town that covered a full city block! Very much worth the wait. I got to pet a baby camel. There were fully functional buildings with vendors, jails, crofters, a tavern, the infamous inn and of course the stable with Mary & the gang. It was really amazing.

Inside Bethlehem... (not to be confused with Bedlem... though it was thanks to the crowds) That's Magnus in front giving me a 'Go to hell, I don't want another picture taken' look. Good at it isn't he? And Odin in the striped shirt.

We also visited Christmas at Ft. Croghan which was really neat. Ft. Croghan is circa mid 1800s and was set up to defend settlers from Indians and such back in the day. They had all the old buildings opened up and decorated and plenty of folks dressed up in period clothing. Bella and Soren played the bells to live music... Jingle Bells of course! Hey, that's me in the background there. Don't get pictures of me too often. :) We got hot cider, cookies, pop corn and lots of Holiday good will.







Here's the gang at the Trail of Lights in Austin in front of the big Zilker tree of lights. We waited over an hour to see the main lights display. And we even did the park-n-ride deal! Which turned into park, wait in a really long line to get on the bus. Wait in a really long line ON the bus. Wait in a long line at the entrance to the lights... well... you get the idea! But just look at the picture of Soren and Magnus spinning together under the lights! That makes it all worth it. Almost. Next year I think we're going to skip Zilker and stick to the drive-through Nature In Lights display at BLORA. So much more relaxed!

Magnus, Bella and Odin with Great Aunt Jennie on the bus... I think the kids thought the bus ride was cooler than the lights. My little country kids... riding a big city bus was way cool!

We've been really excited that we've gotten some weather cold enough to make it worth building a fire! Here are the kids all ready for Christmas!

Ya gotta love Texas! This little lights display in Marble Falls was great, and there were no lines! Lots of neat lights displays though. Merry Texmas Y'all! :)


And finally... the night before Christmas! All the kids hung up their gorgeous stockings hand knit by Great Grandma Anderson. We didn't leave them out this year because Soren kept wanting to pull them down... heavy stocking holders and all! Ouch!

And of course cookies must be put out and all the kids have to pile on Dad to read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas'... the real one. Not the 'Redneck Night Before Christmas' book. Geez... we may live in the boonies but we are not total rednecks. If you have not read the Redneck book, get it. It's hilarious. Santa travels to the trailer park in an old pickup pulled by possums. Ha!

Then Mom and Dad got to stay up until 1 am waiting for all the little monsters to fall asleep so Santa could come.... and boy did he! A new DS Lite for Odin, a Playmobil Roman Arena for Magnus, tons of dress up clothes for Bella and Batman for Soren! And that wraps up Christmas '08!