Itchy green stuff

We have some thanks to issue to Uncle Stevie. We discovered yesterday that Obi is allergic to grass just like his uncle.

Obi was sitting on my lap with a big bunch of grass growing up behind me. He was SO happy about the grass, and reached out and grabbed a handful. He rubbed it all over his face, put it in his mouth, all the fun stuff I loved doing as a kid (and still do, BTW).  In a few minutes his mouth turned red, then his lips swelled up.  Poor guy.

At least he didn't start sneezing.  Hopefully Obi won't get that part of his allergy from his Uncle.

Thanks, Uncle Stevie.  We're thinking of you.

Happy September Birthday, Luke

Today is Luke's birthday. Last year I talked about the train cake Luke wanted.
Every year when the kids were growing up, we tried to do something fun for each birthday. In our family, that meant that we had a lot of fun days, since there were so many of us.

Sometimes I would try and make a special cake; sometimes we went to Disneyland, sometimes we went to a friends house (William's) to celebrate, sometimes we'd just have a mini-party at home and wear silly hats, and sometimes we didn't plan anything but did something random at the last minute. You can never tell with us.

I hope those birthdays were fun for Luke, and I hope this birthday will be nice, too.  Happy Birthday son.

Hay day

It's hay hauling day and this year we decided to get enough hay to last a while - especially since our goats like Orchard Grass over other types and this is the only time the good stuff is available.

We also found out our little shed can hold about 80 bales of hay - that's good to know.

Little weeder

Rosie really loves walking and hiding in the weeds. Sometimes she tells me not to talk to her while she hides there, usually by her goats, and usually she's "working" on something in particular. 

Out near the pasture the grasses (in spots) are taller than Rosie - and she really likes that! I sit on my stump while she goes to "work" - and I hear her talking softly to the goats who are in there with her.  So adorable.

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood...

... especially after the skunk smell is no longer in the house. We could not eat in that part of the house for a while, so moved the table to another room.

That's when we discovered fun play space. 
Then, Nana found a special birthday present for Rosie.  She's such a little farmer girl, now she eats meals in her "barn" - and we happily accommodate.

Obi's not complaining either.

Mornings

I am not a morning person.  At the same time there are some great things about mornings.

Coffee.

Email.

Cool weather.

Sitting in bed with my kids.

Chatting online with my kids (who are sitting right next to me).

Dog Food

Today I bought dog food. I buy it every couple of weeks since Yogi and Molly are big and work so hard.

Tonight I was reading through my email and I ran across a message from a well-known pet company. You may have seen it:

Now it happens that, when I buy dog food, I do read the ingredients. Might seem silly to some, but I want to make sure my dogs are getting meat - not grain - as their primary ingredient. After all, canines are carnivorous, so I don't want them tempted to eat their goats in a hungry spell.

Looking at this ad, I remembered my mother and wondered about her motivation. She fed me a lot of similar ingredients listed here: Just take a look.

Necks, feet, and intestines. I remember turkey neck gravy.  And pickled pigs feet.   Oh, and chitlins, I have a very clear memory of those, as well as head cheese, and of course, sausage.

Artificial ingredients and preservatives:  What mother during the twentieth century didn't give their kids twinkies, ding-dongs, and Captain Crunch cereal? Aren't those loaded with artificial ingredients - and preservatives? They used to be.

Ingredients from China: doesn't all rice come from there?

Cheap fillers:  Do you remember this old commercial? - Wonder Bread: builds strong bodies twelve ways.   That was a pretty cheap filler but we all ate it.

Oh, and my favorite ingredient on this list: Meat from deceased animals.   Truly - my mother never fed me a live animal, every bit of meat we ate was deceased.  So really, I should thank my mother for feeding me like the dog, because the items on this list really aren't all that bad.

I think I feed my own dogs pretty well, too. Although I can't remember the last time I gave my dog Twinkies. I guess I actually ate better than my dogs do.