All's Quiet On The Home Front

     I love peace, quiet, and harmony.  Tranquility gives me rest.  I actually filmed this video last Friday, but that post was so long I didn't want to include this in it.  Also, the calm of this farm yard scene didn't seem to fit last week's blog title.  We do, on occasion, have fighting... especially the chickens for their spot in the pecking order.  The cows and horses and even Joe and I have periodic disagreements.   I wonder though, if the driving force behind confrontation and war is a quest for peace and quiet.

     It was a beautiful fall weekend, even with the threat of rain which never did materialize.  Joe worked hard on a french drain along the west side of the barn most of Saturday.  I helped a tad bit, with verbal instructions, but also some physical labor. The cows came and went to get water and
                                                     checked on the happenings as well.

The chickens also liked to pick through the fresh dirt.  This series of photos shows the progression.










































Norman liked rubbing his head in the fresh dirt.











     Norman has not tried to escape since Joe put the stronger charge surging through the electro-braid, but we have had to be more careful about handling it.  This is a frequent view of the three cows chewing their cud while resting together under the shade tree in the back pasture.

     Frankie is getting tamer now, but instead of running away, he will put his head down, look you in the eye, and seem to challenge you.  He is a nice steer though and moves away when asked using a little pressure.

     As Roni has become more comfortable with life on the Villhauer Ranch, he too has been a different challenge... by challenging us a little bit more.  But, he too is a push over, and if you are gentle and nice, asking in a way that is non-confrontational, he usually complies.










     Babe still remains timid and cautious.  Sometimes while she is eating I am able to pet her on the head and neck.  But once she realizes I am touching her, she moves away from my hand.  Sir Loin used to be very wild, so I know with time, Babe and Frankie will tame down more.


        Sunday morning we were in a dense fog, as seen to the right looking east out my office window.

     We had moved the grazing pen to the north side of the barn on the west side of the fence, so getting the horses in and out was much easier... just open the stall gate. 

     Since it was calling for rain and some storms, I figured I could leave the stall gate open if needed.  I was also getting the grass "mowed" along my rock garden, but knew I would have to go back to get the weeds.

    I rode Roni down to Marj's and back.  He had gotten a rock stuck in his hoof that I had to remove once down at her barn.  It was a beautiful fall day and fun riding down through the rows of corn stubble left from harvest.

     Brother in law Ralph arrived in time for dinner Sunday, but had brought his own.  We were going to get carry out but heated up a pizza instead.  I didn't get to visit much because of school work I could procrastinate on no longer.  The rains finally did come sometime over night.

     Rainy day Monday and the students were half asleep.  I had 7 absent from my 6th hour class which adds to the chaos and challenge of keeping things running smoothly.  It was a good afternoon for shopping and then
                                                     sitting inside at my computer once

home.  With the grazing pen on the north side of the corn crib, I was able to leave that gate open so that the


two horses could get in, out of the  rain, by going inside the corn crib.  After stuffing myself at a yummy Growth Group potluck we were home for Joe  to watch football and me to grade papers.  We did run out through the pouring rain to the barn and corn crib to "batten down the hatches", check on, and give more hay to the cows (who were now in the corn crib) and horses (who were back in the barn).

     Tuesday continued with more of the same rainy weather.  I noticed the french drain was doing its job, except for at the SW corner of the barn.
                                          Babe and Norman are standing in the rain,
in the muddy spot there.  We need to add more soil and river rock to this area.  The farrier came shortly after I got home.  I always enjoy our conversations while he works.  Today as he was describing to me the make-up of the horses hoof and leg, he mentioned Divine Proportion, or Golden Mean.  We discussed it and he gave several biological examples in nature, which sparked my interest.  So, when I came back to the house, rather than do school work, I researched "phi".  To get this magic ratio, take a line and divide it so that the proportion of (B) to (A) is the same as the proportion of (C) to (B)... and keep dividing.  This irrational ratio is nearly equal to 1.6180...  It can be found throughout the universe; from the spirals of galaxies to the spiral of a Nautilus seashell; from the harmony of music to the beauty in art.  It is in the growth patterns of flowers and plants, the genealogy of a bee, and in the behavior of light and atoms.  http://www.summum.us/philosophy/phi.shtml    This remarkable irrational ratio is used in art, architecture, anatomy, atomic theory, and astrophysics.  It's profound proportion' provides exactly the geometries nature needs to build the living architectures that provide energy and shelter for each level of protoplasm and every scale of physical matter:

DNA, virus, cell membrane, plant, flower, ovary, egg, pine cone, pineal gland, planet, galaxy, and spacetime itself.  The blueprint of God is hidden in this code within each and every element of Creation—and every body of biology. http://www.dyarrow.org/phi/home.htm   Inception of harmony!

     I drove to school in the dark, Wednesday morning, for our bi-monthly PLC meeting.  I was in the bowels of the building until going to my 4th hour Bio class mid morning, where I was pleased to see the sun shining.  Got an e-mail from Dan and IMed with Britney once home from school.  However, for some reason, I felt really melancholy.  Maybe it was the news of a fellow teacher's cousin being injured, who was scheduled to come home this week from Afghanistan.  His vehicle was hit yesterday with an IED.  He was taken to Germany for surgery, where thankfully he is recovering.  Also, looking at
this photo of Britney feeding
this precious little baby that was an abortion survivor makes me sad.  Britney was feeding her while working in NICU and says she can drink from a bottle now and is doing great.  Dra. Sara affectionately calls her "Monita"-Little Monkey.  Isn't she precious?  Actually, both girls are.  But she will be placed in an already overcrowded orphanage because the mom still wants nothing to do with her.  There is no way she can be sponsored through SI, they only sponsor kids in school. There are millions of orphans who would like to be sponsored. The sad thing is that international adoption from Guatemala is illegal because of all the corruption in the system. The United Nations did not approve of the adoption system in Guatemala, so they are not allowed to do international adoptions right now, until they get things cleaned up. (Stop stealing and selling babies.)  Adoptions are still possible within Guatemala, but hardly anyone has the money or the desire to do that.
                                                                                   Here is another

photo of her taken in August. She was being fed through a syringe straight to her stomach. She survived the abortion and was brought in from the streets. It just breaks my heart to realize this baby's future and for some reason makes me miss Britney more.

      Courtney came out to the farm just when I was about to go outside.  That lifted my spirits.  We brought in the horses, fed them, and brushed them.  Roni was a filthy mess from rolling in the mud.  Courtney worked with him in the round pen while I walked Amiga.  He did pretty well for her.  As usual, the barn cats are where the action is.

     With helmet and bridle on stand-by, and Roni's ground work complete, I was ready to ride.  Once Courtney left for home, I took him for a short tour of the farm and also around Becks.  I was impressed with how dry our water way was.  I think fixing the tile has really helped.
Much of our former "lake effect" has probably been caused by broken drain tile through out the fields.

     I rushed home from school Thursday, eating lunch while I drove.  I changed, let Amiga and Zorro out and loaded Roni to head for Marj's for a lesson.  She had lots of new things to show me.  I absorbed as much as I could and was pleased with Roni's efforts.  It has been quite a while since I've had a formal riding lesson.  I really miss the input from and interaction
with Marj. 
      We had several waves of high winds blow through from early afternoon, continuing through the night.  You can see many pears have been blown from the tree.  We need a good, fool proof method of getting these to ripen off the tree. 


     We also found this little brown chicken egg, shown here with duck eggs and Joe's coffee.  I am thinking it is one of the new young hens.  They have started sitting in the nest boxes out in the barn.


     Friday morning it was cold, crisp and windy.  I had moved the grazing pen just south of the chicken coop so

Amiga and Zorro had a bit of a wind break there. 
            Where's Roni?






  <-You can see him here, looking
from the gate in the front pasture, at his friends that are barely in sight, as the ducks waddle across the lawn.

     The school day zipped by, and I actually worked on grading when I got home.  I had a big lab I had collected that I knew I would have to keep working on all weekend so I could hand it back by Monday.  Ralph arrived at 4pm on his way back to Ohio.  It was a good time to give grading a rest and I went out to do some chores and take Roni for a ride.  Joe fixed dinner, including grilled hamburgers, and we enjoyed some beer with our meal. 
.