A Peek into Stephen's morning...

Good morning everyone,

 I'm back with another peek--this time into Stephen's morning--for ya all to enjoy.

Oh, and because I never learn, this post is just as photo intensive as Michael's. Sorry!

Okay, let's begin with one of those big gulps of nippy fresh air...

Stepping off the porch, we all got a chuckle out of this:
It's Michael's warning to Buddy if he ever gets out of line (they're deer legs from a recent butchering).

Alright now, back to Stephen and the cows....
"Come on, Susan..."

Q. So, how long do your farm chores take in the morning?

A. "No comment."

Ahem. Stephen....

A. "Ah, around 45 minutes."

"Straighten up, Susan..."

Q. Okay, what's the worst part about farm chores?

A. "Girls following you around with cameras."

(Okay, he's got me there.)

Q. For real?"

A. "I can't think of anything... rolling hay bales is the hardest work."

(Wiping off the udder and first squirts.)

Q. So, do you prefer farm chores to other chores? Indoor chores?

A. "Yeah. You get kind of used to a routine and then if you didn't have to do it, you'd miss it."


Andrew: "Mary, he's being boring. Interview me."

"No."

Andrew: "I know a lot of funny cow jokes! Like: 'How do cows strain their milk?'"

*groan* "How?"

Andrew: "With a cowlander!"

Andrew: "Oh, and how do cows keep track of time?"

*sigh* "...how?"

Andrew: "With a cowlander!"

Stephen: "He's not very cowmical is he?"   

So, right about now I'm thinking: this is why I hate following boys... 

Anyways, back to it...


Okay, so you may have noticed that Stephen's cow has this weird habit going on here...


And this is actually a habit. She has a (bad) habit of flaring her tongue all over the place and shooting out thick strands of saliva in perfect figure eights all over. If you don't believe me, (and that's okay, I knew you probably wouldn't) you can watch the video I took to prove it! While I was at it, I threw in footage of another cow who was contorting herself to get at an itch. Pretty cool stuff!


Original Video - More videos at TinyPic

Q. So, Stephen, which is the cutest cow?

A. "Probably Dandy."


Now between chores, I get a lesson in photography from Stephen, as he shows me how to use my macro mode for one of those 'really cool' shots. Boys.

Okay, now we have to pitch breakfast to all the animals.

Q. What do you like least about farm chores?

A. "Well, like I said, rolling hay bales (to the horses and cows) is the hardest work, but there's nothing I don't like about farm chores. They're okay."




[Another interjection of my own here... I personally really enjoy watching the frequent interaction of the farm chore kids.]

[It's like they're part of an elite country club or something, that they all get to go out and have their morning interaction with the animals and each other.] [Some days I'm jealous, but other, bad-weather-kind-of days I'm very grateful that I don't have a membership card, if you know what I mean.]


The goaty goats getting their breakfast while the cow stares on...

Now we gotta grain the cows. They get their wheat and/or barley presoaked to lightly sprout it and kill off any molds.

"Come cow."

The girls: Buttercup, Susan, and Lilly.

Now we race and tackle each other to get minerals from the mobile (which has become our farm storage, until the barn is built).
Q. So what do you like most about farm chores?

A. "Tackling Michael."

They emerge a moment later, Michael with his minerals and Stephen with D.E. for the chicken house.

D.E. (Diatomaceous Earth) is a natural mineral that works to kill little buggies. We use it on the garden in the summer.

So anyway, a couple of our chickens have these buggies on their legs.
It's not a major problem and only a couple of our chickens have them. They can cause stress though, and less egg production. Stephen just started the D.E. in the chicken house, so hopefully it will be remedied quickly.

...And that's about it!

Q. So what is your feeling after completing farm chores?

A. "Its a good warm up to the days work."

Alright Stephen, you've been ducking out of all the photos this morning, lets just get a nice good bye shot...
"Good Grief, I'm leaving."
 
Have a nice day everyone!