We have had a busy week. My brother and sister are coming in this weekend and I am going to bar-b-que. Lets see....we have on the menu St.Louis ribs, brisket,country pork ribs, tenderloin, and sausage. I am, I hesitate to say, a very good cook in the area of specialization of BBQ. But I am not as good as my Dad was. He was the best. You cannot rush BBQ. Time, smoke (Pecan wood),and liberal basting with my special concoction. If I were your doctor, I would let you have 1 rib. One perfect rib that had commanded 3 1/2 hours of my attention. My brother likes to sample along the way. He says he is my tester. As the moment of truth arrives and the pork is ready, everyone (my kids) are making deals with me. It gives me a feeling of power. At all other times I am like the prophet in his own home that gets no honor. Then, as we approach the table, everyone gets quiet and , especially Jon, my brother, is almost snarling as he collects 6 or 8 or 10 bones on his plate, and that without feeling shame. That will be Friday. It is a great reconstitution of family tradition.
I had a 2 year old heifer have a calf and had a difficult delivery. The buzzards killed the calf, and the heifer was left with a paresis (weakness) of the left leg. I have been bringing water and feed to her. She is still quiet animated and tries to kill me every time I get near her. It started getting warmer today, so I roped her and dragged her into the barn where she is in the shade, and it is easier to get hay and cubes to her. I thinks she has a swollen peroneal nerve and is caused by the calf being too big coming down the birth canal and it caused a nerve to get irritated and swollen. I hope it will subside and she will recover. Most all of the cows have babies at side now.
We do a lot of birdwatching here. We have lots of Eastern Bluebirds. Over the years I have put up about 15 bluebird boxes on our farm and have full occupancy. You know bluebirds are mostly carnivorous and will not take seeds. We have a feeder just beyond the veranda and I am pretty diligent about keeping the bird seed out. A few days ago we had a male Painted Bunting, a male Indigo Bunting, and a Blue Grossbeak (male). We also have many house sparrows. The males are beautiful with a rose colored head and tail. The females are less colorful. We also have our hummingbird feeders out. We usually have 4 to 6 Ruby-throated hummingbirds. Lots of cardinals and bluejays. One thing I enjoy a lot is seeing flock of Egrets cascade over my fields as I mow with a 15 foot mower. I expose crickets, katydids,snakes, mice, skinks, frogs, and various other insects which they feast upon. They have no fear of the tractor. I have seen them eat 4 foot long grass snakes. They even tried to take on a field rat, but he was a rough customer. Got away. Mice do not have a chance, and neither do sizable frogs. These egrets are voracious and take no prisoners. Each year we have a Redtailed Hawk, which we named Little Eagle. She had a huge nest in a tall oak tree out back of our house. She gives that high pitches screach when she is disturbed or flying. Last year I saw 2 males in pitches battle in flight vying for her affections. It was amazing. About 5 years ago we had 2 Bald Eagles on the lake at our farm. We had them only one year, but they were incredibly amazing birds. They do project power and madjesty. They were fully mature (I feel like mates) with white heads. My kids got to see them early one morning when, after I saw them perched in a sycamore tree by the lake, I went to the house and woke them at about 6 am. It was worth it.
We are going to have our first crop of blackberries this year. I planted about 700 Apache (thornless variety, and 1000 Chickasaws. The Chickasaws got almost universally infected with "witches broom" also known as rosette. It is a fungal infection of the blossoms which this variety is know to be suseptilbe to. I'll probably have to remove them and plant a different variety. The Apaches look very healthy. I think we will get several hundred gallons of Blackberries. These are the large dometicated varieties that are nearly as large as a golf ball. I have a close friend who raises blackberries commercially. I always wanted to do it, so I did. Now what am I going to do with hundreds of gallons of blackberries?
I recently wrote a song, called "Back When We Were Kids", and the first line is, "We picked dewberries down that old fence line, long-side that sandy road, Early summertime". That was where Jon and I used to pick berries at my grandfathers home in Huntsville,Texas. It is a nice little piece. I recently wrote "As This Cold Wind Blows These Memories Thru My Mind". I think when we produce the record it will be a favorite. I think you might like it. I would like Alan Jackson to record it, but Alan will not take my calls.
Well, I'll close for now. Stay on top of your clotting studies and try, if possible, to avoid surgery on your knees. I'll keep lurking at the Lair and post from time to time. I've been writing a lot recently. My wife has me on a diet, so, I can't eat, so I write. Hope things are well with you and yours.
Sincerely,
Jeff
My such a wonderful ranch you have. I would love to see a real ranch. I guess they are huge. I grew up on a very small farm in the sticks. One cow, some chickens and a hog or two for butching. Life was tough. No dad around.
I hope your weekend with family is the grandest! Getting together with family is so much fun. My daughter, the mother to the hockey player had a birthday last week. Family was around for partying. So much fun. I have four daughters. They all live around the area.
Thanks for sharing your ranch, this must keep you very busy.