I Painted Myself Yesterday

...and part of the lawn tractor and lots of grass.

I got some on the fences too.

He hath made every [thing] beautiful in his time:

Ecclesiastes 3:11a

4 CowNots

When all the Dexter and Scottish Highland cattle I found were pushing $$$$ a head, I thought maybe I didn't want any ol' cows anyway and changed my Googling to goats, which I was delighted to find were grazing a little over an hour away and could be mine for $$ each; and on that satisfied note, I called it night.

Yesterday morning I told Charles there were pygmy CowNots nearby, so he bought lumber to build stock racks for his truck, and we were on the road after lunch. When one is making a trip into unknown territory, the quest for a map should not be made at the website visited by reversing those words, because this wasn't the first time said site sent us "right" instead of "left," and that little mapping faux pas added 20 minutes to our journey, as we motored around the plains looking for CowNots, which we did eventually find frolicking in beautiful pastures on the left side of the highway.

Since no babies were ready for new homes, we chose twin sisters born last September and named them Nellie and Nancy in honor of the Olsons. The CowNots owner graciously agreed to let us have a 3-year-old nanny and her month old kid, after we gave the (wide-eyed and) proper response to the question, "You're not going to eat them, are you?" We named the mama Florence, representative of her previous mailing address, and the baby is Elemeno, a tribute to our beloved son-in-law, who revealed during the courtship interviews that he'd like to name one of his children LMNO. He's such a good fit in our family...yet, a little insurance policy against future grandchildren with quirky names wasn't a bad move on our part, just in case he wasn't kidding. We'll have to buy a billy CowNot to block Krug the Destroyer.

We delivered our CowNots to the pasture surrounding the newer milking barn, and #4 son climbed into the bed of the truck with them to coax them toward the tailgate. Coaxing was getting him nowhere, so he grabbed Florence (who probably weighs more than he does) by the horns and inched her down the length of the bed, where Charles bear-hugged her, while #3 son scooped Elemeno into his arms, and they strode to the grasslands with their respective armloads.

In the meantime, Nellie and Nancy became very Olsonite, removed themselves from the truck, trotted through the cattle chutes, and leapt the wall to freedom. There ensued a 30-minute sitcom of '60s ilk, as 3 men -- led by Nellie and Nancy -- could be seen sprinting down the road, circling the house, through the woods, back across the yard, over the road, and into the ramshackle barn, where the naughty girls were finally cornered, captured, and lugged back to the CowNot pasture.

This morning we're off to the farm supply store for CowNot-tending necessities and treats. I, CarolineNot, strongly suspect there are fewer cappuccino-sippings and more pygmy CowNot chases looming large in my future.

Know ye not that they which run in a race run all,

but one receiveth the prize?

So run, that ye may obtain.

I Corinthians 9:24

On Global Warming

Talk to the hand!

The hand has knuckles still stiff and aching from the chill they received while watering pansies 10 minutes ago. April 5th, and it's 39 degrees out there at noon, in Zone 5. Two inches of snow are in today's forecast.



Two years ago, May 1st, 2005, a hard freeze killed the hibiscus bushes and sent me to the store for the third flat of marigolds that spring. I wasn't even sure I liked marigolds, and I was planting them a third time? *harumph*

When I created this blogsite, I told myself to stay quiet on political issues. I'm obeying me, because this isn't a political issue -- it's a faith issue. *heh-heh* And it's a scientific issue. And it's a propaganda issue. Is propaganda political? Someone look that up for me.

Propaganda: Say it long and loudly enough, and they'll believe anything.

Science: Pretty easy from any scientific angle (it has to be, because I get it), but the fact I've found most interesting is that increased CO2 is a result of, rather than cause of, warming. I've read that in the '70s, there was a cry of global cooling and purported science to support that. Might they think we exhaled too much in the meantime?

Faith: I'm a strong proponent of the liberty to believe whatever one wants. Personally, I prefer truth over fiction, but whatever floats one's boat is okay with me, and that even when their fictitious world threatens to sink my little craft. Take my boat, and I'll still float, secured by the Man who walked on water.

There was a widely used slogan several years ago that went: God said it - I believe it - That settles it

Personally, I prefer my own version:
God said it - That settles it, whether I believe it or not.

The earth [is] the LORD'S, and the fulness thereof;

the world, and they that dwell therein.

Psalm 24:1

While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest,

and cold and heat, and summer and winter,

and day and night shall not cease.

Genesis 8:22

O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust,

avoiding profane [and] vain babblings,

and oppositions of science falsely so called:

I Timothy 6:20

Celebratory Breakfast

Yes, I am obviously -- and apparently unabashedly -- the squirrelliest person I know. We did hold in abeyance the use of any hen fruits until we'd amassed enough to feed us all at once. As if that wasn't quirky enough, we filmed -- both still and DVD -- the cracking and cooking of our first 10 eggs.

Hopefully, this long-awaited and well documented breakfast will end (or sharply curtail) the recent barrage of CHICKEN-TALK.

For every creature of God is good [as food],

and nothing to be refused,

if it be received with thanksgiving:

For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.

I Timothy 4:4-5

Bwink! Bwink! Bwink!

...Likely what we would have heard had we been near the coop when this one was plopped into the nest.

Number 4 son came through the back door displaying the prize betwixt two fingers and announcing, "This just isn't right." Well, we shan't quibble with that perspective.

We will merely expect greater things in the future from whichever hen bestowed this little gift upon us.

And he said unto him, Well, thou good servant:

because thou hast been faithful in a very little,

have thou authority over ten cities.

Luke 19:17