Monday, December 18, 2017

Bottle Calves.....Update


Our journey with the bottle calves began last

March during calving season...



Here we are 9 months later.

The calves are weaned off the bottle 

and now weigh 500 lbs.



Today was their first day of freedom.

We turned them out in the field with

the rest of the herd:



I think it was harder on me than it was on them.





The orphaned calf number 25 is on the left.

The dairy calf is on the right.

They will graze on 50 acres here at home.





Here they are meeting up with 

some of the other weaned calves...

The dairy calf is on the left with the white tail,

he was afraid of the other calves.











They grazed along the river bank most of the day.








I very well expected the bottle calves to join up

with the rest of the calf herd and well, 

behave like cattle...


By 4pm they were back to the barn bawling 

to come back in!

Yes, of course, I let them in 

and fed them grain and hay.


I guess freedom wasn't all 

they thought it would be!


It has been a week now,

they come back to the barn each night.

Maybe one night they will stay out with the herd

and they won't come back to the barn?


Being a cow mama isn't always easy for me.




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May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,

LuAnn Kessi


Sunday, December 17, 2017

Weaning Heifer Calves...


We are weaning calves again...

This time it is the heifer calves,

the calves are now 6 months old...







We will sort the heifers from 

their calves in the corral.






My Golden Girl is the first heifer 

through the chute...






Her fly ear tags will be removed,

She will be vaccinated and wormed.





Golden Girl is bred and will have her

first calf next June 2018.




The calves have been sorted and

we will run them through the chute next:


These are heifer calves,

which means they weren't born until June,

so they are only 6 months of age.




After all of the calves have been worked,

it is time to load them in the trailer

and haul them up river to the goat barn...






This is the goat barn:


The goats will share half of their barn

with the newly weaned calves...





This is part of the Boer goat herd.

These are the newly weaned kid goats.





Unloading the calves at the goat barn:










How cute is this curious little kid goat?


He wanted to chew on my camera so badly.



The calves will remain in the barn for about

10 days, then we will haul them down river

to our place, where they will be fed for the winter

with 50 other weaned calves.



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May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,

LuAnn Kessi

Thursday, December 14, 2017

The Kittens Quilt......DONE!


Finishing up The Kittens Quilt today...



The machine quilting is complete,

it is time to stitch on the binding...





I am getting way too much help from

Ralph, the Quilting Kitty.





I am stitching @ the Quilt Palace today,

and this is where Ralph lives.










By the end of the day the binding is done...




Here are close up images of

the machine quilting:


Wavy lines and circles

keeps it playful and fun!









It is time to wrap this baby and...

get it under the tree!



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May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,

LuAnn Kessi


Wednesday, December 13, 2017

24 Degrees...



When I stepped outside to do chores

this morning.....24 degrees



The last of the blooms on the rose bush

are frosty...





Frosty hydrangea petals...






Frozen bottle calves...




This is what awaits me each morning

out at out the little red barn...


Our little herd of weed eaters...






Boer Goats

Three Nannies and their nanny kids






Frozen Cherry Tree Leaves...






Frozen Queen Anne's Lace...







Frozen Chinese Lanterns...






Now that the chores are done here @ home,

we are off to feed hay to the cattle.




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May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,

LuAnn Kessi



Tuesday, December 12, 2017

Woven Tablerunner...


This is a woven tablerunner I put together

with some of my hand dyes...



The woven strips are a hand dyed gradient...






the gradient goes from purple to pink...










I have had this lime green batik 

in my stash forever...


It compliments the hand dyed strips.


I think I will keep this one for our table

here at home...



This is the pattern












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May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,

LuAnn Kessi


Sunday, December 10, 2017

Wonder Clip Bowls...



I started making Wonder Clip Bowls

and I couldn't stop...



I used the Lazy Girl pattern...





Joan Hawley's patterns are excellent.

She does a great job explaining the

one way zip technique.





I've made 2 dozen of these zip bags

and they are still FUN to stitch up!





Each one easily holds 50 Wonder Clips!





They open wide so it is easy

to reach in and grab a clip when you need it.





Santa will deliver these to all of the

good little Quilters I know!




Do you remember this little girl?


All of our calves are black...

except this one.

We call her......Golden Girl




Look at her now.....all grown Up!


We were out in the pasture last night and

I snapped this photo of our gorgeous girl.

She is bred and will have her first baby

next year.



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May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,

LuAnn Kessi

Tuesday, December 5, 2017

Trail Camera....Elk



Night time trail camera videos of 

the beautiful Elk herd....enjoy!


Be sure to click the icon in right corner

to view screen full size
















CLICK HERE:  to see My Quilts



May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,

LuAnn Kessi