Tie a knot or tie a lot

I've been on hiatus from blogging recently. Not because I dispise the farm but rather there's not been any change in things around here. Same old, same old. And I still love it!
A couple of ideas have been brewing for potential blog posts so be on the watch for those to make their appearance.

For now just some pics and sayings...

I love this pair. They live here at the farm. And from what I have observed have a nice routine about their day. 

In the morning they emerge from their nest for breakfast by the road. Then they meander over around the shop before it gets too busy and loud. Once the shop bustles with action, they walk over to one of the fields for their afternoon siesta. The love birds sometimes make their way to the shack for dinner or sometimes I see them across the road from me. It depends on what they want for dinner I guess. They are omnivores after all. 

They are always together. I think that is one of the things I love about them. They mate for life. When one slags behind, the other calls out to encourage the other that they are not being left. Or at least that's my interpretation of it. It could very well be that when one falls behind, the other calls out to tell them to hurry up. But that is a lot less romantic.  :) I named them Mr. Red and Mrs. Rita. 

Speaking of... I learned a lot about different farm things yesterday from the reading I did in my magazines and newspapers.  I wanted to prove that I was, in fact, reading the literature I had been given so when I was visited by the main mister I shared a nugget o'knowledge. It was about beef prices are up while feed prices are down making happy beef farmers. Some where in that talk I remarked on how low the beef cow population was these days which must also account for the high beef prices. Anyway, he told me that it takes 3 years for a cow to be useful... get a cow pregnant, have the baby, and then that baby has to grow and either be harvested as a beef steer at 3 or if it is a dairy cow produce milk around 3. <note to all you real farmers don't be too picky, it is something like that...>

Three years, dude!

Which also reminds me... 

I saw my first dead cow the other day. She was being hauled to the grave in the tractor bucket. I didn't have my phone (but that wouldn't be respectful to take her picture all exposed and what not). When she rode by on her funeral march I thanked her for her service and appreciated all her hardwork. But as the farmers say: "When you work with animals, dead ones are part of it." 

It was also reported to me that a gator at a pond was charging at some cows. The excitement never ends. 

My newest sticker for Old Norman. 

Here's a picture of some of my reading... This is a lot less fraught with pictures and adds. My magazines and newspapers, though,  are much more colorful.  

In a UF Alum magazine, I read that two of the contestants from Survivor, the NFL Culpeppers, are Gators. No wonder I wasn't a fan of theirs on the show. Hahaha. 

Butter and cheese prices are up. If I remember correctly it is because there's a shortage of cream... for butter anyway

 Ice cream and cream cheese makers are making it tough for butter makers buy cream. 

And people! Drink milk! Make your kids drink milk! Since the 70's, milk drinking has gone down 37%! That number includes all kinds of milk. If I were to isolate the different kinds, the most staggering number would be Whole milk's plummet.  Whole milk consumption has dropped 78%! The fact is there are more drink choices today than there were in the 70's. The young American children are simply not drinking milk. Crazy! Growing up, my choices of beverage was apple juice, milk, water, or crystal light (gross!). Now we have sodas galore and terrible energy drinks. There's sugar water disguised as juice. And so on.  I'll save you the shpeel about the health benefits of milk because we all know them. Just go drink your milk. Milk does a body good!

(Also,  if this blog happens to go viral and the people of DairyBusiness happen to write an article about me being a milk activist... I will get to be on the board of directors here. So I raise my glass of milk to the long shot.)

Now some sayings:

You shouldn't try to catch your farts and sniff 'em.
Tie a knot or tie a lot.

**Man, I had some good ones that I can't seem to remember... maybe next time.**

Corn days are ticking down and I know I'll be sad to see them go... that means I will appreciate the time left and work hard to earn that golden star employee status!