You can find the article here. It’s well written and a quick read.
Curious, cow #11, has a new calf named Boyd, #32, and the rest of a perfect Sunday
This morning when I moved the cows I found Curious had dropped a beautiful little bull calf. The calf is up and moving about and we’ve already tagged him, #32. Normally we get higher and higher in numbers but 32 had been missed accidentally previously. SWMBO has informed me that we already have a name picked for our next bull calf so this one will be named Boyd. (Hello Boyd and Ava!)
Curious is a pure black Angus and so is the dad, Benjamin. I was planning on castrating this little calf but Spork pointed out he would make a good bull. Benjamin is already having his first year of calves so in two years when this little calf is ready, Benjamin will be ready to sell so based on Spork’s advice we are going to leave this little bull uncut and see how he develops. If he looks and acts right he may be our next bull. If not, he might be someone else’s next bull. Either way all he received today was an earring.
We had a visitor this weekend, Miss Katie, and of course we took her out to see the new calf. We walked the paddock twice, a group of 5 of us, and we didn’t see the new calf anywhere. Just when I wondered what had happened to the calf, Katie looked over and found him in the grass outside the paddock. Leave it to the new kid to be the calf whisperer.
With no mom around everyone was able to take a turn petting the new calf. You can only do this for the first day or so. After that the calves will run away if you approach.
We had enough time with the new calf that we were able to get some video of the kids and the new calf. Too cute.
Also this morning I took some of the kids fishing. Bok Bok and I fished first, then Spork and I took the paddle boat out and did some more fishing, after a stint on the bank.
So after feeding the animals, taking the kids fishing, planting 54 tomato plants, and various and sundry other things I worked on today, I was fairly hungry at 2pm. After working 6 days a week for me, Miguel decided to save my day by bringing me a kit for home-made chilaquiles (it’s pronounced like Chilli-keel-As). I’ve had these in a restaurant before, they aren’t much to talk about. Miguel’s however? Oh man are they good. After this huge plate of food, I wasted the rest of the afternoon with a big siesta which I much enjoyed. Now the sun is going down and I’ve already slept too much. I guess I’ll put the kids to bed and maybe head back to the shop to work on the apple press. It’s too nice to stay inside for long.
All in all, a pretty nice Sunday.
First actual run of the Uruguayan grill
Finally we have a loaded grill for an actual test. The weather gods have not been kind previously but they have made up for lost time with an absolutely perfect day today.
Despite our South American grill, we are as North American as we can be with hamburgers and corn. We will add bacon and cheese for the burgers in a few minutes and hopefully have a successful grilling experience.
So far the vertically stacked burning setup is working extremely well. Moving the coals around in our make do fire pit? Not so much. But we are persevering.
Little red truck, 10.0
Somewhere along the way, the painter didn’t realize that the interior of the cab needed to be painted completely as well. He thought we had carpet to cover everything. Um, no. It’s all Tiffany Blue. So back into the shop for more interior paint and to the paint store for more paint since he’s running out. More time, more money. However the end result was worth it. Perfect paint match, inside and out.
Little red truck, 9.0
These pictures were taken February 24th, 2014. The wedding was March 15, 2014. This truck is PART OF THE WEDDING! I wasn’t freaking out by this point, but I was becoming concerned. We had to put the entire truck back together, plus a mountain of parts had to be installed, then the truck cleaned and taken to Pinehurst for the wedding. Not a lot of time for mistakes or things that don’t fit properly.
Engine bay covered in overspray. Sigh. At least they won’t raise the hood at the wedding.
Frame rails the same way. Nobody should look under the bed I guess. At least we can work on the boards for the bed to make some progress. We hauled them to paint to test the fit, then varnished them 3 coats on top, 2 on the bottom and put them aside waiting on the truck.
Little red truck, 8.0
Finally! Paint, and it looks good. After months of work, and wondering what this color is going to look like, it was rewarding to see the first coat of paint on the truck.
Of course, the bed hasn’t been touched yet and we’re running short on time. Uh oh.
Little red truck, 7.0
Argh! Why isn’t there paint?! Apparently if you know what you’re doing, you primer the truck and it reveals areas that need more attention. So it’s back into the shop for more body work before any paint can be sprayed.
Sunday update, lots happening on the farm. Pigs, cows, and gators!
With Penelope having new babies, we had to move the feeder pigs we purchased into the barn. They are too small to be with the two grown boys, and too big to be around Penelope’s babies. We try to have our pigs in similar sized groups but sometimes it just doesn’t work out that way. Catching these little pigs was a bit of an adventure. John, Miguel, and I made a few laps of the pig pen chasing them around and there were a few dives into the dirt catching squirming pigs. It all worked out and Miguel was surprised to see me “wheelbarrowing” one of the pigs after we caught him. He decided to give it a try himself. We only did this a few feet, then because of their small size just picked the pigs up and carried them to the barn.
Today the cows were moved into the bottom of the draw in the main pasture. The grass is growing very well and the cows now have more than they can eat in each paddock. They are getting more protein than they need and their stools are loose. I don’t have any hay to supplement them with so we’re just going to have to work our way through this period until the grass gets a little taller and has more fiber to it. The warm season grasses haven’t started coming back yet but the fescue and clover are going gangbusters.
This is the end result of years of work. I’ve wanted one of these gators for a long time and I’ve been working actively on getting one for about a year. I finally have pulled off the deal and on Friday I brought home this monster gator. We set paddocks today for the cattle and the two girls came out to help, as long as they could drive the gator and not actually do any of the work. Kids!
The good news is if you’re coming for a tour, we have more options for you if you cannot walk. Sometimes people like to bring grandma or grandpa or more often they have small kids. If you need to ride rather than walk, just let me know when you contact me about taking a tour.
Uruguayan grill for our outdoor firepit
I was reading the Stockman Grass Farmer and the editor was writing about how nice a Uruguayan grill was for properly cooking steak. There were no pictures of one in the article but Google solved that for me quickly.
Here you can see what I found on Google.
Note that there is a firewood holder on the left, then an angled grill with easy access on the right. The way it works is you make a fire with firewood, then shovel out the coals from underneath and place them under the grill. You can adjust your heat by how much and where the coals are under the grill and also by where the food is placed on the angle, adjusting your grilling height at the same time. We are in the process of designing an outdoor patio with a fire pit to go directly in front of our kitchen. There is no landscaping there and it looks pretty ragged so the patio fixes the eyesore and allows for a casual entertaining area directly off of the kitchen. It was SWMBO’s idea and she’s had to convince me to do it. But now I have the idea of this wood fired grill so we can have a combo fire pit and grill. I can be on board with this.
Not so fast says SWMBO. You don’t use the grill we have now and you have no idea if the crazy South American thing you’ve cooked up will even work. If you think its a good idea, go mock one up in that shop of yours and let’s try it out a few times before it becomes part of the design.
Darn. I hate it when she’s right. Oh well, off to the shop I go.
Here you see my mock up. I think I spent about 20 minutes on it. 3/4″ rebar that was left over from when my father built the house 32 years ago. I found it in the woods about 5 years ago. I bent two uprights in the press, then welded them together and onto some legs. Two nails welded to the sides and the grill from the old grill leaned against the nails to create the angle. The grill is turned the wrong way and the access isn’t nearly as good as on the real thing but I have zero dollars invested and its good enough to try it out. I put the entire thing into our existing mocked up fire pit which is a skidder rim cut in half surrounded by lawn chairs we already had.
Now to try it out. I will let you know how it goes.
More pictures of our first piglets from 2014. This time closer up.
After work I was able to go see the new piglets and get some relatively closer pictures.
I’d love to tell you that this was a sweet and happy Disney moment, but in reality Penelope and I were having an unpleasant conversation about whose paddock this was. Being that I pay the taxes and bring the food, I was under the impression that I owned this particular piece of dirt. Penelope, as a new mother, was unconcerned about my support role for all this and was quite clear that she’s tackle me and eat me if I messed with her babies. She only charged me once which for Penelope was almost like inviting me over for Christmas dinner. Remember this is the girl who bit me.
So kind reader say a special prayer for your farmer who risked mauling to bring you piggie cuteness today.
They really are cute when they are just born. My theory is that God makes newborns and children cute so that we don’t kill them for all the things they do that drive us crazy. It’s worked so far on my kids. 
And remember, there’s pork in the freezer if you’re planning on eating this weekend. If you don’t eat on weekends, well, you know something I don’t. Come buy some pork, I have new mouths to feed!