Our Family Treat

Phil and I had an important errand in town, right before a scheduled event. The errand took so much less time than he expected, that we had a half hour or so with nothing scheduled.

So we went out for frozen custard! How fun!

As we turned in, I had a moment of hesitation. I know about artificial colors and flavors; I know that there might be additives I don't want, genetically modified ingredients and fractionated eggs. But I chose not to think about it, and for a very fun half hour, the boys and Phil and I sat in air conditioning, eating twirled frozen treats that tasted like orange sherbet, vanilla, chocolate, peanut butter, strawberry, and triple berry (or some combination thereof). A good time was had by all.

I still remember going out for dollar ice cream cones at the grocery store when I was a girl. Maybe the boys will remember this little celebration, too.

***

Filled with the joy of star gazing, the sky was disappointingly cloudy when I went to bed. I woke at 1:30, and was happy to see clear skies, so I headed out. Only to realize that I didn't recognize anything except, maybe, the north star and a very faint Little Dipper. Except I couldn't see the Big Dipper, or anything else. I went back to bed, disappointed.

In the morning, I looked at my book and realized I should have just checked the star charts before heading outside. All would have been much more clear. There was little that I could have recognized from two nights ago, but I had properly seen Polaris. Phew!

***

Although the cows, temporarily dry lotted in the lower pasture, have a little runoff trickle to drink from, I went down to water them, using our handy system of car battery that powers the little pump that pulls water through a hose from the creek up nine feet into the stock tank. This has worked well in the past.

Today, though, the draw seemed very slow, and suddenly the pump started to smoke. Very bad.

So I used the bucket system to scoop up a few gallons of water from the very low creek, then lifted it to the bank, scrambled up the bank, and dumped the water into the stock tank. I figure I got about 40 gallons into the tank before I quit. We'll see if the cows drink it, or if they prefer the little runoff trickle. (I think I would, if I were them.)

Cleo the yearling calf is ridiculously indifferent to fencing. Yesterday, during the long trek downhill, we managed to corral her again after a week of her gazing longingly through the electric wire, and then running in the wrong direction every time we opened the wire for her to go in. "She's not the sharpest tool in the shed," we say, and shake our heads.

I noticed that the two bull calves decided to slip out today, too. They are going to have a hard time getting back to their mothers, as there is only one spot where they could have gotten out, and they will have to remember where that spot is in order to return.

And we have four rogue sheep right now, too. Our ridiculous weeds must have concealed them as Phil and I corralled the rest. We were so satisfied with the pen for the "good" sheep, filled with delicious weeds for them to munch, and we returned home. It came as an unwelcome surprised when Jadon said, "We have four sheep out." But since they are not prone to wander far, preferring the forage of the garden, I'm not too worried about these four "badies."

***

We bought our first organic peaches of the season today. They were horrible. Some day we will have our own, and I hope they will be juicy and sweet, not mealy and flavorless.

The fruitfulness will come!