Cow Racing and Tipping

I know a lady, whose last name before marriage was Farmer.  She married a farmer boy, lives on a cow ranch, and she is not really a farming person.  We constantly make fun of her maiden name.  

Her husband grows (farms, breeds, cares for) Black Angus.  They have about 50 heads, not counting babies.  We missed the branding week, but still wanted to come out and spend some time with them.  It is a vacation for us, away from work and civilization.  In the evening the entertainment was simple - Wii and Guitar Hero.  None of us was sophisticated enough to play anything on Guitar Hero.  However, Wii was fun.  I only played Cooking Mama before.  So it was a great chance to try many, many, many games.  After hours of going through them, I ended up liking cow racing.  I hit ever fence pole and tree in sight.  I asked our friends if they ever did cow-tipping.  What followed just confirmed what a city person I am.  

Cow tipping is a myth!!! You can't tip a cow, since they weigh about a ton or more. They had a case when a pregnant cow ended up on her back in a hollow dent in the ground, it wasn't even a hole.  It required a big tractor to untip her.  So we couldn't go and tip cows at night, so we raced our cows on Wii.  Farmer Boy got a Wiinjury from curling. 

Apple Blossom Festival

Farmer Boy calls me "Apple Monster".  I can probably exist on apples alone, plus, I come from the Land of Apples and live in the State of Apples.  For many other reasons we decided to go to Apple Blossom Festival this year.  It is still going on till May 3rd.  Farmer Boy has seen it, it was my first.  We drove to Wanatchee on Saturday and arrived just before the parade.  The parades of my childhood involved military marching and saluting.  This one was fun and wild, with kids running around and marching bands (from excellent to hysterical).  I really enjoyed it.  All around Wanatchee orchards were in bloom.  It was good to see some of them in operation after the last year's fires, which destroyed a lot.  

We came home to our own backyard fruit blossom festival.  My pear, apple, cherry, and plum trees are in bloom.  I hope to get lots of fruits this year.  

Itty Bitty Chicken Committee, Part 2

We lost our first batch of baby chicks this year.  Farmer Boy didn't want to bread at all after that.  However, the spring came, and we ended up with a box of early babies in our living room.  I can't tell you how many hours we wasted watching those babies sleep, eat, and play.  After ALL eggs hatched, the first 4 babies went back to mama. There are 6 of them.  They are about 2-3 weeks now.  I went to the coop to document their growth.  The mama didn't like it.  The harder I tried to take a picture, the more she shielded her babies and moved around.  Those who ever tried to take a picture of a constantly moving bird know that patience and a good camera are essential.  I didn't have either.  So here is a fuzzy picture of the angry mama and one curious chick sticking out of her butt. 

Chicken, chicken, chicken on Cute Overload

I like Cute Overload, even though they mostly post dogs and cats.  Occasionally, there is a chicken. And we can't miss any chickens! Here is the link to the original post.