Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Communing with cows

It was time to get the cows out of the pasture and put them back in the wooded side of our property for awhile. The pasture was getting eaten down and the woods had grown up, so it was the perfect time to switch. But first we wanted them to stay in the driveway area for a couple of days and eat down the grasses there.

A few animals found their way into the driveway right away...


Others needed a little convincing. I'm leading Matilda; and Thor, Polly, and Victoria are following.


Soon everyone had their heads buried in the lush grass, eating.


Later, Thor sacked out in the sun.


Nebuchadnezzar couldn't figure out where the water went...


...but Matilda and Victoria found it quick enough.


Raven scratches her chin.


In the midst of our busy season as well as in the midst of promoting the Simplicity Primer, I'm working on my next book. Don insists I do some writing every day. It's been so nice outside that this spot under the trees has become my writing studio. Surrounded by cows. And a horse, of course.


Brit (our horse) was a great (cough) help while I was writing.


Snatching my visor was apparently too much for Brit. She stretched out in the sun and took a nap.


This looks like a horrible case of Nebuchadnezzar stabbing Raven in the throat, with Raven yelling bloody murder.


Actually Nebuchadnezzar is sound asleep and Raven is cozied up to him, chewing her cud. I just happened to catch some unflattering shots of her with her mouth open.

Naptime for everyone!

8 comments:

  1. What a peaceful pictorial. Do the mosquitoes leave you alone in your outdoor office??

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  2. Mostly, yes. It hasn't been too bad a mosquito year. Evenings are different -- I wouldn't sit outside without wearing long pants and sleeves -- but midday was okay.

    - Patrice

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  3. Are those horns on Thor? Or is that how it looks when they've been "de-horned"?

    It looks so peaceful around there :)

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  4. Yes, unfortunately those are horns on Thor. We had planned to dehorn him since we don't want to butcher him. (We normally butcher our steers at 2 years old, but Thor is such a sweet fella that Don is training him to be an oxen.) But the window of opportunity for dehorning him (between 3 and 10 days of age) fell smack in the middle of when I got the flu (http://www.rural-revolution.com/2011/02/brief-update.html) last February. I was too sick to stand up, much less dehorn. So we'll hope Thor's sweet nature continues when he reaches adulthood, despite the horns!

    - Patrice

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  5. If I saw my horse laying like that I would panic. :-)

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  6. What beautiful land you live on. The cow that caught my eye is the caramel colored one with the red harness. Sweet looking and pretty too. You are very blessed.

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  7. Ah, ok...that explains it.....Maybe you'll get lucky and they'll stay that small (LOL, I know they won't but that was a wish out loud for you)......

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  8. What a beautiful home you have!! Thanks for sharing a part of your life with us

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